The sun., 1910-05-12
PASSING OF TIE sHEN4vDOAH.


After having done service a. a floating
coal store al san Francisco the big sailing
ship Shenandoah h to end her days on the
Atlantic coast as a towing barge She
sailed from san Francisco on February
"a bound for New York. and her arrival
al This port will coincide with her removal
from the register a. a sailing vessel
great deal of romance attaches 10 the career
Of this famous ship. the last.Of quartet
Of BIG wooden windiammers built by the
Sewails of Bath. Ne. aud consisting Of
the MppahannOck. Roanoke. Susduehanna
and Shenandoah The latter was the largest
Of the four and proved 10 be the fastest.
rivallihg the records Of the famous clippers
Of the last generation. She cost NIA.0o
10 build In 1890. and her sale for sss!O 900
10 b. converted Into a coal barge h con-
sidered a good piece Of business consider
ing tho state Of the aal charter market
and the difhculty Of running a ship Of that
class nov adays without loss 10 the owners.
Conversion into a coal barGe Il the tate
that has befallsn such Of the famous Amert-
can bullt windiammers a. have escaped
wreck or destruction by FIRE. and the Shen-
ahdOsh viii probably tow behind some
ship that she often outsailed In the heyday
Of her glorious career. Her cOnsoris N
tho famous quartet named above all met
their fate At sea. the RappahAnnOck and
Roanoke being destroyed by nre, while
ihe SusquehAhna was wrecked In the Coral
Sea By a succession Of hurricanes A pic
iuTe Of the Shenandoah. taken when she
was OF Point Iona. entering the haTbOr
Of San Diego. Cal. IL used by the United
States Government on the registers Of all
ships nyiBg the American haE and also on
all licenses 10 masters OF sailing ships.
No American sailing vessel. except per
haps her COnsort the Roanoke. ever carried
a. much canvas a. did the Shenandoah.
which with her eighteen square sails Of
duck, including three skysails, staysqils.
headsails. spanker and spanker topsails,
two In number. had a spread Of canvas Of
more than .uOO yards. Although not
built primarily for speed. she was In the
habit Of whipping tho foreign cram that
attempted to compete against her on long
voyages. She also managed 10 elude with
her skyscTaping sails a spanish gunboNt
that lay 10 wait for her In the war ~
isss Some OF the notable voyages Of the
Shenandoah we're between the Golden Gate
and Sandy Hook In ninety-siy days. which
performance Was within a few hours OF the
San Francisco Ia Havre. against five for
eign ships, which event she won. making
the passage from anchorage 20 snrhoraRe
IN l,s days. and contest against the Brit
i-h ship California. whirh vessel she gave
ton days start and beating on voyage
20 tho United Kingdom Il vas usual
thing for the Shenandoah With her canvas
spread TO tho last inch Of even fore aud
ts.A nh
her tern TO log upward OF sP knots IN q
single dnv
When in 1891 the Shenandoah raced the
nve foreign ships she had 5. SOO tons Of wheat
Hs cargo. the largest shipment ever taken 20
a French port from san Francisco. Several
days during the voyage the Maine shin
logged ,os knot-. and for twenty Consecu-
tive days her average was g5s on this vOy-
age. She left the Golden Gate on August I
and reached Hsvre November ~. On this
and al other fast runs she was In command
Of Captain James T. Murphy. Who had
charge Of her on her maiden voyage and is
nov taking her 10 her last haven ~ a sailing
ship. Her remarkable speed Vas accounted
for In that she spread three times ~ much
sail a. a ship half her size. The magnitude
Of her spars may be Judged when it is stated
that her foremasi is ~ feet long. her main
and migzen ~ feet each. her iigger ~ feet.
her t0pmast 50 feet and her topEallants A.
feet The distance IRON the Shenandoah =
main deck 20 her main truck i, ~ feet The
diameter ~ each n her first three mast
l. y inches and that of her iiFgrr is "a inches
Her mainvard measures ~ feet Al h"r
spars are OF Oregon pine except the how 10
spirit. which is Of steel Weighing ~ tons
The vessel never had iibhOOn. but IN. bow
spirit was long enough TO set four head sails
The hull itself i OF oak. measuring ,. 1o7 tons
gross and StsS not. the leading dimensions
bring Length ,po7 feet. beam % feet
depth 100 feet.
when the Shenandoah was built in 800
there was much criticism of the con.
siruc,ion Of the hiv wooden ship that was
expected 10 compete with ihe iron and steel
ships of England Germany and France
An editorial On ne subject In q British
Journal said that n vas an experiment
which implied a good deal NJ nerve Inc
same nerve VAS exhibited throughout the
ships career. particularly a. tho time NJ
the spanish war. In july ISIS. the Snen.
andoah was a. Liverpool. when CAPITA
Murphy received cahleRsm from the
Sevalls insiruciing him 10 place war risks
on the vessel hecauss n a fear that she
might rail- In with spanish wHrshipa during
her forthcoming voyage 10 Baltinor-
Captain Murphy however. drcidsd that
guns were cheaper than war risk poh .,.S
amt he accordingly s@Cured tuO four tnch
rifles. which he mounted ons .orWard and
one an The Shenandoah vas rnundin 4
The southwest coast NJ Ireland. four DAYS
oW from Liverpool. when spanish gun
boai turned up aheam and fred across tho
Rdianmers hovs The latter replied
win Two solid shots and held her rourse
She was then under tremendous press ~
sail logging htieen knots m hour. and n
four hours notice had dropped her pursuer
behind the horizon