The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1878-04-25
The ShaDing of n Shin.

In preparing to build an iron vessel,
it must be first decided what she is to
do, where she is to 90, and how she is
to be moved. The character of the
coast a ship is to visit determines her
shape and capacity. If she is always
to keep in deep waters, and to follow the
great commercial highways ofthe world,
she must be built to sail in every sea:
must be ready to encounter the dangers
of every climate, hot monsoons of Indian
seas or the freezing storms of the North
Atlantic If she is to visit our Southern
ports and rivers, she must be fat-bottom-
ed and of light draught, that she may
creep over the shallow bars In safety.
If she is to ascend swift and narrow
rivers, she must be short and light, that
she may be turned about quickly. If
she is to visit the Gulf PORTS, she must
be provided with ample means of VENT
lation and shaded decks. If her way
leads to Northern ports, she must be
ready to ride the tremendous seas and
the furious gales Of the \ orth Atlantic.
If her cargo is to be coal. she will as
sumo one shape; if cotton, quite another.
If she is to have paddles. she takes one
form; if screw, quite another.
Having decided all this, having set
tied upon her length, depth, width and
capacity, and fixed the cost, the next
step is to make the model. A cabinet
maker carefully prepares a number of
pieces Of choice wood of exactly equal
thickness-say from four to six inches
wide, and from a yard to one and half
yards long. At the same time he Sc
lects an equal number of pieces of veneer
of the sam, size, choosing veneer of a
dark color or color contrasting with the
other wood. These boards are carefully
laid one over the other, with the veneer
between each, and the whole is then
glued together to make a solid block.
Out of this block the designer shapes a
model of one,half of the hull oftho ship.
He gives this block the exact shape the
future ship is to assume when seen from
the side. Only half model is made,
as the two sides of the ship will be simp-
ly duplicates of the model.
Everything depends upon the skill of
the designer The ships speed, capaci-
ty, draught, and safety depend upon the
shape he gives this wooden model Men
arc not taught to make models; the good
designer Is born, not made. The imagi-
nation that can see the future ship in
the block of wood, the sure eye that can
draw the exquisite lines Of bow and
stern, the delicate hand that can realize
these lines of beauty, come not by obscr-
walton. They are gifts.
The architect making plans of houses
and temples has comparatively an easy
task. The drawing gives a clear idea of
the appearance Of the future building,
and his work is perfectly plain ard SIM
pie. The marine architect must COM
bine science with beauty of form, or,
rather, his science must be expressed in
a beautiful form. The model must be
an exact copy Of the ship in little. He
must be able to point out how deep the
ship will sink in the water. how the bows
will part the water in front, how the dis
placed water may sweep past the sides
and under the stern. The model must
show how deep the screw will be sub
merged, how far the ship may heel over
under the influence of her sails or the
waves in safety, and how she will be up
borne from moment to moment on the
ever-Shitting saves. His art is the
careful adjustment of forces one against
the other, the weight against the fota-
ton or buoyancy, the resistance of the
water against the power of her screw
and engines, the force Of the waves and
wind against her own stability. The
finished model is full of grace and beau
ty; but it comes not from the mere
blending of sweeping curves and SWELL
ing hines, but from the balance of these
forces 1t is beautiful because the re-
pose of forces in equilibrium is always
beautiful. Certainly, if the architect is
called an artist, the model maker is fully
his equal. -Harper's Nagu=iiae.