Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1909-10-06
BUILDING A SHIP.


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From the Le,ciston Journal.
About vessel under full sail there 10
that life, that INDISPENSABLE something
which appeals to the eye, to the mind, to
every sense. 1t is something which no
steamboat can stir in man or woman, and
which is felt, no matter how frequently
one may see 1t.
ssDo you know" remarked an old Sears
port captain to the writer the other day,
as we were watching big schooner make
her way out OF Stockton Springs harbor,
shat never get over the thrill which
sailing ship inspiressn
many seasf'
sYes, 1 lhave been round the world
many times; have commanded everything
from four masted schooner to . full
rigped ship. You would think that
uuder all those conditions would have
lost the enthusiasm of youth; would no
longer care for the ship; that it would be
an old, old story to me, but it 10 not. feel
to-day just ~ did tue drst time that
saw vessel sail out OF this harbor, and
that was so very many years ago do not
wish to try to reckon up" And that 10
true. A mani never gets over it. II you
doubt it, go .around some day where
bunch Of these old lsalts are congregated
and listen to their talk.
But when you see one OF these vessels
sailing away, do you ever stop to think Of
the work there 10 in the building Of 1t?
Probably not, for unless you have lived
where you: had occasion 70 pass = ship
yard, you have hadl little chance for
knowledge ON the subject, though you
have stood.for hours watching house or
big once building 60 up, crew Of bridge
builders putting .. steel structure to-
gether, and wondered at the science OF the
thing.
From the time the drafting OF the ships
model begins until the finished product
slides on the ways into the water, it is .
more dincult and painstaking Job than It
is TO plan out building or bridge. Per-
haps you don't believe this. II you don't,
just take trip to shipyard and have
them show you around. You can't do
this. Too badi In thaticsse let me give
you q little information - to hox the
thing ID done.
A. in this case OF thelhouse or bridge
builder, there must be plans from which
to work. Your bridge builder would 70 out
and secure his measurements. This done,
knowing the style Of bridge wanted,
he would retire to the drafting room and
with rule and square, pencil and paper,
plan out the bridge.
The master shipbuildcr goes to work
much differently. Before he IL through
be has made the pencil and paper draw
ing, aided by rule and square and COM
pass, but before that IL done he must
maze . model.
The model Of . ship IL made, not by
rule, but by eye. With . huge block OF
wood, knife and his eye, the master makes
the model. First he CLUES together
several thicknesses Of soft lumber, such
- pine, easily whitfield. These are,
usually, Of different colors. This done
he sits down and begins shaping out his
vessel. The work 10 done with Q knife,
dfaw-shave and q small plane. Slowly he
works, for upon his eye alone depends the
graceful lines Of the craft to be built. At
last the model is done. 1t represents one
half Of ships hull, and every line and
curve which the final product, the I'm
miniature. No architect, no bridge en-
gineer ever constructs . model OF the
structure he is to erect.
But the designers work is not yet DONE
He must produce the plans from which
the men are to work. This is q dificult
and exacting job, for one slight error,
though it may be only . fraction Of an
inch, will spoil the symmetrical lines Of
his ship, destroy her sailing qualities and
seriously affect her carrying capacity.
All OF these things he must guard against.
Having completed the model he starts
upon the work of getting out the plans.
The model is fastened to q base, which
Ii carefully graduated to scale, sometimes
quarter of an inch to foot, sometimes
lees or more, according to the size OF the
vessel. Then he takes q wooden gage,
which fits over this model and which 10
scaled in accordance with dashboard.
Working with this and the base he figures
the dimension Of each timber which leads
up from the keel and constitutes q rib OF
the craft.
This ito use an old saying) is fussy
job, for except in the waist OF the ship
there are very few Of the timbers which
are Of the same length, and a. you 70 to-
wards the bow, they constantly change.
When the length has been secured he
begins working lengthwise of the model,
to get the curvature Of each of these ribs.
Slowly he works this out, until at last he
has the figures which show just the shape
OF each timber in the vessel.
And then comes the hard work.
Up in the plan loft he goes to work. Not
on . huge draughting board, like his
friend the bridge engineer or the archi-
tect, but upon the floor OF the loft he
works, with chalk and line, compass, rule