The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-02
ON AN OCEAN LINERS BRIDGE.
THE CAPTAINS DOMAIN NOT FOR
COMMON FOLKS.
Here Is the WheelhOuse From which the
ship Is steered Here Centre All the
Precautions for the Vessels SaTety-A
Quiet ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS NJ Night.

ship II steeTed Here Centre All the
Precautions for the Vessels Safety-A
Quiet Retreat-ImprcssiVe NJ Night.
Few mere landsmen ever come 10 know
the bridge of an ocean liner well. When
you are 30 fortunate as 10 be invited to
one, says a writer in 81. Nicholas, you are
led up a narrow fight of steps from the
deck TO the bridge and thence TO the pilot
house,
The bridge in fair weather will be found
to be a very quiet retreat. At this height
you no longer feel the deep throbbing Of
the engines. while the busy decks seem
TO have been left far below.
There are seldom more than two persons
or duty here; one. an officer, PAGES quietly
back and forth across the bridge; the other,
a seaman. stands with his hand on the
wheel intently watching the pinnacle in
which is suspended the compass. No con-
~versation il allowed and scarcely an I'M
necessary word is spoken.
The bridge may be sixty feet or more in
length probably five feet or more in width
and with a considerable open space at the
sides Of the wheelhouse. At sea the front
and sides of the bridge are likely to be built
up With canvas TO protect the officers from
the force Of the wind,
A row of telegraph signals and a series
OF speaking tubes are grouped at the centre;
at either end is a broad low seat.
The wheelhouse at the centre of the
bridge il n heavy structure of polished
wood. On entering it a landsman il awed
by the complicated machinery or every
hand. His attention il first attracted to
- =L--I - a-kAzln r.. EN.., NkA.A -
two or more OF them, one directly in line
with the other.
The first of these Is ar insignificant look
ing affair, perhaps a foot or so In diane
ter, which seems out Of all proportion to
the work it must accomplish. Directly In
front Of it stands the ships compass, while
back of it are massed the levers which
transform the slightest motion of the wheel
into the force which guides the ship.
All the great steamers are steered nova
days by the aid Of steam or electricity. In
the cid days half a dozen men at times
would struggle with the wheel in high
seas and sailors have been killed by the
rapid revolving Of the projecting spoke
handles. The modern steering gear max
il possible to guide these great ships with
the slightest pressure.
The rudder. weighing many tons, is per-
hays five hundred feet asten, yet with a
touch OF the polished wheel the great 200
foot ship will swing from side TO side with
almost the delicacy Of T. compass needle.
The wheel that the steersman operates
merely governs the steering engine, which
in turn moves the great rudder.
The work Of steering a great ship, even
with the aid Of all this machinery, is much
more delicate than one would imagine.
The larger and faster the ship the greater
is the difficulty.
1t is not enough to hold the wheel in
the same position TO keep the ship on her
course, for the wind and waves and the
currents Of the ocean tend constantly to
knock the shi, OF her course. The great
wall Of steel (for the huh may 10 200 feet
long and sixty feet high offers a broad
target for the wind and wcves. n you
could watch the binnncla. especially in
had weather, YOU would gre the needle of
the compass constantly shifting from side
10 side. which means that tho great steel
prov is not going forward in a perfectly
STRAIGHT line.
All the machinery which NAV be set in
motion in case Of danger is centred on