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September, 1909 THE Marine Review 305 viz, the main framing of the vessel. These frames form the ribs of the ship, and it will be observed that a num- ber of the Olympic's have already been set up near the after end, 1¢ pected that the placed in position shortly, when the 1S ex- progress of construction will be even stern frame will be more apparent than it is now. Sixty Years of Merchant Ship Building on the North-East Coast T the joint summer meeting at Glasgow of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuil- ders in Scotland and the North- East Coast Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders, the following paper on "Sixty Years of Merchant Shipbuilding on the North-East Coast," by Dr. G. B. Hunter and Mr. E. W. DeRusett, was read :-- By the North-East Coast is meant the district which streaches from Blyth to Whitby, and inc'udes the Tyne, Wear and Tees, and the Hartlepools--a local- ity rich in minerals, such as iron-ore, together with limestone and _ excellent fire clays; while an abundance of coal lies close at hand for the conversion of the crude materials into pig iron, and the plates, bars, sheets and castings re- quired by shipbuilders and_ engineers. For a very long period this coast has been famous for its shipbuilding. As early as 1642 a committee of the house of commons designated Newcastie as the "nursery of shipbuilding'; and Defoe, writing of the Tyne in 1727, states that "they build ships here to perfection--as to strength and firmness, and to bear the sea." Wood Shipbuilding. Wood shipbuilding continued to be one of the great industries of the North- East Coast down to 50 years ago. In 1860 only about 30 per cent of the new tonnage built in the United Kingdom was built of iron, East Indiamen of the largest dimensions, Blackwall and other liners, were built by the old firms of T. and W. Smith, North Shields, who began shipbuilding in 1782, and J. and P. Laing, who began in 1793, and William Pile at Sunder:and, and others. At the beginning of the nine- teenth century the largest ships built at Sunderland were under 100 ft. long, the breadth being nearly one-third of the length, Taking the Alnwick Castle, built in Sunderland in 1857, as a later examp'e, her dimensions were 195 ft. by 35.3 ft. by 22.5 ft. and register tonnage 1,087. Among the most noted wooden Sailing vessels built on this coast were the Blenheim and Marlborough of 1,387 and 1,392 tons register respectively, each being 175 ft. long by 42 ft. beam. B58. They were built under government sur- vey: by Messrs. Tiicand W, Smith of North Shields, in 1846-1848, and so famous were they that in the Exhibi- tion year of 1851 they were presented with silk ensigns and house flags as being the finest merchant ships afloat. The Blenheim was employed as a regu- lar passenger and transport liner to India, via the Cape, until, 1867... These fine old ships had no pretentions to speed. An average good day's sailing was between 220 and 240 knots, while on very special occasions 280 knots might be got out of them. So _ late as 1873 steamships 260 ft. long, 1,500 tons gross register, and 2,250 tons dead- weight, were spoken of with awe as "the big ship'--and the price of plain cargo steamers of that size was about £14 per ton deadweight. Hours and Pay. The old Sunderland wood shipwrights were among the most capable and hard working in the world. Their working hours were long, and their pay as low 6d. per day, for which they worked 12 hours--Saturdays included-- less meal times, and they worked twice as hard as the men do now. They were not noted perhaps for unnecessary exact- ness in their work, but in respect of both quality and quantity they took the same pride and pleasure in their day's wotk as many ship workers of the present day do in football and racing and coursing. Great were the discus- sions among them in the middle of the last century, and among their masters too, as to whether iron ships could float, and whether they could be relied upon not to tear in pieces through the rivet holes. Iron Ships. It is of interest to note that, while in Scotland and on the Tyne the first builders of iron ships appear to have been engineers and boilermakers, some of the first builders of iron ships on the North-East Coast were wood ship- builders. The latter were not so much accustomed to exact work as the former and from 40 to 50 years ago Scotland had acquired a_ higher reputation for good work than some districts, at least, of the North-East Coast. Of recent years, while many Scottish builders maintain their high reputation, it is well known that in no part of the wor!d is better work done in shipbuilding and engineering of all classes than on the North-East Coast. In the sixties of last century very fine sailing ships were built, of 700 tons and above, with frames, diagonals, two strakes of shell, beams and stringer plates all of iron, and with wood planking and yellow metal sheathing. In confection with these "composite ships' the first iron sheds over building slips in this dis- trict were used. The John Garrow. Although long noted for the building of wooden sailing ships,- with now and then a wooden steamship, the use of iron as the chief material in their con- struction did not commence on the North-East Coast until the year 1840. It is said to have been hastened by the arrival at North Shields in March, | 1840, of the iron sailing ship John Gar- row, of 685 tons register, built in Aberdeen in the same year. Her ad- vent caused considerable excitement, and a shipbuilding firm at Walker-on- Tyne (Messrs. Coutts. & Co.) with John H. Coults, of Aberdeen, as head, and the late Charles Mitchell as draughtsman, almost immediately com- menced building iron ships; their first production being the steamer Prince Albert, built for passenger service on the Thames. She was launched on Sept. 23, 1842, at Walker-on-Tyne, on the site afterwards occupied by Messrs. Wigham Richardson and Co., 1860, and Charles Mitchell went with her--or with the Q. E. D---one or two voyages as engineer. The Great Britain. Another incident which encouraged the use of iron in shipbuilding was the remarkable way in which the screw steamer Great Britain stood the strains during the winter months when she was on shore in Dundrum Bay, where she was visited by Mr. James Laing, who decided to commence iron shipbuilding in 1852. He launched his first iron ves- sel, the Amity, in 1853, but continued