Waterbury evening Democrat., 1907-05-06

problem of improving the designs of sailing ships, they will very soon be isupplanted by the steamer in every branch of marine enterprise save the fisheries and coastwise trades.
 This rapid decline in the construc- tilon of sailing ships and the apparent ly inevitable effacement of them even- tually is looked upon as one of the most striking features of marine arch dtecture in the twentieth century.
 While this applies to the shipping of the world at large. it is especially true of the merchant marine of the United States.
 Despite the decline shown by statis- tics, some authorities still nurture the notion that the sailer's day is not at its eventide,s but that there is and will be great sphere of usefulness for her. They admit that as an in- vestment her value has been greatly undermined. but they contend that 1t would only require more effective organization and combination among vessel owners to greatly enhance her status as an earner of dividends.
 They base their argument on the fact that marine architects, encour- aged by capitalists. have been devot- ing their entire attention of late years to the improvement of the steamship to the neglect of the sail craft. They point out that, excepting a few levia- than sailers built in America and Ger many within a decade, the general type of sailship to-day is identical with that of generation ago.
 There are arguments in favor of this view. It is an established fact that a steamship today which is 30 years old is inefficient and out of date and a poor investment. And yet the majority of the sailers in use to-day are of that age or older, and are still expected to prove as satisfactory as they ever were. That the ingenuity of naval architects could do much for the merchant sail craft is undoubted and is plainly obvious from the meta morphosis wrought by them in the racing type of yacht.
 In ballast and stiffening the sailer is as far behind the times as the old "high-wheeled" bicycle. Water bal last has not yet been successfully ap- 7 piled to her. and yet there seems to be no reason why some simple con trivance cannot be devised which would admit of her using it. As a rule the sailors of today have to use sand or clay for ballast. as they did years ago, and the cost of time in slowing and discharging these mate rials is almost fatal. It is this that gives rise to the epigrammatic salt ism: "A sailer earns freight only at sea" but the wind as a motive pow CT Is more reliable than is commonly supposed. and. as is generally known. there are the trade winds always to be depended upon.
 Economy in operation, vast. carry ing capacity and the possibility of making neat profits on imperishable cargoes. such as grain. should weigh heavily in favor of the old "wind-jam- mer" and incite the architect to per feet models for her that will give her her share of modern improvement.
 But the greatest menace of all at the present time. is the Panama ca nal. An eminent authority recently said that the completion of this canal will finish the sailing craft forever. Ii will mean that diveTting of the Frisco grain trade. the ChiH nitrate trade and the general freight trade of the southern Ealf of the western continent into the hands of the steam rhfp owners. Their vessel would car ry more quickly and economically through the new ditch the cargoes that are nov forming the means of up-keep for a large and costly feet of saflers.
 When the pros and cons on both ssdes have been heard. the whole sit- nation is put In a word by the reit- e-stion that architects must pay more attention to sailing models if the noble cd -zind-jznner- is to bs ..vof firm DavT Jones locke--