STEENSTRUP 



STEEVENS 



713 



Age,' and particularly the pieces of childhood 

 (e.g. the pictures called ' St Nicholas ' and 'Twelfth 

 Night ' ). See F. Wedmore in Temple Bar, vol. li. 



Steenstrnp, JOHANNES IAPETUS SMITH, zoolo- 

 gist, was l>orn at Vang in Norway on 8th March 

 1813, taught on mineralogical subjects at Soro in 

 Denmark, and from 1845 to 1885 was professor of 

 Zoology at Copenhagen and director of the zoologi- 

 cal museum. His books treat principally of her- 

 maphroditism in nature, alternation of generations, 

 flounders' eyes, and Cephalopoda. He also took a 

 keen interest in explonng turf-moors and kitchen- 

 middens. He died 20th June 1897. Hisson, JOHAN- 

 M'S STEEXSTRUP (b. 1844), professor of Northern 

 Antiquities at Copenhagen, has written on Vikiug 

 life and times, fformannerne (1876-82), and other 

 works on Danish archaeology and ancient literature. 



Steeplechase, a horserace rnn not on a 

 course of smooth, flat turf, but across the open 

 country, over hedges, ditches, walls, and whatever 

 other obstacles lie in the way. This variety of 

 sport seems to have had its origin (traditionally) in 

 the frolic of a merry party of foxhunters, who 

 agreed to race in a straight line towards a steeple 

 visible in the distance, an event which is recorded 

 to have happened in Ireland in 1803 ; further 

 particulars of it, however, are not known. Never- 

 theless this was not the earliest race of the kind. 

 One took place in Ireland in 1752 from the church 

 of Buttevant (Cork county) to the church of 

 St Leger, a distance of 4J miles. In the year 1816 

 a ride in England of 20 miles across country against 

 time (under one hour and nine minutes) was 

 regarded as something extraordinary, although 

 about that time steeplechase matches were coming 

 into fashion with the young foxhunters of the day. 

 The sport began to assume its existing shape about 

 the year 1831. In 1866 the Grand National Hunt 

 Committee was formed for the purpose of laying 

 down rules and regulations for the proper conduct- 

 ing of steeplechase meetings. The principal race 

 in this class of sport in the United Kingdom is the 

 Grand National, which was instituted at Liver- 

 pool, the headquarters of steeplechasing, in 1839 ; 

 it is now run on different courses in different years. 

 Among the more important steeplechase meetings 

 are those of Liverpool, Newport Pagnell, St 

 Albans, Aylesbury, Lincoln, Brocklesby, and 

 Leamington. Steeplechase races have always 

 been greatly in favour in Ireland. See A. Coventry 

 and A. E. T. Wilson in the volume on Horseracing 

 and Steeplechasing (1889) in the 'Badminton' 

 series. 



Steeple-Jack is the popular name for a stone- 

 mason or plumber who makes it his business to 

 repair steeples and chimney-stalks. See article in 

 Chambers' s Journal, 1890. 



Steering is the act of maintaining or altering 

 the direction in which a vessel is proceeding. This 

 control of a vessel's direction is usually effected by 

 a stem rudder, which, as ordinarily fitted, swings 

 on the vessel's stern-post, and can lie set at any 

 required angle with the vessel's fore and aft line. 

 The rudder is turned by what is in effect a lever 

 called the tiller, or helm, which is secured to the 

 rudder-head, and either projects forward from the 

 rudder- head (as is often the case in boats and small 

 vessels) or projects aft from the rudder-head (as in 

 most large vessels). The tiller may in some cases 

 be grasped and turned by hand ; but in general a 

 wheel with axle and wheel chains is used to turn 

 the tiller. Where steam -steering gear is fitted it 

 IB controlled by a small steering-wheel. When on 

 board a vessel and looking forward i.e. towards 

 the bow the right-hand side of the vessel is called 

 the starboard side, and the left hand the port side. 

 The port side was formerly called the larboard 



side. The order ' port the helm ' demands that the 

 after part of the stern rudder should be swung 

 round towards the starboard side of the vessel. 

 Where there is a free tiller projecting forward from 

 the rudder-head this is, of course, accomplished 

 by moving the free end of the tiller towards the 

 port side of the vessel, and this gave rise to the 

 terms of the order. Where a wheel is used the 

 intermediate gearing is usually so fitted that to 

 ' port the helm ' the top spoke of the wheel must 

 be pulled down towards the starboard side of the 

 ship. The effect produced in the way of turning 

 the vessel where ' the helm is ported ' is as follows : 

 in the case of a sailing-vessel or of other vessels 

 whose propellers are not placed at or near the stern, 

 the hull is turned so that the head of the vessel 

 appears to turn towards its own starboard side 

 when the hull is moving ahead, and towards its own 

 port side when the hull is moving astern ; but in the 

 case of vessels whose propelling apparatus works 

 in the water at or near the stern, the first turning 

 effect named is produced when the propeller ( and 

 not necessarily the hull) is going ahead, and the 

 second turning effect is produced when the propeller 

 (and not necessarily the hull) is going astern. 

 The effect of the order to ' starboard the helm ' 

 is precisely the opposite of all this. The sailors 

 of some foreign nations obey these orders by putting 

 the wheel the opposite way to the above (the 

 British ) usage. 



The kind of rudder called the ' balanced rudder ' 

 has about one-third of its area before the axis 

 about which the rudder rotates. Bow rudders, 

 as well as stern rudders, have been fitted to river- 

 boats, telegraph-laying vessels, ferry-boats, &c., 

 where such vessels are required to run with either 

 end first. In this case one rudder is locked while 

 the other is in use. Two rudders astern have 

 also been recently tried with good effect. In 

 regard to the effect produced upon the steering by 

 the propeller or propellers, the adoption of twin 

 screw-propellers, one on each side of the mid- 

 ship line, has enormously increased the rapidity 

 of steering by working one propeller only, or by 

 simultaneously working one ahead and tne other 

 astern. A single screw-propeller has of itself a 

 twisting action on the hull, more especially when 

 the propeller is going astern, the effect being in 

 the latter case to apparently turn the ship's head 

 towards her own starboard side with a right-hand 

 propeller, and towards her own port side with a 

 left-hand propeller. In all these cases, while it is 

 usual to speak of the rudder, propeller, &c. turning 

 the ship's head, it is probable that most of the 

 turning effect is the result of the ship's stern turn- 

 ing the opposite way from the apparent direction 

 in which the ship's head turns. For steering 

 racing and other boats, see ROWING, p. 10. See 

 also BOAT, YACHT, RULE OF THE ROAD. 



Steevens, GEORGE, Shakespearian commenta- 

 tor, was born at Stepney in 1736, the son of an East 

 India Company director, and became a founda- 

 tioner at Eton and scholar of King's College, 

 Cambridge. He was kept in hot water all his days 

 through his meddlesome and sarcastic temper and 

 his dishonourable habit of making bitter attacks 

 on his friends from behind the anonymity of 

 newspapers like the St James's Chronicle and the 

 Critical Review. Johnson's judgment was almost 

 too lenient when once, in reply to Beauclerk's 

 assertion ' He is very malignant,' he said, ' No 

 sir, he is not malignant. He is mischievous, if you 

 will. He would do no man an essential injury ; he 

 may indeed love to make sport of people by vexing 

 their vanity.' At another time Johnson hit him 

 off in the phrase, ' He lives like an outlaw." 

 Another favourite trick of Steevens was to set 

 up mock commentators, as Amner and Collins, oil 



