The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 19, 1901, Page 25

Biediiiirin Pages 2510 36 R e e . The SAN FRANCISCO, SUNDAY, MAY 19, 1901. OH++++4+ 440 LLEAPING FROM HER REST LIKE A THING OF LIFE THE OHIO SPEEDS DOWN THE WAYS AND INTO THE ARMS OF THE WAITING SE - Without a Hiteh and Right on Time the Big Battleship Slips Into the Water Amid Riotous Weleome caile Whistles and Guns and Cheers Give Greeting as She Takes Her First Plunge Into Her Native Element M’KINLEY COMES EARLY. rced by rank on rank cord and free the mass srouped around it were been making history 1 with the crowd that overnor Nash, for- e—= e d women ana de- he stand was draped of the flag, and silken ban- ttered from every corner and It was an hour and launch that the crowd nd the people looked and and patted the lence. None yps were running and there the attention of the 1w 5 ] es Dickie, enter, were to start el seaward mmer on 1 the | ow the big hull C a word had e been be ready and the men P h W way every second block h she had been resting so as r down upon the cradle that her down the ways. With they hacked and tore avy blocks and shredded then ging the out from under the weight that was the n then ainters fol- g n with ners d € s flaming red that already plates over the places the blocks had held her. And as ed down into the cradle the ed and squealed, and the red the ways rzed out and spattered over the allowed near the vessel moments. A hitch, overzealous workman, left in all a ructure hung uncertai unable to move seaward nd topp! ling on the nar d. But no With the precision Continued on Page Tty i been and rea w of the nd wicked- ht the tremen owr to its ess blow that g to it. Just un- launching guillo- ¢ with razor edge, time and c7 was the central ng platform. He reception he had # \ kmen of the Iron to rise and ecretary retary Hitch- , Mr. Cortelyou, Workmen Warmly —— Weleome MeKinley as He Steps From the Sloecum to the Wharf of the Iron Works He Arouses the Wildest Enthusiasm by His Refereneces to the Grand Old Oregon and the Volunteers RESIDENT McKINLEY has been royally received in many places and in many ways, but he has never been given such a genuine, heartfelt welcome as that which greeted him at the Union Iron Works yesterday morning as he stepped from the Slocum on to the wharf. The tug came down the bay with all her flags flying, the cheers from passing vessels being drowned in the thunder- ous salute belching from the warships lying off the works, and drew up at the wharf at the foot of the drydock of the shipyard. Down the center of the drydock had been run a planked way, clean and canvas covered, and at the further end the workmen had been gath- ered with their ladies in a crowd of four or five thousand. The President was met on the wharf by a committee from the workmen, and, escorted by the com- mitteemen, the President, Irving Scott, Henry T. Scott, the members of the Presidential party and their ladies and a number of invited guests walked down the length of the drydock to the wharf at the further end. It was while standing at the edge of the wharf and looking down into the drydock that the presentation of the W en's souvenir plate was made. CHEERING LONG CONTINUED. The plate was an invitation to the launch of the Ohio. It was made of solid gold and was beautifully engraved with the arms of California and Ohio, and a picture of the Ohio as she will ap- pear when completed, represented as going through the Golden Gate toward the setting sun A fanciful border completed the design and served as a frame for the words bidding the Presi- dent to the christening of the mighty battleship. The idea of presenting the plate came from the men, and the de- sign it bore was the work of the draughtsmen of the vards. ficials eneral AT T L, R A e T G R T P R s oficials. Genen] THE OHIO AS SHE SLIPPED DOWN THE WAYS AND THE YOUNG LADY WHO CHRISTENED HER. The cheering began almost as soon as the Slocum hove in sight. and it did not cease until the President raised his hand for silence as John Fitzpatrick, head machinist, stepped forward to make the presentation. Around him were grouped the heads of the thirty- two departments of the Iron Works, the thousands of men who work under them and their wives and sweethearts and daughters. With him were also the members of his own party, the members of the Ohio party. distin- guished men of the city and State and a swarm of camera men bent on getting at least one picture. In presenting the plate Fitzpatrick re- viewed the history of the Union Iron Works and its achievements. He com- plimented the heads of the companv and referring back to the work of the vard he took the Ohio as his subject and told briefly of the events of her con- struction. He and the men who had worked so long and faithfully on her were anxious only that she should prove the equal in every respect of the others that have gone down the ways of the Union Iron Works before her. In conclusion he said: We have prepared this souvenir as a testimonial of regard and a tribute to our guest, the head of the natfon. Bor- dered by oak leaves, emblems of strength, emblazoned by the arms of two great States, surmounted by the bird of freedom and picturing, what we hope will prove prophetic of the event, the Ohio in the Golden Gate. Mined in our hills, fashioned and de- signed by California brain and hands, to make it more typically Californian we have placed in it the quartz, the mother of gold. May it imprison the rays of the sun that, in the time to come, the captured ray may illuminate your memory and remind you of this glad event. MORE CHEERS FOR K McKINLEY. There was great cheering when Fitz- patrick handed the gold plate to the President, and there was more when the President turned to the men to speak to them, and there was still more as he proceeded, for he touched: the heart strings of his listeners and moved them with a story of patriotism and of weli- carned glory. He referred to the Cak- fornia Volunteers as the first to go out into the Philippines and among the last to comie bac He told of his knowl- edge of their service and their work and his appreciation of it. He spoke, too, of the Oregon and her wild race to be in time for the fight; of the days of anxio aiting as she drove along through wina and wave. alone and fear- less, and then of the weight-lifted from the Fearts of those who had been watch- ing for her when he received the gal- lant Clarke’s telegram saying, “We are irere and ready.” There was wild enthusiasm among tiie workmen when the race of the Ore- gon was brought back to them by the President’s words. She was ready to fight, ard ready, too, after a heart- bresking run of 13,000 miles. Many of the men who listened to the President had worked on the egreat steel hull of tire stanch old vessel, and they love her as their own child. The tears came to their eyes and their iips trembled as they cheered, and the members of the President’s party joined them in their emotion, for McKinley was speaking as he had not spoken at any place on his tour. And then when he declared that the glorious record of the grand old battleship was due to the men who put their best skill and labor into her plates and engines, their enthusiasm knew no bounds. McKINLEY SPEAKS ELOQUENTLY The President spoke as follows: My Fellow-Citizens: [ am inexpress- ibly thankful to the Ruler of us all for his goodness and his mercy which have made it n ble for me to be with you here to-day. I wanted to see the men of the Union Tron Works. I have known of their skill; I have seen their genius displayed in their workmanship. I have observed what your spokesman has so well said, that, suffering under the disadvantages of Continued on Page Twenty-eight.