The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1901-02-11


such a commonplace affair. whereas
formerly it was an event to be cele-
brated by all the country round
In this utilitarian age, when people
are nothing if not practical it may
seem like a depression to recall one Of
those ancient launchings that has been
preserved to US in verse. I allude to
LongfelIow's beautiful lines in THE
Launch" from 1.-The Building OF the
Ship
Then the MASTER
with a gesture Of command
Waved his hand,
And at the word,
Loud and sudden there was heard,
All around them and below,
The sound of hammers. blow blow
Knocking away the shores and spura.
And seei She stirsi
She startsi She movesl She seems to feel
The thrill OF life along her keel,
And spurning with her foot the ground,
With one exulting, joyous bound,
She leaps into the oceans armst
And To- from the assembled crowd
There rose a shout prolonged and loud
That to the ocean seemed to say,
Take her, o bridegroom. old and gray
Take her to thy protecting arms,
With all her youth and ali her charmsP'
How beautiful she isl How fair
She lies within those arms that press
Her form with many soft caress
OF tenderness and watchful carei
Sail forth into the sea- shipi
Through wind and wave right onward steer!
The moistened eye the trembling lip
Are not the signs Of doubt or fear.
It is a tradition here that LongfellOw
drew inspiration for his poem from a
launching in one Of the old Bath ship
yards, and there seems much to bear it
out in the biography of our celebrated
poet for he was born and passed his
youth in Portland, only Sc miles from
Bath, and was educated at Bowdoin coll
rege, in Brunswick, only nine miles dis
tant. where he also spent several years
afterward as instructor We recently
received a sad reminder of those youth
full days OF Names great poet in the
death, at the age of SO years, of Hon.
James w Bradbury of Augusta, the
sole survivor of that famous Bowdoin
class of '25 which included Longfellow,
Hawthorne and others who have
achieved high distinction. He was five
years the senior Of Longfellow, yet
lived to see the close of the century in
which both were born.
While the people do not attach so
much Importance to a launching as for
merly, yet the thrusting of a vast steel
shell into the water, suddenly endowed
with the poetry of life and motion, is a
thrilling and inspiring spectacle Aft
er she is launched the vessel is towed
under an immense crane capable of
doing the work of a regiment of men,
and her masts, machinery and other
heavy parts are placed in position. The
rapidity with which the work is per-
formed is marvellous. And then again.
passing on to the working of the YES
sci after it is fitted for sea, the old
days when the sails were hoisted, furl-
ed and otherwise manipulated entirely
by men have also passed away, the
same functions on the modern vessels
being performed by steam
There are two factors which have in
fuenced the Bath builders in turning
their attention to sch0oners instead of
square ringers, one being their adapta-
bility for the coasting trade. as they
are so easily and economically handled,
and the other their superior carrying
capacity. One of the great items of ex-
pense in sailing vessels has been the
large crews necessary for their sailing.
Under the old system a. four or five
masted vessel would have required
fully $50 men, at an expense which
would quickly consume all the profits.
AS things are now, despite the great ex-
tent of canvas. she carries, about 30
men constitute the full crew of a mon
ster schooner, and half the time there
is very little for them to do.
Like the modern ships, most of the
schooners are constructed with metal
hulls and have masts which are merely
hollow cylinders Their frames are
steamships, and their sails are made
of the heaviest duck. 1t has been
proved that the steel masts are suffi-