The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1900-11-15
BREAKING UP A SHIP.
What is Done With All Her Different
Parts.

Gil III youel: olHtIS III Luluulc aye, duu
a few pass away after many years.
When man comes to an end there is al
ways burial place. but the ships only
cemetery is the deep sea. If in it's
youth it runs ashore on a lee coast, or
if in its old age it is condemned as I'M
seaworthy, it meets the same fate-to
be broken up and sold as old junk.
This destiny, though prosaic, is popular
to that small class in the community
known as marine junkmen.' 1t is
not a numerous guild; it is confined to
great seapor ts but it is thrifty, wide
awake, and frequently buys, unseen in
New York, some craft which has been
lost on the Jersey sands or the New
England granite shore.
The metropolis is, of course, the
headquarters of this queer folk. They
have little offices on South and West
streets, and many of them have SOCIAL
ed yards on the water front. There is no
special district which they favor above
East river, some over in Jersey City,
some in Brooklyn and others on the
North river the sound and Staten Is
land. The dealers are usually old sail
ors or ship carpenters: but in their new
calling they develop odd knowledge and
business traits.
While ships are all alike to land-lub-
1,n, and bnv
ent vast differences to these sea junk
valuation of a ship which will come
within 20 per cent. of its real worth, and
how they haggle with the captain, own
er, or ships husband. They are not
delicate in their language when it comes
to chatfering. Good round Saxon oaths,
strange Italian curses, and the brutal
blaSphemy of the forecaStle are mixed
up i'll way that would cause each par
ticular hair of a devout mans head to
stand on end, but which fall upon
captains ears like a strain of familiar
music. Sometimes, instead of buying
outright, they take a ship on shares;
but woe to the credulous captain or
agent who enters into this kind of a
bargain. The receipts are all correct,
but the expenses are usually bewilder-
ing. The junkman employs every rela-
tive he has III dismantling the craft,
and puts in bill for labor and time
that often eats up the entire proceeds.
The masts and rigging range greatly
in value. Some masts, especially COM
pound ones, braced with steel or
wrought iron, are often in admirable
condition after 80 or 10 years of use,
and only require cleaning and few
repairs to become marketable at fair
price The yards and bowsprits tiller,
wheels and rudders often display the
same longevity. The rigging is usually
stays. whether made of wire rope OF of
old-fashioned tarred hemp.
Sails vary greatly, but even the oldest
and poorest can usually be sold to the
brick sloops, lime schooners and other
craft which ply Long Island sound or
the Hudson river. The galley and the
cabin cut a fair figure i'll these delibera-
tons. The stoves and kitchenWare can
be readily sold to other vessels or to
dealers in secondhand goods ashore.
Cabins may prove a small bonanza to
the SPECTATOR: many of them are built
OF the finest woods, carved and gilded
The Weathering they have received for
years has brought out all the beauty Of
the grain, and has dried them. until
they are as compact and resilient as an
ancient violin. They are bought eager
/ ly by the makers Of antique furniture.
and reappear in Il few months as colon
! ial bookcases, revolutionary bedsteads
/ and puritan secretaries.
| When it comes to the hull the aver
| age Speculator is inclined to bide his
! time and look out for a profitable OPP
portunity. OF late years there has
grown up a disposition toward utilizing
the stanch hulks as GOLFERS Occasion
ally small hull can be sold as bethel
or a houseboat, and sometimes it can
be toated at high tide upon one of the
marshes or low shores around New
York, and there sold to an ambitious
shopkeeper or saloon proprietor If it
is sold for the latter purpose, the buyer
! first removes the copper and everything
detachable. Copper nowadays is worth
IL cents pound, and copper sheathing
always finds a quick sale. Even Oh a
small ship it is worth over 800, and on
larger vessels it often brings handsome
| sums
The number of hunks which have
been sold, beached and utilized as resi-
dences or for trade is much larger than
is commonly supposed. They can be
found here and there upon both sides of
the Hudson river the East river the
Sound, Newark bay, the Arthur Kill and
Raritan bay They make comfortable
homes, and have the rich perfume of
the sea about them, which no white
wash or paint will ever remove. If
the Spectator finds no customer for the
hull, he breaks it up and disposes of it
as timber
Very little goes to waste. The value
depends upon the wood employed in the
construction. All old ships are like
Joseph's coat of many colors. They
have been repaired in many ports, and
often contain a score of various woods.
The knees are usually hackmatack, and
the ribs of oak, the planking of pine
and oak. But in the repair yards of
the globe all sorts of other woods are
used. Among them may be found ma
hogany and ironwood, teak and pitch
pine and cedar, and sometimes rose
wood and ebony. The wise Spectator
goes over every piece of lumber If
one of them proves precious wood, he
can dispose of it at high figures. Even
oak, after 30 or 40 years, is, when undis-
figured, twice as valuable as when it is
new. Any cabinetmaker is only too
glad to purchase huge oak beam that
has sailed 10 or 20 times around the