in times like these that the captain may, with the few odds and ends of wreckage he can save, and possibly a spare spar or two, bring his ship and cargo to port.

A fuss was made over the arrival at San Francisco, some time ago, of a vessel with an entirely new scheme of handling her topsails. The old plan of furling the sail by lowering the upper topsail yard, while the leechlines, clew-lines and bunt-lines gathered the sail as close to the yards as possible, is done away with by this new method. In place of having a "bunt gasket" gathering as much of the sail as it could hold at the mast, the remainder being strung out on the yard and held in place by winding gaskets, the new arrangement gathers the whole sail into a big "bunk gasket" and the yard is left bar, save for the "outhauls" or the lines left to reset the sail when it is needed.

The sail on this progressive ship is furled by hauling to the centre of the yard from each yard-arm, the top and bottom of the sail traveling together. This is accomplished by railways on the upper and lower topsail yards. These consist of T-irons bolted to the yards, are fitted on the foreside, and serve in the place of jackstays. On these railways are placed roller hanks, to which the top and bottom of the sail are secured. The sail is taken in by lines leading through blocks at the mast, and set by outhauls running through blocks at the ends of the yards. Reefs in the sail are taken vertically amidships, the slack sail being on the forward side, thus preventing flapping. One advantage of the new rig, it is said, is that two men can handle the sail, as there is no yard to hoist and lower, although it would seem that when the expansion and contraction of canvas under climatic influence are considered the raising or lowering of the yard. a few inches would be advisable.

SAILING CLOSE TO THE WIND.

Among the interesting factors which go to make the increase of speed in sailing vessels and especially in the latest yachts is ability to lie ciose to the wind. A vessel beating to windward has to cover a great deal of ground

in her diagonal course. It is obvious that this distance will be materially increased by inability to lie close to the wind and maintain her speed, or in nautical parlance, to "point high." Every one remembers the futile struggles of the Galatea to "point" as close as the Mayflower. When she was made to lie as close as her opponent, she ceased to move fast. The same thing, in a less degree, happened to the Shamrock in her recent races Iwith the Columbia.

The question is often asked: How far does a vessel actually travel in beating a given distance to windward? The answer depends on the angle her course makes with the wind. Given that angle, the rest is susceptible of mathematical demonstration. It may interest those who have a fancy for exact computation to know that the formula is this: The distance actually sailed equals the direct distance between start and outer mark divided by the cosine of the angle between the vessel's keel and the direction of the wind.

Now note the interesting revelations of this simple calculation. A square-rigged vessel will not lie closer than six points off the wind. The angle of her course is, therefore, a large one, namely, 67° 30'. In beating 15 miles to windward, she must actually sail 39.2 miles. If she can make eight knots per hour "on the wind," she will require five hours to cover the 15 miles against the wind.

Years ago a fore-and-aft rigged vessel was not expected to steer closer than four points from the wind. In beating 15 miles to windward she would have to cover 21.21 miles. In 1885, however, it was found that the Puritan could point her nose at an angle of three and one-half points from the wind. Her actual distance in beating 15 miles to windward, was 19.4 miles, a gain of 1.8 miles over earlier models. It is said that the Vigilant and her companions can sail a three point course, or keep their keels at an angle of only 33° 45′ from the direction of the wind. They may not actually do this, except, perhaps in smooth water; but if they do, the actual distance they cover in going to windward is little greater than a direct course into the wind's eye. In beating up

15 miles on a three point course, a yacht will sail across 18.06 miles of water. Now compare the windward capability of the Vigilant with that of the Puritan, sailing three and one-half points off the wind. If the Vigilant in going to windward covered 18.06 miles of water, the official time shows that she must have traveled at the rate of 8.43 knots an hour. The Puritan could hardly have gone faster, and, lying half a point further from the wind, she would have had to cover 1.34 miles more water, and would have been beaten just that distance to the outer mark. In time the Vigilant would have beaten her about nine minutes and twenty-eight seconds in the windward work.

"NAUTICAL TERMS."

An old "tar" has recently prepared a handbook of nautical terms for the use of persons who intend to follow the sea. In order to correct popular belief, the author gravely asserts that the berths on board ship do not necessarily add to the census. The hatchways are not hen's nests. The way of the ship is not the extent of her avoirdupois. The boatswain does not pipe all hands with a meerschaum. The ship does not have a wake over a dead calm. The swell of a ship's side is not caused by dropsy, nor is the taper of a bowsprit a tallow candle. The hold is not the vessel's grip. The trough of the sea is not dug out of the ship's log. The crest of a wave is not an indication of its rank. The buoy is not the captain's son. The men are not beat to quarters with a club. Ships are never boarded at hotels. The bow of a ship is not evidence of politeness. A sailor's stockings are never manufactured from a yarn of his own spinning. The sails of a ship are not made by an auctioneer, nor are the stays constructed by a dressmaker.

STARBOARD AND LARBOARD.

In Saxon "bord" means shield. In the Viking ships each warrior hung his shield on the side of the ship opposite to him, and above the aperture for his oar. The

Viking held the steer oar, which was fastened to the right-hand side of the stern (stern itself is a contraction of steer oar). The right-hand side of the ship thus became the steer side; and as "bord" came to mean the whole side where the shields, or bords, were hung, the right side came to be the steer bord (starboard) side, and the lower or lurking side became larboard.

The old words of command for altering the helm, viz., "starboard" or "port," have been given up on board the ships of some transatlantic lines, and the order "right" or "left" substituted. As soon as the order "right" given, the telegraph is moved to the right, the wheel is revolved to the right, the ship turns to the right, the rudder indicator points right, the rudder itself moves right, and the steering mark on the compass as well; and so vice versa when the order "left" is given. Nothing can be simpler, and no possibility of mistake can arise.

THE COMPASS.

The Chinese claim that the mariner's compass was constructed by their Emperor, Hoang-ti, 2434 B. C.

The points of the compass may be determined with the aid of an ordinary watch. It is simply necessary to bring the watch in such a position that the hour hand is directed towards the sun. The south then lies midway between whatever hour it may happen to be and the numeral XII. on the dial. Suppose, for instance, it is four o'clock, and that the time piece is held in the position indicated. The direction of the number II. will then be the exact south. If eight o'clock the numeral X. will indicate the exact southerly point.

THE LOG.

The log is an instrument for measuring the rate at which the vessel is going and consists of three parts, viz., the log-chip, the log-line, and the log-glass. The principle is simply this: A light substance thrown from the vessel ceases to partake of the motion of the vessel as soon as it strikes the water and will be left behind on

the surface after a certain interval. If the distance of the ship from this stationary object be measured, the approximate rate of sailing will be given. The log-chip is the float, the log-line is the measure for the distance, and the log-glass defines the interval of time. In the old days the heaving of the log required skill and watchfulness, but since the patent log has come into use, no skill is required in finding the speed of a vessel. It is regulated by clockwork, and the number of knots the vessel sails per hour is recorded on the dial without any hand touching it.

THE CHRONOMETER.

The chronometer is a time piece of superior construction. The proposition to determine the longitude at sea by means of a time piece and observation of the heavenly bodies was made by Gemma Frisius in 1530. In 1714, the British Government offered a reward of £20,000 to the person who should so perfect this method as to determine the longitude within 30 miles. In 1758, John Harrison received this reward, his chronometer having shown an error of 18 miles during a five-months' voyage. At the present day, and under favorable circumstances, longitude determined by a chronometer can be relied upon to within two or three miles. Three chronometers are generally supplied to government vessels, and they are compared with each other every day; a sudden change in one will be shown by the other two.