The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1878-03-21
The Shaping of a Ship.

In preparing to build an iron vessel,
it must be first decided what she is to
do, where she is to go, 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 of the
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-bottOmed 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 ventilation 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 North At
lantic. If her cargo is to be coal, she
will assume one shape, if cotton, quite
another. If she is to have paddles she
takes one form; if a screw, quite an
other.
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 yard to one and half
yards long. At the same time he Sc
lects an equal number of pieces of We
neer of the same size, choosing We
neer of dark color or color contrast
ing 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 de-
signer shapes a model of one-half of the
hull of the ship. He gives this block
the exact shape the future ship is to as
sumo when seen from the side. Only a
half model is made, as the two sides of
the ship will be simply duplicates of the
model.
Every thing depends upon the skill of
the designer. The ships speed, capa-
city, draught, and safety depend upon
the shape he gives this wooden model.
Men are not taught to make models !;
the good designer is born, not made.
The Imagination that can see the future
ship in the block on wood, the SIRE eye
that can draw the exquisite lines of bow
and stern, the delicate hand that can
realize these lines of beauty, come not
by observation. They are gifts.
The architect making plans of houses
and temples has comparatively an easy
task. The drawing gives clear idea
of the appearance of the future build
ing, and his work is perfectly plain and
simple. The marine architect must
combine 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 displaced water may sweep past the
sides and under the stern. The model
must show how deep the screw will be
submerged, how far the ship may heel
over under the influence of her sails or
The waves in safety, and how she will be
upborne from moment to moment on
the ever-shifting waves. His art is the
careful adjustment of forces one against
the other, the weight against the tiota-
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 aud beau
ty; but it comes not from the mere
blending of sweeping curves and swell
ing lines, 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 matchmaker is full
ly his equal.-ChGrles Barnard, IN Hdr'
7Jeris Mana me for Anil.