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OcTOBER 3, [90I. THE MARINE RECORD. MJ THE U. S. CRUISER ‘"‘CLEVELAND.”’ The launch of the U. S. cruiser Cleveland fom the ways at the Bath Iron Works, Bath, Me., took place on Saturday last. The cruiser was christened by Miss ‘Ruth Hanna, accompanied by her father, Senator M. A. Hanna, and delegates from the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, Senators Frye and Hale, Representative Littlefield and Governor Hill and staff. After the launching a lunch was served in their honor. While in Bath the visitors were the guests of the company, but on Saturday evening a public reception was given them under the auspices of the Bard of Trade. The Cleveland is one of six sheathed protected cruisers, the construction of which was authorized by an act of Congress, approved March 3, 1899, the other five being the Denver, Des Moines, Chattanooga, Galveston and Tacoma, The principal dimensions are as follows: Length on water line, 292 ft.; over all length, 308 ft. 9 in.; beam molded, 43 ft. 3% in.; beam extreme, 44 ft.; freeboard forward, 20 ft.; freeboard aft, 18 ft..6in.; freeboard: amid- ships, 15 ft. 9 in.; mean draught in normal condition, 15 ft. gin.; corresponding displacement, 3,200 tons; speed re- quired to contract, 16% knots. A remarkable feature about the vessels of the Cleveland Class is the large displacement adopted, Congress having allowed for vessels of the Detroit class, but the Naval Board added about goo tons, which has taken them out of the gun- boat class and made them full- -fledged seagoing fighting ships. Another important thing in connection with the Cleveland and her five sister ships is the idea of sheathing the bottoms with hard pine covered with copper to pre- vent the rapid growth of weeds and barnacles which so sadly reduce a vessel’s speed, especially in tropical waters. She will, be equipped with two vertical inverted, 4-cylin- der, triple-expansion engines, developing 4,500 h. p. There are six water tube boilers tested fora working pressure of 275 pounds. ~The total grate surface will be about 13,000 square feet, and the total heating surface about 13,000 square feet. There will be two smoke stacks, the top of each being 70 feet above the grates. The coal capacity of this ship with bunkers full (700 tons) is sufficient to give her a radius of action at full speed of about2,600 miles. At the most economical rate of steaming, probably in the neighborhood of 10 knots an hour, she will be able to steam without re-coaling from San Francisco to Manila. The armament will be as follows: Main battery, ten 5-in. rapid-fire guns; auxiliary battery, eight 6-pounder rapid- fire guns, two one-pounder rapid-fire guns and four Colt’s machine guns. The sail area will be about 6,000 square feet. The guns will be designed for smokeless powder and’ the 5-in guns will be more effective than the old type of 6-in. guns. Hight of them will be mounted on the main deck in recessed ports, the four forward ones having a range from right forward to 60 degrees abaft the beam, and the four after ones from right aft to 60 degrees before the beam. The two remaining 5-in. guns will be mounted behind shields, on the spar deck, one forward and one aft. Four 6-pounders will be mounted on the main deck, and the Colt machine guns on the top of the hammock berthing. The ammunition supply will be large, as it should be, to make rapid-fire guns effective. For each of the 5-inch guns it will carry 250 aes. and for each of the 6-pounders 500 rounds. The wood used in the construction of the hull has been reduced toa minimum. All the bulkheads on the gun and berth decks will be of metal, and it will be fitted with a pilot house on the spar deck, built entirely of the non-magnetic metal. Where it is necessary to use wood for any purpose, it will be treated with the electric fire-proofiag process before being worked. A water-tight deck covered with half-inch plate will be worked from stem to stern, the sides sloping down to 3 feet below the water line, and the flat or midship portion rising 18 inches above the same. The Cleveland will have two searchlights, an electric sig- naling system and a complete installation of electric lights. The blower for ventilation and deck winches will be operated by electricity amidship. She will carry one 30-foot steam cutter, one 30-foot launch, two 28-foot cutters, one 28-foot whaleboat gig, one 28 foot whaleboat and one 18 foot dinghy. The Cleveland is to be fitted with a distilling plant, ice machine and refrigerating rooms. ‘Quarters are provided for the following officers; Commanding officer, twelve ward room officers, ten junior officers, four warrant officers, eight warrant machinists, 238 sailors and twenty-five marines; total» 298. The contract for the Cleveland was signed Dec. 14, 1899, her keel was laid Friday, June 1, 1900, and she will be the first of the six vessels of her class to be launched. She is the, largest Government vessel as yet constructed by the Bath Iron Works, although the company is now receiving material for the battleship Georgia, work upon which will soon begin. We are indebted to the Nautical Gazette, New York, for the accompanying illustration and descriptive matter. ro or oe TESTING STRENGTH OF CABLES. In the use of wire ropes or cables which are subjected to great strain, it is desirable to find out what this strain may be in order to supply the proper strength of connection to prevent breakage. This great and varying strain is especially met with in lumber regions in which it is the U. S. CRUISER CLEVELAND, 3,200 TONS DISPLACEMENT, LAUNCHED FROM THE BATH IRON WORKS SHIPYARD ON SATURDAY. (By courtesy of the Nautical Gazette, New York.) custom to fix a powerful engine, and then to lead a wire rope or cable around direction pulleys to the logs which are to be moved. The rope being fastened to the log, the power isapplied until the log moves or the rope breaks. It will be evident that if the strength of the rope or cable was known and some means provided for indicating:the strain thereon, such breakage could readily be avoided. Henry M Brittan, of San Francisco, Cal., has devised what he terms a stress apparatus arranged to be placed at any point desired between the parts to be tested, and to in- dicate the strain applied thereto. The patent he has pro- cured on the apparatus has been assigned to the American Steel and Wire Company, of San Francisco. In the construction shown in the patent, a cylinder is pro- vided having a yoke which surrounds one end, the yoke be- ing provided with means for attaching one end to cable. Within the cylinder is a plunger which projects from one end, and is provided on its projecting ends with guides that embrace the yoke. Another yoke is secured to this plunger, surrounding the opposite end of the cylinder. Arranged upon one face of the cylinder is an indicating device having a pipe that leads to the interior. The operation will be obvious. The ends of the ropes or cables are secured to the yokes, and when the strain is ap- plied the plunger will be forced in the p’ston, the liquid or fluid arranged within will consequently be forced through the pipe and to the indicating device, which has a suitable scale and pointer to show the pressure applied. IN FAVOR OF A SHIP SUBSIDY, In a recent address delivered in Charlotte, N. C., Ellison A. Smyth, of Pelzer, S. C., discussed the necessity ofa shipping bill to stimulate the carrying of cotton to China from southern ports. He said: ‘‘We should heartily favor any measure that would tend to the unbuilding and strengthening of our merchant marine, and I would like to see the day when the United States flag will be as often seen on the high seas as it was fifty years ago. The Hanna subsidy bill, so called, is endorsed by the National Association of Manufacturers, and its enactment into law would be one step towards the re-establishment of our merchant marine. The Pelzer company is a large ship- per of export cottons, and to-day we are shipping five car loads of sheetings and drills to China, and, as usual with our transcontinental shipments these goods are routed by the buyers by the most direct line to Canada, then by the Canadian Pacific railroad to Vancouver and by the British mail steamship line to China, It is perhaps not altogether strange, under all the circumstances, that while there are three railroad lines in the United States across the conti- nent, and with steamship lines from San Francisco, the Canadian Pacific railroad and British mail steamship lines bag all the business. It is a fact, however, that from mills in South Carolina goods for China go first to Canada, and thence across the continent. If our steamship lines were also subsidized between San Francisco and China this would not be the case. If it were not for the advantages offered by the Canadian Pacific railroad—advantages that are being offered by reason of the subsidizing of this line by the British Government—the southern cotton manuf’ct’res could not compete in freight rates with the English manu- facturers, who can ship from Manchester, England, to Shanghai by the Suez canal at the rate of 50 per Ioo pounds. In our effort to de- velop trade in South Ameri- ca we are confronted with the double freights we have to pay in shipping goods, first to Liverpool and then back across the Atlantic to South American ports. There are no steamship lines of any moment, or that have regu- lar sailings, in existence be- tween our ports and those of South America, whereas in Rio de Janeiro alone there are twenty-eight lines of steamships running regularly from Great Britain and the continent. All of these lines are subsidized by foreign gov- ments, and, of course, trade follows the flag. It has beenern suggested by one of our local papers that this could be over- come by the southern manufacturers chartering a steamer and sending a shipload of goods to South America. This idea lacks practicability, simply because goods are not con- signed to export dealers, but are shipped on orders, and from samples previously furnished and in smaller quantities. It would be a costly experiment to consign a ship load of manufactured goods to any foreign port. The day of barter- ing with the natives is past.”’ —————e SS LIFE SAVERS’ TESTIMONIAL. F. J. Hayes & Co., lumber dealers and vessel owners of Port Huron, have expressed their gratitude to the Pointe Aux Barques life saving crew for the gallant work done upon the Andrew Jackson, as follows: ‘“‘We desire to express to the public our appreciation and also to thank Capt. J. H. Frahm and his gallant crew of life- savers located at Point Aux Barques life-saving station for the valuable work done in rescuing the crew and ‘securing the lumber from our vessel Andrew Jackson wrecked on Pointe Aux Barques reef during the terrible night of Sep- tember 7th, 1901. The vessel proves to be a total loss, but through the efforts of the life-saving crew and excellent judgment of Capt. Frahm we were enabled to get the lum- ber from the wreck. Only those who sail the Great Lakes aud are exposed to the storms and dangers of navigation appreciate the value of our life-saving service. Words fail to express the praise that Capt. Frahm and his noble crew are entitled to. Yours truly, F. J. Haynes & Co.”