The Republican journal., 1892-10-06

THE DAYS OF WOODEN CRAFT NEARl
OVER.

OVER.
No one who is at all familiar with the
aspect of shipping on the city front can
have failed to notice that iron ships are
getting increasingly numerous and wood
ell ships very few. SO far as steamers are
concerned, it is only small coasters that
are now constructed of wood.
''A OF can tell an American deep water
ship from q British OF German vessel in a
minute, SAID the mate OF a recent arrival
TO Call reporter yesterday. ''The Ameri-
can will to Il certainty be built of
wood, but European ships are all iron
No more wooden ships will be built there
anyhow.
''The only objection to an iron ship is
that you have to be painting her all the
time. 1t costs something for paint, too,
but the advantage is all in favor Of the
iron ship. Other things being equal, iron
ships are lighter cleaner, carry more
freight, and get better prices, because the
cargo is subject to little or no risk If
there were plenty of iron ships in the hal-
Dor wooden ships would stand no chance
whatever The insurance is less. that is
another important matter
''But speaking about painting iron
ships, let me tell you thing or two
Were you to stop cleaning and painting
them, OF treat them like wooden ships,
there would be the very dickens to pay in
less than two years. Iron is a good ser
want, but in salt water it is bad master
''Just as soon as an iron ship, whether
a steamer OF a deep water sailer, gets into
port, the first thing to do is to scrape and
clean her as far as possible. Once year
at least the vessel will have to be locked
and that will cost anything from 81, 600 to
81, 900, according to size. When it comes
to one of the expensive moder cruisers,
with very thin steel plates. the cost may
run up to SO, 200.
GAS a rule, we can keep an iron ship
tolerably clean below the water line on a
voyage by an apparatus called a scraper.
You have heard OF read of the cruel old
time punishment of keel-hauling a refac-
tory seaman by letting him down over the
bows and hauling him aft. The scrapel
is simply coarse oval brush with eyelet
holes Oh each side and slightly curved to
adapt itself to the mould of the ship. 1t
is let down over the bows and hauled aft
Every inch of the vessel below water can
be reached down to the keel, except a
small portion of the deadwood in the
ships run.
As Sdlu DtlOIe. Wltu Gue SHIP comes
into port, she is cleaned and scraped i'm
mediately. Then to prevent the oxidation
of the iron, which gives rise to the pit
ting, so destructive to iron and steel
ships, composition is applied consisting
of melted tallow with white lead and a
small proportion OF red lead, just sufficient
to color it. This is put all over the sur
face as far down as can be reached. The
iron spars and yards of iron ships are coat
ed on The same principle with an arsenical
composition, which prevents vermin from
attacking the cordage and sails attached
to them.
''Ycu may say that wood has had it's
day for nearly everything on board a
modern iron ship is of iron, except the
running rigging. The next thing will be
steel. When that day comes it will be a
great time for paint. It's an age of paint
now-paint, paint, paint.
by the way. it's Il curious thing, but
if an iron ship comes in pretty foul and
you send her up to Martinez into ,he fresh
water all the green stuff will die and drop
off. The fresh water kills these growths
at once. That explains why SO many of
the foreign iron fleet are there now. -
San Francisco Call.