OHAPTEK LYII 



CBK DEVELOPMENT OF SHIP BUILDING— NEW MODELS FOR SHIPS— STEAM SHIP NAVIGA- 

 TION — MONITORS — IRON— PLATED FRIGATES— TIN CLADS — RAMS — TORPEDO BOATS— 

 THEIR USE IN THE CONFEDERACY— LI FE RAFTS — YACHT BUILDING — OCEAN YACHT 

 RACE — THE COST OF A YACHT. 



From the oars, which were the only means of propulsion 

 used in the galleys of antiquity, to the sails of a subsequent 

 period, by which only favoring winds could be made use of, 

 the advance was great, but not as great as the discovery of 

 steam, by which in modern times the sea is traversed with 

 but little regard for the condition of the wind. To suit the 

 different means used for the propulsion of these vessels, mo li- 

 fications have been made in the manner of their construct^ <a, 

 in their form, and with sailing ships in the arrangement t '»f 

 sails. When, with the successful termination of the war of 1 lie 

 Revolution, the United States first took its place in the woa id 

 as an independent nation, the commercial activity which. Tras 

 the natural result of the greater political freedom resulting 

 from the issue of that contest, found its expression first in cur 

 commerce ; and the self-reliance, which is the inevitable 

 result of liberty ; the spirit of inquiry fostered by a depart ure 

 from old methods, and the abandonment of old traditions, were 

 displayed in the construction, the rig and the general air 

 of the vessels then built, as much as in the construction of the 

 political organization of the new republic. 



So much was this the case that American vessels became 

 known the world over for their trim and neat appearance. 



The blunt, rounded prows and heavy sterns of the English or 



47 737 



