The Republican journal., 1874-04-30
A Vessel Without a Frame.

The Advertiser says that Nehemiah
Gibson OF Boston is building vessel Of
a peculiar design which. if successful.
will modify the system now in general
use. She is 122 feet inches long on the
keel, 1888 feet on deck, has 81 feet e inches
breadth of beam and II feet inches depth
OF hold, with a raking stem. an upright
Steln-post, and full, rounded body indi-
eating large capacity and buoyancy. Her
keel is of hard pine, y by IA inches she
has three depths OF midship keelsons, each
II inches square. and assistant keelsons of
10 by u inches From the keel to the
deck she is built of single logs Of spruce,
each y inches square, placed one upon
another, and bolted together every six
inches, the bolts one inch in diameter and
three feet long The garboards are bolted
alternately through the keel and each
other. On the fiat Of the floor she has
timbers of by u inches, bolted to the
bottom and ceiled with 3-inch plank, and
these are the only timbers in her. She is
II inches thick throughout, and her iro 1
fastening is the only substitute for timbers
Her stem. apron, cllt-water, sternpost and
rudderpost are oak. The main transom is
also oak, Is inches square, and at it the
not, as i'll other vessels, mortiscd into the
Sternpost This gives her a very clean
run. The dead-wood, which forms the
centre OF the run, is scarped to the keel
sons. The first piece extends IA feet in
board, the second feet, the third ) feet
and the fourth 5 feet; thus the sternpost
is backed by about II feet of solid timber
boltcd in every direction The rudder is
Of q novel construction, securely braced
and hung The ends have pointers
backed by hook. The beams are II inches
square. the carines 8 by 10, and the deck
plank is 3 81 inches The beams are let
into the hull, and are also strongly secured
with hackmetack hanging and lodging
knees, boited every inches The hang
ing knees are sided inches, have -
feet bodies and 2 feet arms; and the
stanchions are 6 by II inches. clasped and
bolted with iron above and below. Her
bulwaks are about three feet high, built
solid. She will have a trunk cabin, low
enough above the deck to give scope for
working the mlzZen boom, and the ac-
commOdatOns for the crew will be for
ward
She viii haye three masts, tore-and-att
rugged, and eighty-one, eighty-tWo and
eighty three feet long; the boWsprlt VIII
be twenty feet cupboard, the .jibboon six
teen feet outside the cap. and the other
spars in proportion. She will have wire
standing rigging, cotton duck sails, and
be otherwise fitted out in first-class style
Mr.. Gibson, who designed and has per-
sonally superintended her construction,
says that twenty-six tons Of iron have
been used in her construction, but forty
per cent. less timber than in any other
vessel of her capacity, with a correspond
ing reduction in labor and that, having
no frames, she cannot decay and if spring
ing a leak the leak can be stopped from
the inside As she is an experiment, he
has built her of cheap materials, but not
withstanding this he considers her much
stronger and believes she will prove more
durable than if she had been built in the
usual style, with frames. planking and
ceiling. Captain George f. Thatcher will
command her. She will be launched
about the 24th instant.