Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 November 1892 — Curiosities of Navigation. [ARTICLE]

Curiosities of Navigation.

It would be worse than useless to endeavor to trace marine architecture to its original inception. The Egyptians and the Phoenicians are joint claimants for the honor of the invention of water craft, but it is highly probable that they originated at widely separated points at about the same time. Grecian fable makes Pyrrhon the discoverer of the art of bending planks by fire so that they could be advantageously used in shipbuilding. The beakhead, rudder and anchor are claimed by the Egyptians; Crete claims the invention of masts, crossyards and other minor nautical devices. Isis, Queen of Ecrypt, in the year of the world 2230, is said to have first taught the use of sails. The Emperor Julian caused medals to be struck in her honor, showing her seated upon the prow of a ship. Jason built the first “long ship;” prior to his time all ships were as round as tubs. Copper and brass nails and fastenings in shipbuilding were substituted for iron at about the time of Nero. The first sails used were made of the skins of animals. Usons, a Phoenician, is represented as being the first person to venture the use of a. canoe hollowed from a tree trunk.— [St. Louis Republic. A San Francisco firm is about to attempt the revival of whaling in the Antarctic Ocean, which has ;mt been carried on for as many as twenty-five years. A quarter of a century ago the catches of sperm and right whales used to be excellent there, and many whalers are now of the opinion that the southern seas will again afford a profitable t&eld for operation?