CHAPTER XXIX.

SHIPS AND SHIP BUILDING.

“Ships are but Boards.”--“The Great Harry.”--Noah’s Ark the Prototype of the Modern “Whale-back.”--Phœnicians.-- Northmen.--Dutch, French, English, and American Types.-- Nineteenth Century, the Yankee Clippers.--Donald McKay.-- “Great Republic.”--Steam as Motive Power in Ships the Leading Event in the Art.--Lord Dundas and Steam Canal Boats.--Iron Ships in Place of Wood, 1829-30.--John Laird of Birkenhead.-- Sir William Fairbairn.--Clyde Works.--Comparison of Wood and Iron.--1844, the Great Britain.--John Ericsson.--Monitor and Merrimac.--Composite Style of Vessels.--Marine Propulsion.-- Paddle Wheels.--Screws.--1804, John Stevens.--1807, Fulton.-- Screw Propeller of Ericsson.--The Ogden, the Stockton and the Princeton, the First Naval Warship of its Kind.--The Two Revolutions Produced by Ericsson.--Pneumatic Propellers.-- Description of a Warship.--The Deutschland.--Torpedo Boats.-- Franklin and Oil on the Waves.--Air Ships.--Count Zeppelin’s Boat.--Other Plans of Air Navigation.--The Problems to be Solved. 438