Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1901-07-31
RACE TO THE ORIENT.
Bath Built Ship "Acme'' VIII Race
the Foreigner, aBrilIiant''.


the Foreigner, sI3rilliant''.
The coming race to the Orient between
the ships "Acme' and "Brilliant", now
loading oil at Bayonne, N. j., for Yoko-
hama, has excited great interest In Maine,
where the s'Acme" was built, and to old
timers 1t recalls the excitement of clipper
days, when Donald Mckay, of East Bos-
ton, and other builders, tried in vain to
produce a ship that could beat the "Red
Jacket" of Rockland. These old fellows
remem Der that the "Red Jacket" made
the passage from New York to Liverpool
five minutes, and that many ships tried
afterward to equal or beat that run, but
without success.
1t is part OF the gospel OF the sea that
not hing that ever carried sail could equal
the speed in all weathers and In all seas
Of the fast wooden ships that were built
in Yankeeland in the days before the
war. Steam navigation was then in its
infancy, and the few steamers running on
ocean routes we're slow, SO that there was
great profit In sailing clippers, which
made the long voyages around the Horn
and to the far east, carrying passengers
as we'll as cargo.
All these ships had racing models,
every thing being sacrificed to gain speed,
and the way they travelled around the
world was something surprising to the
sailors of other nations. When the
steamers began to crowd the sailers, just
after the war, the full clipper model was
discarded, because it was found that to
make any money the ships must carry
more, and so the half-clipper style came
in. Some Of these ships, like the "Annie
H. Smith" and the "Centennial' and the
"Young America, made great passages,
ninety-six days from New York to San
Francisco having been recorded to the
credit OF one OF them.
In recent years very few ships have
been built in Maine or anywhere else in
the United States, for the reason that
long distance carrying long ago ceased to
be profitable except in special lines, and
there is more money to be made in the
building and sailing of big schooners.
Only few Of the last batch Of wooden
ships built in the State now hail from
Maine ports, many having been sold to
foreign account and to the Pacific coast,
others cut down to barges and good
many lost, and in the course of few years
the last OF them will have disappeared
from the registry.
Now, however, Bath has taken to build
ing ships Of steel, and the "Acme", which
is to race the brilliant" to Japan, is one
of the best of her class ever turned out at
Bath or anywhere else. Besides the" Acme",
Bath has already built the "Astral," while
the 'sAtlas" and the "Wiilim p. Frye" are
to follow, the first three named being for
the Standard oil company aud intended
for the trade of the Orient.
The race between the "Acme" and the
brilliant" has stirred up lively dis
cussion as to the sailing qualities Of the
two ships, but there is no way as yet OF
reaching a satisfactory conclusion, for
while the brilliant" has made good
passage from Greenock to New York,
twenty-seven days in ballast, the "Acme"
Is yet to make her first passage. The
"Astral", sister ship to the "Acme", made
the passage from New York to Shanghai
in 129 days, arriving on June II, but that
is nothing to go by, for there is often a
great difference between sister ships in
the matter of speed.
The brilliant" was built at Port Glas-
gov, and is 375 feet long, 51h feet beam
and 1909 tons net register-622 tons larger
than the "Acme". The Acme" is 800
feet long, 45 feet beam and 1887 tons net
register. She will carry about 100000
gallons of oil, while the brilliant" is ex-
pected to carry about 1 $780, 900 gallons.
Both are considered to be first class
ships, and it is said of the "Acme" that
she is the best sailing ship yet turned out
in America, being built by well paid men,
of the finest materials and fitted with all
the latest labor-saving and safety-secur-
ing appliances. Whether she will sail
fast is another question, but notwith-
standing the fact that she was designed
more for carrying than for racing, there
is reason to expect that she will keep
along with the best of them. She is four
master, Iong-yarded, and will carry a
great spread Of canvas. Her master,
Capt. Reuben S. Lawrence, is one Of the
ablest deep sea sailors that ever went
from Maine.
Capt. Lawrence, who is said to be a
descendant OF Commodore Lawrence OF
the famous United States frigate "Chesa-
peake", has been thirty-four years at sea,
twenty-one years as master. His first
ship WAS the "George Peabody, his
second the "Columbia"; then he COM
manded the triumphant" and lastly, be-
fore he took the "Acme', the "John Cur
II III