The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, July 31, 1898, Page 4

4 THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, JULY 31, 1898. OFFICIAL NOTICE OF THE Letter of Thanks and Congratu- lation From Secretary Long to the WASHINGTON, July 30.—The Navy | the QOregon, 9738 for the Indiana and Department has taken official notice of the splendid achievements of the battle- | ship Oregon. The ship's unequaled rec- ord of sustained speed on the long voy age from San Franc to Santiago and the unsurpassed fighting qualities displayed in the successtul encounter s fleet have elicited a let ecretary of the Navy Long to Iron Works of San Fran- v fror Union The Secretary's letter was written ly after the off 1 accounts of the estruction of Admiral Cervera's fleet re flled. The document mentions the long cruise of the Oregon from Puget Sound on the Pacific to Key West on the Atlantic, and dwells with special s on the fact that no repairs weeded at the finish of the unex pled run. the builc Jong sustair emph wer s the letter compliment s for the remarkable and d speed displayed on the voyage of 00 miles, but especial recognition is given the splendid abili- ties of the ship as shown in the swift pursuit nd suc ul engagement of 14 the formidable cruisers of the Spanish| navy that were seeking to escape from | Santiago. The letter states that the department for the time writes to a ship- building establishment commending the considers work of construction, but that the nc ble results ace: by .the.Oregon justify the s knowledgment on the part of the Départment of the United Stat THE OREGON'S SUCCESS WAS NEVER PARALLELED Product of This Coast Proved Her- self the Greatest Battle- Ship Afioat. The remarkable s is probably -unpar her .performa n mnaval passed e of nav of the Oregon :d in any navy, s have convinced that this coun- through the experimen- building and has fur- alle powers | wondrous mechanical skill—a skill ap- | tical man with vast experience in get- y | safety. OREGON’S GREAT RECORD| Scotts. 10,403 for the Massachusefts. In the building of these three ships there was a contest of brains and me- | chanical skill between an old-estab-| lished firm with the experience gained | through the building of upward of two | hundred vessels and the practically un- tried capacity of another firm which | had hitherto built chiefly mining ma- | chinery and only half a dozen vessels, three of which were for the navy. In this contest there is one man to whose proaching Oregon genius—the success of the g largely due. This is George W. Dickie, manager of the Union Iron Works. He gave to the construction and equipment of the *ship through many months the best of his thought and labor, and when she left the dock | on her trial trip she was as perfectly fitted a machine as ever floated. | Among other improvements made by | Mr. Dickie v the change in propell- | ers by which the slip was reduced to 14.33 per cent, against 22.64 in the Mas- | sachusetts and 24.85 per cent in the| Indiana. W. R. Eckart, consulting engineer, a | former engineer in the navy, of high | scientific attainments and rare practi- | cal ability, contributed his share to- ward the final success. Robert Forsyth, an eminently prac- ting the most work out of the en- gines and boilers in a ship, also did good work on the Oregon. He worked | the engines up to their full capacity | with due regard to the fact that every- | thing was new and untried, and the | subsequent career of the ship shows | that he was within the margin of | The performance at her trial demon- | strated her superiority in speed over | her competitors, and the run of about | 14,000 miles without stopping to over- haul any part of the complicated and delicate machinery is as flne a testi- monial to the honest work of San Fran- cisco mechanics as could be desired and any one of them in the future may well be proud that he was one of the build- ers of the Oregon. The good ship left San rancisco March 19 for the East, with her bunkers full, drawing about 26 feet of water. She averaged 10.96 knots on her run of | 4112 knots to Callao, thence 2550 knots | at 11.9 knots an hour, and from Sandy Point made a spurt of 146 knots eon hour during nine consecutive hours J. O’B. GUNN, SECRETARY UNION IRON WORKS. to turn out warships equal to the best and superior to the majority of foreign ships. The Oregon’'s record reflects credit to the nation; the Pacific Coast is justly proud of its product; the con- structors are jubilant over their suc- cess, and the builders, embracing the mechanical experts, mechanics and every man and boy whose brain work or conscientious manual labor produced this magnificent ship, are, also, proud of their work. The three battleships—the Indiana Massachusetts and Oregon—were au- thorized to be built t t of Congress on June 30, 1850, While the bill was before Comgress the Nayy Department was preparing the plans for the ship the designers of the hull being A ant.Naval Constructors Lewis Ni and David W, Taylor, while the ma- chinery plans were made in the Bu- reau of Steam Engine 18 under En- gineer-in-Chief George W. Melville. On the day following the passage of the act the plans were ready and bids invited, and November 18-19 following the contracts for their construction were signed. The Cr diana and Massachusetts and the Union Iron Works got the Oregon. Owing to delay in supplying the armor and ord- nance the completion of the ships was greatly protracted, the Oregon natur- ally suffering the most because of the 3000 miles’ distance from the base of supplies. The ships were identical as to lines of hull, machinery and general arrangement and their contract speed was fifteen knots. The builders had the privilege of making changes in the details of the motive power of the ships on which would result in attaining a higher sl;ee-d and greater efficiency. subject to the approval of the Navy Department, and, also subject to the limitations of weight. That the ex- perts at the Union Iron Works exer- cised this right of making changes with good effect is proved by the fact that the Oregon made 16.79 knots during her trial of four hours under forced draught, while the Indiana and Massa- chusetts, built by Cramp, made 15.48 and 16.21 knots respectively. The horse- power of the three ships was 11,111 for mps built the In- | without resorting to forced draught. Arriving at Juriter Inlet, Florida, May 23, she had accomplished the long voy- age at the average rate of 11% knots | an hour, and what is still more remark- able, no part of the ship was in need of repairs. On the contrary, Captain Clark at once joined our fleet at San- tiago, where, on July 3, the ship ren- dered such signal service in the de- struction of Cervera's fle The story of the events of that dav are too re- cent to need recital, and stories of the work of the Oregon are daily coming in, but there is one lesson to be deduced from the results of the battle off San- tiago which should not be ignored, and it is this: When Cervera’s fleet ran out the Brooklyn, rated at 21.91 knots, was nearest to the enemy, and the Ore- gon further away. In the chase of the flylng enemy the Oregon, rated at 16.79 knots speed, gained on both the Brooklyn and upon the Cristobal Co- lon, credited with 20 knotg,speed. This would indicate that while the Oregon was doing her level best the Brooklyn was either unprepared for the dash or unable because of foulness of bottom to make the same speed as the Ore- gon, and finaily that the Spanish ship was overrated as to speed. Foreign navies abound in ships with phenome- nal speeds on paper, and it would seem that we have some also In our navy, but that trip of 14,000 miles, culminat- ing in a dash of speed exceeding those rated several knots higher, goes to show that the Oregon has done more than her duty and that the ships turned out by the Union Iron Works are the peers of any in the world. P sl HE IS A GREAT __ SHIP-BUILDER Brief Sketch of the Career of George W. Dickie of the Union Iron Works. The following biographical sketch of Mr. Dickie has just been prepared by John W. Richards, one of the contrib- GEORGE W. DICKIE, Manager of the Union Iron Works, to Whose Wonderful Mechapical Skill the Success of the Battleship Oregon Is Largely Due. ® ? 9 ® ® ® ® ® ADVEBTISEMIEWES. | —@—@—@— 103 OO O OamtORuOmuOr HOUSE-FU RNISHING GOODS ees ON ... . SPECIAL SALE FOR THIS WEEK ) ® o 10z Oon Oz O O s O O OO YOSO ©® ! —_— SPEC White Quilts. $1.00, $1.20, $1.70, §2.20, 25 dozen extra large size White Honeycomb Quilts in good pat- terns, hemmed, ready for use. Regular value $1.25. 20 dozen large size Honeycomb Quilts, Marseilles patterns, good quality. Regular value $1.30. 30 dozen extra large size Honey- comb Quilts, Marseilles pat- terns, hemmed, ready for use, choice patterns. Regular value $2.25. 20 dozen Marseilles Quilts, extra large size, hemmed, ready for use. Excellent value $2.75. EXTRA SPECIAL. Extraordinary values in Ready-made Sheets and Pillowcases, in plain hemmed, hemstitched and embroidered, in all sizes. IALS. Table Linen. | YARD—25 pieces 66-inch Half- \55[" bleached German Table Linen, war- ! ranted pure linen, in choice designs. Regular value 75 | YARD—25 pieces 72-inch Half- 75[" bleached German Table Linen, | ranted pure linen, in new choice 'i designs. Well worth $1.00 a yard. YARD—35 pieces 66-inch Bleached Table Damask (German manufac- ture), warranted pure linen, extra heavy quality, in choice designs. Excellent value at $1.10. 25 pieces 72-inch Bleached Table | $]|UU| Damask (G2rman manufacture), | in extra fine quality, choice de- | signs. Regular value $1.25. 10c colorings, very choice designs. A YARD—200 pieces new Wrapper Flannelettes, in dark and medium On sale at 10c a yard. 123 to 129 POST STREET. OO OO O OO e O O O O O O O O OO O g O OO HO-0-0-0-0-0-0-O-0-0-0-O-O-0-0-O-O-O-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-& 4? be published in the forthcoming num- ber of that periodical: George W. Dickie was born at Ard- | roth, Scotland, siXty years ago. He first trained in his father's shipyard | at Ardroth, and afterward moved to Dundee. After this he served an ap- prenticeship with a North British ilroad, and was then trained in con- struction of textile machinery and hy- draulic machines and apparatus, and | then be e qualified for the multifar- | fous dut which he has been called upon to discharge in San Fran is a personal friend and is clo connected” In_a political se le, Commodore George W. Melville of the Bureau of Steam Engineering of the United States Navy. The: ve extended reciprocal aid to each other. His present position as a_ ship-bullder is as well established in other countries as at home. The use and progress of deep water shipbuilding on the Pacific Coast has been due in a great measure to the per- sonal acts of Mr. Dickie, who holds the position of chief engineer of the Union Tron Works. Shipbuilding may be said to be congenital in the Dickie family, who for more than 200 years have all been shipbuilders. When he came to the coast, more than twenty years ago, he came with the object of establishing shipbuilding here. At that time iron shipbuilding had not been commenced in the United States, but the change from wood to metal was evident and people hesitated to engage in an indus- try which had apparently so liftle permanence as wooden ship- building. Mr. Dickie became chief constructing engineer for the Risdon Iron Works after first building the San Francisco Gas Works, and a little later on for ‘thn famous Comstock lode at Virginia City engineering works of a novel character. Tn the meantime he had induced his brothers to follow him to this coast— James Dickie, now shipbuilder for the Union Iron Works, and John Dickie, who occupies the same position in the Fulton Iron Works. They established the firm of Dickie Bros., which, how- ever, did not include the personal ser- vices of George Dickie. About 188¢ he prepared elaborate and complete drawings for what is called composite vessels, with thé in- tention_of establishing a line between n Francisco and New York via the traits of Magellan, which ' enterprise failed owing to the non-investment of capital. In 1885 he attempted an organization in San rrancisco composed of a num- ber of our most prominent citizens to absorb the business of Dickie Bros., and to founl a manufactory for the building of iron steamships. About the ame time the Union Iron Works con- ved a similar scheme which, under _.e direction of Irving M. Scott, took form in the acquirement of land at the Potrero, and the removal of the works to that place. As there was not room for the two kindred enterprises, Mr. Dickie was induced to become a mem- ber of the Union Iron Works, repre- senting the shipbuilding branch of their industry as chief engineer. The bullding of Government vessels by the Union Iron Works was commenced after a visit of Irving M. Scott to the Navy Department and other executive branches of the Government at Wash- ington. The history of subsequent contracts for the Government has culminated in the construction of the battleship Ore- gon, the first being the Charleston. The Oregon speaks for itself, for Mr. Dickie and for the Union Iron Works, and is perhaps the best vessel of its class in the world. The immense labor of draw- ing plans and making computations devolved entirely upon Mr. Dixie, who, in one case, was in his office al- most all the time for six months. One thing in connection with:Mr. Dickie's recent visit to Japanisnot gen- erally known. He went there after Mr. Scott had returned to find that Eng- land had sent the war vessel Edgar there for the same purpose, namely, to secure contracts for building Japanese warships. He went on board the Ed- gar, introduced himself to the captain, and told his purpose. The English of- ficer acted manfully and introduced him to the Japanese naval officials. In company with Lord and Lady Spencer and a number of other distin- guished guests he was taken on an ex- cursion in the Edgar around he Sea of utors of Cassier's Magazine, and Is to { ROBERT FORSYTH, SUPERINTEgD]NG ENGINEER UNION IRON w Japan. The fair treatment accorded by the Britishers gave this country an equal show in competition, and Mr. Dickie received contracts for two Jap- anese war vessels. This incident is very pleasing, taken in connection with the friendly relations now existing be- tween England and America. ‘While a good ter and conversa- tionalist, Mr. Dickie is withal so mod- est of character and reticent of speech | that Mr. Richards had to secure the| facts of his biography from friends. c HINESE WARSHIP SUNK DURING A STORM One Hundred and Forty-Six Persons‘ Reported Drowned at Port Arthur. BERLIN, July 30.—A morning paper of | this city says that the Chinese warship Jutschi has been sunk at during a storm and that 146 persons were | drowned. listed and it is possible that an error has | been made name by cable. WILL BE ABANDONED Port Arthur No such Chinese warship is in the transmission of the AS A PERMANENT CAMP WASHINGTON, July 30.—By direction of the Secretary of War orders have been ! from issued that Miami, Fla., shall be aban- doned as one of the permanent camps of the United States forces, and directing that the troops now there shall be trans- ferred immediately nville. C it of the nec dequate fa- cilities for the proper sanitation of the camp it was deemed desirable to move | the troops to some oth There are now irst and ond Texas, bama and the First and Second Lo the econd Al | fana. The illness among the men at malarial and typhoid fever. tention is being given those who fined in the hospital nd th are g along as well as reasonably could be pected. Miami a T S j Travels of Two Princes. BERLIN, July 3.—Prince 'Henry of | Prussia arrived at Fus: 28, | fry an, Korea, on July His vessel, the Deutschland, will sail om there on August 5. NEW YORK, July Emmanuvel of Ifaly,” w the Count of Turin, arrived here tc Newport. are not alone. healthy men. your case. mentally tired. sent. # your blood Is tal T ‘has cleansed thousands of ! rapld and always effective. i ! { . Looks weak. Who says that of you? some say. But you are well aware that those who say that you are weak know the truth. In your common sense, why do you not try to alter the state of affairs? It is ever so much better to be manly than puny. It is a great deal more §atisfac- tory to be certain that you can do everything your manhood urges than to be afraid that you will awake iil. You have burdened your brain too much. 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