The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-01-17
VESSELS OF THE ANclEMrs.
In tho Matter OF Size They Wcrc Up with
Our Modern Steam hips.

I
OF naval architecture thct crowd the
great ports Of the world II there is
my thing new under the sun. IL first
class ocean steamer. it is believed. is
that rarity. In our conocit we recall
only the gallcys ard trircmcs of the
the ancicnts, that scarce ever vcnturcd
beyond the coast line, and the small
tarlss In which Columbus and those
that followed him conquered the new
world and gave commerce its greatest
field Bat thc nncicnts built many
goo;ily-si:.cd craft and made luxury u
ssa.:y on Soma Of them.
That much-controvcrtcd craft, the
nrlI, is m example of bi.,ncss. says
the Maritime Register. Her tonnage
is estimated at about 1900 tons
smaller, II is true. than that OF the
Great Eastern. No less an authority
than Lindsay thinks that she WAS simply
II raft of stupcndous size. having upon
it Il structure resembling huge ware
house. As no means Of propulsion was
necessary. this description may be
correct. The cargo. however was
unique. and probably the largest and
most valuable ever carried
The description OF the ark rs given
in the Scriptures, makes the vessel
about 49, feet in length. - feet in
breadth anal Is feet in dcptl-propor-
tions similar to these now in use to-day
for great vessels. l;ut rs the aynostic
is not sure that this lifc-boat Of the
hnrH3n race ever existed, and as tho
In2tcriali"t Is sure She never ,vns built,
let us take for example of Dir ancient
vessels some other craft vouchcd for
upon tn" authority of profanc and not
sacred writer's. The Egyptians. fond of
large things and big dimensions. made
the big tonnage vessels of ancient
times.
Ptolcr,y Philooator) would have ap-
prciatcd the Great Eastern. lie was
fond Of building big boats. One Of thes.
is said to hove been 40 feet long. 81
feet broad and - feet deep from the
highest part ct the stern. This vessel
had four ruddcrs- or what some would
call steering oars. rs they were not
fastened. each a. feet long. She carried
1000 rowcrs, besides 5000 marines. ~
large body of servants under her
decks and stores and provisions Her
oars were 81 feet long, and the handles
were weighted with lead. There were
1000 rowcrs on Il side, and it is sup
posed that these were divided into Eve
banks. That this extraordinary vessel
ever put to sen is doubtful. but that she
was launched and used at times, il only
for display, several historians arc
agreed.
Another ship" the Thalamorus,
built for one of the Ptolcmics. is said
TO have been sou feet long. As feet broad
and go feet deep This was a far more
magnificent vessel than any previous
one An AlcXandrian historian. Cat
lixcnus. in describing her, speaks Of her
having colonnadcs. marble stairs and
gardens. Another great vessel. histori-
cal by reason of its size. is one built by
Hero. King of Syracuse. Her dmcn-
sions ore estimated to be large from the
description of her cargo and the NUN Der
of her decks md houses She is sup
posed to have been shcathed with lead,
and accomplished at least one success
full trip.
full description of her would read
somewhat like that Of one of our Long
Island sound or Hudson river steam.
boats. She had three entrances, the
lowest leading to the hold. the second
10 the catinT-rooms and the third was
appropriated TO the soldiers There
were thirty rooms, each having four
couchcs for the soldiers: there we're
fifteen couchcs in the soldiers supper
room. and there were three more
cabins, each having three couchcs. The
floors in all these rooms were laid in
stone mosaic work. There was also a
temple of cypress inlaid with ivory and
dedicated to Venus The nainmast
was composed OF T. single tree. and the
vessel carried four wooden and eight
iron anchors
AS n freight carrier she would rival
the largest of our ocean tranps It is
recorded thGt one or two OF the
launches belonging to her would carry
about eighty tons. This vessel is said
To have carried 10000 measures of
corn, 10000 jars of Sicilian salt fish,
10000 talents weight of wool ard of
other cargo 10000 talents, all of which
was in addition to the provision re.
CURED for the crew" These are the
notably big vessels of ancient times,
but the superstition is that ns rulers,
whether king or people, were Us emu
lous in those days as these. other big
craft were also built From the fore
going description the thought is sug-
gcsted that the first designers OF our
own river steamboats, may have heard
Of the Egyptian and Syracuse vessels
and taken hint from them in building
floating palaces
Girl Queens OF ysur,po