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SEPTEMBER 28, 1899. SEA TERMS. A writer in the New York Tribune recalls the fact that many nautical terms not familiar on shore are of Scandina_ vian origin. Landsmen speak of a sheet of paper, but at sea we have sheet ropes from tbe Danish ‘‘sceat,’’ the point or corner of the sail to which the rope is attached. The sailors called ‘‘rat lines’? so simply because they are ‘‘rat lines,’’ or if you like, ‘‘rad lines;’’ the landsman “runds’’or call them‘‘rangs,’’or‘'gradus,’’ according as they may be half French, whole French, or Roman, but the idea is the same—steps, ranks, rows, things setall arow. Asforthe cat tackle, cat block, the cat head, the cat tail, catch tackle, catch block, and so on, would be more correct. The anchor is ‘“‘seized up”’ by these apparatus, or, as they said in old times, ‘‘catched,’? when it is not a trip or on the swing. English-speaking landlubbers have consecrated the word “shroud’’ to the clothing of the dead only, but the ship carries her shrouds all her life—‘‘scruds’”’ the Danish Scotch call them. You have only to look at a full rigged ship to see how appropriate the name is. “Starboard’’ is a corruption of ‘‘stear board,’’ In the very early days the snake _ boats had no rudders on their stern posts, __ but were steered, or stear-ed, by means of large paddles, or ‘‘rodres,”’ rigged out always on the steerer’s right, so as to give more purchase to his left, or weaker arm. That made the right side, or board, of the ‘‘skip’’ the ‘“‘stear board,”” just as their end is the ‘‘stearn,’’ which we ‘ ignorantly spell ‘“‘stern,”’ and pronounce to rhyme with ‘‘burn.’’ The other side of the hull, which, having no ‘“‘rodre’’ on it, could be brought sheer up to the wharf for lading, was the ‘lade board,’’ and this became. by the attrition of use, the ‘‘labbord,’’ wrongly spelled \‘lar- board.”” When it blows very hard sailormen be- gin to talk Saxon. They take in a “‘reef.”’ “Wrinkle’’? has taken the place of “‘reef”’ on shore, except in west of England hamlets. The Danes, when they wanted to shorten sail ‘swifted ”’ them. Under the same tempestuous circumstances, passen- gers often talk of going ‘‘ between decks,’’ and ‘‘deck’’ is plain Saxon for ‘‘cover.’”? People used to ‘deck their THE MARINE RECORD. JS heads’’ when they put on their hats. Nowadays the phrase would suggest to a landsman the use of floral decorations, but the Saxon word ‘‘decan” had no connection with the Latin derivative. Ina heavy gale, too, the skipper talks to his mate about a ‘‘lee shore,’’ and ‘‘lee’’ or ‘‘le”’ is the Saxon for shelter—not meaning that a lee shore shelters, but that it is not in the sheltered, or offwind direction. (Shut and locked; top stiffener, roller bar and back/guide displaced.) THE ’’LONG-ARM’’ HORIZONTAL SLIDING DOOR, U. S. S. CHICAGO TYPE, 9 INCH TIGHTENERS. Of the four exclusive nautical words for pieces of timber, three are more Danish than Low German—‘‘spar,’’ ‘‘gaff’’ and ‘‘sprit.’? The first of these is the Danish way of pro- nouncing ‘‘spear,’’ like the despised but historical correct “‘starn”’ for ‘‘stern.’’ ‘‘Gaff’’ is only another word for harpoon. ‘‘Sprit’’ is the Scandinavian for a small stick ; it appears in ‘‘bow sprit’? and ‘‘spritsail.’’ ‘‘ Boom’? is the Low form of the High German ‘‘ baum,” of course, and was the older word for ‘‘tree,’’ the earlier meaning of which latter—timber, or wood ; the material of the tree, not the whole thing—has survived at sea in.‘‘cross trees,’ which means, in land-lubber ling, ‘‘ transverse timbers.”’ b> 2. aa THE HOLLAND SUBMARINE TORPEDO BOAT. fhe submarine torpedo boat Holland made a remarkably good showing during a practice on Saturday last in Little Peconic Bay. The new diving apparatus for operating the steering engines worked successfully, the boat getting ander water and completely out of sight iu quick time. The trial was in sending the boat over a mile course submerged, at the end of which she came to the surface and the torpedo was discharged from - the tube. The run under the water was made in about ten minutes, and the torpedo was successfully discharged, from the tube, but, owing to what is thought to have been a disarrangement of some of the mechanism, the torpedo, instead of taking a straight course, took a downward turn, and the volume of muddy water sent up showed that it struck the bottom about 50 feet from the bow of the boat. W. R. Eckert, consulting engineer for the Standard Hlectric Co., of Chicago, and alsofor the Union Iron Works, of San Francisco, inspected the vessel and examined the machinery while she was running under water. He said: “‘I am very much pleased with the exhibition, and am convinced that there is no trouble for the boat tu do all that is claimed for it.® I would rather be, and feel safer in the Holland boat when under water, than in the engine or firerooms of any of the fast torpedo boats. I consider her abso- lutely safe.’’ ee First Yachtsman—‘‘That Miss Topsail makes me tired with her talk about yachts.’? Second Ditto—‘‘Why ?’’ First Yachtsman—‘‘I told her I had put a new binnacle on my yacht, and she asked me if I scraped all the old ones off the hull !’’—Boston Transcript. TOBIN BRONZE (Trade-Mark Registered. -. 58 William Street, New York City. 5 and 6 Billiter Avenue, E. C., . Insurance BROWN &CO., - - - J.G. KEITH & CO., - Tensile strength of plates one-quarter inch thick, upward of 78,000 Ibs. per square inch. Torsional strength equal to the best machinery steel. Non-corrosive in sea water. ¢ f Square and Hexagon Bars for Bolt Forgings, Pump Piston Rods, Yacht Shaftings, etc. Roll ; Tube Sheets, Centerboards, Fin Keels and Rudders. Chas. E. & W. F. Royal Insurance Building, Chicago, Ill. C. T. BOWRING & CO. London, England. 202 Main Street, Buffalo, N. Y. PARKER & MILLEN, 15 Atwater Street, W., Detroit, Mich. 138 Rialto Building, Chicago, Ill. LA SALLE & CO., Board of Trade Building, Duluth, Minn, Are prepared to mcke rates on all classes of Marine Insurance on the Great Lakes, both CARGORS AND HULLS. The Can be forged at cherry red heat. Round, ed Sheets and Plates for Pump Linings and Condenser Send for Pamphlet. 3.F. HODGE & CO Peck, ROYAL INSURANCE BLDG. Ansonia Brass & Copper Go, SOLE MANUFACTURERS, 99 John St., NEW YORK. _ MARINE ENGINES, PROPELLER WHEELS, DECK HOISTERS, MARINE REPAIRS.. @ 312 ATWATER STREET, DETROIT, MICH. : INCORPORATED 1899. AN ASSOCIATION FOR THE PROTECTION OF UNDER-= WRITERS’ INTERESTS AS REGARDS WRECKED AND DAMAGED PROPERTY AT SEA. Application for the services of surveyors of this Association may be made to either the Chicago or New York offices. New York Office, MUTUAL LIFE INS. CO. BLDG.