The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1853-05-12
Speed OF tho Clippers.
SPLENDID AND UNPARALLELED ACHIEvENENTs OF
THE AMERICAN CLIPPER SHIPS.

THE AMERICAN CLIPPER SHIPS.
NATIONAL OBSERVATORY WASHINGTON, May 10, 1853.
SK-The cliI per ship Sovereign of the Seas, Mckay
has made such extraordinary that beg to make
1t tho subject matter Of official report It is doe to
builders, owners, aud masters well to
that such an achievement should be made known.
This ship rs Of the glorious feet OF "thousard
sai that voluntarily engaged in making observations
for the wind and current charts She it i it viii be re-
collected who taking them for her guide made the ex
raordinary of hundred and three days from Ne
York to San Francisco both crossing the equat in the
Pacific, and arriving in port ON the day predicted
Returning from the Sandwich Islands to New York in
the remarkably short of eshtyt days. passed
through part of the Great South Sea" which has
becn seldom traversed by rsders-at least have the
records Of none SUCH
Little or nothing, except what conjecture suggested
was known to the winds in this part Of the ocean, The
results Of my Investigations with regard to
winds and the circulation Of the atmosphere had enabled
in the "varisbes" Of the South Pacific would nrohah
ne found TO prevail from the west ward with tradewind
Between the parallels of 45 and 56 deS,o.s soutb from,
the meridian of the Cape of Good Hope eastward around
to that OF Cape horn there is land or other
here the winds would be found blowing FROM the VET
with greater force than from the In tho trade
region and giving rise to that long rolling swell peculiar
70 those regions OF the Pacific they would enable shios
steering east to make the most ematknble rms thp
have ever been accompli' he'd under canvass.
The Sovereign of the seas has afforded the most bea
full Illustration to the these
deductions.
Leaving Oahu for New York, via Cape Horn 18th Fab
last she stood to the through the blt
both of the northeast and the southeast trades
course good on the average through them little to
6h after crossing the parallel Of is degrees south "aoo
the meridian Of l64 degrees west 1p'A
The eth and 9TH she Ia the horse latitude weather
southern lemlaDlere. fin harr, hod
good but there was nothing remarkable in it.
Having crossed the parallel of 4s degrees SOUTH she
west winds OF the Southern ocean, and here
succession OF the most extraordinary dsys runs that
have ever been limb ed together across the ocean
From March 9th March Slst from the nar.lla ~ AZ
degrees south In the Pacific to 35 degrees south in the
Atlantic during an interval of twenty two DAYS that
ship made 20 degrees Of latitude AMI i2e Of oogude
Her shortest during the interval determined bv
cslculAtion (not by log being $50 knots The wind al
steady and fresh from the westward = va
In these twenty-five days, that ship made vethousand
three hundred and ninety cne nautical miles. But th
you may the more conveniently her
with that Of railroad and river steamers win
her in statute miles. a
Here then is ship under canvass, and with the winds
alone as propelling power, dnd with q crew. too 40
short, the captain informs me- that she was but half
manned, accomplishing, in twenty two days the enor
miles, Zone fourth the distance round the earth and
making the daily average Of two hundred and
statute miles aud nine tsnths During Of
hundred and fifty four statute miles, and during four
days also consecutivey she averaged as high as three
hundred and ninety eight and three auartsr statno
miles.
From noon Of one to the noon of the next day. the
greatest distance made was three hundred and sixty
knots four hundred and nineteen miles and the great
est rate reported BY the captain is eighteen knots or
twenty statute miles the hour. This is pretty far
The greatest distance before performed from noon
to the ocean, was 374 knots (433L statute
miles by the clipper ship Flying Cloud In her celebrated
fossvh nina onI
San Francisco in 1851 and which yet uneq uaed
ray from to because from noon to noon Was
hours The snr Cloud Was gas s @
northward and estward and the day OF her great
she made four degrees forty-six Of oagitude
which in tme is nineteen minutes four secoads-that
h her to Tor that day twenty four hours
nineteen nutes four seconds On the other hand the
Sovereign Of the Seas steering to the eastward and
the day Of her great rum she made eight degrees
forty -four of Ion .tudewhich in time is thirty four
minutes fifty six secondsthat is, her noon for
that only twenty three hours twent i've
four seconds long. Thus the Flying Clouds run in
twenty four hours nineteen minutes four seconds was
433k statute miles, and the other 4e statate miles in
twenty three hours twenty five minutes four seconds
Reducing these each to the performance pro rata
according to the log for twenty four hours have for
the former ship 4275 against 1915 by the
is the best twenty four consecutive hours run by the
Sovereign Of the Seas, exceeds the consecutive
twenty four hours cf the Flying Cloud only by the
= These two ships certainly par no-but the great
days performance of each does not prove the
seas TO De InSter knlp tnan the Flying Cloud.
The Sovereign Of the Seas had in her that long,
rolling swell from the westward that is peculiar to hi
southern lattudes and which helped nightly to he ave
her along. All seamen who have doubled Cape Horn
know what it la need not describe it,
Its the Flying Cloud her great day had during
the latter par strong gales and high seas ruIning still
swell that from the westward with such hea
force and which had been chasing the Sovereign Of the
On the other hand may be urged in favor of the lat
ter that she was short handed with foretopmast dis
abled and jury topgalIant mast Her abstract log II
should aso be mentioned nothing to the force
the wind the beave of the the sails set while
that of the Flying Cloud is quite full upon these points
Though am unwilling therefore, to ecide against the
Flying Cloud to the greatest days rsade it is
clear that her competitor has borne palm to the
length Of time which she kept up her great speed
Her log stops May Sd, latitude 33 deg 10 min. NJ. 432
nautical miles in a straight line from Sandy Hook.
Taking it therefore for the seventy nine days for which
she gives IT, aud stating the distance by straight line
from her psce st OF one day to the of the next
it appears that her daily average 222 statute miles
making the whole distance sailed during the interval to
be IL 5S7 statute miles, which gives for the
markable achievement of accomplishing distance more
than thirds Of that which it requires to encrcle the
earth at the average rate OF nine miles and upwa the
hour for l 500 consecutive bours.
Az write this tho abs of another ship the Comet
E. G. Gardner. from San francisco to New York, Is
csived. She too has made extraordinary run. She
made the passage IL S3l days sailing during the inter-
vn 7496 statute miles, and averaging 210 mile, day.
She however except merely 6s doubling Cape Horn, did
through the region of the trade like winds and
heaying SELLS OF the South Pacific which favored the
of the Seas TO such extent and therefore no
fair compa1 ison be made the relative sailing
qualities Of these two ships.
There Ia another circumstance however, connected
with this voyage Of the Sovereign of tho Seas which
worthy Of attention for II is significant and fact Illus
trave ot the revolution In the OF business which
being quietly wrought by the time saving devices Of
the age This splendid ship after unloading her cargo
California was sent TO CLEAN after our whalemen and
she came home with oil gathered from them the Sand
vich Islands.
This adventurous class of our feIov. citizens resort
there 10 such numbers that the fees annually paid by tue
for the Taef Of the sick disabled
there amount to towards OF $50, ,000
Now il the Paciac Railway built the thousands Of
AB eicap seamen and the eet of American whale ship
that Annually resort TO those isands for rore hmen aud
repairs would ,ct to California There they would be
in IL cir own country the oil would probably be sent
home railway instead of by clipper ship, and all tho
advantage Of redttng many ships, OF treating aud
cruiting many men, would nurc to the benefit OF our
own citizens. Respectfully,
(Sianed) M. +. MAURY
Lieutenant u $. Navy.
Hon. JANIS G. DoBBIS, Secretary Of the Navy, Wash.
ngtor.
Supreme COurt-Clrcuit.
Before Hon. Judge Roo ev II.
yAy l1(1ihu7ins W. Buckbee rs. The U s, Insurance