THE FORWARD END OF THE CRADLE The wedges are ready to be driven in to lift the eight thousand tons of the great ship from the keel blocks tions preliminary to setting the ship free. The supporting shores have been knocked away from the sides of the craft, and all of the building stages have been removed. So far, the weight of the ship has been borne by the blocks under the keel and bilges of the vessel, but now only the keel blocks remain, and the problem is to get rid of these upon which the craft now rests... and transfer her entire weight to the launching structure. It is here that we see the application of the oaken wedges and also appreciate the stupendous power exerted by these wedges when driven home between the two courses of the sliding ways. The order is given to "wedge-up," and the gangs of men with their battering rams hammer away lustily in a spirit of friendly rivalry. Little by little the wedges are forced inward, and steadily the whole eight thousand tons of the great ship are raised bodily from the keel blocks and the load transferred to the launching apparatus. This work of wedging is done simultaneously on each side. and along the entire length of the sliding ways. Each gang has from four to six wedges to drive. With this work done, the keel blocks are next removed, that there should be no danger of any obstruction there; and to guard the men in this perilous work, heavy safety chains hold the sliding ways and the groundways together, so as to lessen the strain upon the sole-pieces and to guard against the ship tearing herself loose. When the last man has come from beneath the vessel, the safety chains are released. Everything is now ready for the final operation of sawing through the sole-pieces. It is the usual custom in launching naval craft to send them into the water stern first, the fuller form of the hull aft tending to make the vessel rise more quickly from her first plunge than would be the case were she sent into the water bow first; and, too, it makes the pivoting stress less at that instant when the bow on entering the water and the stern upon rising throw the burden of the vessel's weight upon the forward poppets, P, as shown in Fig. 3. This is the most critical moment in any launching, and, if the vessel have not sufficient stability in her light condition and the poppets be unequal to the tax upon them, the ship may lose her balance, turn over, and perhaps sink. The constructor in charge must foresee this danger and make sure that his calculations be correct. In the early eighties, the British ship Daphne was launched without due regard in this particular, and she turned over and sank and drowned some hundreds of her workmen still busy below at their tasks. Last year, an accident of an approximate nature occurred in Italy after the launching of a large ocean liner, but fortunately no lives were lost. Getting the vessel safely into the water is not all of the task, but it is by long odds the heaviest part of the engineering phase of it. In moderately narrow channels or in crowded waterways, or in rivers where the currents are swift and the ship may be swept ashore or carried too far before being halted, it is necessary to check her rush easily and within prescribed limits. It is not always possible for a ship to bring herself to a standstill in a bed of soft mud as is done in some parts of the country, nor can she be allowed to bring herself to rest by means of anchors and the gradual and easy tautening of her chain cables. To stop a ship in a short distance, a system of hempen cables is usually employed. These heavy hawsers are passed around the stern like a bridle and are led forward along the sides and carried into some convenient opening or port where they are coiled, the ends being fastened to anchors which are dropped from the bows at the A, showing launching position at the instant when the stern lies deepest in the water. B, showing the stern after rising and the bow in the act of dipping into the water. At this instant the entire ward poppets P.. し t of the ship that is not water-borne is brought to bear on the for this is the most critical moment in the launching operation, because, should the poppets prove weak, the shir might, in her present light condition, crash' gainst the ground or topple over and desired instant after the ship has reached the water. Other heavier lines are led to the shore or to other anchors buried in the water at the sides and at the foot of the groundways. All of these cables are placed in coils which are tied up by means of smaller ropes, and these smaller ropes snap in succession as strain is brought upon them and thus let out the larger lines and graduate the checking effect without undue stress to the ship. It is no uncommon thing to see a great fifteen-inch hawser snapped like a kite-line, and woe to him that stands in the way of that deadly lash. Everything is now in readiness for the last order. The keel blocks have been knocked away, the safety chains released, and the great ship left tugging away with the tractive force of many freight trains at the white oak sole-pieces, which still restrain her. At once, the two gangs begin to saw through those stout pieces of plank, and ere the swishing blades have cut more than two-thirds through there is a sharp, ripping snap, the fibers yield and tear, and the great ship starts slowly but irresistibly toward the water. At that gathers more headway; gaining s sd as It has all taken only a very brief while, but during those few minutes the hearts of the vessel's builders have beat quick and anxiously, and great is their relief and gratification when she floats safely upon the sweeping tide or lies at anchor or secure in the grasp of a number of alert tugs. Then follow the feasting and the speechifying which, strange to say, are the modern survivals of pagan practices many centuries old. U A PAGEANT OF THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE NDER the auspices of the Antiquarian Society of the Art Institute, of Chicago, there was produced on January 27-28, in Blackstone Hall, a representation of incidents taken from the traditional history of Italy in the Middle Ages. In part, the pageant was founded upon Maurice Hewlett, story, "Quattrocentisteria," and Blashfield's "The Florentine Artist." A reproduction of market-day in Florence brought together on the stage some two hundred persons. The scene ended with the arrival of Leonardo da Vinci, who, buying white doves of a market-woman, set them free to fly over the heads of the audience. · A procession commemorating Cimabue's painting "The Madonna," reincarnated the Italy of the period. There were monks and nuns, peasant women and courtiers, members of trade-guilds and men-at-arms, while at the head were forty children bearing garlands and dancing. A dramatic scene was the killing of Buondelmonte and the battle between the men of the Uberti and Donati. It was at nightfall, and the constant flash of steel in the hand-to-hand fight with swords was rendered vivid by the partial darkening of the stage. The tumult was quelled by the appearance of Dante, who, holding a torch, appeared in the door of the cathedral. The effective groupings of men and women received much praise, and costumes have seldom been equaled in any similar performance. Nearly eight undid men, women and children participated in the various sce The pageant was planne and ୯ a ied |