The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 20, 1906, Page 10

FRANCISCO SUNDAY CALL Across the Atlantic in a ' Dry Dock - White with red wi of the thre the big dry dock Medite: velous anean sages when th Ath regret with the dox shelter ¢ due ose in charge s and what is tion of a twelve thousand m All who ructure as it stood for months immovable as a f completing preparation for great sides towering above the masts of surrounding craft, admitted that the Navy Department was undertaking 2 large task in taking it out to the Philip- pines, and later events proved that they were right. Those were great days at Solomon Isl- and, for with vesels of wer coming and going, colliers, lighters, tugs and supply vessele hovering about, the quiet waters of the beautiful Patuxent took on the bustling airs of a busy port. But Sol- omon's days of glory are over and no longer admirals and high officlals from Washington visit its shores, for the day after Christmas the rat-ta-tat of the riv- eters and puffing of the derricks on the dock gave way to the steady clank of the huge chain as it slowly wound round the windlass and link by link brought up the eight great mushroom anchors out of the mud where so long they held the Dewey a prisoner. For two days the labor of getting them on board lasted till at last they were all stowed along the broad floor of the dock and with the aid of three colliers and two tugs the big the aw huge s ress its sea, its structure swung majestically around, slowly gath- ered way e to the Far E and its long vo; t begun Down the Patuxent River and out into the Chesapeake the long tow picked its way through fleets of little oyster vessels, which, disturbed at their dredging, like frightened gulls took hurried flight at our approach, to settle down only after the strange procession had passed. " Now, having the dock to ourselves, we had an opportunity to Jook about and see what manner of craft was this in which we were going down to sea. Roomy she was beyond question and one can wel! realize where the 150 tons of red lead that it took to paint her went when one considers that five times around the top sides is more than a mile her high walls tower nearly sixty above the water. ne of the sides, away up near the re the living q e the the opera tu AIMOS, brid the intervening.spac nsidering the limita- re roomy, well lighted and venti- for hot lated, with. a. cold dra ught system eeping “the gemperature down in a climate, but none for keeping it up in a 1e save a makeshift arrangement of soft coal burning’ stoves, with the pipe thrust out through the nearest port, fill- ing teh room with nauseating smoke and gas. At the after end of a long passage run- iing the full length of the dock is the cabin, at the other end the.fo'castle. . Be- tween the two and opening on this alley- way are the staterooms, mess and bath. The dock carries a company of thirty- two, divided into the captain’s and the fo'castle mess, each with its own cook and attendants. Captain J.. D. Wood, esailing master, has a chief and second mate. Mr. Phillip Mullen, chief boatswain, U. S. N., is in charge of the towing gear. Mr. Hans Hanssen, -designer of the dock, is advisory dock expert, and Mr. J. H. Det- wiler, who will remain with the dock in Manila as permanent dock master, is also making the trip in her. % Besides engineers, firemen and fourteen seamen, the Dewey also carries a rigger, carpenter and wireless operafor. Our first night out came on black and threatening, and later developed into a succession of mild squall¥”of .wind, rain and an enveloping fog, through all of which the ‘long, awkward tow carefully groped its way. £ . How it ever did it was a wonder to,all concerned, as in & channel that allowed no great deviation from a given course, we were surrounded at times by a.di ships under way; and the fact that, the morning broke clear and fresh upon the intact tow speaks well for the skill of Captain Hutchinnson, who ‘led - in' the Caesar, and Mr. Thompson, who piloted the Glacier. Down the Chesapeake we had a general cleaning or “field day,” when hose, broom and swab reigned supreme, clearing away the debris left by hundreds of workmen after months of labor, to say nothing of the mass of blue mud brought up by an- chors and cable. Out of all this the Dewey emerged more shipshape, and, reaching the Virginia Capes toward midnight, pased out to The bad weather of -the night before made it plain that some sort of shelter Was neecessary on the top side, where standing watch under such conditions was a positive hardship, . as the wind, meeting the resistance of the great side walls, swept over the edge with a .ury that beat rain and spoondr... into one's face with a sting like bird shot, while the wet, slippery iron deck gave rather a precarious footing for such a ieight. So with the help of 'the carpenter the quarterdeck was adarned with a 1art- ‘noon to'the flagsh place and nzu known. the Dewey other seagoing sitle in a ciaft, with nefthey propuision .nos. Steering ges nd her. position rep fidet 8 . if énch,an ing v rred, the, dock by, means. of tus could. " make tion o ’tlie Glacler and be picked up without delay. 3 The first morning at sea, with the land out of sight' and & slight heave .and roil, before .a fresh -northwesterly ~we were making .a’good ofing from 'the dangerous coast, and in the Dewey’s case we were to solve at'last the uncertainty . expressed by Solomon the’ wise, wien he said of the three things beyond the ken of man one was *‘the way of a- ship in the midst of the sea." To our iIntense satisfaction we found that the ungainly craft ‘went through none of the strange antics predjcted by the wise ones ashore, but followed the ships ' docilely enough, ‘and, though not keeping in strict column formation, owing to the pressure of the wind on her side swinging her off at an angle, made as good progress in this manner as though squarely. butting the séas with her blunt end. Ty The third day out the higher tempera- “+ General,view. of tow: ‘ture of the Gulf Stream comé rellef from d the moderate weather gave the Gla- hjtherto, hoiding aloof, an oppor- of taking a hand in the towiug. ler <p! she “came’ un astery, . ranged - along and, smarti; sing her 1iné to ts, drew ahead tion .on our starboard bow. cuddep pff ‘of wind th “ 2d enpugh from her cou an. eddy, and as soon as the Giac feit the sucti under her sipckened speed apd. wi v a single screwr, she lost. steerage way. and, in ould be done to prevent vung her full lepzth ecross our path. X othing but the prompt action of her commander in :fopping the tow. and tkus allowing his ship to cross over th sunken: tow line, eaved her from wi might have been serious injury. A .second’ attempt .later in toe day proved ' how unfitted for ‘the work -the Glacler was, for no sooner was she fast than some fiimsy ‘gear’ on her taffrail went overLoard; and the heavy line, slipping. over the side. made it impos- sible to steer in thé rising séa, and again she ‘had to let go. g By this time the gamy little Potomae was ‘getting ‘short of coal, and was or- dered’ to casi’off and go to Bermuda to replenish her stock. No sooner hiad she left the fleet than a heavy 'gale came up from the southweest, making it necessary to steam Into it for two da Fearing that our altered course might spite. of 211 that'c it, t cause the Potomac to miss the fleet on returm, tre Gl feft ' to pick her Two nights searchlight “on the horizon showed that the flagship was lookihg for us. and an answering beam from our own light brought her up with the tug in two hours. Afterward, for coal economy, the Poto- tadc” was towed behind the dock, excep ing, when acting as tender- tomthe' ficet, nd ‘the 'Glacier took her place at the ead of the fleet. - ‘ 'Fhen followed our solden days., when in, spite of a heavy ro!. from northward for nearly ttvo' weeks we madé average daily runs of over 100 miles, and In the warm, v weather life on the Dewdy went merrily on. With an immense amount of towlig gear to look after, dynamos, condensers and évaporators to be kept running, all hands were busy during the day, but the long evenings off watch were whiled away by interminable games of solitaire, a stiff game of poker, or maybe a long yarn of the Indian Ocean or frozen Arctic by men who had sailed them ail their lives. Of course among so many men there must be pets, and two kittens were en- rolled ‘as privileged .members of the dock’s,crey at Solomon’s. One became a great favorite and pampered pet, but the other liked not the society of man, and lived among the kee! Llocks on the lower deck, refusing proffered food. gnd—so they will tell you in the fo'castle—gained a livelihood by prowling around the for- ward deck in the night and picking up AUTOMATA THAT SHOWS GENIUS OF INVENTORS In the eighteenth century a Swiss watchmaker named Pierre = Jacquet Droz brought to the Spanish court a beautiful and" ingeniously . constructed clock which so pleased the King, Ferdi- nand VI, that he not only purchased the timeplece, but reimbursed Drog for the expense of his long journey. :The enterprise, says the New York Times, came near having a very different end- ing, however. The clock was adorned with . the figure of a shepherd,: who, when thet hour struck, raised his pipe to his lips and played a tune, of which he ‘had six-in his repertoire. = At the same ‘time the shepherd’'s dog rubbed his pelt affettionately against his mas- ter's 1ég. - At the shepherd’s feet-stood a ‘basket' of'apples. ~ Every time "an apple was-taken from the baskéet the dog barked 8o naturally that on one occasion a real dog which happeried ‘to be present barked-in Tépiy. - - - These magical performances made everybody but the King.flee in terror. The .inventor, in.fear of the ‘holy .in- quisition, begged permission to.exhibit and = explain his masterpiece: to: the grand inquisitor, who, though the ex- planation was .probably lost on :him, deigned to issue a -public announce: ment in the name of the church to quell the growing bellef that the ciock: ‘And so Droz was a work of the devil. was allowed ‘to return in peace to~his native mountains, while his clock Te= mains to this day in’ the Museo Ar- queologico of ¢ Madrid. church, abandoned his theological stud- \ Thereafter Droz, who was being educated *for ‘the ies and devoted himself entirely, to méchanics, which” had. hitherto,_ been merely a - diversion. . Among . other things he constructed a writing au- tomaton, . representing. a .child;, ,which writes words and sentences, dips the pen in the ink and carries: it: from the.end.of a line to the beginning of the next line in a very realistic manner: The complicated mechanicism by which these motions are effected’ is: entirely concealed in the: wooden body of the figure. - The alphabet of the autoraton, being.Frenth, contains neither/ W- nor w, and nearly half the capital letters are ‘also omlitted “for the sake of sim- plieity. ~Hence circumlocutions are oc- casionally necessary, : :- '° 2 - At the ‘recent historical exhibition of. clocks and watchés‘at Nurémberg the appazmitly very young, but'really very old, . penman always substituted, for. “Nuremberg,” “the city. of Albert Durer.” . This figure was constructed about 1750. ' Like the, other automata ‘it ‘has had a curious and.eventful his- tory. -The. other figures, the harmon- ium. player and. the: draughtsman, are the work of Pierre's son, Henrl Louls Jacquet: Droz, who did not waste any .time in-theological studies, but deveted ‘himself from the first to horology.and _science.. Consequently his.- works,” of which, unfortunately, only the harmon- ‘lum. player and the draughtsman ‘are still in existence, are of:far simpler and 'more practical construction’ than liis: #ather’s. - At- Nuremberg: the ‘little draughtsman, which is simil r ciple’ to the penman,' gave ‘two ‘speci- mens of his skill with the pencil—a - in prin- head of Louis XV, done in bold char- Aacteristic strikes, and a childishly nalve drawing of “Mon Toutou"—"“My Bow-wow.” Once this childlike figure drew this portrait, ostensibly from life, in the presence of Louis XV and his gay court. Now all are gone save the ever young artist, whose hand, un- changeable as that of fate, still traces the features of the dead King as it drew them more than 100 years ago. The younger Droz, encouraged by his father’s success at the Spanish court, sailed with. the three automata for Madrid, but was. shipwrecked on the French coast. The figures were badly injured, but Droz succeeded, after much Jabor, in repairing tnem, and re- sumed. his journey. In Madrid the English manager who had suggested the enterprise advertised the automata as veritable marvels. Perhaps he over- did the matter. At all events the holy .inquisition cenfiscated the figures and clapped Droz into prison. After enduring great suffering he was set at liberty, but the automata were not restored to him, and he returned in verty to his-home at La Chaux de 'fonds in Switzerland, where in 1788, one year after the death of his father, he died at the age of 37. ~After pass- ing -.through many hands the three automata were eventually presented by 4 number of art lovers to the Museum of La Chaux de Fonds, the home of their. inventor, where, after more than a ‘century of wandering and vicissi- tudés, they ‘seem destined to rest in pence to deligh: and amaze future gen- erations, any luckless ‘flying fish that strayed aboard over the great comber we pushed before us. To watch this snowy mass, reaching far ahead and banking up against the square end, come tumbling in with a crash, interesting always, was fascinat- ing in the tropical moonlight. One night, as the writer watched the great dripping towing bridle come black and glistening out of It, a sudden shock, followed by the instant disappearance of the chain altogether, while the ‘‘bull rope” that suspended it from the over- hanging bridge, vibrated llke a fiddle string with the strain put upon it, told plainly the line had parted somewhere and we were adrift. Instantly the crew awoke. and while the lookout reported to the deck officer the deep bass of the whistles passed the word along the line to the Glacier, far ahead, whose lights flashed back orders In turn. Out of the fo'castle tumbled the men to the shrill cry of “All hands!” arnd as they took their stations the black smoke pouring from our fun- nels showed that the firemen were busy below. The dock. which but a few minutes be- fore trembled at the impact of the heavy seas, now vibrated with steam winch and capstans, as all night long the crew toilgd at getting In and stowing the monster chain bridles and. water soaked fifteen- inch hawsers. Not till almost noon the next day was it all stowed safely on deck in a egart soggy heap, and it was 2 o'clock before we were under way again. A few days later, four weeks out, we picked up a wireless from the Maryland with a message to the Glacler saying lhat the repairs for the collier's towing ma- chine had been forwarded to Naples. This mesage was carried by a chain of ships two thousand and sixty-eight miles, making a new record for ships at sea. On this trip the Glacier wired more than one thousand six hundred miles alone. After this our luck seemed to leave us and the wind. always ahead. blew stronger than ever, with intermittent gales at times, making progress impessible. On one day, with all ships steaming to the eastward. we atually lost. twenty-four miles. For two weeks we made only a trifle more than two hundred miles, while at the end of five days we were in exactly the same spot. . Three times we went adrift and dis- tance painfully gained was swept away by the dock, which wallowed off.in the trough of, the sea before the wind at a gait that made our puny eff:orts. look sick and our course a crazy sigzag. On going adrift the draught was always increased, as was also the case in excep- tionaily heavy weather. This made our craft comfortable enough, even in - the trough of a big sea, and while the rest of the fleet were wildly tossing about, break- ing furniture and china. the Dewey never, so much as snilled a glass of water. The plight of the Potomac was especially pitiful and the men. when .we had a chance to see them, showed the effects of the miserable existenec aboard her. For wecks at a time they Iived under bat- tened hatches as the huge seas tossed, their little ship about like an eggshelt. Small wonder that some of her crew deserted at the first opportunity. Ever looking for milder weather, we kept edging southward. but in vain, and at least it was potent to every one that we had picked up the northeast trades far north of their usbal’limits. - The continued pounding and relling which the dock went through caused ’ RTE ,some .of the securing boits holding the pontoons to work logse, and we sloved down a few days to tighten them. To get at the outside bolts it was neessary for some one to go over.the side. This was done by Mr. Hanssen, as no one else seemed to desire the job. Several times a sea wrenched him from the beit on which he was working, to dash him vie- lently against the.side, perhaps thirty feet away. Fortunately he escaped with- out serious injury. After a passage of two months, the coal and water supply In the flotilla was get- ting low, so a stop at the Canaries was considerd advisable, 'and the Potomac was despatched ahead to prepare the way for the Dewey in Las Palmas. Away she went like a bird out of cap- tivity, leaving a long steak of foam trailing after her, and a day or two later, in the sheitering lee of majestic Teneriffe, the tow separated and shortened hawsers for our trip through the islands. What these isolated Islanders in their mountain- villages thought cf the strange fleet standing about in so queer a man- ner’ for a whole day off their shores would be interesting to know. Had it been a day later instead they might have taken alarm at the Yankee fleet when flags were broken out and a national salute was fired in honor of Washington's birth- day. Next day, on February 23, fifty-seven days out from home, towed by the Caesar alone, we slipped into the beautiful har- for of Las Palmas, while the natives lineq the wharves and housetops on the hills. A few days later the cruiser Tacoma ap- peared off'the harbor with repairs for the towing machines and fired a salute to the flag of old Spain.and the fort on the mountainside replied with one to Ol4 Glory. During our stay here the dock was vis- ited by as many as could gain the priv- ilege. Ma.st " interesting among these were a company of middies from H. M. S. Isis, who swarmed over the dock, intensely interested in the strange raft and our voyage in her. Had we remained a week or so I nger the dock with its significant ‘name mo t have been visited by the King of Spaim himself. as he paid a state visit to the isiands shortlly after our departure. Thoroughy. refitted, we once more put to sea‘on the 17th of March and" headed up for Gibraltar against a two knot cur- rent, but foftunately encountered no- heavy weather. and when the great rock rose out of the sea ahead we felt that at last .one stage of our journey was over, and we entered the Medfferranean with fresh confidence in our ability to weather the storms of other seas yet to conquer. Outside of the demise of three Chinese sailors from beri:Beri in'the Caesar there was no serious illness in the fleet on the passage over. Poor Chinks, deprived of a Ch ’ chief ambition of .a ceromanlal'nm; they ey b’urind z; sea with what honors we could give, and at a buria by 1 all ships Under slow . headway half mast. the .white sh; slipped over the side inte the as the bugler on the nthhr,esl:;Il::c?i “faps,” his shipmates tossed after him centributions - of rice to provide for hie voyage to the Chinese heaven. He was even defrauded of that cpnsolation, however. as.a few sulls that and with flags at rouded figure waw * had been circiing aBout swooped down devoured and with loud ser o2 the un- expected