Rensselaer Journal, Volume 10, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 May 1901 — THE OHIO IS LAUNCHED. [ARTICLE]

THE OHIO IS LAUNCHED.

Big Battleship Companion of the Oregon Now tn the Water* The launching of the battleship Ohio took place at San Francisco Saturday. It was the great event which attracted to the Pacific coast President McKinley and his cabinet, the majority of the Ohio congressional delegation, Gov. Geer of Oregon, the governor of Nevada and numerous other state officials and congressmen. The steel clad hull slid from its cradle twentysix minutes after the hour of noon in the presence of the chief executive and several thousand spectators. The President met the employes of the builders at the wharf and was presented with a souvenir which the men prepared for him. When all but the last rope holding the ship was gone Miss Barber, niece of Mrs. McKinley, pressed an electric button, causing the knife to drop, severing the cord which held the last stay. As the ship began to glide down the ways, Miss Helen Deshler dashed the bottle of champaigne which hung by a ribbon from the bows and christened the vessel.