Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1892-11-04
A NEW MAINE SAILER.
THE FOUR MASTER ROANOKE IS
THE LAST OF HER TYPE.

A Saiiin. Vessel in New York Harbor That
will Try Conclusions with Rsee.t Steel
Made gsgii.i, fseass-Hav she Il Rugged.
Her Crew znd Route.
Any Que strollin2 along the bnIkhead
u Erie lain. which is vast hospital
and haven for craft Of all sorts, may no
t;ce a great ship with skysail poles,
seemingly fragile as toofhpicks, tower
rig above the ioftiest spars Of the big
lest vessels moored around her. She is
four master, and her aerial intricacies
Of rigging and hAliiaris and ropes are a
Eninese puzzle to the landsman. but a
vision Of delight to the shellback She
il the Roanoke, giantess Of wooden sail
ing vessels, and the last Of her type that
will ever be constructed in America.
For that reason she is worth more than
passing notice. She represents the van
ishing era OF wooden bottoms, discrimi-
mated against by the marine underwrit-
rrs since the advent Of steel-ships.
Long ago the wooden sailing craft
ceased TO be carrier Of any significance
10 the British trade. All Of the big
British clippers are of steel, and nearly
all those Of recent construction are four
masters. The British skipper calls his
four master bark because she is
schooner rugged on the fourth, which is
known both as the spanker and jigger
mast. The Yankee skipper thinks that
any sailing vessel with three rnasts
square rugged is ship.
The four masted 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
optifnists 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, and after she is launched others
will follow her down the ways in rapid
succession. The builders hope 10 do
with the steel clippers-which will be
constructed On approved American rae
ing models-what our builders did with
wooden clippers before the war. They
held the record then from every port,
near or remote. and they made modest
fortunes for their builders and owners.
The best Of the steel British ships can
not approach the wonderful perform
;,nces If the great fleet of Yankee filters
Of forty years ago. The Northern Light
IL credited with making tie voyage from
san Francisco 10 this port in seventy
two days, The FIXING Dutchman, built
by William H. Webb, Of this city, in
1862, covered l,620 knots i'll sixteen CON
secutiye days, an average of nearly
Twelve knots an hour. The Dreadnought
made the $500 knot run between New
York and Queenstown in less than ten
Gays.
The Sovereign Of the Seas made the
passage from the Sandwich Islands %
New York i'll eisaty-two days, covering
on one day 31j knots, which is better
nan the best days run of an eight day
sVeamship from Queenstown. The Mary
Whiteredgt ran from Baltimore To Liy-
crpooi III thirteen days and seven hours.
The Red JacAet made over 3a5 statute
miles dag tor 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
i've master France, the largest sailing
vessel in the world. The Great Repub-
lie was built in East Boston by Donald
Mckay in 1853. Her master, Captain
Joseph p. Hamilton. is the same Hanlil-
ION who now commands and partly owns
the Roanoke. The Great Republic was
not SO heavily spared az the Roanoke.
She carried 1868 square yards of can
vas, while TIE Roanoke spreads nearly
10000. From boom end to boom end
that is, from the tip of her bowsprit to
the tip of her spanker boom-the Roam
oke measures $40 feet. Her length on
he keel Is 81 feet, and her length over
all is 33l feet. Her extreme beam is
1913 feet, her depth 29.l0 feet and her
'iraft % feet. The golden ball on the
top of her main skysail pole is nearly
200 feet from the deck. Her main and
nizzen lower masts are " feet high, and
her fore lower mast is 81 feet high. Her
lower spanker mast is % feet high.
Her fore, main and miZzen topmasts
are j6 feet high and her spanker topmast
- 81 feet high. Each of her three top
gallant masts is % feet high, her three
royal nasts 10 feet, her skysail masts Is
teet and her skysail poles 6 feet. Each
Of her three lower yards is % feet long,
her lower topsail yards So feet long, her
yards 66 feet long, her royal
yards 81 feet long and her skysail yards
Il feet long. These are gigantic spars.
and their size can be appreciated only by
the sailorinan who furls sail on them.
On her maiden voyage from Bath to
tins port, with 400 tons of ice in her
hold as ballast, the Roanoke had only
light winds and could not test her sail
iug qualities. she will go into service
III the triangular track from New York
10 San Francisco, to Liverpool Tor
Havre), aud back to New York. She
will carry a crew of about forty men of
mixed natlonalities. She viii also have
what are rare in these days--six or seven
American apprentices. mostly
from the school>irip 81. Marys. Her
chief officers, WHO are American navi-
gators of much experience. are First
Mate Frank h. Foss, of Lynn. and Sec
md Mate Ingalls,, of Portland. New
FORK sun.