The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-04-28

that MAJ I'VE alCtttlectss ttlCoAAaSeA ty
I capitalists. have been devoting their en-
tire attention of late years to the Inn
/ provement Of the steamship to the neg
/ lect of the sail craft. They point out
that. excepting a few leviathan sailers
/ built In America and Germany within
a decade. the general type Of sail ship
to-day is identical with that Of a genera
ton ago.
/ There are arguments in favor of this
I view. II is an established fact that a
7 steamship to-day which is thirty years
years Old is inefficient and out OF date
and poor investment And yet the ma
/ jority of the saHcrs IN use to-day are
Of that axe or older. and are still expected
TO prove as satisfactory as they ever
1 We're That the ingenuity Of naval ar
I chitects could do much for the merchant
| san craft is undoubted ana is plainly
obvious from the matamorphosis wrought
/ by the racing type OF yacht.
one step toward tie improving OF the
status of the sail craft was made In the
recent building in Germany of the five
masted steel bark Rickmers, the biggest
sailing ship aaoat to-day. She was de-
signed 10 III the gap between the steam
ship and the sail craft and was fitted
with auxiliary engines which can drive
/ her as rapidly as the average tramp
( steamer. They are also used Ca get her
into and out of port dispensing thus
. with the cost of tonnage. enc of the chief
[ items against the score Of the s8iier
which the advance of science may yet
( overcome.
Biggest Sailer an Experiment..
The Riekmers is more or less Of an
experiment, and may be the harbingcr of
many more of the same type. II so. 1t
VIII De interesting 70 note that a century
ago, in 1868, the first auxiliary steamer
to cross the Atlantic. the Savannah, used
her steam power for only eighty hours
and trayersed the rest Of the voyage
under sail.
Ia ballast and stitching the sailer IS
as far behind the times as the old high
wheeled" bicycle. Water ballast has not
yet been successfully applied 10 her. and
set there seems 10 be no reason why some
simple contriyance cannot Doe devised
" ich would admit Of her using H. As
a rule, The saiiefs OF to-day have to use
sand or clay Tor ballast. as they did years
ago, and the cost Of time in slowing and
discharging these materials is almost
fatal. IL is this that gives rise to the
epigummauc salusm. "A sailer earns
freight only at sea-
The practical builders of Maine have
been making some advances iu the con-
structi0n 0f sailing craft recently and
have produced "a few steel sailers with
loJr, five, six. and seven masts, schooner
rlgsed for greater ease in handling the
canvas. and economy tn the size Of the
crew. The Thomas ". lawson. OF 5.g6
tons, a seven-master. launched In 1892
was Of taat type. Sine was the biggest
saier until She was Outd0ue by the Rick
mcrs. The Germans first copied the
Thomas vs.. Lawson in the dve-masted
PTeussen % year later. and 90 1894 In their
PotOsi, OF similar dimensions both ships
rating 5e>l tons each. IN 1875 the Amer
lean Jane Palmer, tve-masted schooner
cf 3,la tons, was produced. All az these
craft carry donkey engines. which operate
their hatch Winches and otherwise per-
form labor Ou board formerly done by
human labor.
Wind IA Reliable Motive Power.
Moreover. the wind as motive power
is more reliable than is commonly sup
posed. and, as Is generally known. there
are tGe trade winds aIW s. % be de-
pended upon. Passages made by German
ships 20 and from Chile nitrate ports
show what can De accomplished from the
standpoint OF speed. and some of the old F.
Yankee clippers. such as the Roanoke. .
have made wonderful records The Roa-
Hoke, in voyage oil fifteen months
duration, traVersed 1000 miles Of ocean. /
and on that voyage her skipper finished I
an even million miles OF sea travel The
Atlas, one Of the largest American square 4
ringers anoat, beat tHe British bark Kelat
lately on q voyage FROM H0ngkonE 10 .
New York and more recently still. the .
bark Drumeltap of IhC Standard Ou fleet T.
made the run from Philadelphia t8 East 4.
London Natal. iH Efty-four DAYS dis 4
charged u a-3 cases of on in twenty DAYS +
returned 90 New York in forty-ssveu days
thus completing voyaEe OF about 1900
miles 10 III days inclusive OF twenty days
delay.
In the I'D days the United States re-
CURED men 90 man her sailing fleet. but
to-day the art Of 'taCks aud sheets Is .
fast dying OUT SO far a. the native-born
American Is concerned. Even the fishery
and coastWisc vessels are manned now
by men Of foreign birth largely. and the +
same is applicable, too, even 10 the Amer
lean navy.
Material Is Cheap.
And this. too. with cheap timber-cheap
compared with metal. an abundance OF
the right sort OF timber lying ready TO
hand and with the fact we'll known that
wooden ships of superior quality can be
at moderate cost in yards
not requiring expensive machinery.
English observers say that il the bin
now before the House OF Commons calling
for similar liabilities on the part of em-
ployers of ships crews 70 those obtaining
among employers 0f labor ashore be en-
acted, it will spell the immediate doom
Of the sail craft, for the reason that
casualties on such craft are four times
greater than those on steamers and ten
times greater than I'm ordinary shore pur-
suits
At the same time. economy in operation
vast carrying capacity and thepossibiilty
Of making neat profits on impclishablc
carg5es. such as grain, should weigh
heavily in favor of the old wind iammel"
ma 5ucffs f1a architects IN 4aa,-FA4+ ss3aGaIe