Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1882-06-01
Helena, Montana, Thursday, June L, 1882.
ANCIENT VESSELS.
A Description of Some of the More Ceie-
brated Crafts Of Antiquity.


A Description of Some of the More CeIe-
brated Crafts of Antiquity.
Magnificent and large as are some of our
modern steam vessels, they are very inferior,
if we may judge from description, both in
size and splendor, to the vessels constructed
by the kings of Egypt and Syracuse, on
scale of grandeur corresponding to the i'm
mense preparations of their sculpture and
architecture. Ptolemnus Philopater, king of
Egypt, built vessel 420 feet long, 66 feet
broad, y feet high from the kennel to the
top of the PROV, but so feet to the top of the
poop She had four helms of 60 feet her
largest oars were 60 feet long, with leaden
handles, so as to work more easily by the
rowers: she had two prOws two sterns, seven
rosta or peaks, successfully rising out one
over the other, the topmost one most promi-
nent and stately ON the poop and PROV she
had figures of animals, and less than IL feet
high ; all the interior of the vessel was beau
titled with delicate sort of painting OF
waxen color; she had 4, 900 rowers 400 cabin
boys or servants; 2,S20 marines to do duty
on the decks; with an immense store OF arms
and provisions The same prince built an
other ship called the "Thalamegus," or bed
chamber ship, which was only used as a
pleasure yacht for sailing up and down the
Nile. She was not so long or large as the
preceding, but more splendid in the chambers
and furnishings
Hero, king of Syracuse, built an enormous
vessel intended for a corn-trader. Her length
is not given. She was built at Syracuse by a
Corinthian ship-builder, and was launched
by an apparatus devised by Archimedes All
her bolts and nails were of brass; she had 20
rows of oars; her apartments were all paved
with neat, square, variegated tiles, on which
was painted all the story of Homer's "Illiad."
She had gymnasium, with shady walks on
her upper decks, garden plots stocked with
various plants and nOurished with llmpld
water that flowed circulating around them
in canal of lead. She had here and there
on the decks, arbors mantled with ivy and
vine branches, which fourished in full green
ness, being supplied with water from the
leaden canal. One of her chambers was par
ticularly splendid, whose pavement was of
agate and other precious stones, and the pan
els, doors and roofs were of ivy and wood of
the thya tree. She had scholasterium or
library, with five couches, its roof arched into
a polus or vault, with the stars embossed a
bach, with all its accompaniments, all most
manifcent; she had on each side of her decks
ten stalls for horses, with fodder and furnish
ings for grooms and riders a fish pond, full
of fish, whose waters could be let out or in at
pleasure she had two towers OIL the poop,
two on the PROV, and four in the middle, full
of armed men, that managed the machines
invented by Archimedes for throwing stones
of 300 pounds weight and arrows Is feet long
to the distance of furlong. She had three
masts and two artennp or yards, that swung
with hooks and masses of lead attached She
had around the whole circuit of her deck a
rampant of iron, with iron crows, which took
hold of ships and dragged them nearer to
destroy them. The tunnels or bowels on her
masts were of brass, with men in each twelve
anchors and three masts
1t was with difficulty they found tree
large and strong enough for her highest mast
Great Britain-an OminOus circumstance for
the superiority of British oak-had the glory
of bestowing upon her a sufficient tree for
that purpose 1t was found amid the recesses
of Albion's forest by swineherd. What is
remarkable in the construction of this gl-
gantic vessel is that her sentina, or sink,
though large and Deep was emptied by one
man, by means of a pump invented by Archl-
medes.
Heiro, ON finding that the Syracusan was
too unwieldly to be admitted with safety in
to the harbors of Sicily, made present OF
her to Ptolemy, who changed her name to
the Alexandrian. We may add, as panegon
to this long tale of ship, that Archimedes,
the Greek epigrammatist, wrote little poem
on the large vessel, which was rewarded by
HeirO with present to its talented author
of 1000 bushels of corn premium pro-
porti0ned, if not to the poem, at least to the
magnitude of the theme.