Masts and sails disappeared irretrievably with the demand for high speed.
Now, what went with them? Why! The education that the sole use of sail power gave to the eye, brain, and body, in battling with the elements!
It was a marvellous education which we had in the pure sailing days!
One was alert by instinct! You never knew what might happen! A topsail-sheet carrying away, or a weather brace going, or a sudden shift of wind, or squall!
One thus got habituated to being quick and resourceful, and it was more or less a slur and a stigma not to be so! Also (as Officer of the Watch) men’s lives were in your hands! For instance with men on the yards, and any lubberly stupidity with braces or helm!
Both for Officers and Men then we no longer have this magnificent education by the Elements!
Steam has practically annihilated the wind and the sea!
What are we to do to get the same ready and resourceful qualities by other methods?
The answer is: The Gymnasium, Boat Sailing, the Destroyer, the Submarine, and the Engine Room.
Apparently, we are in this country in the infancy of Gymnastics for the training of the body when one reads of the Swedish system and its results. (“Mens sana in corpore sano.”)