Captains' room. 59 



mentioned, and two steam pumps of sixteen-ineh cylin- 

 der were set at work throwing out thirty barrels of 

 water per minute. As the water was pumped out, the 

 whole affair, with the ship in its embrace, gradu- 

 ally rose, and when in proper position this immense 

 mass did not draw more than five feet of water. 



In a smooth time they answered the purpose very 

 well, but in a rough sea-way they were of course 

 clumsy and unmanageable. The whole mass — camels 

 and loaded ship — was generally towed in or out by a 

 steamboat. These camels were one hundred and thirty- 

 five feet long, nineteen feet deep, and each twenty- 

 nine feet wide at the bottom. The principal weight of 

 the ship and cargo bore upon the concave floor, and it 

 required a weight of two hundred tons to settle the 

 machine one foot in the water. Not loaded, they drew 

 only two feet and ten inches. The originator was Mr. 

 Peter F. Ewer (the father of Rev. Dr. F. C. Ewer of 

 New York), and the master mechanic Mr John G. 

 Thurber, both of whom are now deceased. 



The " Constitution " was the first ship successfully 

 taken out to sea. This was in September, 1842. The 

 camels were used some five or six years, but the whal- 

 ing business having considerably declined, there was 

 not sufficient encouragement to warrant the outlay for 

 extensive and needed repairs, and they were drawn 

 into the dock and suffered to go to decay. A small 

 model is to be seen in the museum of the Nantucket 

 Athenreum. 



Captains' Room. 



This room — called by its frequenters the Com- 

 mercial News Room — is at the foot of Main Street, 

 under the Custom-House. 



