Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1890-10-25
Ericsson and the Evolution of Ships.

~ ON'S
buo tancy. Next, rhaps, in the series
of devices for con. yance by water was
the canoe made of Dark or skin stretched
on frame work. Len boats were made
of pieces of wood stitched together with
thongs or rope. Later came boats OF
plank bolted together with inserted ribs
and decks, or half decks. Last in the
series that ends in the ship was the ves-
sci, the frame work of which was first
set up and the plahking of the hull put
on afterward The idea of a decked
ship once reached the next step of prog
ress was to increase the size, capacity,
and powers of propulsion of the floating
house. The earliest representations of
ships are those found in Egypt, which
carry us back some 5000 years before
Christ The ships of that day were al
ready of considerable size, carrying
large and varied cargo. They had masts
and sails, and the war ships had ram
with which to run down an opponent
Steering was effected by paddles, four or
five in number. The Ph6niclans, the
English of that period, greatly improved
the structure of ships. The ruins of an
Assyrian palace represent Phoenlclan
vessel of two banks of OarS-a blreme-
of the period 900 B. G.. Shields hung
along the side constituted its armor.
The Phnnicians are credited with the
invention of the breme, and also of the
trireme, or vessel of three banks of oars
The latter was the Greek ship of war
of the best period. 1t was the long ship
the ship of war par excellence. With
it were fought those notable actions so
we'll described by Thucydides. Later,
huge vessels with four, five, and even 10
banks of oars were built, the last men
toned, however, beng merely the ex-
pensive toys of wealthy kings. The
vessels of the period of the war between
the Athenians and Peloponnesans were
propelled by both oars and sails, the war
ships relying principally on their oars.
The Romans used the Corinthian quin-
quiremes until the fight at Actium
showed that the light Thurman galleys
were better These galleys were biremes
and fully decl1ed The medieval galley
differed from the ancient i'll the use of
longer oars and in peculiarities of con-
struction that enabled more than one
man to be employed upon each oar. The
stroke was thus slower than in the tri-
rene, but more powerful. The intro
duction of muskets and cannon i'll lieu
of spears and swords led to the building
of larger ships on the modern models for
purposes of war, until the noble three
decker was reached. The introduction
of steam as a means of propulsion
brought in further changes, and the use
of steel instead of wood for the hull has
wholly altered the old forms and proper
tions of ships both for commerce and
war With the use of iron for the con-
structon of ships, naturally came the
idea of converting the ships into float
ing fortress by thickening her sides.
departure from the merchanteer type
was the immediate result. But as the
walls of ships were thickened the pene-
trating power of cannon was increased,
and this led to the use of special con-
structions to give the ship the quality of
an unsuitable platform, presenting
small target to the enemy. The progress
made in the last so years in the con-
struction, propulsion, armoring, and
navigation of ships was largely due to
Ericsson's inventive genius. If he did
not invent, he introduced the screw as
means of propelling ships-a step OF
progress which, by discardng sails, has
revolutionized the sailors calling He
first, in the construction Of the Prince
ton, placed the "vitals" of war ships
engines, magazines, ETC. - below the
water line, out Of reach of hostile shot.
The expedient of using a forced draught
to quicken the fires of ships was his,
as was also the telescope smokestack,
and the device for using centrifugal
blowers for purposes of ventilation. On
the Princeton he introduced the novelty
of 10 inch wrought iron gun, with
band shrunk on at the breech; device
for taking up the recol of heavy guns;
an automatic gun lock, and an instru-
ment for determining distances. Among
his other inventions connected with
navigation were the self registering
deep sea lead, until recently in universal
use, and improvements in tubular steam
boilers. Ericsson's system of movable
torpedoes, operated and steered from
the shore by means of compressed air
was an important contribution to naval
warfare. His inventions in this line
must affect profoundly the conditions
under which naval operations will hence
forth be conducted. The Destroyer,
small vessel with a gun in the bow
under the water line, for firing sub
marine torpedoes, was among his last
works. His creation of the monitor
type of armored war ship is, however,
the achievement by which he is best
known. AS early as 1854 he designed
for Napoleon III partially submerged
armored vessel with guns inclosed in
a revolving shot proof cupola placed
centrally on the deck. On this design
substantially was constructed in 1861 the
famous Monitor, which fought the
Confederate iron clad Merrimac in
Hampton Roads, in March, 1862. The
monitor type has since become obsolete,
being rejected principally on account Of
its poor sea going qualities, but Erics-
son justly divides with the designer of
the Merrimac the honor of having in
augurated new departure in the con-
struction of ships of war.-LBaltimore
Sun.
She Wanted That Hat.