New-York tribune., 1901-08-17
SEAMANSHIP.
A USEFUL MANUAL BY AN EXPERT.
MODERN sEAMANSHIP. BY Austin NJ. Knight M
Full Page Plates. Octave pp. xii, AIS. D. van
Nostrand Company.


old suggestion. How to be Sailor for Half
Crown" is admirably absent from his 42S pages
of valua BILE information For yachtsmen the edu-
cational influences of a gybing boom are tacit-
~ admitted, and though barometric indications
and the laws of storms are Interestingly eX-
planned, the author never hurts the feelings of
the promising amateur by telling him when to
come in out Of the rain The spars of a full
rigged ship, which suggest fine eyries for view
ing scenery when among the 1876 full page
illustrations of this book may not tell all there
is to know about the motion of a bucking top
sail yard in a gale of wind. and the sometimes
vicious character of this spar is left for the
teachings of personal experience. In short,
Lieutenant knights book is good deal like
medical library which does not make doctor
of its owner 1t supplies the tools the ways, the
means the laws the collected opinions of ex-
perienced men, but it does not propose to make
an experienced navigator of the inland student
Still, 1t must be admitted that in these days
of crowded waterways and much parental legls-
lation the old time sailors contempt for book
larnin' has become TO a large extent misplaced.
To-day reading matter is absolutely necessary.
Whether they be licensed or not, most owners OF
steam yachts take a trick at the wheel occa-
sionally, and few of them would care to admit
to their shippers that they did not know the
proper WnlSLl0 Signals 10 give Oh Injecting OlIlSl
vessels There are however. a large number
of such owners who are quite ignorant of the
rules Of the road and the signals. 1t is an ig-
norance which is pretty certain in the long run
to become expensive, either in the sinking or
damaging of vessels or in the loss of human
life, and it would be a good thing if some ex-
tracts from Lieutenant knights book were re-
printed, framed and hung in the pilot houses
of the worlds yacht fleets. Professional skip
pers do not always give the right signals. as
became apparent less than a month ago off
Newport when 200-foot steam yacht. with a
steel bow like a headsman's axe, tried to pass
a smaller craft. The wrong signal was given
and it was nothing but the send of the sea
that saved the overtaken vessel. If in his hours
Of ease the skipper had unconsciously absorbed
the printed signal laws from having them pasted
in his pilot house he would have avoided the
accident.
For the owner of any kind of vessel, from
liner to catboat. this book will prove useful.
One of the most interesting chapters is on the
handling of steamers in heavy weather Twelve
well known sea captains write their experiences
in cyclones and Chinese typhoons for this chap
ter and boiling down of the whole of it seems
to run counter to the old idea Of sailing cap
tains that it was necessary to crack on sail
when running before dangerous wind in order
Ito keep her clear of the sea" Perhaps most
| people have an idea that the proper thing to do
| is to try to push the vessel up head to wind,
but some of these say that their vessels
| escaped by being allowed to go pretty much
where they liked, with steam on, or very
little in which cases they generally took the
seas astern partly on the quarter. and in this
| position avoided water deck and were safe
| Some prefer a slight backward movement
of the propeller, but they all seem to agree that
the less speed that is put the vessel the safer
| she is
The methods for the use Of oil at sea, and how
| to arrange the Slick so as to benefit by It. anC
how the slick" may be used to make the lower
| ing Of small boats possble-the taking of dis
abled vessel in tow at sea- the manouvring fo
| the rescue OF crew a wreck-these are sub
jects as interesting for the landsman as they arr
necessary for the professional seaman, and II
may be said that for the ordinary amateur
yachtsman the book contains little that is no
valuable. The handling Of boats in a surf is
| not everyday experience, but some under
standing of it is apt to come in handy on a good
many days in lifetime Of yachting, and wher
the experience comes it provides a thrill that is
not easily forgotten. Another thing that many
amateurs need to understand is the rudder and
screw current, the behavior of vessel with the
forces involved and their effects, when for in
stance, il is going ahead and the screw is back
ing; also the knowledge OF the manRuvring
ability of vessels, and the maneuvring to avoid
collision. How many steam yacht owners can
work their vessel in to a wharf as a tugboat
man can? Half of them don't know how the
tugboat man manages to get his craft where he
puts her The ability Of the Venetian gondolel
to make his craft go sideways, and to either
side, while his oar is always resting on the one
upright post, is not more of a mystery and ii is
advantage TO have these things taught in
simple language, with diagram and illustration
Lieutenant knight has sought TO cover a wider
field than that covered by most Of the existing
works seamanship The treatses of Luce
Mares and Aston, originating in the days wher
seamanship was almost wholly concerned with
the fitting and handling of ships under SAIL will
never be out Of date untn the time, still far in
driven out by steam. II will hardly be denied
however, that the steamer has long since estab.
lished its claim to consideration under the head
Of seamanship. and that there is room for a
work in which this claim shall be more fully
recognized than in the treatises above referred
TO- The author has been greatly assisted by
more than forty officers OF the merchant SER
vice. 10 whom a circular letter was issued re-
questing their personal views and experiences
as to a number Of subjects. These men con-
tributed under their names, the work Is
far from being a compendium of one mans
knowledge only; IT has had the assistance OF
celebrated shippers who have ploughed the mos,
| distant waters OF the globe. The author also
/ xg.-L