KAURI SHIPS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3118, 23 June 1917, Page 6

KAURI SHIPS

&ir,-Kegarding the building of kauri ship 3 in jSiew SSealand: I notice a gentleman with the aquatic name of JoUn b. Swan has got on tho track of the engin-eer-architect, who suggests a four-masted schooner with four mainsails. But I can easily understand how you made this mistake, as what I said to you was four-masted fore-and-aft schooners were ■the simplest rigged of any fourmasted sailing ships having only four main driving sails, one on each mast somewhat similar in shape to the ordinary mainsail of a pleasure yacht, which is quite correct, but they are not called .mainsails.. Any type of sailing ship can only have one mainsail, be she 6quare--rigged or fore-and-aft. The' names of the four sails in the four-masbed schooners aro foresail, mainsail, mizzen, and jigger. Some American captains may have different names, but this is the English version; and the head sails aro staysail, jib, inner jib, and outer jib or Hying jib, with sometimes a jib topsail. In ordinary fore-and-aft American schooners gaff topsails are generally dispensed with, therefore, there aro only' four largo driving sails, as named above, and the four head sails, which are sometimes reduced to threo.

You stated in your write-up that I had had many years' yachting experience, and had just broken up a large yacht in Auckland. It should therefore be apparent to any nautical man that I mnet know something about sailing toats, especially boats of fore-and-aft rigged, in fact, my boys could discuss topsiil schooners, etc., with the clover correspondent who imagines tho shock an old salt would get if ho saw ;i ship wilh four mainsails. As a matter o£ fact, Iheio is very littlo difference in either tho set or cut of tho four sails referred to, and ovon a swan would liavo to' twist its long neck with difficulty to ascertain how much difference there- really was. I certainly know a good deal about sailing ships, having paid for my tuition and had long training, and if you feel inclined you may acquaint your newspaper correspondent witli the fact that T know just how many tacks tliero ai'o in a ship, and that they are not usod for nailing tho sails' to tho mast, neither aro tho bits used for harnessing the sen horses. Jimmy Greens and Handy Billies aro not members of the crow, opossums aro not tho only things with ring tails, , and tho hounds of the rigging do not bark and keep the sailors nwako at night. T also know that ships wear ear-rings, and that the spanker is not used by the- skipper for livening his crow. Jn fact, there nro many more mosslwck jokes of this Jrind that every

cabin boy lenrnti when he goes to sea, anil, judging from the remarks of Uie critic, he docs not appear to have got very fur past this oltiuo iu seafaring matters.—l am, etc., engineek-akctiitect: