The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-05-04
DAHTLESHIpS TOO ARB herb.
VIII JOSS T0.HORROW rms
SeGIORgNs ~ NORFn RfvEH.

ssasI ssn;t lssew WnssA YES 20 Tuss
81 pysstiee eiaserwam ~ ne Wsy.
neas Aaaini Roblsy H. Evans and ths
hattlemhlps ~ me Arse division N ne North
Atlantis sdnadfon, ths aaaaalv Maine,
tha Miaaourl, me Kentucky and ths Reafs
safaa, ascAotrd ~ TsmphInevfils ysstsfs
day iossBoan aad pyocssded n oncs 10 olaaa
ship.
fhepe had besm q pretty te4t N speed
oognIna 90 the coast and ths tunnels had
lass Ell II their pslnt from ths heat n The
iotcsd dfaueht
Admiral Evans, who Il N ten days issye,
was ons N tho fret ashore, and after him
cams acorea ~ hhieiacketa and mafihea,
Some had only twcnty-feur hours leave,
othefs I'VE days
Aboard tn flagship every me was happy
heoause the Maine had walked away from
The Missouri In tho apeed test, and oficers
and men had money 10 aprnd NJ = result.
Tho Misaourians said n VAS all d,a 10
oyerNeated hearings
They'll nave to show ia aoms 9th Or
time, was tho Missouri refrain.
We did show them. said one ~ tho
officers Of tho Maine. and VIZ showed them
about n clean % pair n heela NJ they will
ever go astern II that Il, In the hattierhip
class.
That little matter ~ target practice honors
hasn't been decided yet, and yesterday two
Of the ships were claiming" On the Ken
lucky the officers modestly announced that
they believed they had done more than
their share,
"why. man alive, we are bound to he the
winner, remarked n Lieutenant.
we are ahead evon II they don't count
our shots with the FIVE inch rifles, and we
had some little trouble over them. The
shells we used first had defective primers,
and then We got new shells and fred over.
The last time We made a better record, but
We don't know which OF the scores IL to be
used in making up the record"
As a matter Of fact it Is probable that the
board will permit the last score to be con-
sidered.
II the Kentucky does not win the PEN
nant the Missouri will. and the Missouri hit
the target thirty-seyen times in thirty
seven shots.
As to the speed test. there isn't an officer
or man from the Admiral down who wants
it called n race. Every man jack in the
feet had been looking forward to the test
for weeks.
The battleships weighed anchor at Guam
tanamo at 8 p, NJ. Saturday, April 20, and
went at a twelve knot gait through what
IL known as the Crooked Island passage.
When they had the Bahamas astern they
Strengthened out their course, and early on
Monday morning everybody got busy.
Nones Of the ships had any too much
coal, but what they did have they got as
near to the boilers as possible. The decks
were stripped Of all such things as might
tend TO resist the wind.
At 8 O'Clock the flagship, which was
ahead, signalled full power natural draught
Thus they ran for two hours. the Maine
leading, the Missouri next, and then the
Kentucky and the Kearsarge. At 10 O'Clock
the signal forced draught was hoisted. Down
in the en- CINE rooms everybody was
working. OF course, the older ships were
not in It with the Maine and the Missouri,
but they did hold their W pretty well,
flagship. The rules Of the game were that
forced draught should be maintainei for four
hours. At about / O'Clock the Missouri
had cut down the Names lead of l,lOo
yards and was laying her nose along the
Aagship's quarter. At 80 she passed the
had a lead Of $50 yards it was seen aboard
the Maine that something was the matter,
for the Missouri had begun TO lag Then
she signalled that the brasses OF her star
board intermediate pressure crank pin were
hot because Of the escaping steam from a
leaky valve, and sho dropped behind.
At2 o'clock forced draught was disooatin-
ued and full power natural draught was re-
sumed for twohours and then the twelve knot
gait. At the finish of the eight hour test
the Maine was two miles ahead OF the Ken
lucky, which was two miles ahead OF the
Kearsarge, and The Missouri was eight miles
astern OF that ship, She caught up at /
o'clock the next afternoon. The Maine
developed IL, 500 horsepower under the
forced draught, which was 1000 more than
she showed on her official trial trip-and
she was a foot deeper in the water, =.
The battleships will lie off Tompkinsville
until Saturday morning, when they will
go to the anchorage in the North River
near the cruiser squadron and the French
cruisers. The second battleship division,
and Iowa, will join the feet there.
When the battleships sailed from here
for the West Indies on Sunday, January Z, It
will be remembered that the Kentucky, which
was following the course laid by the Maine,
went aground in the bay, as did the kear-
sarge, and then the Alabama rammed the
Kentucky. The boats were cautious COM
Tfhe only time it looked az though there
might be trouble was when a Gloucester
mackerel boat. which was standing. out,
held her course while the Maine bore down
her outside the channel, but her skipper
wasn't getting out OF the way of steam until
he wanted to.
When the Gloucesterman had forced the
Maine TO slow down he calmly shifted his
helm.
Il knew a British commander who had
the captain Of a p, d o.. ship bounced for
doing that sort Of a stunt down in the Med
i%terranean a few years ago" said ar officer
Yesterday. But il the Admiral's ship had
sunk that fishing schooner l guess there
would nave been complications, in which
~ ,@,,ll ln ,o D1Nna an anrnnI hnat =