Naval Architecture and Ship Building 115 



thoroughly wrought handiwork, defiance of brute elements, careless 

 courage, careful patriotism, and calm expectation of the judgment 

 of God as can well be put into a space 300 feet long and 80 feet broad, 

 and I am thankful to have lived in an age when I can see this thing 

 done." 



Whatever may be said of the ships of the line of to-day, few people 

 regard them as things of beauty, and I fear Ruskin would not have shown 

 the same enthusiasm over them; but as achievements of mechanical 

 science, the ships of the present day and generation have madip enormous 

 progress from the sailing ship of the line. Ruskin's 300 feet of length has 

 tripled and the ship of the line of to-day is ten times or more as large, 

 measured in terms of weight, as the old sailing ship of the line. This 

 progress could not have been made had not the naval architect utilized 

 fully the enormous development of science since the sailing ship days. 



Consider now very briefly a few of the actual branches of science, 

 which play a part in connection with ships. 



While out of the sphere of shipbuilding, I want to touch upon one 

 notable branch o^ science, possibly the oldest science there is, which, 

 largely sterile as regards workaday affairs ashore, is essential to the sea- 

 man and applied every day by him. I refer to astronomy. The ancient 

 astrologists — the leading men of science of their day — ascribed to the 

 stars great influence upon the affairs of men. I think I am correct in 

 saying that at the present day the work of the astronomer, intensely 

 interesting and important as it is, has its only practical value ot general 

 application in the accurate determination of time. The rays of light 

 that render the stars visible to us to-night left them long ago, thousands 

 of years in some cases I believe. What we may learn concerning them is 

 interesting but not of practical importance so far. Some day, 

 possibly very soon, the close and incessant study of the sun which has 

 been going on for so many years will be fruitful as regards weather 

 prognostications, and it may be that in the future astronomy will show 

 results which will be of great pracitcal importance to the whole of a 

 workaday world. The sailor, however, for many years has made his 

 safe and sure passage from one point of the earth's surface to another by 

 utilizing the work of the astronomer in the shape of accurate predictions 

 of the position of the heavenly bodies in reference to the earth and the 

 accurate determination of time made possible by the patient astronomer. 

 May I Illustrate by a very brief and simple concrete example. At 

 10 o'clock this morning at Toronto the sun's angle above the true horizon 

 was 22° 31' 41". But this was not the only spot upon the earth where 

 the sun had this altitude at this time. The locus of such spots formed an 

 enormous circle which, leaving Toronto to the eastward, passed through 



