THE HIGHWAY OF THE WATERS 



century was to increase the length of vessels in propor- 

 tion to the breadth of beam and diminish the depth of 

 the hull and superstructures, above the water line, with 

 improved sailing qualities. England's extensive trade 

 with India and the far East was conducive to this de- 

 velopment, as the "East Indiamen" were necessarily 

 a combination of merchant vessel and battleship. 



In the first half of the nineteenth century America 

 rose to great commercial importance thanks to her 

 fleets of fine saiUng vessels. Speed rather than strength 

 in their ships was the aim of American ship-builders, 

 to gain which they built boats proportionately longer 

 and narrower than ever constructed before for ocean 

 trafl&c. The culminating type of wooden sailing ship 

 was represented by the "Baltimore clippers," in which 

 the length was five, and even six, times the beam, with 

 light rigging and improved mechanical devices for 

 handling it, whereby the amount of manual labor was 

 greatly lessened. One of these ships, the Great Repub- 

 lic^ built in 1853, was over three hundred feet long, and 

 3,400 tons register. She was a four-masted vessel, 

 fitted with double topsails, with a spread of canvas 

 about 4,500 square yards. 



The modem descendant of the wooden clipper ship 

 is the schooner with from four to six masts. Some of 

 these vessels exceed the older boats in size and carry- 

 ing capacity, if not in speed. Perhaps the largest 

 schooner ever constructed is the Wyoming, which was 

 completed at Bath, Maine, early in the year 19 10. This 

 vessel is 329 feet long and 50 feet broad. It has a 

 carrying capacity of 6,000 tons. The construction of 



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