New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-10-27
Prince Rsye.1' lEnsiisb 1910.
Prinee Keel .EoS
The SCATTERING of a Bottle of Champagne on
the Bow of the New York, Newest OF the
Great Sisterhood of American War YES
sells, When She Is Launched This Week
Is the Descendant of Antique Rites.

VOW many people are there that
II know aught of the antiquity of the
n Il ceremony of baptism at the launch
ing of a ship? 1t is a far cry from the
DAYS Of Noah to our Fastening preseh"
and yet the so-called christening OF the
battleship New York is nothing more than
q modern echo Of the distant age when
the Ark was prepared for its memorable
voyage.
rho oldest surviving record of votive
offering upon the completion of ship IS
contained I'm a Babylonan account of the
Deluge which tells among other thihss
Of the building of the Ark. According 20
that Assyrian tablet, dating from ZloO
B. c.. discovered about fifteen years ago
by Pere Schiel, the story of the religious
ceremony following upon the finishing OF
the Ark reads when translated into Eng
lish, thus
Firbtblv. its interior | examined.
Openings to the water l stopped ..;,,o,
I searched for cracks and the Waii'i"s
parts / fixed; -,.... ,,,o
Three sari of bitumen l poured over the
interior; -, o.r;e5
Three sari of men bearers who carried
chests on their heads.
] kept a saros OF chests lot lily P9op''
Two s s Of chests I divided among the
To tb the gods gods I caused oxen to he sacrificed.
PRoPITIATINe THE GODS,
Appian gives us a very graphic id2l Of
the part religion played in the BLESSING
Of the ships of ancient Rome. To quote
him. "On the shores of the sea affairs
were erected where their bases might lie
washed by the waves. In a semicircle
the sbips of the feet were drawn ABOUT
near BY. their crews the while MAINTAIN
ing q profound silence. The priests, IN
boats. rode three times round the meet
adding prayers to the gods THAI III
luck should not befall the vessels. Then
returning to the shore, they inundated
bulls or calves, the blood of which led
dened the sea and the shore
In VirglTs Hneid we also learn u the
part that wine performed in the invoca-
ton to the deities at the launching 81
shin. As a matter of history, water AS
ritual clement carries us back to the an
cient Greek ceremony Of lustraton I-atcf
on the Romans used water as token OF
publication and also as an essential part
OF the priesty blessing. The customs an
tedate the Christian religion by naay
centuries. but. like ether pagan practices,
the use of wine and water became an in
tegral part OF the service of the Christian
Church-naturally, with changed ana
deeper significance. 1t would be well for
the earnest souls of to-day, COMBATING
the use Of wine at our launchings, 10 re-
member these traditional facts ana 10
recognize The purely religious principle
Tor which both Of these sacramental e!e-
ments stand.
SACRIFICE OF HUMAN LIFE.
In the days of the ancient Norsomea
their ships were showed into the water
upon rollers TO which were attached hU-
man victims. and this custom is referred
70 in the 'Eddas" as rolle:-reddening, or
"hlun-rod." This is merely another In
stance Of the manner in which many o.
the Northern races sacrificed human hVes
upon occasions OF great religious siSnll-
canoe. The Samoans and the natives OF
the Fiji Islands used to shed human olJ"d
as an offering to the shark deities sup
posed by them to rule the waters. III
Tahiti human sacrifices were made wneh
q new canoe was built or launched. Mari
ner. in Tonga" mentions that men were
sometimes sacrificed to wash rev
canoes deck with blood, and, again, II
WAS the custom TO use men as living roll
vessel
shows a singularly striking similarity 10
the far removed and more ancient prac-
tlce of the Norsemen. Among the Tonga
islanders Of to-day kava and oil are now
offered TO the sea gods, and, as Is t1 he
expected. the native priest is an impcr-
tant functionary in these rites
In Turkey to-day when vessel IL
launched the occasion partakes Of re-
Igious character i'm part. priest asks
the blessing of Allah, and prays that the
ship. IL naval, shall be successful In bat
lie and. II the craft be mercantile, that
she may have a prosperous career. Just
as the vessel moves toward the water
sheep are sacrificed and the flesh Is al
terward given TO the poor. No wine is
split upon the ship Here we undoubtedly
have the direct survival of rite that
has come down TO the Turks through
many, many centuries
As Taylor has written in his Primitive
Customs" some religious ceremonies are
marvels of permanence, holding substan-
TALLY the same form and meaning through
age after age, and far beyond the range
Of historic record"
SURVIVAL OF ANCIENT CUSTOM.
Remembering what they did in the days
of ancient Greece we get an idea OF this
persistence of practice by comparing the
custom of to-day when modern Greek
vessel is launched. Now, her bow is
decorated with flowers, much after the
fashion in which those of the centuries
gone were adorned. At the moment the
craft takes the water her captain raises
10 his lips jar of wine, sips It, and then
empties the rest Of II upon the vessels
deck. Let us see how closely this resem-
bles the custom of the Chinese.
As most of US know who have read any
thing of the history of the F1owery King
com, the ancient Celestals wandered far
upon the seas. and whether or not inter
course with other peoples affected the