Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1892-05-19
SUGGESTIVE APPLICATIONS.
inc very Appropriate Names That Sailor.
BestOw on Ships.

'"o very Appropriate Names That sailors
bestow on Ships,
the sailors use some striking appella-'
yves to describe vessels according 10
pecuiiarities Of movement, condition or
management A typical domestic ami.
maj Is referred to in hen-frigate, a YES
sci on which the captains wife has
hand in the regulations; and an animal
OF no less decided characteristics gave
the name carbohydrates to English
men-of-war commanded by officers who
had seen little or no service In lower
grades-who had come on board
through the cabin windows and
not "over the bows" as Il is nau-
tlcally described. Anyone who has
seen from distance a number of small
vessels lying close together will recog-
nize the appropriateness of mosquito
heet, the bluc-water sailors term for
them. Perhaps only those who have
experienced the tyranny possible on
shlpboard can appreciate the name of
nell afioat given a vessel notorious for
such government Another ominous
term is floating coffin for vessel that
may be apparently seaworthy, but
which in fact only awaits an occasion
10 indicate its name. In contrast to
this, English sealers and whalers are
known as lime-juicers because they are
required by the British admiralty to
carry lime juice as an anti-scorbutic.
Again, referring to the health OF the
soul, what could be better than floating
Bethel for an old ship in port used for
religious services.
AS opposed to cutter and rclipper.
legitimate class names of vessels, from
their cutting and clipping the water,
the title OF bruisewater is applied to n
bluff-bowed vessel, one that bruises or
breaks the water; with which compnre
French briser, to dash or break as
waves, brisants, breakers. This action
upon the water recalls the suggeted con-
nection between sloop and slip, slSute and
scud or shoot, and schoone and scoon.
Wet vessels, that take much water on
deck, are known as diving bells, from
their plunging into the waves instead
OF riding over them. A vessel that
pitches heavily is called a pile-driver-
another term that can be appreciated
only by those who have felt such
pounding, well described in German as
stampfreiten; to pitch when riding at
anchor A lighter degree of somewha,
the same kind of movement seems to be
the source of the legitimate terms skip.
jack and dandy, applied to light, speedy
vessels.
Tea-wagon, formerly applied to the
ships of the East India Co., from theil
usual cargo, is a colloquial example o.
the la,rge class Of ship names referring
to cargo and trade. The wagon idea
appears again in wheelbarrows; applied
to steamboats, having a large stern pad
dle-wheel, which gives it general APP
pearance fully justifying the name. II
allusion to their characteristic shap,
the canal-boatman calls his boat
chunker and the sections of it boxes
Under the same idea butter-box wa.
formerly applied in England to beam,
trading vessel. The ship as box il
regularly exemplified by German Buse
Dutch buyse, Spanish bucha and En-
glish buss, kind of fishing-boat.
The transfer of the title of the com
mander of the fleet to his own vessel i
an old custom still in vogue. Milton
speaks of
The talest pine
Hewn on Norwegian hills, to be the mast
OF some great ammiral.
American Notes and Queries