Stories of Useful InventionsForman, S. E. (Samuel Eagle)
History
Stories of Useful Inventions
Forman, S. E. (Samuel Eagle)
Inventions
The anchor came later than the rudder. Of course even in primitive times
there were methods of securing the vessel to the ground under water but
they were very crude. Sometimes a sack of sand was used as an anchor,
sometimes a log of wood covered with lead was thrown overboard to hold
the boat in its place. In Homer's time the anchor was a bent rod with a
single fluke. About 600 B. C. Anacharsis, one of the seven wise men of
Greece, gave a practical turn to his wisdom and invented an anchor with
two flukes (Fig. 7). The invention received the name of "anchor" from
the name of the inventor.
[Illustration: FIG. 8.--A ROMAN GALLEY OF ONE TIER OF OARS, INTRODUCING
THE RUDDER.]
It was in the Mediterranean Sea that the boat had its most rapid
development. As early as we can get a glimpse of that wonderful body of
water it was alive with boats (called galleys) that had well-laid keels
and lofty sides, and rudders, and sails. The greatest of the earlier
navigators were the Phoenicians whose boats had traversed 5,000 years
ago the whole course of the Mediterranean and had even ventured beyond
the Straits of Gibraltar. The ancient Greeks also were a great sea-going
people, and their merchantmen or trading boats visited every part of the
known world. But it was the Romans who at last became masters of the
ancient seas. The Roman galley, therefore, may be taken as the
representative boat of ancient times. What kind of a boat was the Roman
galley? It was propelled chiefly by oars, just as nearly all the boats
of antiquity were. Occasionally a sail was hoisted when the wind was
favorable but the main reliance was the rower's arm. Men had not yet
learned to use the sail to the best advantage. The older galleys had one
row of oarsmen (Fig. 8), but as the struggle for the mastery of the sea
became keener the boats were made larger and more rowers were necessary.
Galleys with two and three, and even four rows of oarsmen were built by
the Roman navy. When there was more than one row of oars the rowers sat
on benches one above another. The oarsmen were slaves or prisoners
captured in war, and their life was most wretched.[18] They were chained
to the benches on which they sat, and were compelled to row as long as a
spark of life was left. Sometimes they dipped their oars to the music of
the flute, but more often it was to the crack of the lash. Figure 9
shows us how the Roman galley looked when Rome was at the height of her
power (100 A. D.). Here is a vessel about 400 feet long and about 50
feet across its _deck_, a part of the boat, by the by, which was not to
be seen in the earlier galleys. The boat is a trireme, that is, it has
openings for three tiers of oars, and it is propelled by several hundred
oarsmen. For steering purposes it has four stout paddles, two on each
side near the stern. Two masts instead of one carry the sail which,
considering the size of the boat, would seem to be insufficient. This
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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