The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1915-05-27
A QUESTION OF RIGS.

What Name Seafarer his to say of De.
signations in England and Elsewhere.
The journal was surprised that the New
York Herald should call the VIM. P. Frye q
bark. That's English. "Don'tcher know.
In England, as elsewhere. three masted
vessel with yards on all masts is ship; but if
on the same vessel hole were bored down
through the cabin and little fore and aft jig
germast placed in it the vessel loses the digni-
fed title of ship" and becomes merely bark
Then if the extra mast be found useless and
taken out the vessel regans her title Of ship.
No American sailor man, or government Of
ficial in marine affairs, agree to any such alb
surdity; nor will they agrees to the suggestion
of "shipentine". An American vessel with
yards on three masts-o officially and in the YER
nacular-is ship. no matter how many pole
masts may stand behind the GRO jack.
The small vessels that we called briggs (when
we had them) was brigan tine in the British
Provinces and schooner in England; and our
barkentines were always three-masted schoon-
ers in The Kingdom.
England may be mistress of the seas. but she
cannot become the master of the American
tongue in marine nomenclature. l think the
first four-masted American ship, after the
Great Republic, was the Ocean King. built
nearly forty years ago, and not very many
have been so rugged. ! think no American
vessel ever had yards on more than three
masts: but in England, nearly forty years ago,
there were q number of full rugged four mast
ed ships. They were not large-about Ifoo
tons, long and narrow but not remarkably last
They were for the English India trade; seldom,
if ever, seen in America, and presume they
have now died out.
Some years ago I wrote that yards would
sometime be forgot en-: sailing vessels would
die out and steamers would give up the use OF
sails. At that time all foreign steamers carried
Yards and considerable sail, though our coast
ing steamers were then leaving off the yards
ard carrying only fore and aft canvass, which
a few wears before would have been called
suicidal. Even the Boston-Bangor boats were
ripped as topsail schooners not fifty years ago.
The Herald introduced the word steamed"
N reporting the departure of steamers, In
place of the general usage of "salled'
rather fine distinction of words-not necessary
to the understanding of any one.
To be logical, steamer, without sails, should
never be called ship-which they invariably
are. without question-and the men, who serve
IN them should never be called sailors. Many
,xall.known usages of words do not fit to a
nicety the expression they are intended to
convey. In sending goods by rail, they are
"shipped"-even in the interior, where ships
were never known.
The Herald as newspaper, has no superior
and no equal. in the mind of American
mariners. but it has its fads which the untavor-
able criticism of wide world could not change.
Some years ago l was in the Azores when
James Gordon Bennett called there IN his
Yacht, enroute from France to Newport, R. l.
As mine was the only American flag in port he
called on board and was very pleasant. He
remarked; 81 see your vessel halls from Boston,
but you are from Maine, are you not?' 1t was
the first l knew that do not speak the Massa-
chusetts tongue, and proved to me the shreWd-
ness of the noted editor. told him that was
from Maine and that the vessel was built and
partly owned there. He asked why it were
not better that one man should own the whole.
assured MIN tuGL no OHe ludI las uoHcy
= noueh to own the whole. and neither of us
smiled. My vessel was new, but her high cost
was probably not nearly half the value of his
Yacht Blaine had been nominated for the
Presidency but had not heard what the other
party had done He informed me that Gov
ernor Cleveland was to be the next President
and, true to his assertion, New York managed
to count Blame out. At that time the Herald,
as an independent" had very evident leanings
against good republicans.
When the yacht sailed secured the commo-
dore's draft to the amount of his coaling and
other expenses in port towards my remittance
of freight. and the deal was very valuable to
me, exchange from there was almost pro-
hibitve. He took batch of letters for me and
hey were promptly mailed from Newport
Hence, in every way, my meeting with one
If the worlds noted men was profitable, con-
9enient and interesting
Let the Herald have its fads-it is pleased
with them and does US no harm.
ED. A. RICHARDSON.
On the Amazon. April 20. 1915.