The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1907-10-25
100000 BATTLESA|PS
NAVAL vesseLs THAT HAVE en-.
coUNreReo MISFORTUNE.
Maine and Philadelphia Never Went
night - chIcsso Called Lame
White swan" =. Baltimore
slessed with Good Luck.

Washington. The return OF the
cruiser Baltimore from what Is said to
be her last voyage as q fighting yea.
sci OF the navy caused Carl Edwards
to speak reminiscently. She was
one of the first warships Of the so
called white squadron" he said, ito be
built by our government. She cannot
be considered as belonging TO the
y'hoodoo class, which Includes the
first Maine, the Philadelphia and, TO a
certain extent, the Chicago and the
Texas.
The Maine. upon starting upon her
first cruise from the Brooklyn navy
yard, did not set level with her water
line. She was down by the head
which was regarded as an unlucky
omen. It>is not necessary to relate
her successive misfortunes, conclud.
ing with her tragic end IN Havana lar.
bor, with which began one Of the In.
teresting epochs IN American history.
The Philadelphia, sister ship Of
the Baltimore. was never sent far
from home waters. Originally square
rugged. military masts We're substl-
tuted on account Of top.heaviness
Good management, coupled with good
fortune. prevented her from absolute.
ly turning turtle on more than ope oc.
casion.
The Texas was looked on as. con.
siderable of hoodoo until she re-
deemed her reputation at the battle
of Santiago. Prior to the Spanish
war she partly sunk at the Cob dock
In Brooklyn owing to sea valve
working loose aud flooding her almost
to the spar deck" A lovely widow
from New Jersey used to kick the
ceilings of the Texas with the tips OF
her toes, and every time she made q
clean touch lieutenant marked the
spot with blue pencil The ships
nsides took on a cerulean hue.
"The Chicago" continued Mr.. Ed
wards. Though considered one OF the
best built ships in the navy and thoc-
ougtly seaworthy. was continually in
misfortune on account Of defective
machinery and boilers. She never
made more than 10 or i2 knots. that
|. being her fastest time consistent with
safety. A noble ship to gaze upop, the
Chicago was called the Lame White
Swan OF the navy Equipped with
triple expansion engines. as she has
now. been for several years. there IL
probably no better second.class cruiser.
In commission today. Her crews In
the early days were never we'll con
tented. The desertions were many.
and the men were constantly up to
the mast sor various infractions Of
discipline. On the European cruise of
iS93.1S95 considerable friction existed
between some of the principal officers,
and just before that cruise half a
dozen marines got into serious trou
Bile while on special duty ashore at
la Kuayra, and were sent to the navy
Prison in Boston. The officer OF the
marines was put on the retired list
as he was believed to be partly at
fault for his men getting into the
scrape.
"The Baltimore had much better
fortune. On the occasion of her de-
tail to carry to Sweden, his native
land, the body of John Ericsson (who
might be called the father OF the bat
tleship) great ovation was given to
the Baltimore, and a valuable souvenir
medal commemorative the event was
presented by King Oscar to every man
on board. from the captain down. No
ship that sailed the seas ever had q
greater honor conferred upon her.
bearing as she did the earthly re-
mains of the greatest inventor in the
history of naval architecture