SHIP-BUILDING. 



501 



by ship-builders. As a result of the rears of study 

 from 1812 to 1850 the American sailing-vessel 

 reached perfection, and practically uo advance has 

 been made since then. 



Till 1849, the packet was a one- or two-decked ves- 

 sel, with poop aud topgallant forecastle, of an aver- 

 age register of 1000 tons. Freight was stowed in the 

 lower hold. Between decks the cabin passengers 

 were stowed aft, the middle portion was devoted to 

 cooking aud pantries, and the steerage passengers 

 and crew were quartered forward. 



The first three-decker, the Guv Manneriug, was 

 built at New York in 1849, by Wm. H. Webb. She 

 was about 190 feet long, 40 feet beam, and 29 feet 

 depth of hold, aud of 1419 tons register, and would 

 carry 2400 tons of freight on a draught of 20 feet. 

 Tliis noble ship set the fashion, and the three- 

 decker was from this time the popular type of 

 packet ship. Our ships carried the finest officers 

 and crews of any vessels afloat, were well bnilt and 

 well sailed, aud being fast and comfortable, they 

 drove the vessels of other nations from the field and 

 had a pi-actical monopoly of passenger, mail, and 

 express traffic. Excellent time was made. The 

 James Baine sailed from Boston to Liverpool in 12 

 days and 6 hours, and the Red Jacket from New York 

 to Liverpool in 13 days 7 hours ; but the average 

 timj was, of course, greater, about 20 days to Liver- 

 pool and 32 to return. 



English steamers began to compete with the pack- 

 et lines about 1810, the Cunard line beginning that 

 year, supported by a subsidy of 90,000 a year, soon 

 increased to 145,000. The United States started 

 the Bremen line in 1847, and the Collins line in 

 1850, but in 1857 all subsidies were withdrawn, and 

 ships of these lines were taken off. The civil war of 

 1861 was the final blow to our packet ships. This 

 packet period is noted for the great increase in size 

 of vessels. In 1714 ships were in the China trade of 

 only 200 tons burthen, and our present lumber 

 schooners would have been considered immense 

 vessels; but about 1812 large vessels began to be 

 built, and from that time on the increase in size in 

 most remarkable. About 1825 the Washington, of 

 1000 tons, drew crowds of people to the wharves in 

 all the ports she visited. In 1841 the largest mer- 

 chantman in the world was built and launched at 

 Bath, by Clark & Sewall. She was called the Rappa- 

 hannock, and though of light scantling, lasted twenty 

 years. 



The packet ship was followed by the clipper, since 

 cargoes that deteriorated on the voyage had to be 

 carried, and the changing character of the markets 

 made speed as important for freight as for passenger 

 traffic. The clippers of 1840-50 sat low in the water, 

 with sharp bow, fine water-lines, tall masts, with 

 enormous spread of canvas. The first clipper ship 

 was built by Wm. H. Webb in 1841, for the China 

 trade. She was the Helena, of 450 tons. She was 

 built for speed, and fully realized the expectations 

 of her builder. The discovery of gold in California 

 gave a great boom to the clipper ship, as everything 

 that could be bought in the East was sent to Califor- 

 nia by freight, and our yards turned out vessels the 

 largest and finest that the world had ever seen. 



The years 1854-5-6 are noted for the number and 

 bpauty of the vessels built in the United States. In 

 these first years of the California gold fever $40 per 

 ton of 40 cubic feet was paid from the East to New 

 York, and ten years later it was $25. 



The first clippers had sharp floors, considerable 

 drag, with a full forward and a lean after-body. 

 Tli is was gradually changed, the vessels of 1840 

 being made fuller on the floor, and with a more even 

 keel, but the hollow water-line and long bow were 

 retained. These clippers made excellent speeds. 

 The Red Jacket once made 325 miles a day for a 



week, and the Sovereign of the Sras once made 437 

 miles in 24 hours. The average time was about 7 

 knots per hour. (See GLIPPEK SHIPS.) 



In 1847 a first class vessel cost here about 80 per 

 ton agaiust $90 in England. 



Many new appliances were due to the clipper-ship 

 competition, such as double topsails and various 

 devices to save labor, sucli us steam saw-milta, 

 derricks, etc. Labor was divided, too, as the early 

 ship carpenter was a Jack-of-all-tiades ami would 



| do all the work, from hewing out the frames to 

 caulking the seams. But this practice was not 

 found to yield the best results, and separate gangs 

 of men did the carpentering, caulking, fastening, 

 painting, etc., leading to better and quicker work. 

 About 1835, when the supplv of oak timber grew 

 small in New England, Sou; hern timber began to 

 find its way into the Northeiii yards. Forests of 

 magnificent white oak were growing in the peninsu- 



: his of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. The 

 moulds or patterns weie made for the frames of a 

 vessel, and parties of men were sent into the woods 



! in the winter, where they camped, and felling the 

 trees, hewed the frames from them and carried them 

 by rafting or other means to some place where they 



\ could be loaded upon schooners, to be taken to the 



j Northern ship-yards. The frames of vessels bnilt 



: along the New England coast are still obtained from 

 the forests in the Slates named. 



Southern pitch-pine was used for beams, decks, and 

 waterways, clamps, etc., and in time came to be used 

 for the ceiling and planking of vessels. For the 

 masts and spars white pine and spruce are preferred, 

 though lower masts are made up of ten of oak, maple, or 

 yellow pine, dowelled, bolted, and hooped with iron. 

 The coasting trade and the California wheat trade 



I to Europe still employ a large number of sailing 

 ships. Sailing ships are still more profitable for 

 long voyages with certain classes of cargo than 

 steamers, and many such are built, though the num- 

 ber of large vessels will gradually reduce each year, 



! as the ttteani engine becomes more economical iu 

 coal consumption. 



The tonnage and number of sailing vessels built 

 during the last five years is as follows : 



18S4. 

 1885. 

 1886. 

 1887. 

 1888. 



Number. 



.. 780 

 ,..582 

 ... 475 



.. 545 



.. 5S4 



Tona. 

 134,187 

 74,723 

 50,!)8G 

 50,316 

 76,080 



Before 18G1 the schooner had come to stay as the 

 coasting vessel. Fewer men are required with this 

 rig, and it can be worked in and out of harbors 

 more easilv than the square-rigged vessel. On ac- 

 count of tne shallow harbors and sand-bars of the 

 eastern coast the greater number of the Atlantic 

 coasting schooners have flat bottoms, and are fitted 

 with centreboards. The lines are free, the beam 

 large, and the bow sharp and long. For ocean voy- 

 ages and for the Pacific waters most of the schooners 

 are built with keels. In our coasting trade schoon- 

 ers are used to transport lumber, coal, ores, and ice, 

 and for fishing purposes. The yards in Maine still 



! turn out a number of large schooners each year. 



j The Governor Ames, built in 1888 at Waldeboro, is 

 one of the largest schooners afloat. The length on 

 the keel is 232 feet, over all 265 feet, beam 50 feet, 

 depth 21 feet, lower hold 13 feet, between decks 

 8 feet. She has a tonnage registry of about 1800, 

 and will be able to carry about 3000 tons of coal 

 on a draught of 20 feet. In her construction 460 



[ tons of Virginia white-oak are used in the fram- 

 ing. The planking is 6 inches thick, at the gun- 

 wale 7^ inches, the heaviest planking ever put on a 

 schooner. The centre board is 33 feet long, 15 feet 

 deep, and 9 inches thick, made of white-oak. One 



