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at OM A Re LN i LAUNCH OF THE SOUTH DAKOTA. Smoothly, gracefully, without a hitch of any kind, and sharp ou time, the new armored cruiser South Dakota, the latest addition to the United States navy, was launched recently from the ways at the Union Iron Works amid the din of steam whistles, the blare of bands and the cheers of thousands of spectators. Christened by a daughter of the state the name of which the huge vessel bears, and in the presence of that state's governor and a delegation which accompanied him, the South Dakota began her career afloat under bright auspices. After an elaborate luncheon given at the St. Francis by the Union Iron Works, the christening party boarded the transport tug Slocum and went to the ship yard, arriving about 6 P. M., 40 minutes before the short but impressive ceremony. With bared heads the christening party listened to a brief prayer for future success by Bishop W. F. Nichols, and then at a JUST PRIOR TO THE LAUNCH. signal from President W. G. Dodd, Miss Grace Mae Herreid, the. nineteen-year-old daughter of Gov. Herreid of South Dakota, pressed a little button at the end of an electric wire, which set the complex launching machinery in motion. The electric current permitted a sharp guillotine-like blade to drop on a cord, the severing of which released a pair of heavy ON THE LAUNCHING STAND. weights. These, rushing down an incline, struck two spars with heavy blows, knocking out the "dog-shores'" which held the vessel back, and the ship released from these started down the ways. R Big Ver ab ey Boe SW, "T christen thee South Dakota!" exclaimed Miss Herreid cooly and in a clear, musical voice, at the same time casting the conventional bottle of champagne against the now receding BOW VIEW OF THE SOUTH DAKOTA. hull. The bottle was smashed to atoms, scattering the foam- ing liquid all over the red plates of the ram bow. The big cruiser was baptized. As the vessel started down the ways the multitude cheered lustily. Not only the ship yard but all the surrounding docks and seawalls, the neighboring hills in the Potrero and a fleet STERN VIEW OF THE SOUTH DAKOTA. of watercraft of all descriptions were crowded with spectators. A variety of steam whistles added their blasts to the din, in which the strains of a couple of brass bands were well nigh drowned. The cruiser made hardly a splash as she went into the water. Her clean, graceful lines cut easily through the waves and, checked at first by a series of chain cables and rope lashings which acted as brakes upon her, she quickly