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1902. ] MARINE REVIEW. oe 17 LAUNCH OF A SEVEN-MASTED STEEL SCHOONER. t is estimated that 10,000 persons witnessed the launch of the seven- masted steel schooner Thomas W. Lawson at the works of the Fore River Ship & Engine Co., Quincy, Mass., last Thursday. '!Miss Helen Watson, daughter of Thomas A. Watson, president of the Fore River company, christened the vessel. The schooner, which is the first seven-masted vessel ever constructed, was launched with her steel lower masts stepped and partially rigged. The hull rested on acradle 282 ft. long, leaving an overhang of 50 ft. aft. The ground ways were 2 ft. wide and 1 ft. thick and extended about 300 ft. astern of the schooner on a foundation of piles. The sliding ways were _ narrower than the ground ways, being 19 in. wide, giving a bearing sur- face of 800 sq. ft. As the weight of the vessel when launched was 2,500 tons, the pressure on the ways was about 3 tons to the square toot. The cradle was fitted to the lines of the hull and then removed, so that on the night before launching the ground ways could be smeared with "launch- ing grease." About 3,000 Ibs. of tallow was spread on the ways, covered with soft soap. The tallow was tried out at the yard to make sure that it would have sufficient body to stand the weight. Over 200 men, under the foreman shipwright, "'set up" the vessel, that is, by driving wedges be- tween the packing and the sliding ways enough to raise the vessel from terra firma until her weight was taken upon the ground and sliding ways. While this was going on, a portion of the force was knocking out the keel blocks and shores, both of which had been supporting the vessel during construction. At this stage of the work the vessel was held ready for launching by bolts through the forward ends of the sliding and ground ways. The vessel was released by sawing through the sliding ways aft of the fastenings. The Thomas W. Lawson measures 403 ft. over all, 368 ft. on the water line, has a beam of 50 ft. 5 in., and a load draught of 26% ft. She has a cargo capacity of about 8,100 tons, and her displacement, when fully steam; also by two hand pumps. Steam is supplied by two boilers set at either end of the schooner. A siren whistle will be provided, and the cabin will be piped for steam heating. In addition, an electric plant and a telephone system will be installed.' The Lawson will carry a crew of sixteen men, all told, with Capt. Arthur L. Crowley as her commander. She has been built for a syndicate headed by Capt. John G. Crowley. When commissioned, she will be used in the coal carrying trade between southern and northern ports, and later may be sent to the Philippines. : NAVAL ITEMS. The navy department has received telegrams from the Union Iron Works of San Francisco and from Lieut. Wenton of the trial board an- nouncing that the torpedo boat destroyer Paul Jones has passed a success- ful trial. The lieutenant says: 'Official trial, maximum speed 28.91 knots on 336 revolutions and 7,900 H.P.; 27.42 knots for one hour at 322 revolu- tions."' The navy department has directed that the work of repairs to the battleships Kearsarge, Alabama and Massachusetts at the New York navy yard and the cruiser Olympia at the Boston yard be completed at once, so that the North Atlantic squadron may get out at sea and in shape for the coming summer maneuvers in conjunction with the army. A 6-in. Bethlehem plate, representing side armor for the new pro- tected cruisers of the Colorado and Pennsylvania class, was tested at the Indian Head proving ground last Saturday. Three shots were fired at the plate at velocities of 1,895-ft. seconds each. The plate stood an excellent test, and appeared to be fully up to the standard of the armor now being supplied for the navy. Réar Admiral M. T. Endicott, chief of the bureau of yards and docks, has made a suggestion looking to an increase in the number of available eo aarens ley ae SEVEN-MASTED STEEL SCHOONER THOMAS W. LAWSON--JUST BEFORE LAUNCHING. loaded, will be about 10,000 tons. Forty-three thousand square feet of canvas will be stretched from seven masts 155 ft. high, the lower masts being steel cylinders 135 ft. long and 32 in. in diameter, weighing nearly 20 tons each. The topmasts are of Oregon pine, 58 ft. long. The spike bewsprit is of steel, 85 long, so that from the tip of her bowsprit to the tip of her aftermost boom she will measure 478 ft. She has six engines, one forward of 40 H.P. to work the capstan and hoist her two 10,000-Ib.' stockless anchors, and five others of 25 H.P. each to handle the sails and do stevedore work at her six hatchways when she is in port. The Lawson has a double bottom of cellular construction, 4 ft. deep, between the inner and outer plating, divided into four compartments capable of carrying 1,000 tons of water ballast. Besides this, there is a trimming tank at each end. Over 2,000 tons of open-hearth steel have been used in the construc- tion of the hull, the plating of which is on the joggle system. She has two continuous steel decks, besides a lower deck composed of a tier of beams connected together with stringers and tie plates. The ends of the vessel are very strongly built and are connected to each other by stringers be- tween decks running the whole length of the vessel. The vessel has a forecastle and poop deck, a cabin, and two deck houses, besides a wheel house. The cabin joiner work is of oak, natural finish, of plain and neat design. The weather decks and deck houses are covered with deck plank. The vessel is steered by both hand and steam power. She has complete plumbing and drainage systems, so connected that each compartment can be pumped out separately, or as a whole, by candidates from whom may be chosen the three appointees to his corps authorized by the naval appropriation act. He has suggested that examina- tions be held in Pittsburgh and Chicago, in the hope that they will attract many young men of the professions who are now employed in those two cities, who would not think of making a trip to the coast cities with the uncertainty of successfully passing the examination. At the last examina- -- tion there were twenty-two candidates, and only two qualified. The next examinations will be held in September. A report from Washington is to the effect that the most trustworthy information regarding the naval strength of Japan is as follows: Six new battleships with 276 guns; two old battleships with forty-six guns; ten battleships for coast defence, with ninety-nine guns; six first-class cruisers, with 221 guns; nine second-class cruisers, with 247 guns; five third-class cruisers, with 103 guns; two first-class gunboats, with nineteen guns; fourteen second-class gunboats, with sixty-two guns; four aviso ships, with thirty-five guns; one transport, with eight guns; total, fifty-nine ships, 1,110 guns. There are also seven first-class torpedo boats, thirty- six second-class torpedo boats, twenty-six third-class torpedo boats, one fourth-class torpego boat, nineteen torpedo-boat destroyers. «¥f The Clydé@fliner Apache is now at the Cramp ship yard where work has been begun on cutting her in half. When this is completed the halves will be drawn apart and 52 ft. built up in the center.