Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1905-12-15
To Tow I'm.
lmense Dry Dock

Width OF dock-l3i feet.
Extreme height--G3 feet
Weight Of doek-ll 900 tons.
Distance from Solomon's Island 4
Cavite--l2,0 900 miles.
Estimated time Of journey-Be
tween four and Ave months,
TollsSa passage through Suez can
al, $25.Ouo,
Washington, d. G., Dec. i5.-Un
less there Is an unexpected delay
the big dry dock. Dewey, under tn,
tow OF the golfers u,acier, Erutu'
and Caesar, will leave Solomon's Is
land, In the Chesapeake bay, to-mor
row. and proceed by way Of tn,
Suez canal to Cavite, Orders to thi,
effect have been issued by the navy
department.
The experiment OF towing the huge
dock half way around the world Il
the most notable feat Of It's kind ever
undertaken and as n consequence the
success OF the venture will be watch.
ed with keen interest. The task
Is one OF magnitude ana d~elicacy, but
the officials of the bureau Of yards
and docks OF the navy department,
under whose direct supervision the
arrangements have been made, De.
lieve that II can be accomplished
without unusual danger OF the dock
laundering
The towing will be done by the
government itself. the supplyship Ola.
cier and the golfers Brutus and Gaze.
sar being designated as the boats to
make the tow. The Golfers are both
powerful steamers, and before enter.
Ing the naval service were employed
MS merchantmen, the Brutus having
been the Norwegian steamship Peter
Jebsen, and the Caesar the British
steamer Kingtor. Both ships are Of
the same speed-about ton knots an
hour. The vessels have been equip.
ped with special towing apparatus.
SO constructed as to keep the towing
lines at the same tension at all times
and to prevent any heavy straining
on 1t In a seawAy.
The total distance from Solomon's
island to the Philippines Is m
thing over 1900 miles, and as It Is
not expected q days tow will exceed
100 miles. 1t will take over four
months to make the trip. The route
decided upon 10 from the Chesapeake
bay to Madeira, through the Medi-
t%erranean to the Suez canal, and
across the Indian ocean to Singapore.
and thence to Manila n Clongapo.
the new naval base where the dock
will be permanently located. /.
On the way to it, destination the
dry dock viii not make q single
port Of entry a. in such a ase a ton.
mage would have to be paid. As It
Is. the government will be obliged
to pay tolls amounting to nearly $25,.
600 to take the dock through the
Suez canal. En- route the supply ship
will make several ports In order to
get coal and supplies and to let the
home government know how things
are going but the Dewey will
be placed In harbor until the Philip.
pines are reached.
When the Dewey starts on its trip
the towing vessel will be from 1000
to 5000 feet in front Of her. the two
vessels Of course being connected by
q tow line. The reason q line Of this
length IL needed Is that In squally
weather there Will be no danger OF
the dock and the collieis being smash
ed together. Ordinarily the dock will
be taken along with its body 6 to 10
feet In the water. But when bad
weather comes ON It will be sub.
merged 90 that It will draw % feet
or more. When this low down be-
cause Of it, great weight. the dock
will be practically motionless and
will act al . huge anchor to the
GOLFERS and tug.
Commander Harry H. Hosley, U. 8.
N. Is to be in general command OF
the expedition. On board the dock
itself will be q crew Of eight men
under the command Of j D. Wood.
a veteran tug master OF Norfolk. For
the purposes Of the trip the dock has
been equipped with a comfortable
cabin and with small boats and wire
less telegraph apparatus.
The Dewey was built At Sparrow's
Point plant Of the Maryland Steel
company. The general dimensions OF
the dock re: Length, 800 feet:
| width, 1874 feet: extreme height, SO
feet; weight. 1900 tons. The dock
| contains co water-tight compart-
! ments, 80 that there is little posi-.
bility Of the waves beating In such
holes as would cause It to founder.
The towing cables are n and one
half miles long. and are the largest
steel ropes in the world outside Of
some Of the great suspension bridges