Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1911-11-01
THE SHENANDOAH.
SHIP THAT DID 800 KNOTS IN
ONE DAY.
SOME RncoRD TRIPs-Now DEsCEND-
ND TO A COMMON COAL
BARGE.

Time was when the four master Shen-
andoah came into any port she made q
connection along the entire water front.
for she was the fastest sailing ship afioat
but now when she passes up to the wharf
she 10 scarcely noticed. The Shenandoah
has become barge in the service OF the
6cully company Of New York, and she
plies between Newport News, Baltimore
and Providence, Portland and Boston.
She was in Boston only recently with the
biggest load OF cosl any barge had ever
brought to Boston, $500 tons in all, a con-
signment to the Boston 4 Maine railroad.
For four days the Shenandoah lay at
the begrimed wharf over in Chelsea, no.
body paying the slightest attention to her,
She had ~ companions half . dozen
equally serviceable, but unlovely looking
barges, and she suffered exactly the Same
fate - they, from the big steam-shovel-
lers-s little worse fate, il anything, for,
instead OF being easy handling, she was q
little hard to unload, having Q series OF
matches. 80 it was that every time ton
shoveller descended into her holds it
banked and crashed against her stout
beams, tearing Oh big slivers.
Had James F. Murphy-"Jim" Murphy,
that is been around any one Of those four
days OF unloading, the scene would have
brought many lump to his throat, for
Capt. Murphy, now retired and living in
Boston, sailed many voyage in the Shen-
sndoah, breaking records, defeating the
best Of foreign ships, and otherwise COW
ering himself and the Shenandoah with
an everlasting glory. Indeed, 1t was
while Capt. Murphy held the helm Of the
Shenandoah that she outstripped three
crackerjack foreign ships In race from
San Francisco to Havre, ran away from q
Spanish cruiser on the coast Of Ireland at
the time of the Spanish war, and ran
away from the fastest British merchant
men in voyage from Havre to New York.
Built in Arthur Sewalrs plant in Bath,
Me-, in 1891, the Shenandoah seemed to
combine all the fine sailing qualities OF
the other Sewall feet. She could make
ten knots an hour with the greatest ease,
even though her holds were full, and
time and again she averaged eleven and
even twelve knots. 1t was not an un-
common feat for the Shenandoah, on long
voyages, to reel OF 800 knots in day, run
ming away from tramp steamers with as
much certainty as from square or
schooner riggers. Capt. Murphy con-
sidered the travelling slow when his craft
couldn't put zoo knots behind him in
twenty four hours OF fair breeze.
LOCATION OF MAsTs.
There never was an American built
ship quite as fast as the Shenandoah.
Murphy always maintained that the one
little thing that gave her so much speed
and stability, too, was the location OF her
masts. BY that happy chance which en-
tiers into the work OF even the most precise
ship designer, the 5henandoah's masts
were, with her spread OF canvas, and so
perfect was the balance that the Shenan-
doah carried no less than Il, 200 feet Of
sail. Nothing short Of hurricane ever
forced her crew to Jake in sail when they
were in haste to get to port. And with
such an area to catch the wind, the Shen-
andoah could bound along thirteen and
fourteen knots to the hour - fine travel
ing even for q steam propelled craft.
The Shenandoah was the banner ship of
q quartet designed and built at the Arthur
Sewall yards. The fate of these triumphs
Of Yankee seamanship makes a notable
chapter in the "Rise and Decline of the
American Merchant Marine. Here is
the Shenandoah, the last of the four to
be in active service, now cleaving the
waves at the end OF tow line, carrying
that most ignoble Of cargoes for sailing
craft that is or was coal; the Rappahan-
mock, down at the bottom Of the Pacific;
the Susquehanna, deep in the coral off the
northeast coast Of Australia, and the
Roanoke, mass of burned wreckage,
somewhere in the mud near New Gale
donia.
Every one OF these vessels was top
notch development OF American ship
building. No other craft that sailed the
high seas was more staunchly built,
French and German merchant marine
combined that could be mentioned in the
same breath. Even in capacity the
Shenandoah, Susquehanna, Rappahan-
mock and Roanoke outclassed most OF the
field, only the ultra modern steel sailing
vessels OF Germany excelling them in ton
mage.
The Rappahsnnock had only short
year OF existence, but that was long
enough for her to be the sensation OF every
port she visited. The Rappahannock
went into commission in 1895. Hardly
twelve months later, while bound FOL
Australia, she took fire, and despite heroic
efforts Of the crew, went down to her las
resting place in the south Pacific. Tit
Roanoke had an eventful history. Fire
at sea were continually besetting her; sh'
ran ashore several times; once off the coas
Of Brazil, she collided with British
steamer, and, finally, near New Caledonia
the French convict station in Aus
tralasia, she passed out Of service in grea
n n L.