THE AMERICAN PAPER BOAT AND ENGLISH CANOES.
THE PECULIAR CHARACTER OF THE PAPER BOAT.--THE HISTORY OF THE ADOPTION
OF PAPER FOR BOATS.--A BOY'S INGENUITY.--THE PROCESS OF BUILDING PAPER
BOATS DESCRIBED.--COLLEGE CLUBS ADOPTING THEM.--THE GREAT VICTORIES WON
BY PAPER OVER WOODEN SHELLS IN 1876.
Inquiries regarding the history and durability of paper boats
occasionally reach me through the medium of the post-office. After all
the uses to which paper has been put during the last twenty years, the
public is yet hardly convinced that the flimsy material, paper, can
successfully take the place of wood in the construction of light
pleasure-boats, canoes, and racing shells. Yet the idea has become an
accomplished fact. The success of the victorious paper shells of the
Cornell College navy, which were enlisted in the struggles of two
seasons at Saratoga, against no mean antagonists,--the college crews of
the United States,--surely proves that in strength, stiffness, speed,
and fineness of model, the paper boat is without a rival.
[Illustration: A FULL-RIGGED NAUTILUS CANOE.]
When used in its own peculiar sphere, the improved paper boat will be
found to possess the following merits: less weight, greater strength,
stiffness, durability, and speed than a wooden boat of the same size and
model; and the moulded paper shell will retain the delicate lines so
essential to speed, while the brittle wooden shell yields more or less
to the warping influences of sun and moisture. A comparison of the
strength of wood and paper for boats has been made by a writer in the
Cornell Times, a journal published by the students of that celebrated
New York college:
"Let us take a piece of wood and a piece of paper of the same
thickness, and experiment with, use, and abuse them both to the
same extent. Let the wood be of one-eighth of an inch in
thickness--the usual thickness of shell-boats, and the paper
heavy pasteboard, both one foot square. Holding them up by one
side, strike them with a hammer, and observe the result. The
wood will be cracked, to say the least; the pasteboard, whirled
out of your hand, will only be dented, at most. Take hold and
bend them: the wood bends to a certain degree, and then splits;
the pasteboard, bent to the same degree, is not affected in the
least. Take a knife and strike them: the wood is again split,
the pasteboard only pierced. Place them on the water: the wood
floats for an indefinite time; the pasteboard, after a time,
soaks, and finally sinks, as was to be expected. But suppose we
soak the pasteboard in marine glue before the experiment, then
we find the pasteboard equally as impervious to the water as
wood, and as buoyant, if of the same weight; but, to be of the
same weight, it must be thinner than the wood, yet even then it
stands the before-mentioned tests as well as when thicker; and
it will be found to stand all tests much better than wood, even
when it weighs considerably less.
"Now, enlarging our pieces, and moulding them into boats of the
same weight, we find the following differences: Wood, being
stiff and liable to split, can only be moulded into comparative
form. Paper, since it can be rendered perfectly pliable, can be
pressed into any shape desirable; hence, any wished-for fineness
of lines can be given to the model, and the paper will assume
the identical shape, after which it can be water-proofed,
hardened, and polished. Paper neither swells, nor shrinks, nor
cracks, hence it does not leak, is always ready for use, always
serviceable. As to cost, there is very little difference between
the two; the cost being within twenty-five dollars, more or
less, the same for both. Those who use paper boats think them
very near perfection; and surely those who have the most to do
with boats ought to know, prejudice aside, which is the best."
An injury to a paper boat is easily repaired by a patch of strong paper
and a coating of shellac put on with a hot iron. As the paper boat is a
novelty with many people, a sketch of its early history may prove
interesting to the reader. Mr. George A. Waters, the son of the senior
member of the firm of E. Waters & Sons, of Troy, New York, was invited
some years since to a masquerade party. The boy repaired to a toy shop
to purchase a counterfeit face; but, thinking the price (eight dollars)
was more than he could afford for a single evening's sport, he borrowed
the mask for a model, from which he produced a duplicate as perfect as
was the original. While engaged upon his novel work, an idea impressed
itself upon his ingenious brain. "Cannot," he queried, "a paper shell
be made upon the wooden model of a boat? And will not a shell thus
produced, after being treated to a coat of varnish, float as well,
and be lighter than a wooden boat?"
This was in March, 1867, while the youth was engaged in the manufacture
of paper boxes. Having repaired a wooden shell-boat by covering the
cracks with sheets of stout paper cemented to the wood, the result
satisfied him; and he immediately applied his attention to the further
development of his bright idea. Assisted by his father, Mr. Elisha
Waters, the enterprise was commenced "by taking a wooden shell, thirteen
inches wide and thirty feet long, as a mould, and covering the entire
surface of its bottom and sides with small sheets of strong Manila
paper, glued together, and superposed on each other, so that the joints
of one layer were covered by the middle of the sheet immediately above,
until a sheet of paper had been formed one-sixteenth of an inch in
thickness. The fabric thus constructed, after being carefully dried, was
removed from the mould and fitted up with a suitable frame, consisting
of a lower keelson, two inwales, the bulkhead; in short, all the usual
parts of the frame of a wooden shell, except the timbers, or ribs, of
which none were used--the extreme stiffness of the skin rendering them
unnecessary. Its surface was then carefully water-proofed with suitable
varnishes, and the work was completed. Trials proved that, rude as was
this first attempt compared with the elegant craft now turned out from
paper, it had marked merits, among which were, its remarkable stiffness,
the symmetry of the hull with respect to its long axis, and the
smoothness of the water-surface."
A gentleman, who possesses excellent judgment and long experience in all
that relates to paper boats, furnishes me with the following valuable
information, which I feel sure will interest the reader.
"The process of building the paper shell-boat is as follows: The
dimensions of the boat having been determined upon, the first
step is to construct a wooden model, or form, an exact
fac-simile of the desired boat, on which to mould the paper
skin. For this purpose the lines of the boat are carefully drawn
out of the full size, and from the drawings thus made the model
is prepared. It is built of layers of well-seasoned pine,
securely fastened together to form one solid mass; which, after
having been laid up of the general outline required, is
carefully worked off, until its surface, which is made perfectly
smooth, exactly conforms to the selected lines, and its beam,
depth, and length are those of the given boat. During the
process of its construction, suitable rabbets are cut to receive
the lower keelson, the two inwales, and the bow and stern
deadwoods, which, being put in position, are worked off so that
their surfaces are flush with that of the model, and forming, as
it were, an integral part of it. It being important that these
parts should, in the completed boat, be firmly attached to the
skin, their surface is, at this part of the process, covered
with a suitable adhesive preparation.
"The model is now ready to be covered with paper. Two kinds are
used: that made from the best Manila, and that prepared from
pure unbleached linen stock; the sheets being the full length of
the model, no matter what that may be. If Manila paper is used,
the first sheet is dampened, laid smoothly on the model, and
securely fastened in place by tacking it to certain rough strips
attached to its upper face. Other sheets are now superposed on
this and on each other, and suitably cemented together; the
number depending upon the size of the boat and the stiffness
required. If linen paper is used, but one sheet is employed, of
such weight and dimensions that, when dry, it will give just the
thickness of skin necessary. Should the surface of the model be
concave in parts, as in the run of boats with square sterns for
instance, the paper is made to conform to these surfaces by
suitable convex moulds, which also hold the paper in place
until, by drying, it has taken and will retain the desired form.
The model, with its enveloping coat of paper, is now removed to
the dry-room. As the paper skin dries, all wrinkles disappear,
and it gradually assumes the desired shape. Finally, when all
moisture has been evaporated, it is taken from the mould an
exact fac-simile of the model desired, exceedingly stiff,
perfectly symmetrical, and seamless.
"The paper is now subjected to the water-proof process, and the
skin, with its keelson, inwales, and deadwoods attached, is then
placed in the carpenter's hands, where the frame is completed in
the usual manner, as described for wooden boats. The paper decks
being put on, it is then ready for the brass, iron, and varnish
work. As the skins of these boats (racing-shells) vary from
one-sixteenth of an inch in the singles, to one-twelfth of an
inch in the six-oared outriggers, the wooden frame becomes
necessary to support and keep them in shape. In applying this
invention to gigs, dingys, canoes, and skiffs, a somewhat
different method is adopted. Since these boats are subjected to
much hard service, and must be so constructed as to permit the
occupant to move about in them as is usual in such craft, a
light and strong frame of wood is prepared, composed of a
suitable number of pairs of ribs, with stem and stern pieces cut
from the natural crooks of hackmatack roots. These are firmly
framed to two gunwales and a keelson, extending the length of
the boat; the whole forming the skeleton shape of the desired
model. The forms for these boats having been prepared, as
already described for the racing-shells, and the frame being let
into this form, so that the outer surface of the ribs, stem and
stern pieces will conform with its outer surface, the paper skin
is next laid upon it. The skin, manufactured from new,
unbleached linen stock, is carefully stretched in place, and
when perfectly dry is from one-tenth to three-sixteenths of an
inch thick. Removed from the model, it is water-proofed, the
frame and fittings completed, and the boat varnished. In short,
in this class of boats, the shape, style, and finish are
precisely that of wooden ones, of corresponding dimensions and
class, except that for the usual wooden sheathing is substituted
the paper skin as described.
"The advantages possessed by these boats over those of wood are:
"By the use of this material for the skins of racing-shells,
where experience has demonstrated the smooth bottom to be the
best, under-water lines of any degree of fineness can be
developed, which cannot successfully be produced in those of
wood, even where the streaks are so reduced in thickness that
strength, stiffness, and durability are either wholly sacrificed
or greatly impaired. In the finer varieties of 'dug-outs'
equally fine lines can be obtained; but so delicate are such
boats, if the sides are reduced to three-sixteenths of an inch
or less in thickness, that it is found practically impossible to
preserve their original forms for any length of time. Hence, so
far as this point is concerned, it only remains for the builder
to select those models which science, guided by experience,
points out as the best.
"The paper skin, after being water-proofed, is finished with
hard varnishes, and then presents a solid, perfectly smooth, and
horny surface to the action of the water, unbroken by _joint_,
_lap_, or _seam_. This surface admits of being polished as
smooth as a coach-panel or a mirror. Unlike wood, _it has no
grain to be cracked or split, it never shrinks_, and, paper
being one of the best of non-conductors, no ordinary degree of
heat or cold affects its shape or hardness, and hence these
boats are admirably adapted for use in all climates. As the skin
absorbs no moisture, _these boats gain no weight by use_, and,
having no moisture to give off when out of the water, they do
not, like wooden boats, show the effect of exposure to the air
by leaking. They are, therefore, in this respect always prepared
for service.
"The strength and stiffness of the paper shells are most
remarkable. To demonstrate it, a single shell of twelve inch
beam and twenty-eight feet long, fitted complete with its
outriggers, the hull weighing twenty-two pounds, was placed on
two trestles eight feet apart, in such a manner that the
trestles were each the same distance from the centre of the
cockpit, which was thus entirely unsupported. A man weighing one
hundred and forty pounds then seated himself in it, and remained
in this position three minutes. The deflection caused by this
strain, being accurately measured, was found to be one-sixteenth
of an inch at a point midway between the supports. If this load,
applied under such abnormal conditions, produced so little
effect, we can safely assume that, when thus loaded and resting
on the water, supported throughout her whole length, and the
load far more equally distributed over the whole frame, there
would be no deflection whatever.
"Lightness, when combined with a proper, stiffness and
strength, being a very desirable quality, it is here that the
paper boats far excel their wooden rivals. If two shells are
selected, the one of wood and the other with a paper skin and
deck, as has been described, _of the same dimensions and equally
stiff_, careful experiment proves that the wooden one will be
_thirty per cent. the heaviest_. If those of the _same
dimensions and equal weight_ are compared, the paper one will be
found to exceed the wooden one in stiffness and in capacity to
resist torsional strains in the same proportion. Frequent boasts
are made that wooden shells can be and are built much lighter
than paper ones; and if the quality of lightness _alone_ is
considered, this is true; yet when the practical test of _use_
is applied, such extremely light wooden boats have always
proved, and will continue to prove, failures, as here this
quality is only _one_ of a number which combine to make the boat
serviceable. A wooden shell whose hull weighs twenty-two pounds,
honest weight, is a very fragile, short-lived affair. A paper
shell of the same dimensions, and of the same weight, will last
as long, and do as much work, as a wooden one whose hull turns
the beam at thirty pounds.
"An instance of their remarkable strength is shown in the
following case. In the summer of 1870, a single shell, while
being rowed at full speed, with the current, on one of our
principal rivers, was run into the stone abutment of a bridge.
The bow struck squarely on the obstacle, and such was the
momentum of the mass that the oarsman was thrown directly
through the flaring bow of the cockpit into the river. Witnesses
of the accident who were familiar with wooden shells declared
that the boat was ruined; but, after a careful examination, only
the bow-tip was found to be twisted in a spiral form, and the
washboard broken at the point by the oarsman as he passed
between the sides. Two dollars covered the cost of repair. Had
it been a wooden shell the shock would have crushed its stem and
splintered the skin from the bow to the waist."
[Illustration: ROB ROY CANOE.]
Old and cautious seamen tried to dissuade me from contracting with the
Messrs. Waters for the building of a stout paper canoe for my journey.
Harvard College had not adopted this "new-fangled notion" at that time,
and Cornell had only begun to think of attempting to out-row other
colleges at Saratoga by using paper boats. The Centennial year of the
independence of the United States, 1876, settled all doubts as to the
value of the result of the years of toil of the inventors of the paper
boat. During the same year the incendiary completed his revengeful work
by burning the paper-boat manufactory at Troy. The loss was a heavy one;
but a few weeks later these unflinching men were able to record the
following victories achieved that single season by their boats.
The races won by the paper boats were:
The Intercollegiate Championship:
Freshmen and University.
The International Championship at Saratoga:
Singles, Doubles, and Fours.
The National Championship, N. A. of A. O.:
Singles, Doubles, and Fours.
The World's Championship at Centennial Exhibition:
Singles, Doubles, and Fours.
The Professional Championship of the United States.
And every other important race of the season, besides receiving the
highest honors at the Centennial Exhibition. The right to make boats of
paper in Canada and in the United States is exclusively held by the
Messrs. Waters, and they are the only manufacturers of paper boats in
the world.
It is not many years since Mr. Macgregor, of London, built the little
Rob Roy canoe, and in it made the tour of interesting European waters.
His example was followed by an army of tourists, and it is now a common
thing to meet canoe voyagers in miniature flotillas upon the
watercourses of our own and foreign lands. Mr. W. Baden-Powell, also an
Englishman, perfected the model of the Nautilus type of canoe, which
possesses a great deal of sheer with fullness of bow, and is therefore a
better boat for rough water than the Rob Roy. The New York Canoe Club,
in 1874, had the Nautilus for their model. We still need a distinctive
American type for our waters, more like the best Indian canoe than the
European models here presented. These modern yacht-like canoes are
really improved _kyaks_, and in their construction we are much indebted
to the experience of the inhabitants of the Arctic Circle. Very few of
the so-called Rob Roy canoes, built in the United States, resemble the
original perfected boat of Mr. Macgregor--the father of modern canoe
travelling. The illustrations given of English canoes are from imported
models, and are perfect of their type.