Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1902-08-20
THE SEVEN MASTER.
re SHE THE FIRST OF A GREAT
NEW TYPE?
u,ayryrcAScs oF THE BUILDING OF
THE THOMAS W. LAwsoS''--Is
THE LIMIT REACHED?

,.u.a 70 take the advice OF the late la
,cnnted Hosea Bigelow, "Dont prophecy
onle-s We know" were saying that the
huiidipg OF great steel steam freight
su in the many magnificent ship
I'D. the world over was sounding
,he doom of the large sailing
ship, that great ocean c.rgoss were
.oou to be- carried entirely in steamers,
and that the old ships with their towering
clouds OF canvas were to live only In
memory and the pages OF romance.
Nav what do We sect The Fore River
sngipe works turns out side by side with
government cruiser an equally enormous
.bip OF steel for the carrying OF coal, to be
driven from port to port, not By mighty
angines and triple screws, but by the same
wind and clever trimming OF sails and set
ting OF Keel to current that sent the Argo-
nsuts OF old on their historic course. As
this vessel marks the present summit OF
achievement in building sailing vessels,
ssys the Boston Transcript. 80 she pre-
ssn,s forcihiy the new saamanship which
her type has brought about. The old-tims
idea OF a sailing ship eliminated In the
three masicd fuii-rigeer.
Not until the civil war was 80 huge
schooner as q three hundrcd ionner
thought OF, and IL wss not on the seven
seas at all, but on the great lakes in the
wear 1850 that tho first three master was
built. Twenty years later the three
master had become the favorise rig OF all
sehooners OF above $50 tons or 80. The
growth from that time forward wss steady
hot SLOW, and II was not TIL 1850 that we
had a four-mastsr, and vessels OF the
schooner type began 10 run up into the
100 and 800 ton class.
II was In 1889 that the experiment was
carried still further. The demand was
for greater tonnage. We, ss tho size OF
the vessel increases II Is unwiso TO increase
the size OF singie sails beyond q given
point Lest they be unwssidy. To get
greater spread OF canvas, therefore, an
other mast must be- added, aud the "Gov-
enor Amesn, the first fvs .masted sailing
vessel afioat, was butt a, ~ssdoooro
Maine.
There was much controversy - 30 the
worth OF tho "Ames", aud "a was not until
about four years ago that tbs experiment
wss dsciszesi .pee-~s by other builders.
and followed by tho John II, Prescott,
vs-master With a capacity Of I 800 tons,
and tho "SsthsuicI Palmer.
Two years later came two greater than
these, the "George w. Wells" aud the
Eleanor A. Percy, ak. msstess, each with
a capacity OF about 5000 tons, and the
only two In the world, and now two years
later stili we have the seven master slid.
ing OF the ways.
THE NEW KEgLsoS.
Certain pecai!arities 10 the handling OF
abe two six-mssters, however, showed
that In them The limit of s.ze In wood
construction wss reached. la sailing II
was discovered that the six.massers were
"teader'', that Ia TO say, the rise and fail
OF the seas under their great length made
them wiggie aud spring; their kcelson
not being rigid enough when built OF
wood, although OF huge thickness, was
reinforced In every possible way. Hence
the Lawson" Ia buiH Of steel, giving
rigid keeison. sithoagh much siendcrer
one, sii Of which helps the carrying Ca
paeisy.
With her nineteen sails set she will
spe q more than an acre OF esnvasio the
Wind. aud get she carries. or is to carry, u
crew o, only sixteen men. The largest
full riggsss of the present day carry ere@s
OF thirty TO forty men, aud u IL obvious
that the sixteen men Of the Lawson"
could not handle her without special APP
planes, Ia the know ledge OF the work
ing Of which comes the mes sesmanship.
Tue jovsl "yco- tesve-ho," the roiIlek-
log Hea ehaBiy, and the tramp, tramp, OF
feet as the sailors hose her short at the
caps,sn by maia strength Is no longer
heard in taking up tue anchor. 1t could
not well lie, tor eaeh anchor
OF the seven master will weigh TO-
600 pounds, aud must be hsndied
by grips OF steel aud the giant
strength OF steam.
srEAM on pEcE.
Again Ia the hosting aud lowering OF
such great sails there Is no more call for
the watch to tally on the falls and 'waik
away up the deck with her" while the
great gan sgiags alcft OF is dropped. in'
siesd valve Is turned la the steam
winch which sits at the foot OF the mast
the drum revo.ves, and with man to
N"i1 tufu u bts va satus y" e"'7 '"N
sail toes aioft with no strain except on
tbs piston rod Of the engine.
so, too, in the steering. The steersman
may watch the leach of he foressii indeed
to see that be Is giving her the proper
"full and by" when beating to windward,
but he will no longer be able to gauge the
progress and point OF his ship In dark
night by the feel OF the straiuing seas on
the rudder, as he might do In the old
time smaller ships that steered by hand.
Instead, he will stand with his hand ON
little wheel that turns at touch to
stsrbosrd or to port and merely transmits
his will to the engine, whose pistons sway
the great rudder 10 the right or the left