The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-09-07

terest in view of the few things 1 have
said heretofore regarding that marine mon
! ster in these notes. The Rowes of Glouces.
ter. whose name and fame are known as
far as the name and fame of the Glouces.
ter fishing fleet can carry them, are making
the Lawsons sails, and her equipment in
this regard probably will be the most re-
markable ever devised for any sailing YES
sci. The Lawson's canvas will be subjected
to an unusual strain, being of tremendous
| spread and having huge bulk to move
| The suit consists of $1,000 square feet of
| duck. The quality of the duck is extra, the
| raw material having been selected with
| the greatest care. Only little more than
half of it, $1,000 square feet, went into the
schooner's twenty-five great sails, the rest
being used for sail covers and the awnings
| for the forecastle and quarterdecks, boat
| covers and the almost innumerable smaller
needs of seafarers. Besides the big sails
for the Lawson herself, there are sails for
| two of her three small boats. the third Of
| which is a thrty-foot gasoline launch.
To make the ropes in the edges OF the
seven-master's sails three tons Of pure
| manila belt rope. made from long stock
| bought especially for this contract and
from long threads of hemp only, were used.
| The ropes are as big as an ordinary fishing
schooner's cables. The leach ropes are put
on with 12S parts of Irvine, made of Sea
island cotton, the whole being covered with
| duck. The ropes could not be spliced by
hand. for no man had strength enough to
| draw the strand that must be woven too
| gether, SO "horse." such as is used in
| splicing ships cables, was brought into
service and the strands of hemp were
| drawn with it's windlass.
| To hold such materials under the ire
mendous pressure that the wind will some
times exert on them. unusually heavy ac-
cessories are needed. The Lawsons sails
| are finished in way that never has been
used on any other schooner, and is found
only on the largest square riggers. The
thimbles are kept in by wire cringles, for
example, instead Of being sewed over and
over with tarred rope. and the clew rings
probably are the heaviest ever put in a sui,
of canvas Eight thicknesses of heavy duck
| were put into the reinforcements or clew
patches at the corners of the sails There
is as much material and labor in the Law.
son duck suit as there would be on those OF
nine ordinary Gloucester fishermen. The
set of colors presented to the Lawson ID
said to be the biggest outfit of bunting evei
possessed by a sailing vessel Certainly
its international code flags. twenty-seven ir
number and measuring seven feet deep, are
out of the ordinary.
One of the most important clauses Of tn,
British-Chinese commercial treaty, and on,
that seems to have been overlooked hereto
fore, is that pledging China to provide
| uniform national currency. If this is don,
it will be of great help to the commerce O.
all nations. but only those who hav,
wrestled with the problem Of Chinese ex
change, complicated with the constan
fluctuations in value of the Mexican dol
lar, which is the general medium of ex
change, can appreciate how great tina
benefit really will be. In the first place, 9
per cent. Of the payments In the treat.
ports are made in Mexican dollars, bu
those payments must be computed in tn
currency of the port itself, then reduced t
the fiuctuating value of the payment token
Thus at Annoy bill of goods will be sol
for so many Annoy taels, valued at 70.
cents EACH and payment made in Mexican
dollars at, say, 45 cents. At Canton the tae
is worth 1913 cents, at Che-Foo 674 a
Ching-Kiang $50. at Foo-Chow 652, a
| | Haikwan lis, at Han-Kow 66, at Nieu
Chwang 66.1, at Ning-Po SIS, at Shanghs
GA, at Swallow 65.1. at Taku II and at Tier
Tsin 6S3. At Hong-Kong there is sti
| another unit of value, the so-called BIRTHS
dollar. which iuctuates on the same basi
and is of the same value as the Mexica
dollar. There are no customs duties a
Hong-Kong, but at all other ports an i'm
| port tax must be paid. and this always
! I, computed in the Haikwan tael of us cents
To make still more trouble for the ur
= | lucky China trader, if, after he has SUI
1 | cessfully made these computations an
1 | completed his transactions he wants HI
; | money in form that will be acceptable
5 | the worlds needs elsewhere he must g
[ TO the HongKong and Shanghai Bank,
{ | one of its branches, make another con
e putation, pay another percentage for e,
change and sell his Mexican dollars fC
British gold. or its equivalent Therefor
y | il is not too much to say that a unifor1
n currency will fill long-felt want in Chin
y There is little doubt, either. that it wi
], improve the market for silver, since ths
5 metal undoubtedly would be principal
S used in the new currency.
r THE GOSSIP.