The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-03-08
YACHTS or ANTIQUITY.
Queer and Costly Pleasure Craft Of
Classical Times.


Most historical records dealing with
the sport Of yachting commence with
the we'll known quotations in Evelyn
and Pepys Reference to Thucydides
and Polybius however, proves beyond
doubt that small craft built for pleasure
purposes only were common enough
with the wealthy Hellenes as far back
as FIVE centuries ago. The early de-
cades of the Nineteenth century are
but dimly lit up, while the previous
centuries are enveloped in almost total
darkness. Here and there we come
across occasional data, in old prints and
books, but a connected history does not
exist, and plenty of scope is left for the
imagination.
Suetonius is our authority for the
statement that the luxurious Romans
well knew and appreciated the pleasure
to be derived from roaming about the
seas. This writer describes at some
length the display Of luxury on board
the Emperor Caligula's yachts. Along
the upper decks there were built what
would correspond with the modern
deckhouses, which were fitted most
sumptuously with paintings, statues
and mosaics in the principal apart
ments, while the bath rooms contained
baths Of bronze and marble, and even
library Of books was carried on board.
Covered walks ran alongside these deck
houses, with fruit trees and rows OF
vines planted in fowerpots, which leads
one to surmise that the Romans were
fair weather sailors rather than daring
nayigators CT choppy seas
Of the earlier Grecian yachts, how
ever, our knowledge is more scanty.
All the existing evidence from written
sources. supplemented in few isolated
cases by evidence from material sources.
still leaves ample room for deduction
and conjecture.
The sails used on Grecian ships were
sometimes made of linen, but more
often of the fiber of the papyrus and
various other rushes Thus even the
American invention of ramie cloth
would appear to have been forestalled-
The edges of the Grecian sails were
bound with hide, a system which if
adopted nowadays, though perhaps not
conducive to speed, would insure YES
sci sailing with sails of the same di-
mensions as given in the Yacht Racing
association certificate. The skins of the
hyena and the seal were in particular
request, since sailors considered these q
sovereign means for keeping off light
ming Topsails, as part of the ordinary
rig, apparently came into use about 90
A. Z. The ancient mariner, who knew
that he increased the ships speed by
carrying sail as high as possible, attain
ed his object by hosting up the yard,
but seemingly did not understand the
cause of this phenomenon.
The style of rigging use'i on the
earliest Greek vessels can be CLEANED
fairly accurately from the Homeric
poems. The mast (histos) was support
ed at its foot by a prop (hispodede) and
held by two forestays (protonol) and a
backstay (epitonos). The mast carried
a yard (epikrion), by means Of which
the sail was hoisted When the mast
was lowered, the hispodede was obvious
ly kind Of tabernacle-it lay in a rest
styled histodoke. The presence Of hal
yards and brailing ropes is implied.
while different terms are used for the
running gear, though no definite infor-
nation is given as to its nature. The
mast and yards were generally made Of
fir and occasionally of pine.
The outer planking of the hull was
covered with mixture Of tar and wax,
some paint being usually melted with
the latter Sometimes sheathing of
lead covered the outer planking, layers
of tarred sailcloth being placed between
the wood and this metal Wooden pegs
and bronze nails were used for holding
together the timbers Of a ship, while
girdles of cable fastened horizontally
round the ship were frequently used to
strengthen the hull externally. At the
bottom of the hold gravel or stone bal
last was usually carried, while the
bilgewater was emptied out by, means
of an Archimedean screw, which was
worked by kind Of treadmill.
Students of Vire.il's "Eneid" willre.
member particularly spirited account
of race between four Trojan men-of-
war off the coast Of Sicily. But tie
earliest recorded yacht race, in the mod
ern sense of the word, was one in which
Charles II. took part. The Merry Mon
arch had pleasure boat built for him
after Dutch model the word yacht or
jaght seems to be of Dutch origin), but
with improvements, and the little yes
sci earned the appreciation Of Samuel
Pepys, the diarist, who, as secretary to
the admiralty. may be supposed to have
been a keen judge, and who described
her as every pretty" and as zone Of tie
finest things that ever / saw for neat
ness and room.
On Oct. 1. 1861. the king sailed her
against his brother, the Duke of York 8
yacht, for 100 guineas. from Greenwich
to Gravesend and back. and won his
wager.-Pall Mall Gazette
DouhtfuI Sword.