moment the water leaves the ends of the ship, and a corresponding increase of weight is thrown upon the midship part of her, occasioning a greater depth of immersion than before, from which it follows, that the longer and FINER the model, the smaller the proportion of her entire freeboard, which in bad weather is really available at any given moment."

Now if such reasoning is correct, the sooner we do away with symmetrical models and build ships after the fashion of a canal barge or carpet bag the better.

I know from my long sea experience-and trust to prove theoretically-that length, breadth and depth being equal, and given the same freeboard, the clipper is the finest sea boat. Of course an allowance must be made for speed, which is optional at least in the sharp boat, for she will cut through a head sea at a good speed when the dummy will be almost stationary. Now, in order to make my reasoning obvious, let us imagine two ships of the same length, depth and breadth, but extreme as regards model; and to make the figures easy of computation, we will suppose the dimensions to be 240 × 36 × 19. We will say for the sake of argument the full-built ship is simply a rectangular box. Loaded to 14 feet she would displace 3,456 tons of water, which being equally dispersed over the full length of the ship, would give 1,152 tons for every 80 feet.

Now, for the fine ship, let us alter the lines amidships so as to make the average of her frames for the middle 80 feet equivalent to a rise of floor of 7 feet, and the two ends 14 feet; then the middle 80 feet would displace 844 tons against 1,152 tons of the corresponding part of the box-like ship, and each end division of the fine ship would displace 576 tons against 1,182 tons in each end of the box-like ship.

Now, when the wave that supported the after-body of the box has passed astern, and the wave that supported the fore-body has passed to midships, we find the midship division of 80 feet taxed with an additional weight of a portion of the two ends of 1,152 tons each, whereas the fine ship with the same spare buoyancy would only be taxed with a corresponding portion of half that weight.

Of course it is understood that it is scarcely practicable to build two ships exactly as I have represented, although there are vessels whose models approach both types. Some vessels carry their breadth well fore-and-aft, having fine lines below the load-line. Such ships with very little freeboard scramble on the top of every wave, and never ship any heavy water, but they jump and kick about too much, and carry very little dead-weight; it will be seen therefore how very unjust it would be to tax such ships with more freeboard than vessels with full lines and little or no rise of floor. On the other hand, steamers of the present day are fast approaching the rectangular box I have described, and legislation, or the want of it, fosters the building of such. Consequently, steamers of this kind are the only steamers in the dead-weight carrying trade that leave a dividend—but they are the most dangerous type of ship that can be built especially if they have much tumble home. Furthermore, as to their comparative structural strength, their long, straight, flat side will not resist the twisting effect of a heavy beam sea like that of a vessel whose water-lines resemble the segment of a circle. It may not be generally known that length and breadth and scantling being equal, a ship whose longitudinal lines form a segment of a circle, is not only the strongest, but encloses the largest area that can be propelled a given speed by a given power. To put the same truth another way-a cylinder formed by the revolution of an arc of a circle round its chord is not only stronger than a cylinder formed by the revolution of any other curve round its chord, but is propelled with less power-length and diameter being the same.

Just a word about freeboard. It is very natural for every steamship owner in these days of competition, to make his ship carry as much as possible, consistent with a safe freeboard—but what is a safe freeboard? If it is left to the individual shipowner, the conscientious owner will starve while the unscrupulous one will get fat; hence the load-line should not be left to an interested party. So far as I can judge, the great bulk of society who are not themselves shipowners plead for a greater freeboard than that in general usage—and I cannot see why shipowners should not consent to as large a freeboard as the Government should think fit to allot, the greater the better, only let it be made compulsory-compulsory and

universal, but in the present state of trade let any individual owner of a dead-weight carrying steamer adopt a freeboard that will satisfy everyone, and swift and certain commercial ruin will be the result, unless his neighbours are compelled to do the same.

As for determining the point where safety is past and danger begins, it is impossible. It seems to me the common sense of the matter is this. From good ballast trim, or say half laden down to the sinking point, is only a graduated scale of risk, wherein the danger keeps increasing at an increased ratio as its nears the sinking point, there is no point between where it could be said that a ship would be perfectly safe, unless you keep her in harbour, neither can a ship be built sufficient to defy the elementsthat would be to defy the Almighty.

to all.

For my own part, I should rejoice to see 25 per cent. knocked off the present dead-weight carried by steamers, provided it could be made a general law. It would be bound to work great blessing Jack would be able to walk the deck in his slippers instead of sea-boots. It would be equally good (ultimately) for the owner, because 25 per cent. of cargo shut out would create a sudden demand for say 15 per cent. more tonnage. I am allowing the present supply to be 10 per cent. in excess of the demand, and would affect the freight market three or four times that percentage. It would also be good for shipbuilders, as we should require 15 per cent. more of cargo-boats, to say nothing of the benefit to insurers and underwriters, manufacturers, and trades of every description connected with shipping, and a thousand other contingents effected thereby.

I cannot conclude this paper without entering my protest against a state of legislation that leaves the shipowner no choice between adopting the most dangerous type of ship, or commercial failure; every reasonable man must be aware of the difficulty in framing laws to meet every emergency of the shipping interest, at the same time it is well to remember that the shipowner is in this respect what the law makes him.

Cardiff, June 25th, 1883.

THOS. BAKER.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

We have sundry notices of books in type, the insertion of which we are compelled to defer until next month.

OUR LIBRARY TABLE.

The Notices to Mariners and Hydrographic Notices, British and Foreign, do not diminish in number; they are especially abundant in respect to the Baltic; but all are summarized in our "Nautical Notices" to aid masters in correcting their charts to the date of the issue of this month's Magazine.

The books, pamphlets, and papers on our table are as follows: -Hourly Readings, 1881, Part IV., October to December, issued by the Meteorological Office, gives the results of the self-recording instruments at the seven observatories under the Meteorological Council, and for the time stated. Those who are interested in the navigation of the Mersey will do well to read Mr. J. Horne's pamphlet on a Proposal for an Underground Railway along the 'Liverpool Line of Docks; also, Suggestions for removing Pluckington Bank, and Improvement of the River (Mersey) Approaches: the subject is well discussed within the compass of sixteen pages. Underwriters' Associations exist and flourish in all our Colonies, and we have before us the Report of the Fifth Annual Meeting of the New Zealand Marine Underwriters' Association, held at Wellington in 1883; under able management the Society seems to be progressing. The Marine Board Report of South Australia for 1882, tells us that the Colony is busy in "deepening operations" in the channels and harbours, and gives proper attention to "moorings, buoys, beacons and lights," all of which tend to promote commerce. Forbes' Rig for War Ships, as presented to the Boston Branch of the Naval Institute, and to which we called attention in a previous number of the Magazine, merits careful reading, inasmuch as the proposed rig is said to save coals and labour, and there is less exposure of life. Van Nostrand's Engineering Magazine (New York), for July, takes a wide range of subjects in this number, some of the articles being selected, and others con

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tributed. The Revue Maritime et Coloniale (Paris), for June, is, as usual, sufficiently diffuse. The Theory of Ships and Shipbuilding" is concluded, and there is a good paper on "Terrestrial Magnetism." The number for July, in addition to the maritime and naval subjects, has an article on "Theoretical and Practical Views of the Phenomena of Electro-magnetic Induction." Annales Hydrographiques (Paris), 1st part, for 1883, abounds in nautical information, and in its scientific articles includes -Soundings in the Bay of Biscay and in the Atlantic, Temperature of the Atlantic, Notices on the Typhoons of China and Japan, &c. Bulletin de la Société de Géographie de l'Est (Nancy), 1st and 2nd part, for 1883, is full of varied matter relating to geography and meteorology, and the subjects are well treated. Annalen der Hydrographie und Maritimen Meteorologie, Heft VI. (Berlin), in addition to the reports of shipmasters on nautical subjects, has a good paper on determining a ship's position in low latitudes; it is another form of the "new navigation" which we have, in previous numbers, brought before our readers; it chiefly relates to adjusting the loxidrome (or summer-line) to the curve, which it really should be, and tables are given to facilitate the construction. Mittheilungen aus den Gebiete des Seewesens (Pola), Nos. V. and VI. of Vol. XI., 1883, is a good selection of articles and memoranda useful to the navigator, and embraces navigation, hydrography, meteorology, engineering, sailing directions, and notices of everything connected with maritime subjects. Rivista Marittima (Rome) for June contains a continuation of a series on the Italian Navy and the concluding paper upon the English naval operations during the late war in Egypt, an account of the Port of Zobruch and a short paper on the theory of the Aurora Borealis by Professor P. Busin. Boletin de la Sociedad Geográfica de Madrid for May, gives an interesting paper on the "Lagoon of Lanao, in the island of Mindanas." The latest numbers of the following periodicals are also to hand :-Hansa, Das Schiff, Le Yacht, L'Avenir Militaire, Forest and Stream (U.S.), the New York Maritime Register, the Nautical Gazette (U.S.), and the Marine Journal (Cincinnati, U.S.)