The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1886-10-05
the KING PHILIP,
Description of Next to the Largest
Schooner Afloat.
1.-THE Pet OF Her Captain and Pride of
Camden"
From the Industrial journal.

From the Industrial Journal.
Wooden shipbuilding may be on the de-
cline, but the builders of this State have not
forgotten how to construct vessels which
have no equals of their class at home Or
abroad. The clipper ships of New York and
those highfyers of Donald McKay's used to
be the pride Of American sailors and the
wonder of the maritime world, but now their
day has gone and the well-modeled heavy
CARRYING ships of Maine have taken their
place what is left of it in the California and
other long-distance trades. But there has
sprung up lately a class of vessels that ex-
cite more interest than the old clippers did
and attract more attention than the modern
big ships These are the monster schooners,
the "ships in disguise" so-called, which
have been called into existence by altered
conditions of commerce and trade; and when
man wants one of them built he goes to a
Maine yard. The big three-master and the
bigger four-master are great carriers gener-
ally go well, and require but few men, for
their size, to work them. They can live on
freights that would starve a square-rigger or
a small schooner out of the business, and so
they are the popular type for these days Of
low rates. While schooners were built small
$50 to $50 tOns-a few years ago, 1t is
common thing nowadays to launch a six,
seven or eight hundred tonner; and there
are some much larger, one Of which this arti-
Gle will tell about. Bath has of course built
most of the big fellows, because she is town
of shipyards, but lots of splendid vessels
have had their first dip into Penobscot wa
tiers and the last of these is the KING PHIL
IP-the pet of her captain and the pride OF
Camden.
This splendid vessel was begun last April
| in the yard of II. NJ Bean at Camden and on
| the 18th of September she was launched
| The King Philip is a four-masted centre
| board schooner of 1866 tons net register,
| and will rate A 1 for ID years in American
| Lloyds She is 226 feet long on deck, 211
and 20 feet inches depth of hold. She will
carry 1900 tons of coal on draft of 17a feet,
and when light draws only u fit. aft and Z
forward, being the shoalest vessel of her ton
mage in the American register. She is a
handsomely modelled craft. built to suit her
master, and while she has fine lines for sail
| ing yet she has the long floor necessary for
| carrying
She has two Camden anchors, one of 5000
and one of $500 pounds, held by cables OF rs
| fathoms each, with Il and IL inch links, re-
| spectively. She carries a steam engine OF
| Lighthouse power, built by the. New Eng
land Shipbuilding Company OF Bath, by
means of which she can pump, get her an
chors and hoist heavy sails with ease
The lowermastS are of hard pine, made in
four pieces and are 81 feet long,: The top
| masts are spruce, So feet long. The standing
rigging is all wire, the running being hemp
and three to four STRAND Manila. The
spanker boom is GA feet long, the mizzen,
main and fore, AZ feet She spreads 300
| yards of canvas
The after house is 20x22 feet and is a little
hotel in itself. The captains room is in the
after end on the starboard side, and as COM
| f - aI0o 1l1A,, fhrn0
spare staterooms and alse the apartments OF
the first and second officers; and on the port
| side is the pantry, wherein are dishes with
out number and little lockers full of silver
ware engraved ''King Philip" Lots of house
keepers would envy the steward his outfit
The after saloon, with its velvety carpet,
frescOed ceiling and paneled walls painted II
creamy tints, with Nile green and gold deco
rations, is regular floating parlor, and when
elegant black walnut furniture and steam
heat are added, with perfect ventilation, one
can realize how much comfort man car
take to sea with him. The forward saloon
or dining room, is also a fine apartment, fin
ished in ash, cherry and walnut. There IS
toilet room leading from the after companion
way on the port side, which, with its hare
wood finish and marble slabs, would do cred
it to hotel. Altogether the house is luxu
| rious and a marked contrast to the quarters
aft on most vessels. The forward compan
ionway is protected by a sort of monitor
|
and port, and lookout windows on every
hand This arrangement prevents gusts Of
wind blowing into the cabin every time the
door is opened, and at the same time secures
good ventilation in warm weather. The fol
ward house is 20x16 feet, and contains thu
engine room, galley, and a. forecastle capa
BILE of accommodating eight men.
There is but one larger schooner on sal
water than the King Philip, and that is tn
Sarah w. Lawrence, built at Bath the pas
summer, by the New England Shipbuildin
Company. The Lawrence is a 1301-ton cen
tire boarder, 217 feet register length, As bean
and 1913 feet hold She has coal eapacit
of 2200 tons.
The King Philip is commanded by Capt
J. M. Phillips, formerly Of the three-mastet
schooner Alfred Brabook. The Kings frs
officer is Mr.. J. C. Collamore of Vinal Ha
ven, the second Mr.. Wall of Rockport, ant
the steward, Mr.. Long of Camden, The YES
den, by the builder and others one-fourtl
by the master; one-fourth by W. Fl: Phillip
of Taunton, and the balance by Taunton
Boston and Providence parties. The Kim
Philip cost about $4,000