THE CONQUEST OF TIME AND SPACE 



shipbuilders about the Vulcan^ and the boats that 

 were constructed after her, was the fact that they were 

 actually lighter in proportion to their carrying capacity 

 than ships of corresponding size built of wood. In 

 wooden cargo ships the weight of the hull and fittings 

 varies from 35 to 45 per cent, of the total displace- 

 ment, while iron vessels vary from 25 to 30 per cent. 

 This was a vital point in favor of the iron vessel, and 

 one that appealed directly to practical builders. But 

 the public at large looked askance at the new vessels. 

 To ''sink like a stone" was proverbial; and everyone 

 knows that iron sinks quite as readily as stone. 



But very soon a convincing demonstration of the 

 strength of iron vessels brought them into favor. A 

 great storm, sweeping along the coast of Great Britain 

 in 1835, drove many vessels on shore, among them an 

 iron steamboat just making her maiden voyage. The 

 wooden vessels without exception were wrecked, most 

 of them destroyed, but the iron vessel, although sub- 

 jected to the same conditions, escaped without injury, 

 thanks to the material and method of her construction. 



From that time the position of the iron steamship 

 was assured. And whereas sea voyagers had formerly 

 looked askance at iron passenger boats they now began 

 to distrust those built of wood. By the middle of the 

 century, iron shipbuilding was at its height, and in the 

 decade immediately following, the Great Eastern was 

 finished — possibly the largest and most remarkable 

 structure ever built of iron, on land or sea. In recent 

 years larger ships have been constructed, but these 

 ships are made of steel. 



[76] 



