The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1892-12-22
THE ROANOKE.
Last Of the Large Wooden Vessels
to Be Built in America,
some Interesting Information REGARDING
tho Great Boats OF This Coun-
try1Changes IN Ship
building. --'GE.

Anyone strolling along the bulkhead
OF Erie basin, which is vast hospital
and haven for craft of all sorts. NAV
nave noticed recently u great ship with
skysaai poles, seemingly fragile as
toothpieks, towering above the loftiest
spars of the biggest vessels moored
around her. She is a four-master, and
her aerial intricacies of rigging and
halliards and ropes are u Chinese puzzle
to the landsman, but vision of delight
TO the shellback. She is the Roanoke
giantess of wooden sailing vessels, and
Ile last of her type that ever will be
constructed in America. For that rea-
son she is worth more than passing no.
tlce. She represents the vanishing eu,
OF wooden bottoms, Disseminated
against by the marine underwriters
since the advent of steel ships.
Long ago, Says the New Yorker, the
wooden sailing craft ceased to be a car
rier or any significance in the British
trade. All of the big British cliners
are or Stec', and nearly all those Of re-
cent construction are four-musters. The
British skipper calls his four-master a
bark because she is schooner-rigged on
the fourth, which is known both as the
spanker and jiggcr mast. The Yankee
skipper thinks that any sailing vessel
with three, maSts square rugged is a
snip. The fourmastcd British ships
may be numbered by the score; the
four-masted American ships may be
counted on the fingers of one hand.
But the nautical optmists say this is to
be changed, and that the change is at
hand. The keel of the first American
steel ship soon will be laid at Bath, and
after She is launched others will follow
her down the ways in rapid succession.
The builders hope to do with the steel
clippers, which Will be constructed on
approved American racing models, what
our citizens did with wooden clippers
before the war. They held the record
thcn from every port, near or remote,
and they made modest fortunes for
their builders and owners The best of
1he 75trcl British ships cann0t approach
the wonderful performances Of the great
ilcetof Yankee flyers of forty years ago
The Northern Light is credited with
making the voyage from San Francisco
to this port in sevcntytwo days The
Flying Dutchman, built by William III.
~
knots in sixteen consecutive days, an
average OF nearly twelve knots an hour
The Drcadnaught made the 2,S0O-knot
run between New York and Queens
town in less than ten days. The Sow
crcign Of the Seas made the passage
from the Sandwich islands to New York
in eighty-two days, covering on one day
375 knots, which is better than the best
days run OF an eight-day steamship
from Queenstown. The Mary White.
rcdgc ran from Baltimore to Liverpool
in thirteen days and seven hours. The
Rcd Jacket made over 325 statute miles
Il day for one week. These are some of
the records the Roanoke will try to
equal. Veteran shippers do not believe
She can do it, but her commander is
hopeful.
The Roanoke is not the biggest Amer
lean ship ever built That distinction
belonged to the Great Republic, which
was even larger than the colossal steel
five-mastcr France, the largest sailing
vessel in the world. The Great Rcpub-
lie was built in East Boston by Donald
Mckay in 1858. Her master, Capt.
Joseph p. Hamilton, is the same Hamil-
owns the Roanoke. The Great Repub-
ic was not SO heavily spared as the
Roanoke. She carried 1868 square
Yards OF canvas, while the Roanoke
spreads nearly 10000. From boom end
TO boom end-that is, from the tip Of
her bowSprit to the tip of her spanlser
Doom-the Roanoke measures 370 feet.
Her length on the keel is 81 feet, and
her length over all is 33l feet Her cx-
Iremc beam is 1913 feet, her depth 90. 10
feet and her draught 81 feet. The
golden ball on the top of her main sky
sail pole is nearly 200 feet from the
deck. Her main and mizzen lower
masts are 02 feet high, and her fore
lower mast is 81 feet high. Her lower
Spank"r mast is 0S feet high. Her fore.
mann AMI miZZen topmaSts are SO feet
nigh, and her spankcr topmast is 80
feet high. Each of her three toppal-
liant masts is 2S feet high, her three
royal mastS 10 feet, her skysail masts IS
feet and her sltysail poles feet. Each
Of her three lower yards is 95 feet long.
her lower topSail yards 80 feet long,
her topgallant yards 6G feet long, her
royal yards 55 feet long and her skysail
i'"i'" iSCI. lAucn Oh ner three lower
yards is w feet long, her lower topsail
yards SO feet long, her topgallant yards
bd feet long, her royal yards 55 feet long,
and her sltysail yards A feet long.
These are gigantic spars, and their siZ.
can be appreciated only by the sailor
man who furls sail on them.
On her maiden voyage from Bath TO
tins port recently with 400 tons of ice
IN her hold rs ballast, the Roanoke had
only light winds, and could not test her
sailing qualities She will fit out at
Erie basin, and be ready for her first
cargo OF 5,4OO tons in December. She
Will go into service on the triangular
track from New York TO San Francisco,
TO Liverpool Tor lIavre), and back TO
New York. She will carry crew OF
about forty men of mixed nationalities
She will also have, what are rare in
these days, six or eight ambitious
American apprentices, mostly from the
st. Mary's.
Locomotives OF the World
one hundred and nine thousand loco.
motiVcS are at present running on the
earth. Europe has G3, 900, America 40 Ooo