The Washington herald., 1906-11-06

cost $4,000, is scve1ty-two feet long, ten
feet beam, and draws three and one-haIf
feet Of water She is armed with one
FOUNDER and one machine gun The other
three viii be launchcd in about three
weeks, and viii be similarly equipped.
IL is believed that these boats will efec-
tuaily stop smuggling al Porto Rico. as
they viii be able o. penetrate every cove
where greater draUght beat could not
go
It IS just possible that some Of the crew
Of the ships now M League Island will
be transferred To the ships OF this patrol
fleet
Louisiana Gets Under Way.
New s-ork. Nov. with the sun gIeam-
ing brightly on her spotless white and
the buzz of her superstruc>~-ye. the I.ouisi-
ana, Uncle Sans newest battle scs2- which
is TO take President Roosevelt 20 Panama.
got under way from the Brooklyn Navy
Yard to-day FOR Hampton Roads. where
she should arrive some tine tomorrow
To take on stores. Then she viii pick up
President Roosevelt at Wolf Trap Light.
in Chesapeake Bay. after which she will
proceed % Colon Panama There she
viii remain several days, in order that
the President may 90 out over the Canal
Zone ard get some frst-hand information
concerning the conditions there
Tn 10 the very hour of departure. the
Louisiana lay az the Cob Dock. her decks
swarming with bustling jackies in their
pancake caps ana blue uniforms, who
were busy in preparations for getting the
s@a-fghter of. There was a mix.
running here and there with chains
and cables which We're attached TO the
ship somewhere. Capt Cowden. from
the bridge. had his eye on everything.
One after the other the ropes were cast
OF or dragged aboard. Soon only one
big cable held the 16ooo-ton vessel. The
tugs George Kirl5ham and Pentucket
steamed busiIy up and attached lines TO
the Louisiana
Throw of that dock linc.' came the
command through the megaphone. The
last cable was cast loose a steam der
rick on the dock, with "a lengthy iron arm
from which dangled an iron hook, caught
the gang plank and lifted il out of the
way. a man on the bridge lifted a bugle
and sounded the call. "Saluting gun crews
to quarters" The refrain was picked I'D
by a bJgler at the other end OF the war
ship. and the men who were TO fire the
six-pounders stepped to their quarters.
With the light reflected back from the
muZZles Of her broadside batteries of
7-inCh guns-six on each side of the vessel
from her S-inch turTet guns and the mon
ster Pinch guns forward and aft-ma-
chimes of destruction forty-two feet in
length-the Louisiana moved slowly down
the narrow lane Of water between the Cob
Dock and the war ships on the opposite
side OF the basin.
Passing the Massachusetts on the one
hand. the COunectiCut( which is sister
shin Of the Louisiana. and scarcely less
new, and the Maine, which is smaller. on
the other hand the big fighter moved
very slowly out into the East River. help
ed by the tugs.
She was close tc the Williamsburg
bridge when she turned about. and then
from her starboard side leaped a jet of
fame. This was followed by report
which reverbeTated from the skyscrapers
of Manhattan and the teuements which
fringe the navy yard on the Brooklyn
shore. Then came a puff Of smoke white
as the hull Of the vessel. Another Jet Of
flame on the port quarter and another re-
port So firing her six-pOunders on each
side, alternately the Louisiana saluted
the admiral
When the last echo had died away. the
guns on the Cob Dock replied with a cap
tain's salute Of nine guns and with this
send OFF the Louisiana, her three long fun
nels belching black smoke, moved of
down the river under her own steam. Her
fighting tops We're black with men. for
when the Brooklyn bridge was reached It
was necessary to lower the lofty topmasts
in order that the ship might pass success
fully unGeTneaths