Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1886-10-11
From the Baltimore American. !

York to Yokohama in the largest American
sailing ship afoat, and which is, perhaps, one
of the largest in the world, | thought that a
brief account of it might be interesting. We
left Greenpont, Brooklyn, about the end of
last October, the boat being the new four
masted ship Frederick Billings, built by
Messrs. Carleton. Norwood & Co., of Rock
port, Me. This vessel is 296 feet in length
on deck, the distance from the jibboom end
to the end of the spanker-boom being $50
feet, the breadth of beam As feet and the
depth of hold % feet. She is a decided clip
per, rs ships are built at the present day, and
in size and length of her spars is probably
not equalled in the world. The gilt bali at
the main royal masthead is ISL feet fro the
deck and POS feet from the waters edge. As
she floats in ballast, when loaded, she is
sixty feet higher than the Brooklyn bridge
She carried out 10000 cases of coal oil, in
addition to some general cargo, and with the
| aid of three tugs passed through the Sound
and went to sea from Block Island, running
into a heavy gale from the eastward, which
lasted nearly two weeks. Ii was the first
time the ship had ever been under canvas, as
she had been towed down from Rockport to
New York, and there it was found that, owing
to an error in the disposition of the cargo,
and also to the fact that too much ballast had
been taken out, she was rather cranky. This
interfered somewhat with her carving sail.
The skysail yards had to be sent
down shortly after We got to sea.
The course sailed in going to any point
around Cape Horn or the Cape of Good
Hope would surprise one not familiar with
navigation. Instead of endeavoring, when
YOU first leave this coast, to go to the south,
YOU sail almost due east until you reach the
vicinity of the Azores or Western Islands,
and then commence to go south. For the
first fourteen or fifteen DAYS nothing was done
on board of ship on account of the bad
weather. There was work enough in taking
care of her and it was not until we had
passed down into the trade winds, which we
found very valuable, and had come into fine
weather that the real work and sea life began
These have become so well known that it is
hardly necessary Z describe them in detail.
rhe routine on all these large American ships
is pretty much the same. The crew is divided
into the usual watches, and only when some
extra heavy work is to be done, or in case Of
emergency, like squalls and gales, are ali
hands called. The crew of this ship was I'M
usually large, consisting, besides the captain,
mate and second mate. of the third mate.
boatswain, carpenter and his assistants,
steward, cook and cabin boy, two otner bows
and twenty four sailors; but being new
ship there was work enough for all hands,
The discipline on these ships is generally
very strict. The watches on deck
are kept at work their entire time, none
of the other men or passengers being allowed
to converse with them. The captain, mate
and second mate have no more to do with the
crew, except strictly 10 the liae of duty, than
if they were a hundred miles away. This
, does not apply, however, to the third mate,
boatswan and carpenter, who are on more
social terms with the men. The steward
lives in the cabin, and ia the most important
man on the ship. The captain, mate and the
captains wife and family, if they are on
board, and the passengers, if any, eat at the
first table, and are waited on by the steward
and cabin boy. The second mate and car
peuter. and on most ships the third mate and
boatswsin, eat at the second. The sailors
take their food from the galley into the fore
| castle and eat it there. The water on these
long voyages is usually sllowauced-a neces-
| sary precaution-the quantity being about a
gallon day per man, although this is not al
ways strictly adhered to,for washing purposes
and also for cooking and drinking.
Though pretty well accustomed to large
vessels, have never seen a ship on which
| everything WAS on such large scale as was
the case with this one l have already given
her principal dimensions, but the great size
of her spars and rigging is her priu-
cipal feature. The lower masts, unlike
those of most large ships, are com
posed of one entire piece, and the rest of the
mast is in three sections, the royal mast be-
ing separate from the topgsllant mast. |
doubt if there is anything on the water that
! carries sail of the same size and at the same
| height in the air as the main royal of this
ship. The yard is forty-eight feet in length,
and the drop of the sail over twenty feet, and
this yard, when hoisted. is about los feet
| from the deck. Above this is the skysail,
which is forty feet in length, and which, as
| it was not used, was utilized as an awning to
cover the entire width of the main deck. The
| fore and main ''tops" were over fifteen feet
in width-prettyg ood-sized deck-the mizzen-
top twelve-lsrger than the maintop of an
ordinary ship. The lids" which support
the topmssts upon the lower ones, are pieces
of iron about FIVE feet long and six inches
square. The jibboom is from forty to fifty
| feet from the water when the ship is loaded,
and the hoist of the jib is seventy FIVE and
eighty feet; and yet these sails. when viewed
from the fore-roysl yard, seem like mere bal
looms resting on the water. The cables and
hawsers are curiosities in size. This ship,
like most of the Maine built vessels, is pro.
ylded with wheelhouse, which is
a great convenience. She also had q
small steam engine, which was used
sometimes for pumping. An especial