SHIP OF THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY.
"The difference between us and the Chinese in the matter of ships is that we have progressed, while they have remained stationary. Their junks are of the same pattern as they were a thousand years ago, while we are making changes every year. Look at a picture of a European ship of the fourteenth century, and see how closely it resembles a Chinese junk. Both the bow and stern are very far out of water, and the arrangement of the sails is quite Chinese in its character. About the year 1520 the English built a war ship which they called the The Great Harry, and it was considered a wonderful specimen of naval architecture. Who would venture to sail in her now, and how long would it take a war steamer of 1880 to send her to the bottom? Compare The Great Harry with the Tennessee, which is one of the recent American ships, and observe the progress that has been made in three centuries and a half. The bow and stern have been brought to a level, and the shape of the hull is such that the ship glides through the water instead of ploughing over it. Navigators have found that the ship that makes the least 'fuss' while in motion is the best, and they have devoted a great deal of study to finding the proper shape for the least resistance."
"THE GREAT HARRY."
"Yes," remarked Captain Clanchy, who was standing near, "and it took them a long time to find that the shape of the stern of a ship was almost as important as that of her bow, in regulating her speed. A square stern makes a great boiling and depression in the water, while a long tapering stern allows the water to close silently and with the least possible resistance. You can easily illustrate what I mean by taking a stick of wood that is square at both ends, and tying a string to it so as to drag it endwise in the water. You find that it moves easier when the forward end is sharpened than when both ends are blunt, and then if you sharpen both of them you find it moves still more easily. This is what the naval architects were a long time discovering, and the most of them are wondering why they did not think of it before."
