Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1908-12-04
FOUR REMARKABLE LITTLE YES
Sells ABOUT TO MAKE LONG
VOYAGES.
ARMY POSTS THAT FLOAT.
West Pointers Equipping the Snug Lit
tie Craft for the Run tc the
Pacific.
TWELVE DAYS LONGEST RUN.

or the United States army are fitting out
a iotilla of mine-planters for the Pa
cifc. says the New York Evening Post
incidentally, in preparing these little
ships for a 10000-mile ocean cruise, they
are demonstrating anew the resourcetul-
ness of the West Pointer, who appears
to take to the quarterback with as much
ease as though he had been a sailorman
all his life. Whether making forced
march or overhauling ship, it is all the
same to him.
The army has only four of these mine
planters, and when they follow the bat
tleships, the torpedo boats, the torpedo
boat destroyers, and the nayy's giant
floating drydoek to the far east, the
Atlantic seaboard will be without any
boats to locate and anchor the mines
that protect our harbors, that is, until
next summer. when four new vessels of
this class will be launched and put into
commission.
Rugged for Travelling.
Built for travelling up and down the
coast, the mine-planters have a steaming
radius of only 1900 miles. What the
army officers have done is to practically
double this radius, by providing addi-
tional bunker capacity, so as to permit
the boats to steam 2400 miles, without
recoaling. They have also built whale
back forward of pinch spruce, over a
framework of steel to protect the deck
while bucking head seas. The big tri-
angle forward, used for the lowering and
hosting of the mines, has been removed
and shipped overland to San Francisco.
Storm coverings have been built for the
cabin windows. and the interior has been
rearranged so that communication may
be hau from one part of the ship to an
other without venturing outside.
The extra long rudders, which are nee
essary to enable them to make a quick,
sharp turn In the mine fields, have been
harnessed with shock absorbers and
rugged with extra steering tackle as
precaution against accident in heavy
weather. The whole job is one that has
been done with a thoroughness credit
able to men from the other line of serv-
ice. and in doing it, the army officers
have acquired nautical vocabulary that
would pass muster in the fo'castle of a
| Gloucester fisherman.
! Capt. K. *. Ferguson, commanding
| the Armistead and the Ringgold, two of
the mine-planters' expedition whose OBJ
| lectiye is San Francisco by way of the
Straits of Magellan, was graduated from
| West Point in 1896 and has been in the
Coast Artillery corps since its organiza-
ton. With him will go First Lieut.. c..
| l.. Corbin. The former viii have charge
/ VI AHt lhIulSlGuu anu the ldLl6T VI Tile
Ringgold, but on the voyage round the
| Horn both officers will have quarters on
the Armistead
| Lieut.. Maxwell Murray and Lieut..
| William %. Shedd, Jr., will have com
mand of the Hunt and the Knox, respec-
tively-the rest of the feet-with the
! former in command. The destination of
| this expedition is Manila, by way of the
Suez canal. Lieut.. Murray is a son OF
Gen. Murray, chief of artillery, II. S. A..
and he and Lieut.. Shedd were class
mates at the Point. They will live to-
gether aboard the Hunt for the next five
months.
| Capt. Ferguson and Lieut. Murray
are scheduled to leave Fort Monroe for
the open sea on November 80 They will
proceed together out beyond the Virginia
| Capes, and for 200 miles eastward I'M
til the Gulf stream is crossed, when they
will part company, Capt. FERGUSON
heading south for San Juan, and Lieut.
| Murray making straight for the Ber-
mudas. Capt. Ferguson does not expect
to reach San Francisco before April %.
/ The other pair of planters are due to
| pass Corregidor, at the entrance of
Manila bay. about March %. and viii
reach their destination nearly month
in advance of the others.
Powerful Little Craft.
| Only $50 feet in length, these four
boats are nowhere near the size of an
ocean-going tug that lows the oil barges
up and down the coast But they are
powerful and new, and each has an ex-
perienced civilian crew. The complement
for each is six ships officers. six deck
1 hands, six hremen, three oilers. three
coal passers, two cooks, a quartermaster
sergeant, and hospital steward This
force is under the command of the army
officers, who have the full responsibility
/ fJ..,,
and discretion will be left the question
of speed and coal, and the handling of
the vessels in all emergencies.
1t is for them to decide how much
water they will carry and how much
| they will sacrifice for coal. Every inch
of space on these little ships counts on
| a long voyage like this The boilers will
alone take twelve tons of coal a dav
| to produce a speed of eight knots nm
hour, which must be maintained in order
| to make the ports of call and keep the
bunkers full. Coal will be heaped bun
ker full on the planters when they leave
/ Fort Monroe. There will be more coal
ON the deck under the whalebaek and in
| the forehold, over which a tackle and
| block has been rugged. to pass it back
for replenishing the bunkers.
To help make speed, FIVE sails are
rugged above the superstrueture. two
| headsails and three trisails, which will he
4
records are being attempted on this trim
to the Pacific. The object is to get the
boats there in good condition, and if head
winds or head seas get too boisterous
overheard will so the sea anchors. and
| the boats will ride out the blows at the
end of 100 fathoms of cable until the
weather improves and they can proceed.
From the upper deck where the sails
are rugged one can get a good idea of
| the preparations made for encountering
heavy weather Everything movable Il
! dashed tight and secure. The two life
| boats. dory, and life raft that are
carried on each ship are roped hard and
secure, and inside of each one of them
are the water casks and the cans of
biscuits, ready this moment for use in
an emergency.
A Floating Army Post.
Forward is the wheelhouse and the
masters quarters. alongside his mates
! Immediately to the rear. Aft is an nm
/ per-deck stateroom, well furnishes
Down companion way one approaches
the captains cabin, a large and com
/ Ions ,sr,e- =