232 



SHIP. 



should be carefully stored in some dry, airy place, 

 not much exposed to wind and sun. Painting 

 should not be used, as, by sealing up the moisture 

 in the wood, it rather facilitates than prevents 

 decay; smearing with oil or tar, when well dried, 

 is not so open to objection. In collecting ship 

 timber, the greatest difficulty is found in procuring 

 the crooked sticks, of which so many are required. 

 In countries where timber has become an object of 

 careful cultivation, this difficulty is anticipated by 

 bending and confining the young trees to the desired 

 form, or by cutting their young shoots at different 

 periods, it having been observed that pollard trees 

 are thus naturally produced by the browsing of 

 cattle. The timber being collected, the workmen, 

 with each his mould, proceed to fashion the pieces 

 of wood assigned them, a due regard being had to 

 careful conversion, that no stick is hewn contrary 

 to its grain, so as to impair its strength, nor a 

 larger one ever used than is necessary for the parti- 

 cular purpose ; and, especially, that no bad or even 

 indifferent wood be put in an important place, 

 whence it could be removed only with difficulty. 



The frame being now ready, we proceed to put 

 it together. And first, the blocks are placed in 

 the slip, and the keel laid upon them, the pieces 

 being snugly scarfed together, and bolted ; the keel 

 is also scarfed to the stem forward, and the stern- 

 post aft, the apron being raised with the stem, and 

 the transoms and fashion pieces with the stem, if 

 the vessel be not large. In laying down the keel, 

 great care must be taken to preserve its perpendi- 

 cularity, for which purpose it is pinned with 

 treenails on either side of the blocks; also in 

 raising and propping the stem and stern, and every 

 piece of the frame. It is only by extreme atten- 

 tion that the builder avoids producing a crooked 

 ship an artificial monster of by no means rare 

 occurrence. The floor timbers are now let into the 

 keel, and every other one is there firmly bolted 

 and riveted; they are crotches of trees formed by 

 the trunk and one of the branches. Hence, in 

 order to have equal strength on both sides, the 

 butts should be placed alternately to right and left. 

 As the floor timbers are the great connecting prin- 

 ciples of the ship, to which they bear the same re- 

 lation as the ribs to the body, too much care cannot 

 be taken in selecting and securing them. The 

 dead wood which fills up the angles at the stem 

 and stern being got in, the kelson is laid upon the 

 floor timbers, which let into it, until it rests upon 

 the keel ; its pieces are scarfed together, and to 

 the stemson and sternson, which forms its prolon- 

 gation up the stem and stern. A bend usually 

 consiots, besides the floor timbers, of four futtocks, 

 and one top timber, on each side; the first, or 

 lower futtock, descends to the keel, beside the 

 floor timbers, to which it is either bolted or pinned 

 with treenails; the heel of the second rests upon 

 the head of the floor, and bolts to the side of the 

 first; and so on up to the top timber. Towards 

 the stem and stern, the timbers do not meet the 

 keel at right angles, but are inclined respectively 

 forward and aft, as well to economize timber, by 

 adapting the sticks to the inclination of the curves, 

 as to augment the strength of parts much exposed 

 to shocks from waves, rocks, and icebergs. The 

 different portions of the frame are thus raised to 

 their places by sheers and tackles, and then care- 

 fully shored and kept to the proper breadth by 

 cross-pales; ribbands are also carried round the 

 frame and bolted, and every precaution taken to 



confine each separate part to its particular position. 

 The frame, being now complete, is dubbed smoothly 

 off within and out, preparatory to planking. Some- 

 times the frame is made completely solid, and 

 calked; in this case, the interior covering of plank 

 is dispensed with, excepting a few strengthening 

 streaks. This method has many advantages; a 

 little additional width to the timbers brings them 

 in contact, when, besides their being naked, and 

 exposed to the air within, there is no space for 

 the generation of those destructive gases which 

 cause dry rot. In this case, salting, which makes 

 a ship damp and unwholesome, is also avoided. 



Having advanced thus far in the construction, 

 the next care is to proceed with the planking, which 

 does not merely serve to exclude the water, but to 

 protect, connect, and bind harmoniously together, 

 and is quite as essential as the skin to the body. 

 Though apparently the most simple part of this 

 wonderful machine, it is yet very difficult. Just 

 as, in draughting the frame, it is necessary to have 

 in view all the ports and scuppers to be carried 

 clear of the timbers, it is essential, in planking, to 

 have a preconcerted plan of the whole. The butts 

 must not come near the scarfs of the keel, nor be- 

 side each other within or without, nor near the 

 port-holes, nor opposite the pumps, lest the oakum 

 be sucked out, but must be judiciously distributed, 

 so as to impart equal strength to every portion. It 

 is also one of the nicest arts of the builder, so to 

 carry up his planking as with little waste to keep 

 his seams always fair with the waterlines. When 

 it is necessary to bend a plank at the bow or stern, 

 it is heated by steam, and then forced into place 

 with screws and levers. While this is going on, 

 the beams are erected and pillared on the inside 

 planking; the knees, which are crotches of timber 

 or iron, confine them to the sides, also the transoms 

 at the angles of the stern ; in like manner the breast- 

 hooks hold the stem to the planking and cant tim- 

 bers of the bow. All this being attended to the 

 decks, plank sheer and rails finished, pumps placed, 

 the bits for securing the cable, the capstan for rais- 

 ing the anchor, or, instead of these, the windlass, 

 which, in merchantmen, more commonly serves the 

 double purpose, the catheads for suspending the 

 anchors, hatchways, mast holes, and a variety of 

 other objects, which, though too many to enumer- 

 ate, must by no means be forgotten all being com- 

 plete, the carpenter makes room for the calker, 

 who carefully stops all the seams with oakum, and 

 smears them with pitch. The sciaper follows the 

 calker, and, water having been pumped into the 

 hold, to ascertain whether there is any leak, the 

 bottom is ready to be sheathed or coppered, to pro- 

 tect it from the worms. Sheathing with wood is 

 practised with iron-fastened ships, because copper 

 would cause the bolt heads to corrode, if placed 

 against them. It consists simply in covering the 

 bottom with pine boards, sheets of paper soaked in 

 hot pitch being placed between. In sheathing 

 with copper, paper is also interposed. The plates 

 overlap each other from bow to stern, to prevent 

 their being stripped off by the continual shock of 

 the passing water. 



Our ship is now ready to be launched. This is 

 the triumph of the builder. It is a nice operation, 

 and is thus performed : If there be no ways in 

 the slip (which is always an inclined plane descend- 

 ing into the water), they are immediately prepared. 

 Two parallel platforms of solid timber are laid, one 

 on each side of the keel, at the distance of a few 



