Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-12-01

New York when she ran -four hundred
and seventeen and quarter nautical
miles in twenty-four hours or at the aver
age sped Of seventeen and four-tenths
knots per hour; (2) by the Lightning on
her first voyage from Boston to Liverpool
in 1854. when she made run OF four hun
bred and thirty-six nautical miles in TWEEN
ty-four hours, or an average rate Of al
run held the record not only for sailing
vessels, but for steamers, until the advent
Of the Cunarder Oregon In the early
eighties.
Atlantic Ocean Records.
The composite schooner-yacht Endy-
mion, in the summer of 1900. ran from
Sandy Hook to the Needles in thirteen
days ana twenty hours fbest days run
three hundred and four nautical miles. or
at the rate Of twelve and seveu-tenths
knots. an average for voyage Of closely
ten knots). This was the record passage
for sailing yachts until the recent race for
the Emperor Williams gold cup from
won BY the three masted steel schooner
Atlantic In eleven days and sixteen hours.
The composite two-naster Hamburg was
second, twenty-five hours later.
''The last wooden America cup defender
was the Mayfower. Under favorable con-
ditions OF the wind she could be forced
about thirteen knots. OF the Reliance's
speed I have no record, but judging by
the Independence. I have no doubt that
she occasionally made almost sixteen
knots. The three-master Atlantic. on a
short run from New London to Newport.
is. credited with having made in one hour
about seventeen and half nautical miles.
which, think, Is the fastest record ever
made by q sailing yacht.
a great necessity for great speed and
Size; too many ships had been built.
and a reaction set in. And when the
demand again became active 1t was for
pacity for their dimensions than the
clipper ships afforded. The steamships
by this time had menopolised the pas
senger and mail business But there
was 4 constantly increasing Offering
tanees where steamships could not be
The sewalls Of Bath in the early
nineties built four large four -masted
wooden ships sauare-riggsd on the ,e
on the spankermast. They were the
Rappahannock. the Shenandoah, the
Susquehanna and the Roanoke. all OF
over 5000 tons register. except the Sus-
quehanna, which measured 2,745.
The Mammoth Roanoke.
THE Roanoke was the largest sailing
ship ever built in this country. Lloyds'
register Of 1902 gives her length as
31i feet 2 inches. breadth 40 feet 2
inches, and depth 20 feet inches. OF
these four. only the Shenandoah is now
left. and she IL the largest American
ship afioat today, measuring 3. 4OT tons.
The Rappahannock caught fire on her
way up the west coast Of South Amer
lea with coal for San Francisco. and
was beached on Juan Fernandez. where
she was entirely consumed. The Ro-
anoke was burned while loading In an
Australian port. and the susquehanna
was lost ct sea.
1T Is unlikely that any more large
wooden square-riggers will be built for
long voyages. steeNhull having many
advantages. The hull can be SO SUBJ
divided by the bulkheads and double
bottom as to make a vessel practically
unsuitable, and in case Of IRE it can
a wooden ship And, most important
Of all. the steel hull can be made alb
solutely strong and rigid and perfectly
tight. the shell plating being practi-
cally continuous, and in a sense suf-
ficient to hold. the entire structure
without the frames, and in marked con-
trast to the plank of the wooden ves-
sci, where each piece Is attached only
to the frames. which In turn are COM
In conclusion, Mr.. Crow ninshield said
that the rapid disappearance of timber,
and its consequent rise in price, would
bring the cost Of wooden ships go close
to that Of steel vessels soon that there
would be no object in making them
The effectiveness Of the schooner was
sufficient, he thought, SO that that type
of vessel would continue on the coast
until the steam engine became more
economical than now, or the sas en-
CINE solved the problem Of cheap pow
er and drove the schooner out CT BUSH