Evening star., 1937-11-14
BY 4 gnes E. CriveHa.

y . ~ A@s ~ - Ntt~s
~ UT of this historic New Eng
land environment, which SO
reeks Of legends of the sea,
~ was borne a certain Ameri-
can family of inveterate seafarers
whose backgrounds and experiences
finally eliminated in the invigorating
steamship hobby OF Ralph E. Cropley,
. direct descendant, who in turn has
generously donated his valuable COL
lection to the Smithsonian Institution.
And now, today, beautifully nodded
into unit, the volumes in the en-
gineering division of the institution are
at the disposal of scholars, research
workers and other interested indi-
viduals.
Mr.. Cropley. former banker whose
inherent hankering for the sea caused
him to desert Wall Street, was born
on the coast of Massachusetts,, duti-
fully and religiously followed in the
footsteps of his nautical ancestors,
that to be compared with the worm
out traditional custom of, as father so
the son, and took to water" says he,
"like duck"
At the age of he began in his
Juvenile way to treasure Photographic
Illustrations, personal manuscripts,
Autographs and other prints, menus
and oddities" Up until the present
day this process of amassing material
extends over period of 40 years, al
most lifetime:
Browsing through the compilation
one cannot overlook the human ele-
ment dominant in his narratives of
each ship, while he traces a career
from its initial launching to the end
which is sometimes the proverbial
graveyard" and at other times a
'Viking sinking" that amounts to one
of the most honorable tributes a vessel
can receive.
Convincingly. Mr.. Cropley stresses
his belief that, like living person,
every ship has a soul. The value of
any vessel is not measured in tonnage,
feet, width and other concrete aspects,
but in the consistency, light-hearted-
ness, wholesome appearance and other
abstract qualities.
A IL Of this authentic material COM
prises comparatively little data on
small craft, river or coastwise packets,
or old sailing ships. However. his
adopted son, Fred j. Owen. whose real
father, British officer killed in action
during the World War, fortunately
manifested a deep interest in sails,
that phase which interests his foster
father the least.
In collaboration with Mrs. Edith <.
Roosevelt. wife of the late Theodore
TEDDY" Roosevelt. Mr.. Owen con-
tributed collection of many volumes
on sail navigation to the Smithsonian,
these placed conveniently near those
on steam.
BY way of slight appropriate di-
gression, let us wend our way imagi-
natively to the display room of the
Institution, where the first rudiments
OF water transportation plus other
stages cover almost every bit of avail
0p4C SPpNC-s liiSlullllly biiOQStks bllC
great contrast becomes noticeable be-
tween the famous models of such
steamers as the unforgetable Maure-
tania, the Bremen, the Imperator and
others, and the smaller crude models
designed by Fulton, Rumsey and
Fitch.
On the one hand there is the large
model, beautiful and majestic in every
detail, Haunting her superiority on
the less fortunate, unrefined models.
Yes, it is apparent and true that the
gap between the two classes lies over
a period Of approximately decade
and half.
Beauty, graceful lines and luxury
are to be found among the liners that
travel the high seas today. but history,
ingenuity, hard work, bitter disap-
pointments and modest aggressiveness
envelope those inconspicuous models.
symbols of the past. that belong solely
to the pioneers. But it means so much
to give appreciative mention to a phase
OF navigation that makes for a more
poignant feeling toward the gra dual
and remarkable advancement accom-
plished since that time
The late DR.. Robert H. Thurston.
former director of the Department of
Mechanical Engineering of Cornell
University, epitomized the embryo of
steam navigation so well when he
wrote:
Fitch evidently made the first sue
cessful experiment in the propelling
OF boats by steam; but William Henry
probably has the honor of originating
the idea and building the first steam
boat ever built in the United States.
Fitch improved on Mr.. Henry's model,
and Fulton improved on both J.. . Full
ton took the products of the genius of
other mechanics and set them at work
IN combination and then applied the
already known steamboat in his more
satisfactorily proportioned form to
variety of useful purposes and with
flnal success. 1t is. this which consti-
tutes Fulton's claim upon the graft
tude and the remembrance of the ma
tions."
RESIDES his hobby of accumulating
all sorts of material on steam
navigation, Mr.. Cropley finds suf-
f1ciept spare time in which to create
skillfully models of steamers, more
likely his favorites. He has made over
500 OF them. His most recent one of
the Carinthia, or the New White
Queen, as it is sometimes called, 18
inches long, was on display at the
National Business Show in New York
City. The model, presented to the
Smithsonian by Fred Owen, who at
present is third officer of this par
ticular vessel, has been officially ac-
cepted and will be on view here for
Washingtonians and sightseers. Our
President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who
also knows the sea intimately, is proud
owner Of many of Mr.. Cropley's
models.
This extensive research divulges an
authentic history of steam navira-