The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-02-10
THE SHENANDOAH.

watched for this announcement, and re-
allied that it meant victory for the Shen-
andoah and prestige for Bath. She was
built in Bath yard, by Bath men, under
the guidance of Master Builder E. F..
Mallett, lately deceased.
Captain Murphy lives in Bath He has
carried his vessel safely through two
ocean races, and gained name that any
captain might well be proud of. In
spite of contrary winds at the start and
terrific gales at the finish, the old S175,-
600 beauty arrived at her. haven ahead,
proudly flying the American flag.
The Shenandoah is one of four vessels
built and building at Bath for the Attain
tic and Pacific freight trade. The first
was the Rappahannock, of 8, 1856 tons,
and was burned at sea three months ago.
The Shenandoah, of 3,406 tons, was the
next. Then came the Susquehanna, of
2,744 tons, and in a few months will be
completed the
Roanoke, of $500 Tons.
the largest of the series of which the
Shenandoah is now the largest afloat.
The Shenandoah is the largest sailing
vessel in the world except the France,
which, having five masts, spreads about
a thousand yards more canvas. The
Shenandoah is 300 feet long and 40 feet
beam. Her hold is % feet deep, and as
YOU look into it from the main deck it
looks like a vast cavern crossed by oak
beams. against which no force of wind,
OF waves, or tide, could in the least pre-
: vail
She can be sunk to draw 20 feet of
water without interfering with her safe
ty. When she is nearly empty, and
as one stands upon the pier looking at
her, her walls rise so that it takes an un :
usual ladder to reach her deck. From
the main deck her length and the height
of her maSts are even more impressive
than when seen at a little distance. Her
three forward masts are 80 feet high and
So inches in diameter The topmasts are
Sc feet long, and the topgallants are IS
feet long. Thus
The Sailor Who Climbs
UP her mainmast to the truck is 217 feet
above the deck, and to those upon the
deck looks exceedingly small and most
dangerously situated. THERE'S no steam
about the vessel except for the small en-
CINE which raises and lowers the -four
eocteDOAiSb
to the pump in case the vessel should
spring a leak The windlass is a COM
plicated, heavy affair, quite as much be-
You'd the old fashioned windlass, through
which bars were put and around which
the sailors tramped and sang, as the
Shenandoah is beyond the sailing vessels
of the romances.
She carries a crew of 20 men, with a
steward, carpenter, and four officers.
The fo'castle is box of Il place opening
upon the deck so that the sea breezes
may blow squarely into its two compart-
lnents. The sailors are the only I'm
American things about her, says a New
York paper. They are Swedes and
Frenchmen, with one negro and two
japanese. AS the mate said: "You
won't find many American sailors, be-
cause an American who amounts to any
thing doesn't stay in the fo'castle
long.''
It is no wonder that Capt. James Muir
ply, who has been around the Horn Is
times, should be proud of the cabin
where he and his officers live and where
way from San Francisco to Havre and
then to New York. 1t is finished in
quartered oak, very simple and free
from ornament, but the more solid and
beautiful for that. The tables, chairs,
carpets, lounges and beds are all worthy
of the ship, The floor of the cabin is
oiled and covered, except at the border.
with Turkish rug. The Captains own
cabin is an unprecedented cabin for a
captain of sailing vessel. 1t is big
enough for a dozen people to turn around
in, and the bedtis as good eas any man
would care to sleep upon. ~
The captain, who was SO proud of the
record an American built sailing vessel
had made, is an old silor with q fine rec
ord. His officers are Americans also.
and ;uc as proud Of the Shenandoah as is
the captain.