Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1843-06-02
A D D r L s s
Delivered before the Burlington Mechanics
Institute. by
GEORGE u. MARSH.


GEORGE y. MARSH.
AND PUBLISHED ny REQUEST OF THE INsriruTE.
tConcluded.1
shall next direct your attention TO the var-
Gus arts of which WOOD forms the raw material.
By ranking the artfcers in wood after those in
clay, stone and metal, do not mean to insist,
that the two latter substances were employed by
man, before the former more abundant and prac-
teal material, but think that the potter, the
stone cutter, and the smith, considered as regular
artisans, must have preceded the builders of
houses and boats Wood in its natural cond
ton is scarcely available for any purpose to un-
civilized man, and it can be fashioned into the
the shapes which his uses may require, only by
such sharp implements as first the stone cutter,
and afterwards the smith supply to him. The
perishable nature of wood has rendered the pre-
servation of any very ancient works in this
material impossible, and our speculations on the
original modes of its employment must be in
some conjectural, though the knowl-
edge we possess of the arts and customs of
existing rude tribes furnishes data from which
we may reason with confidence. Among man 5
first wants are food and shelter. The latter is
most conveniently furnished by structures OF
wood, and food be obtained so abundantly
and easily by no other means as by fishing, for
the successful prosecution of which boats are
Indispensable The lightness Of wood renders
it the ftcst material for this purpose, and it was
no lubt used for boats before it was discovered
that skins or bark could be made to float con-
side rabe burthen. In all probability the boat
bull der preceded the housc.wright, for boats
would be needed before stationary habtations
could be required. We find therefore that the
rudest nations, whose huts are destitute Of al
most every comfort of civilized life, frequently
display great ingenuity in the construction of
their canoes, and the best European boat build
ers may still take lessons of some of the savage
islanders of the Pacific, and the Indian Oceans
The earliest profane writers in all languages
speak of their vessels as the highest achieve
ments of their artisans, and the long voy-
ages performed by the hardy Mortimer in
ANAL unlocked ships, or rather boats, before
the invention of the compass, prove the skill
of the shipwrights of that rude and warlike
people no less than the dexterity of their navi'
gators. The ship is favori,e object in al
primitive poetry. Homer ascribes intelligence
to the ships of the Phpacians, and the appella
tions Of dragon, serpent, sea horse, anccntly
applied to them, shew that they were look
ed upon as quasi-animated and possessing
qualities beyond those belonging to mere dead
matter. The first vessels were probably mere
RATS, and from these the transition to a followed
log or canoe is easy. The construction of a boat
with frame work implies some advancement in
art, and it is probable that frames covered with
skin were long used, before the art of working
timber to such a degree OF thnness as to be
capable of being fitted to the curved sides of the
frame, and with joints tight as to exclud,
water, was discovered. The improvements il
ship building have by no means kept pace witt
those in many other arts. The true contigura
ton Of the hull, or that form, which shall unit
in the highest degree strength, capacity ant
speed, depends upon the resolution of very
abstruse problems, and we may reasonably hope
that the necessity of adapting the mould of thu
vessel to the greater velocity now given by steam
to sea-going vessels will lead to further advance
ment in this difficult art, which however ha
Already inn nts frpu
the genius Of Stevens and other American ship
wrights.
Although the Greeks and Romans did no
make much of wood, as architecture
material, in public buildings, or the better elias
OF private houses, yet a considerable knowledge
OF carpentry must have been required for tn
construction of the necessary scaffolding, cen
terngs, and other convenences indispensable
TO the architectural mason.
In the middle ages, great skill was often dis
played in frame work, and many roofs of tina
period yet extant are admired as very perfec
specimens of carpentry. The ingenuity of mod
ern carpenters has been perhaps more advan
tageously displayed in the construction Of archie
bridges, and wooden roofs, than in any othe
way, and our own country has contributed man
valuable contrvances to this art The prime ipa
improvements in wooden arches are those whic
diminish or remove the lateral thrust, and thos
which substitute lighter timbers for the heav
beams formerly employed The most celebrate
Rhine at Schafhausen. This was 800 feet /
length, having n pier near the centre, but S
constructed to leave it doubtful, whether
rested on the pier or not, A wooden bridge owe
the Schuylkil at Philadelphia, built in 1913
was OF single arch $40 feet in span, and an arc
of $50 feet was thrown over the Pscataqu
at Portsmouth in 1884. OF remarkable archie
roofs IN wood may mention that of Westmins
ter Hall built about the year 1880 of chestnu
W is foot and
wide, the wooden dome Of tho Halle du Bile, a
Paris, and the much more extraordinary roc
Of the Riding House at Moscow, which cover
an extent of more than ten English acres Thi
roof is unsupported by cross walls or pillars, an
10 is about 1000 feet in length and 235 in widtl
Few wooden structures have excited more a
tentlon than the slide of Alpnach This was
trough six feet wide, and three four deep, an
extending eight and half miles in a straigl
line from the summit of a mountain ridge to til
Lake OF Lucerne. 1t composed Of trunk
OF pine trees, and was used to convey timbc
from The mountain to the lake. The velocit
acquired by timber in sliding down this troug
y was such that large trees passed over its whol
ength in six minutes
In Ioinery, cabinet work, and carriage built
ing, the moderns in all probability superic
70 the ancients, or at least to the Greeks an
Romans. The practice Of building in wood, I'll
vast multiplication of articles of domestic flu
niture, which modern habits render ndsper
sable, the general use of wheel carriages whic
were little used by the ancien,s, and the intro
duction of ornamental woods from tn, newl
discovered regions of the East and West, hay
furnished occasion, inducement and materis
for the exercise of great skill in these branche
Of the mechanic arts.
The Egyptian ioners and cabinet MAKERS how
ever seem to have anticipated not only noder
improvements in working wood, but noder
fashions. This we know, not only from lain
ings, but from the wooden objects found in N
tomhs They had chairs, both stuffed and pls,