The morning news., 1898-12-09
YACHTS OF ANTIQUITY.
G"cer and Costly Pleasure Craft OF
Classical Times.

From the London Pan Nal Gazette.
Most historical reoos ds dealing VITA the
sport of yachting commerce with the wei
known quotations in Eve yn and Pepys.
Reference 10 Thucydides and polybus.
however proves beyond doubt that sma9
craft built for pleasure purposes only were
common enough wi the wealthy Elellenes
as 1dr back as Eve centuries ngo.
The eatly decades of h $ century are but
d.miy lit up, while the previous centuries
are enveloped in almost total darkness
Here and there we come across occasional
data in cd prints ANA books, but a con-
nected history does not exist, and plenty
of scope is left for the Imagination.
Suetonius is our authority for The state
ment that the luxurious Romans wen
knew and appreciated The n asure to be
derived from roaming about the seas. This
wriier describes az some icngih the display
of luxury on board The Emperor Cal,gu as
yachts. Along the upper decks there were
| Duit whet would correspond with The mod
ern deckhousss will were fitted most
sunptuously with paiat.rgs statues aud
mosaics, in the principal apar nnants. waIe
the bath room contained baths of bronze
and marble and CSC n a 7 sbrary, Of books
was carried on boa d. Covered walks ran
| alongside these deck hous es, with fruit
trees and rows Of vines planted in fowor
pots, which leads ore to surmise lhat the
Romans were fa!r-wca her sailors alher
than daring navi2ators Of ehoppy seas.
OF the earlier Grec'an yachts however
our knowledge is more scanty. Al the
existing evidence from wlitscn sources.
supplemented in a few iso,atea eases by
evidence from material sources, still caves
ample room fer dsducti n and conjecture
The sails used on Grecian shiDs were
sometimes made of lnen, but mere oficn
of the fiber of the pggyrus aad various
other rushes. Thu9 even the American
invention Of ram.e cloi h would appear 10
have been fores allied. The edges Of The
/ Grecian sails were hound with hide. a sys-
TEN, which, if adopted nowadays, though
perhaps not cendGche to speed would in
sure vessel sailing with sa.,s OF the
same dimensions as given in The Yacht
Rac ng AS 'oclAilon cesisica G. The skins
Of the hyena and the seal were in parlic-
u,ar request, s4rce sailors considered these
a sovereign means for keeping light
ming. Topsais, as part Of the ordinary
rig, apparently, came irto use aOcut 60 A.
d. The aaci.nt rlarirer, who knew that
be inorta cd IA ships spetd by carrying
sal as high IS pCss bic, attained his OBJ
/ ject by hosting up he yard, but seeming
ly did not unocrs.and the cause of bis
| phenomenon.
The s. .yle of rigging ussd On the earliest
I Greek vessels en- be ean-d fl r'y arcG-
/ rate.y froi, The HON re poens. Tro
mast (h.stos) was supported a lis foot
I by a prop (histopeGO aud held Hy TWO
for5slays (protoroD and haekstay. (ep-
| onoO. The mast caTii2d yard (epik-
| rion), by means Of wa.ch the sail was
hostee When the mast was lowered ne
| hslcpede was Cbvicus y q kna Of ia eT-
! nob.e-ii lay Ia q r. stylsd hist0doya.
/ The presence Of halyarGs and hraung
! ropes is irlpned, while 4im5rent terms are
! used for the running geat, though no def
| in.te Information is given as 10 its na-
| ure. The mast and yo were gensra..y
! made Of fir and occasionally Of pine
TIE outer planklng Of the huI. was COW
( cred with q ms uie o. tar a1d wlx some
/ paint beng usua.y i-o ca NJ h The lat
! Ter Sometimes q shea hrg OF lead COW
cred the ouer p,andng. layers OF tarrcd
/ sai.cloth being placed between the wood
/ and the meial. Wco4en regs and bronze
! nails were used for hoiaing together the
| tlmbers Of s1ip, while girdles OK cable,
| fastened horizoataly round the ship, were
! frequently used to streng 4nen fha hul OK
/ terna,ly. ~ the bottom Of thc hold gravel
| or stone ballast was usually carr ed, while
! the bigewat1r was empttad out by means
/ Of an Archimedean screw, which was
worked by Kind OF treadmnl.
! Students Of yirsIs "Aeaeid" will re-
member a par,icu.a iy sprifed account OF
! race between four Trojan men-of-war
/ off fhe coast Of Sicily. But the earliest
recorded yacht race, IN the modern sense
| OF the word, ives one in which Charles
II took part. The Merry Monarch had q
! pleasure-boat built for him after a Dutch
mcdA (the word yacht or jasht seems "a
be Of Dutch origin). but with improve.
ments, and the litte vessel earned the
appreciation Of Samuel pepys, the dlarist
who, as secretary TO the admiralty, mas
be supposed to have been q keen Judge
ana who described her as very pretty, d
and as zone OF the finest things that ever
/ saw for neatness ana room"
on Oct. /, 1861 the King sailed her
against his brother ths Duke Of York;
\ yacht for 100 gu.neas, from Greenwich Il
! Gravesend and back and won his wager
What was the result OF the expe.
rlment OF having handsome young women
instead Of The regular doaccns pass ihe
contribution boxes?'
1T was a failure. After q few Sun.
days the young men. found they were
chipping ia more Than they could AFFORD