The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1886-06-25
From the Sailing Vessel to the Steam.
shin,

In referring to the navy of the past il
is impossible to avoid recalling thefeel.
ing of pride with which an American
seaman-oficer or man-walked the
deck of his ship. This feeling was con.
mon to the naval and commercial ma.
rine. Our wooden ships that sailed the
ocean from 1910 to 1860 were the finest
in the world. The old frigate Congress
in 1912 was the noblest specimen of the
frigates of the day, and the sloop OF
war Portsmouth was unsurpassed as a
corvette. The clipper ships of that
period need no eulogy beyond their own
record. These ships we're the models
for the imitation of all maritime ma
tinns, and among the constructors of
the period a be recalled, without det-
riment to many others omitted, the
names of Lenthall, Steers. Pook, and
Delano. The poetry Of sailing reached
its zenith during this period.
But there is no sentiment in prog
ress; its demands are practical and im-
perative, and the great motive power,
steam, was being crowded to the front
even during this the greatest develop
mcnt in the era of sails. Advanced
ideas could not be resisted, and steam
was admitted as an auxiliary; but our
development in navel construction still
stood us in good stead, and enabled us
to supply ships with auxiliary steam
power, which continued to be promi-
nent for many years as standards to
which others found it to their advantage
to conform.
Before the final abandonment in the
navy Of sailing ships, pure and simple,
an effort at u compromise was made by
limiting steam to side-wheel vessels,
and a number OF fine ships were built in
the forties, which did good service, and
were a credit to the country, answering
as they did the demands of the time.
The Mississippi. Missouri, S~usquehcn-
"a, Saranac, and Po,chatan carried
the flag to all parts of the world for
many years. some of them enduring to
bear their share in the late war, while
the P0uhatan is W. now borne on the
list of vessels of the navy.
The Princeton, of great fame, and the
San Jucinto, were the only ships with
screw-propellers that appeared in the
period under consideration. the use of
the screw being considered Of doubtful
propriety, to be tested by tentative ex-
periments. These ships have long since
disappeared. but the screw remains,
and the side wheels are relegated to
boats for inland waters.
Confidence being established in the
screw-propcller, construction on the
principle of auxiliary steam-power was
decided on. and ships of different classes
were added to the navy in such num-
bers as the varied duties required.
There were those at that time who,
wise beyond their generation, recog-
nized the full meaning of the advent Of
steam, and saw that it must supplant
sails altogether as the motive power for
ships. These advocated that new con-
structions should be provided with full
steam-power, with sails as an auxiliary;
but the old pride in the sailing ship,
with her taunt and gracefulspars, could
not be made to yield at once to the in
novation; old traditions pointing to the
necessity of a full sail-power could not
be dispelled; it was considered a suffi-
cicnt confession to admit steam on any
terms, and thus the conservative and
temporizing course was adopted of re.
tanning full sail-power, and utilizing
steam as an auxiliary.
The United States government was
not alone in this policy. It was the
course pursued by all Other martini,
nations, and for some years the Uni
ted States retained the lead in produc
ing the most perfect types in this new
phase of naval construction. Rear
admiral D. Simpson, in Harper's Mag
dzine.