as far below the stern as can be reached at low water. In this position they are carefully and firmly blocked and supported throughout their length. This double platform is called the ways. Upon it a second system of timber is loosely laid, and well greased between. The space from these last to the ship's bottom is everywhere filled with wedges of soft wood fashioned to its curves. The whole is called the cradle. The extremities of the cradle at the bow and stern are bound tightly across the keel with chains or ropes, and it is further kept from spreading by stout moldings, which overlap the outer edges of the ways. When the rising tide has reached well up the ways the wedges are simultaneously driven on every side, and the ship is raised from the blocks on which she has hitherto rested, and made to repose entirely on the cradle. The shores are all removed except the two spurs or dog-shores near the stem and when the proper moment has arrived these are also knocked away by falling weights, the rope holding up which is cut when all is ready. The vessel, now abandoned to her weight and encouraged by the yielding of the grease, begins slowly sliding along the inclined plane; her motion becomes at each moment more and more rapid until finally the noble fabric has abandoned its union with the land and entered upon its destined element.

Masts and Spars. There are various rules for sparring sailing ships, all founded upon their length and breadth, which are the main elements of stability. It may be sufficient to name one simple rule for the length of the main mast, this being the prime mover; deduct one-twelfth from the vessel's extreme breadth, multiply the result by two; this will give height of mast from deck. The topmast may be threefifths of the lower mast, the main yard seveneighths of the same, and so on upward. The foremast may equal seven-eighths of the main, with upper masts and yards in proportion. The mizzen mast, if stepped on the keelson, is fivesixths of the main mast. The best rules on this subject are perhaps found in tables accurately prepared, in which the lengths of the masts are given in fractions of the ship's breadth and those of the yards in fractions of the length. For the rest, it will be in most cases necessary to modify any given rule, in all instances, with immediate reference to the particular model of the ship and to the uses for which she is destined. It would be an advantageous improvement in merchant ships, not sparred to the extent of their capacity, to make the fore and main masts in all cases of equal dimensions. With improved appearance they would have all the respective spars and sails, except the courses, answering equally for both masts. This would enable them to go to sea with fewer spare ones, or to derive more advantage from the usual number. In small ships all the spars are of single sticks of pine timber, which, for equal contents, are always stronger; but for ships above 600 or 700 tons it is impossible to procure single trees sufficiently large and then it becomes necessary to resort to made masts (so-called), which are of oak and pine, very artificially put together and bound with stout hoops of iron. Hollow-iron masts are also frequently used.

Rigging. Many large vessels are fitted with

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four masts, some with five. The standing and part of the running rigging are formed of wire rope. The masts and bowsprit of a ship are not abandoned to their own unsupported strength, but require to be sustained by the standing rigging. This consists, for the bowsprit, of gammoning and bob-stays, confining it down to the stem; and shrouds, which sustain the immense lateral pressure which it endures when on a wind. The jib-boom and flying jib-boom are in like manner supported by means of martingales and guys. The foremast is supported by three or four pairs of shrouds on either side and by two stays led forward to the bowsprit. The foretop mast is supported by shrouds setting up in the top, back-stays descending to the channels (broad pieces of planks fixed edgewise to the outside of the vessel for spreading the lower rigging), and stays leading to the bowsprit end. The top-gallant and royal masts have also their shrouds setting up through the crosstrees, their backstays descending to the channels and their stays leading to the jib and flying jib-booms. In like manner are the main and mizzen masts supported, except that the mainstays set up on deck beside the heel of the bowsprit, the main-top-mast-stays at the head of the foremast, the main-top-gallant-stay to the fore-top-mast-head and main-royal-stay to the fore-top-gallant-mast-head. The mizzen-stay also sets up beside the mainmast and the same in ascending. The running rigging consists of the tacks and sheets that serve to spread the sails, the halyards, traces, lifts, clewlines and ali other ropes used in making, taking in or manoeuvring the sails.

Sails. The sails of a ship are square sails bent to the yards and fore-and-aft sails traversing on stays or bent to gaffs. Let us describe an entire suit, beginning forward. On the extremity of the bowsprit is the flying jib, a three-cornered sail, which goes from the end of its boom upward along its stay, leading to the fore-top-gallant-mast-head and confined to the stay by rings of wood or iron, called hanks. The jib, which leads from its boom to the foretop-mast-head, is of similar form and so is the fore-top-mast-stay-sail, running from the bowsprit end toward the masthead. On the foremast we have the foresail, bent to the foreyard and spread at the foot by means of tacks and sheets; above it, the fore-top-sail, bent to the top-sail-yard, by means of which it is hoisted aloft, while its lower corners are spread to the extremities of the foreyard; next the top-gallant-sail, bent to its yard and sheeting home to the top-sail-yard, and so with the royal and sky sail. Double top-sails and top-gallant-sails are now much in use, that is to say, these sails are practically made each into two sails, which gives greater ease in handling. All these sails are turned at pleasure, to be presented to the wind, by means of braces attached to their yardarm, and leading to the mainmast. The mainmast is furnished with a similar suit of sails, somewhat larger; the mizzen, also, though smaller than either, instead of a square sail on the lower mast, it has a gaff sail, hoisting up and down abaft the mast. Some ships have similar gaff sails on the fore and main masts, which are found of great use in gales of wind as a substitute for storm staysails. Most carry also light staysails between the masts; but they are

very troublesome and worse than useless. Studding sails extended on special spars outside the square sails when going large are very useful. The perfection of equipping a ship with spars, rigging and sails, consists in so disposing them, that, in a whole-sail breeze, the centre of effort of all the sails will be in the same line with the ship's centre of rotation; or that the efforts of the forward and after sails to turn the ship will be so exactly balanced as not to require any continued assistance from the rudder in either direction; for this, while it impedes her progress, does not leave the entire force of the rudder disposable when necessary to turn. Of the two evils, however, seamen have more patience with a ship disposed to approach the wind than with one needing the continued action of the helm to keep her from falling off.

Cargo and Ballast. When the articles in a ship's cargo are heavy and light, the heavier are placed nearest the bottom, to increase the ship's stability. When, however, all are heavy, there may be danger of making a ship too stiff; so that, not being balanced, she will roll violently, and, perchance, risk the fracture of a mast, or even spring a leak. To obviate this danger the cargo should be raised; if iron, some should be stowed between decks; if coal or salt, it may be heaped up in the centre, taking care to secure it against shifting, should the ship be knocked down by a sea or squall. Heavy articles should never be placed toward the extremities, lest they promote pitching. The cargo and the ship should be considered as one integral whole, every precaution being taken in loading to preserve the proper relations between the centre of gravity and the centre of buoyancy. In all cases care must be taken to preserve the trim of the ship-that just proportion between her draft forward and aft which the estimate of the builder, or, when a voyage has been made, experience itself, has determined to be most favorable to rapid sailing. See also NAVIGATION; SHIPBUILDING.

Bibliography.-Attwood, E. L., and Cooper, I. C. G., A Textbook of Laying Off (London 1914); Carmichael, A. W., 'Practical Ship Production (New York 1919); Curtis, W. H., "The Elements of Wood Ship Construction) (London 1919); Desmond, C., Wooden Ship Building (New York 1919); Holms, A. C., 'Practical Shipbuilding' Shipbuilding (2 vols., London 1917); Hughes, C. H., Handbook of Ship Calculation, Construction and Operation) (New York 1917); MacBride, J. D., A Handbook of Practical Shipbuilding) (New York 1918); Nicol, G., Ship Construction and Calculation' (Glasgow 1918); Peabody, G. H., Naval Architecture (New York 1917); Simpson, G., 'The Naval Constructor) (London 1918).

SHIP IN ART AND SYMBOLISM. As symbol of the State a ship has been used from very distant times; as such it is depicted as steered by its statesmen through the shoals, rocks and storms of internal troubles, false policies and the machinations of enemy countries. In Christian symbolism also the ship takes the same significance. It was depicted riding in safety amidst storms as emblematic of the Church in the early days surviving the direst persecutions. Frequently the mast and yard-arm are used to signify the Cross and the peak of the mast is surmounted

- SHIP CANALS

by a dove or the sacred monogram. The symbol of the ship is dilated on by early Christian writers, as Saint Clement of Alexandria. In the Catacombs hanging lamps have been discovered in the form of masted ships, and the design appears frequently on the Catacomb walls. Sometimes the ark of Noah takes the place of the masted ship. Often, however, in ancient times, as at present, the ship is introduced as an emblem of maritime power. In ecclesiastical art a ship has been pictured in the hands of Saint Jude; Saint Ursula has been depicted with a ship near her, or as landing from a ship; Saint Melanius has been portrayed as lying dead on a ship which is sailing against the stream; Saint Castor has been pictured saving a ship from sinking; Saint Werenfrid has been represented with a ship in his hand having a coffin in it; Saint Anselm has been portrayed holding the model of a ship, as has Saint Mary of Succours (Husenbeth). The term ship is used for the ecclesiastical vessel that holds the incense, but it is usually of boat form. The finest centrepiece for the banquet tables of the Middle Ages was a ship of gold or silver made as a masterpiece of the goldsmith and termed a nef.

CLEMENT W. COUMBE.

SHIP CANALS. Great ship canals across isthmuses or peninsulas, to make shorter sea routes or avoid storm passages, or surmount falls, or to make seaports of inland cities, have been the speculations of dreamers for ages; but the developed and hurried commerce of this age has made some of them imperative. The ship canals of the world are 11 in number, as follows:

1. The Suez Canal (q.v.), begun in 1859 and completed in 1869.

2. The Cronstadt and Saint Petersburg Canal, begun in 1877 and completed in 1890.

3. The Corinth Canal, begun in 1884 and completed in 1893.

4 The Manchester Ship Canal, completed in 1894.

5. The Kiel Canal (q.v.), connecting the Baltic and North seas, completed in 1895. Enlarged 1906-14.

6. The Elbe and Trave Canal, connecting the North Sea and Baltic, opened in 1900.

7. The Welland Canal, connecting Lake Erie with Lake Ontario. See CANADIAN CANALS.

8 and 9. The two canals, United States and Canadian, respectively, connecting Lake Superior with Lake Huron.

10. The Panama Canal.
11. The Cape Cod Canal.

The canal connecting the Bay of Cronstadt with Saint Petersburg is described as a work of great strategic and commercial importance to Russia. The canal and sailing course in the Bay of Cronstadt are about 16 miles long, the canal proper being about 6 miles and the bay channel about 10 miles, and they together extend from Cronstadt, on the Gulf of Finland, to Saint Petersburg. The canal was opened in 1890 with a navigable depth of 20% feet, the original depth having been about 9 feet; the width ranges from 220 to 350 feet. The total cost is estimated at about $10,000,000.

The next of the great ship canals connecting bodies of salt water in the order of date of construction is the Corinth Canal, which connects

the Gulf of Corinth with the Gulf of Ægina. The canal reduces the distance from Adriatic ports about 175 miles and from Mediterranean ports about 100 miles. Its length is about four miles, a part of which was cut through granite soft rock and the remainder through soil. There are no locks, as is also the case in both the Suez and Cronstadt canals, already described. The width of the canal is 72 feet at bottom and the depth 264 feet. The work was begun in 1884 and completed in 1893 at a cost of about $5,000,000. The average tolls are 18 cents per ton and 20 cents per passenger.

The Manchester Ship Canal, which connects Manchester, England, with the Mersey River, Liverpool, and the Altantic Ocean, was begun 11 Nov. 1887 and opened for traffic 1 Jan. 1894. The length of the canal is 351⁄2 miles, the total rise from the water level to Manchester being 60 feet, which is divided between four sets of locks, giving an average to each of 15 feet. The minimum width is 120 feet at the bottom and averages 175 feet at the water level, though in places the width is extended to 230 feet. The minimum depth is 26 feet, and the time required for navigating the canal from five to eight hours. The total amount of excavation in the canal and docks was about 45,000,000 cubic yards, of which about one-fourth was sandstone rock. The lock gates are operated by hydraulic power; railways and bridges crossing the route of the canal have been raised to give a height of 75 feet to vessels traversing the canal, and an ordinary canal whose route it crosses is carried across by a springing aqueduct composed of an iron caisson resting upon a pivot pier. Cost, $75,000,000.

Two canals connect the Baltic and North seas through Germany, the first, known as the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal, having been completed in 1895 and constructed largely for military and naval purposes, but proving also of great value to general mercantile traffic. Work upon the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal was begun in 1887, and completed in 1895. The total excavation amounted to about 100,000,000 cubic yards, and the cost about $40,000,000. See KAISER WILHELM CANAL.

The Marseilles-Rhone Canal was begun in April 1911. It is about 50 miles long. For the first three miles out of Marseilles it is hardly a canal, properly speaking, being located off shore. It then turns sharply, and a tunnel of four and one-half miles passes under the mountain ridge near the shore; it next proceeds by the easiest overland route to the Rhone at Arles.

Three ship canals intended to give continuous passage to vessels from the head of Lake Superior to Lake Ontario and the Saint Lawrence River are the Welland Canal, originally constructed in 1833 and enlarged in 1871 and 1900 (see CANADIAN CANALS); the Saint Mary's Falls Canal at Sault Sainte Marie, Mich., opened in 1855 and enlarged in 1881 and 1896; and the Canadian canal at Saint Mary's River, opened in 1895. In point of importance, measured at least by the present use, the canals at the Saint Mary's River by far surpass that of the Welland Canal, the number of vessels passing through the canals at the Saint Mary's River being eight times as great as the number passing through the Welland, and the tonnage of the former being nearly 40 times as great as that of the latter. The traffic is, in fact, heavier

723

than that through the Suez Canal, being about two and a half times as much. One of the important products of the Lake Superior region, iron ore, is chiefly used in the section contiguous to Lake Erie, and a large proportion of the grain coming from Lake Superior passes from Buffalo to the Atlantic Coast by way of the Erie Canal and railroads centring at Buffalo. The most important article in the westward shipments through the Sault Sainte Marie canals - coal-originates in the territory contiguous to Lake Erie. These conditions largely account for the fact that the number and tonnage of vessels passing the Saint Mary's River canal so greatly exceed those of the Welland Canal. During the season of 1915, from April to December, 21,233 vessels, with a total tonnage of nearly 50,000,000, passed through both these canals, 16,910 using the American and 4,323 vessels using the Canadian. In 1907 work was begun on enlarging the lock of the American canal, which is now almost completed, being opened for traffic in 1914. It is 80 feet wide and 1,350 feet between gates, the masonry being 1,750 feet in length. It can accommodate two of the biggest lake steamers at once and be filled or emptied within six minutes.

The

The Cape Cod Canal is of recent construction; it was begun in 1909 and opened to traffic 1 Aug. 1914, to vessels drawing only 18 feet of water, but since 1 Oct. 1915 vessels of 20 feet draught have been able to pass through. It connects Barnstable Bay with Buzzard's Bay, Mass., thus saving the coastwise shipping_the dangerous navigation around Cape Cod. canal is 12 miles long, sea-level in construction and has a minimum depth of 30 feet. Up to the end of 1915 over 9,000 vessels had passed through, including a number of gunboats and submarines of the United States navy. Electric illumination from one end of the canal to the other makes night navigation possible. The tolls range from $3 for motor boats to $70 for larger freight steamers.

In 1915 the State legislature of New Jersey authorized the State Board of Commerce and Navigation to continue a survey for a canal from Bordentown, on the Delaware River, to Morgan on Raritan Bay, to be 33 miles in length and to cost $45,000,000, as estimated in 1911. This project is in connection with the Federal plan involving a series of inland waterways running down the coast out of range of the guns of warships that might attempt to blockade the coast. On 3 March 1905 Congress passed a River and Harbors Act, which authorized a survey "for the construction of a continuous waterway, inland where practicable, from Boston to Beaufort, N. C.," the minimum depth of which was to be 25 feet, suitable for army, navy and commercial purposes. In 1912 Congress made an appropriation, in continuance of this project, for the purchase of the old Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal and its improvements. In 1913 General Bixby, chief of engineers, had prepared a detailed plan with estimates for the contemplated waterway, involving a total cost of $30,000,000.

SHIP-FEVER. See TYPHUS FEVER.

SHIP-MONEY, a tax which had much to do with provoking the rebellion which cost Charles I his head. It was customary in England in times of extraordinary peril for the

724

sovereign to call upon the seaports and maritime counties to supply ships-of-war for the national defense. The ships which took part in the defeat of the Spanish Armada were obtained in this way. No such peril existed when Charles I, in October 1634, ordered the magistrates of London and other seaport towns to provide ships-of-war, and also empowered the magistrates to levy a tax for that purpose. Resistance to the levy was met by further decrees, extending the tax to the whole kingdom, and directing that every landholder and other inhabitant be assessed according to his means, and the tax collected by distress if necessary. When John Hampden refused to pay the tax, and was brought to trial, the judges decided, eight to four, in favor of the Crown. One of the early acts of the Long Parliament in 1640 was to declare the shipmoney tax illegal and no attempt has since been made to collect ship-money in England.

SHIP RAILWAY, a railroad for transporting vessels from one body of water to another. Capt. J. B. Eads' plan for the Tehuantepec Ship Railway across the isthmus between North and South America, in Mexican territory, attracted great attention, though it was never constructed. It consisted essentially of a series of some 8 or 10 tracks, having a carrying car or cradle of some five sections, with altogether 1,000 wheels. Calculated for a vessel of 10,000 tons, this would not give a pressure so great as that of an ordinary locomotive. A ship-railway is in operation by the Canadian government between Chignecto Bay, in the Bay of Fundy, across the isthmus to Northumberland Straits, a distance of 17 miles. This enables vessels to go from Prince Edward Island to Saint John, New Brunswick, in 12 hours, and greatly facilitates the transport of grain in bulk from the lake ports to New Brunswick. The vessels are raised by hydraulic pressure a height of 40 feet to the level of the railway, and placed on a double track 18 feet from centre to centre. The flexible car system of ship-railway invented by William Smith, harbor engineer of Aberdeen, Scotland, is designed to allow the use of ordinary railway gradients. The car is in sections, each. carried on a compound bogie running on parallel lines. Vertical and lateral flexibility are secured, and the ship is sustained on the car by water cushions, so that it is virtually kept floating. The ship is raised onto the cars by means of a submerged shipway enclosed within a wet dock.

SHIP REGISTRY ACT approved 18 Aug. 1914, provided for the admission of foreignbuilt ships to American registry for foreign trade, and for other purposes. In section 5 of the act entitled 'An act to provide for the opening, maintenance, protection and operation of the Panama Canal and the sanitation and government of the Canal Zone,' the words "not more than five years old at the time they apply for registry," were repealed. The President of the United States was authorized, whenever in his discretion the needs of foreign commerce may require, to suspend by order, so far and for such length of time as might be desirable, the provisions of law prescribing that all the watch officers of vessels of the United

States registered for foreign trade should be citizens of the United States. Under similar conditions the President was also authorized to suspend the provisions of the law requiring survey, inspection and measurement by officers of the United States of foreign-built vessels admitted to American registry under this act.

SHIP RIGGING. The many special terms used to designate the various parts of the standing and running rigging in the days of the sailing vessel are given below:

THE STANDING RIGGING.

Bobstay.
Bowsprit-shroud.
Martingale-stay.
Jib-boom guys.
Fore-stays.
Fore-topmast stays.
Inner-jib stay.
Outer-jib stay.
Flying-jib stay.
Fore-royal stay.
Fore-rigging.

Fore-topmast rigging.
Fore-topgallant rigging.
Fore-cap back-stay.

Fore-topmast back-stays.
Fore-topgallant back-stays.
Fore-royal back-stay.
Fore-lift.
Fore-topsail lift.
Fore-topgallant lift.
Fore-royal lift.
Main-stays.
Main-topmast stays.
Main-topgallant stays.
Main-royal stays.
Main-rigging.
Main-topmast rigging.
Main-topgallant rigging.
Main-cap back stay.
Main-topmast back-stays.

Fore-tack.
Fore-sheet.
Fore clew-garnet.
Fore-braces.

THE RUNNING RIGGING.

Boom guys.

THE RUNNING RIGGING-continued.

Boom sheet.

Jigger-topgallant
sheet.
Reef points.
Fore-buntlines.
Main-buntlines.

Main-royal stay-sail sheet.
Mizzen-topmast stay-sail Cross jack buntlines.
sheet.

SHIPBUILDING INDUSTRY AND CONSTRUCTION. The earliest history of shipbuilding and the development of the sailing ship and the steam ship will be found under the titles SAILING VESSELS; STEAM VESSELS.

United States. In the United States ship building began with the Virginia, launched in 1607 at the mouth of the Kennebeck River, by the Popham colony. This little vessel was of the type of the English pinnace, and though of but 30 tons, it several times made the crossing of the Atlantic in safety. The first decked-over vessel built in America was the Onrust, launched in 1614 at New Amsterdam. In 1621 the Blessing of the Bay, launched at Medford, Massachusetts, was the first of the unnumbered fleet which from that time forward slipped one by one down the ways of the colony's many shipyards into the waters of Massachusetts.

The most conspicuous advance in that period was Dominie Peters's "great ship" of 300 tons, launched at Salem in 1641. This notable vessel exceeded the famous Mayflower by 120 tons, and set the pace not only for the shipbuilders of the New World, but for the Old World as well, where few vessels so large had been equal to this product of a mere colony scarce 20 years old.

By 1676 the ports of Massachusetts had 30 ocean-going vessels of between 100 and 250 tons, besides some 700 smaller vessels engaged in the coasting trade. In 1700 Boston was the home port of 194 ocean ships, while New York boasted but 124. In the 40-year period from 1674 to 1714 the Massachusetts records show the launching of more than 1,000 ships for the American merchant fleet, and 240 others which were sold abroad to foreign owners. The great abundance of the finest ship timber in the American forests oak, white pine, and pitch pine gave particular impetus to American shipyards, for English forests had begun to show serious depletion; and many shiploads of American shipbuilding timber were sent annually to British shipyards from the ports of Maine and New Hampshire.

While Massachusetts and New York had been the pioneers in American shipbuilding, the other colonies had speedily followed the example; in the Earl of Sheffield's 'Obser

725

vations on the Commerce of the American States (London 1783), a record of American shipbuilding for the year 1769 shows the number of ships built in that year by each Colony, and their aggregate tonnage in preceding table. By 1770 Massachusetts was building half the total number of ships constructed in America.

In 1791 Alexander Hamilton, as Secretary of the Treasury, reported that the American merchant marine aggregated 476,274 tons. In 1800 the record for the year was 995 ships, with a combined tonnage of 106,000 tons. Shipbuilding industry in the United States reached its apex in 1855, the launching in that year numbering 2,027 vessels, and the sales abroad amounted to 65,887 tons, chiefly added to the British marine. The threat of withdrawal of mail subsidies by Congress had its effect in diminishing shipbuilding, as the best class of American vessels could not be run without them. When the threat became a fact in 1858 the doom of the American lines was sealed and the carriage of the American mails was transferred to the heavily subsidized ships of Great Britain. See MERCHANT MARINE OF THE UNITED STATES.

Shipbuilding on the inland waters of the country began in 1800 when the Saint Clair, of 110 tons, was launched at Marietta, Ohio, and the Monongahela Farmer, of 250 tons, was launched at Elizabeth, Pa. These were both full-rigged ships and set sail on the Ohio for the Gulf and thenceforward belonged to the ocean fleet. The Louisiana, of 300 tons, launched in 1804 at Pittsburgh, was the most notable of the ships built in those days in the interior.

The change from wood to iron in ship construction about the middle of the 19th century, was followed by the revolutionary methods of steel shipbuilding, and by 1890 steel had displaced iron in the shipyards of Great Britain and the United States. American shipbuilding under the era of steel reached its perfection in 1892 and 1896, when the Saint Louis and the Saint Paul, two ocean liners, were built by the Cramp Company. These vessels were constructed entirely of domestic material, thus marking a new era in American shipbuilding.

Steel-Schooners.- The use of steel in the construction of the modern passenger steamships (see STEAM VESSELS) and of the modern naval vessel (see WARSHIPS) developed the steel freighter, the merchant schooner with four, five, six or seven masts. Indeed the development of the multi-masted merchant schooner, which has advanced with such rapid strides during the past few years, is one of the most remarkable features in the shipbuilding industry of the Atlantic coast. The fore-andaft schooner has always been a favorite type of ship in the American merchant trade, whether coasting or deep-sea, and the great breadth of hull and length of spars of such craft have rendered them an easily recognized type the world over. As compared with the square-rigged vessels of the schooner, brig, brigantine, or bark type, the American fore-andafter has the advantage of being a better craft when sailing close-hauled and of requiring fewer men to man it. In an earlier day of the development of our merchant marine in the coasting trade, the two-masted schooner was the common type; then came the three-masted schooner, and this was followed by vessels of four, five, six and now seven masts. The