New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1898-06-29

hook principle probably only had one
fluke instead of two. In the ''Sussex
Archaeil. Coll. "there is an illustration
Of what has been surmised to be an
anchor made out Of the natural forked
branch Of tree. It vast found with an
ancient British canoe at Burpham, Sus-
sex. There is in the British museum an
interesting leaden anchor. with two
flukes bearing a Greek inscription. Its
date is about sob. @. and it was found
off the coast Of Cyrene. 49, -
The invention of the anchor 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 filled 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 we'll known froro
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 present day in different
parts of the world, and 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 branch Of a
tree, slightly improved artifcially, so
as to make hook. Two round bars are
fixed at right angles to the shank, and
to these two ordinary beach pebbles are
tied. The length Of the anchor is feet
8 inches, the width across the hook 8
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, off the west
coast Of Galway. It is constructed Of
sloping bar at each side and three cross
bars, forming a figure not unlike the
isosceles triangle in Euclid's pons ash
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 rope 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 loop fixed to a hole at the top
of the anchor. The bot,SJs at each side
are foot 1917 inches long and the
stone'l foot 5 inches long.
It may seem strange that such print.
tive looking contrivances should con-
tinue to be used by fishermen who have
a 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 it is constructed like those
described there is not much difficulty
or expense in replacing it. A beach
stone and a few bits of wood are always
at hand, and the skilled workmanship
required to fashion them into very
serviceable anchor is but small
Thus it is that under certain condi-
lions primitive appliances must always
hold their own against modern inven-
tions When, as Ditch happens, newly
introduced continuance gets out of or
der, it generally involves much greater
loss of time and more expense to re-
place it than if it were Of simpler con
struction and capable of being made by
an ordinary workman out Of materials
easily procurable on the spot. 3s
Highly civilized man has much to
learn from his prehistoric ancestors and
from uncultured races still existing as
to how he should act in an emergency
when deprived Of his usual appliances
-Reliquary and Illustrated Archaolo-
gist. .....t.. y s
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