The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1898-08-10
PRIMITIVE ANCHORS.
STONES AND WOODEN TUBES FILLED
WITH LEAD FIRST USED.

STONES AND WOODEN TUBES FILLED
WITH LEAD FIRST USED.
The Earliest Anchors Made on the Hook
Principle Had Only Oas FIuke-cruds
Devices That Are stin Used In nsrsrsnt
P1rS~ Of the World.
There appear to be two ideas which
have led mp 10 the invention Of the
modern anchor: % the idea Of attach
ing the vessel by means of rope or
chain 10 a weight sufficiently heavy to
keep the vessel from mOvinr rfwhen the
weight has sunk to the bottom of the
sea, and (2) the idea Of using a hook
instead Of Tor in addition to) the weight,
so as to catch in the bottom. The Eng
lsh word anchor is practically the same
as the Latin ancora and the Greek ang-
kura, meaning THAT which has an an
gle, >, from the root ank. bent
The earliest anchors made on the
hook principle probably only had one
fiuke instead Of two. In the Sussex
Archail. Coll. I" there is an illustration
of what has been surmised to be az
anchor made out of the natural i,orked
branch Of a tree. 1t was found with an
ancient British canoe at BurphaEz, S1s-
sex. There is in the British museum an
interesting leaden anchor with two
fiulzes bearing Greek inscription Its
date is about so B. c. and it was found
off the coast of Cyrene
The invention of theanchor with two
fukes is attributed by Pausanius to
Midas, by Pliny to Eupalamas, and by
StrabO to AnacharSis Diodorus SicUlus
states that the first anchors were wood
en- tubes filed with lead, while another
classical writer says that before the in
PRODUCTION of metal anchors Jumps Of
stone with a hole through the middle
for the attachment of the cable were
used
The form of the anchors used by the
Greeks and Romans is well known from
representations ON Trajan's column and
in the catacombs at Rome as an early
Christian symbol This form does not
seem TO have changed materially for
quite thousand years. as is shown by
the Bayeux tapestry
Some very primitive kinds of anchors
are in use at the pl eSent day in different
parts Of the world. and a study of their
construction may throw some light ON
the evolution OF the modern anchor.
An anchor which came from Japan
consists of a natural forked brazh of
tree. slightly improved artiicially, so
as to make hook. Two round bars are
fixed at right angles to the shank. and
70 these two ordinary beach pebbles are
tied The length of the anchor is feet
inches, the width across the hook s
inches, and across the transverse bars
foot inches The stones are from to
6 inches in diameter and inches thick.
Another anchor was in use quite re
Gently in the Arran islands, of the west
coast of Galway. Il is constructed Of
sioping bar at each side and three cross
bars forming figure nos unlike the
isosceles triangle in Euclid's pons asi-
norum. The lowest of the three cross
bars is Of square section and is fixed by
iron spikes at each side to the sloping
pieces so as TO prevent them spreading
outward The stone, which acts as
weight, is clipped by means Of the two
side pieces. being held tightly by two
spliced rings of ropo passing under the
upper crossbars-
These crossbars are Of round section
and project at each side, thus keeping
the rope rings from slipping upward
The cable is fixed TO the middle of the
lowest transverse bar and is carried up
ON one side Of the stone. then between
the two sloping boards. and finally
through a loop fixed to hole at the top
of the anchor. The boards at each side
are / foot l03z inches long and the
stone foot inches long
Is may seem strange that such primi-
tive looking contrivances should con-
tinue to be used by fishermen who have
full knowledge Of every modern ap-
pliance connected with navigation and
vessels. yet there are good reasons why
they should have survived Where the
sea or river bed is rocky anchors are
easily lost This is a serious matter
when the anchor is Of iron and Of some
value, but if il is constructed like those
described there is not much difficulty
or expense in replacing it. A beach
stone and few bits of wood are always
at hand. and the skilled workmanship
required to fashion them into a very
seryiceable anchor is but small
Thus it is that under certain condi-
tons primitive appliances must always
hold their own against modern inven-
tions When. as often happens. a newly
introduced contriyance gets out of or
der. it generally involves much greater
loss of time and more expense TO re-
place il than if it were of sampler con-
strncticn and capable Of being made by
an ordinary workman out Of materials
easily procurable ON the spot.
Highly civilized man has much to
learn from his prehistoric ancestors and
from nncultured races still existing as
10 how he should act in an emergency
when deprived of his usual appliances
-Reliquary and Illustrated Archaolo-
gist