Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 May 1877 — Individuality of Sailing-craft [ARTICLE]

Individuality of Sailing-craft

Did it ever odcnt to Uiareteter how hnmkffWMMiuig is—what *n amount*>q| inand feeling there.ls in teips? B*ete at the wxußl tur-boata: >hat arStadßeul of nwsequrntiah e* ind self they tot. Mnd whtean xmbuuVbf vitality b pent up in their dwarf-like frames f. They <fo the PanekHen of the water, the stuck-up little men off the mirine—with a goof 4Mfl of real S despite their demonstrativeMh equal to almost anything <wF strength. TbeAjase with take charge of ships -twenty wn size, pulling them hither with and against the tide, is and it is not uncommon to een four sloops orjsehooners, tvSh on each arm, as it werG—escorting them towardtheir destination' with an exquisitely human air of gallantry—while, perhaps, a canal-boat is in tow astern. MThe yachtfs the fine lady of fashioti—polished, symmetrical, dainty and ethereal. Thehouaeof the New York YachtClub is situated a little to the north of the Quarantine grounds, and several vessels of the fleet are usually anchored in the neighboring water. What supercilious refinement, what suggestions of the air, and sky, and sea, there are in these slender pleasure-boats! The three most graceful things that I can think of at this moment are the Venus of Milo, the gloved hand of a pretty woman, and an American yapht. The last, in particular, it cannot be a sin to covet, because it is properly an agency of the freedom ol sea ana sky, which is every man’s heritage—properly, but not practically. Practically, indeed, it is a very different thing. When the season ashore becomes intolerable, the

rich mah t»Hep to his yacht, .and perpetuates the sumptudus extravagance Of life Onliuiti—tile dinnbriparties, the receptions, and the other frlv'olities, Which must remind him of what an essentially earthly thing he is. The writer, opce asked the owner, of a celebrated yacht what it cost him-. *.* Weil, you see lam economical,” he replied; ‘‘some men spend much more, bht I limit the expenses to about $27,000 a year.” Yachting, as it is carried on in New York, costs a very pretty penny. Twelve clubs have their headquarters in the bay, the most important being the New York, .which has about sixty vessels, with a total tonnage of some five thousand tons. The estimated value of all the New York yachts is nearly three million dollars. Very similar in appearance to the yachts ane the pilot-boats, which are distinguished by the large numbers worked in black on their white sails; in fact, the famous America, which beat all the English yachts at Cowes in 1850, was modeled after the pilot-boats, and the latter sometimes participate successfully in the annual regattas. Thera are about twenty-seven of thlmMne half number cruising Southward in sehreh of vessels from the tropics, apd the othqr half taking an easterly course in search of vessels iroifl Europe. Each boat has on board, exclusive of her crew, seven pilots, when she leaves the harbor; she puts one upon each inwardbound vessel that she meets, and when‘all aye distributed she returns to the dity. '•Hetcrtiise may take two or three days, and it may take as many weeks. The English steamers are occasionally boarded tar to the eastward of Nantucket, and in other instances the Highland lights are visible sooner than the wihg-like sails with the black number impressed upon them. .If we call the yacht the fine lady of fashion, it is fair to continue the analogy by comparing the pilot-boat to a more robust sinter, whose grace is the grace of strength, and not of over-refinement—-strength without coarseness—for a pilotboat is as airy and graceful in her motions as a bird. Her affinity with the Vinied creation is emphasized when she •ii sefen in the distance -trona the deck of a homeward-bound steamer, careening before the wind, and scarcely seeming to touch the water at all. Bqt, light and swift as she is, few tempests are So violent that she cannot outride them, and she is safe in seas upon which stouter and lesswieldly vessels are worsted. She goes through her cruise in winter as well as in sununer.andwhen the yachts are carefully wrapped up in their winter-quarters she is afloat in thawff Westerly gales of the Atlantic.

The frigate embodies in its massive, sdli|i&king hull, notched with the m'otfhof cannon, the judicial element, hM is surrounded by a forbidding hedge of dignity; the stubby schooners and brigantines are the useful men-of-all-work, and the laige ocean steamers are the grandiose merchants, who will have some Seer even fax a castle of granite. But, all floating things, the stateliest and most sympathetic are the clipper-; as, Which, lying at their Wharves DC in the stream,' are instinct with a tenderness of sentiment that any one witha touch of poetic in hiin must perceive. They ore nerve-centers with ligatures reaching across variable sea* and antipodal nones, looking at one or them, the mind sees a w£«”£!M rustle of the waves and the sough of the know why, but I am sure that these asaociatiens are stronger with sailing-ships tbetf with otbeC TiMßif .1 Tfafr 1 steamer is much more prosaic—just as a locomotive re much more prosaic, and convenient at the same time, than the old stage-coach; her engin.es give her some superiority, 'fcifWMsttpfclfcritrf faftttefahafeftl, and the living thing is the clipper, whose impulse is derived from the strong, tresh wind. — JMUUn’,l<VTmlforJune. f ,uroTtitW sliiiVn J ’ ° r %?S&&&&.titiSSSOA The first requirement in a man who un‘toMionJtoafcs ijhfrtowAflsifqof the component parts of the foot, its normalform, and its movements when in examttßraaea«s required, Wiowing well that for a while less must necessarily be accepted. The art of shoeing homes is one that demands the application xrf mind no less than S dictate. The first undeviating ride to' bfl Carried out in shoeing is, that the natural bearing ‘ surface be given to the foot—any deviation disftufce ths line of bearing, not in the foot stone, but in the whole limb. To cany out this role in practice, the .depth, of tl^e jioofmy front,^quarttus by regulated. The man who understands how to do this pert la most likely to know

how to adapt a shoe accordingly. In the earliest stages of horse shoeing, and in those countries where, ud to the, uresent time, the art has undergone the least change, they studied the way that the hoof was worn, and modeled their shoe in accordance. A thorough knowledge of how to prepare the bone’s foot—the firrt and important step in the process of shoeing——presupposes an Intimate understanding of the whole process; the molding or giving form to the fboe, may be always well done when the workman has an understanding of what is required. In no two horses are the feet exactly alike, yet in their essential functions all act and are governed by the same law. If the subject were well understood, since there are no two ways of telling the truth or interpreting a physiological law, there would not be a thousand different opinions in the same country as to how a horse’s foot should be cut and carved away every month. There is a very taking phrase always used by people who wish to be thought wise about shoeing, viz.: That the shoe is to be fitted to the foot, not the foot to the shoe. If there is any truth in that saying, it does not lie so near the surface as is generally supposed. In preparing the home’s foot to be shod, the requirement in the skill of the operator above all is, that be should know the right form and required bearing surface of that particular foot; he has, in fact, as much to give the bearing surface to the foot, as he will afterward have to adapt the shoe to it; the foot surface and that of the iron shoe to be applied are entirely dependent on the skill and understanding of the shoer, and. on these mainly depends the success of the whole process.

We wj 11 go a little farther in explanation. When we have adjusted the foot, whether it be a sound or an un jound one, we proceed to adapt our shoe accordingly, and if the understanding and manual skill are efficient, the shoe will be brought to the foot in every way molded to its requirements. In approximating the two surfaces, which is always done once or twice, and, if necessary, more frequently, till the adaptation is complete, we just as much review the foot as we do the shoe, and may in the critical process with as much propriety file away a little hoof as we may in another case bend the iron under the hammer. In either case, it is necessarily an adaptation of surfaces; the foot in the first part of the preparation being approximately finished, as the shoe when first tried is the same. In answer to the question, What parts of the hoof are to be removed ? we should say none, only so far as is necessary to give the circumference and due proportion to the whole hoof. This we may say cannot always be effected; unfortunately, as horses’ feet come to our hands, we find such deficiency, through destruction of parts, and not a general debility throughout the whole hoof, that we can only make the best use of what remains. False position given to the horse’s foot, and ill-adapted shoes, produce injuries proportionate to the exertion to which the animal is exposed. The shoe pinches the soldier on march—not so much the gentleman in his carriage. The horse that works moderately suffers proportionately less from the ill effects of shoeing. Ho strong and so exquisitely beautiful are the structures that but for the grossest errors horses would not suffer, and soon become useless, as now. When a horse is judiciously and suitably shod, he will go with ease and comfort immediately after he has come from the forge. It is only an excuse for bad workmanship to say he will improve in his action after his shoes are worn awhile. Instead of requiring time to bring the hoof to the shape of the shoe, the shoe should have been accurately adapted to the shape of the foot at the first. In put, ting on the shoe, the nails should be driven with a gentle hand, and they ought not by any means to be clenched very tight. Hard driving and tight clenching will bend the wall bf the hoof, at the place where the clenches are turned inward and downward toward the shoe in such a manner as to injure the tender parts contained within the cavity of the foot. Beside, it is not necessary for a man to forget he is working with the foot of a living animal. The shoe will remain on a sufficient length of time with gentle driving and clenching, provided it is properly fitted io the foot, if it has a thoroughly even bearing, there will be little stress on the nails. There is no worse fashion, in connection with the application of the shoe, than the one which the smith has, of taking hold with the tongs and hammering the shoe on the one side or the other, after three or four nails have been driven, for the purpose of putting it straight on the foot. This is a specdy method of making up for his total wantof accuracy in placing it at first; but it should never be sufffered to be practiced. It strains all the nails which have already been driven, and is thus calculated to do serious damage to the foot. 'J:, The old shofes should be removed from the feet with great care, after all the clenches have been cut. If they are dragged off in an awkward and careless manner, without cutting the clenches, the sole may be bruised and injured, or the edges of the wall may be cleft and broken. This part of the is seldom done witty the neatness and care which it requires. Shoeing has been regarded by some as a necessary evil; still, we are certain it is an evil in the- horse or in the bran only when it » improperly performed. In both cases it would be advantageous, rather than the reverse, if the smith could always be made sufficiently acquainted With the theory of his profession, find had hands, or rather a head, for its due per. formance.— Dr. Paaren, in Factory and Farm.

The trade in human hair continues to increase at Marseilles, and it has now become a staple article of .commerce in that city. Six or seven years ago the annual quantity imported did not exceed Id tons, but it had. increased in 1873 to 50 and in 1875 to 80 tons. It was thought that this total would never he exceeded, but the returns for 1876 hflve already falsified the prediction, as during the past year 92 tons were registered as having arrived &t Marseilles. Formerly all the hair imported into Marseilles came from Italy, but that country has been unable to meet the increasing demand, find a brisk trade has been opened with the extreme East. Thus of the 93 tons imported last year, 43 came from Italy, while China supplied 88, Turkey 5, and Japan 3 tons, the remainder being 'made up of importations from Egypt, India, Germany, Belgium, Spain and Algeria. The total quantity of hair imported into France last year is estimated at 123 tons, value $900,000. ~ ’ i **s ’iMM i-i wm. ' i Of the $7,389,975.04 received for the Brooklyn bridge, up to May 1, New York contributed $2,325,005; Brooklyn, $4,873,435.31. The expenditures have amounted to $7,884,868.01.