The New Clipper Ship Mystery, of Boston.

This magnificent vessel was built at East Boston by Mr. Samuel Hall, and like all his ships, is remarkable for excellence of workmanship and beauty of model; and will doubtless prove as fleet, as she is unquestionably beautiful. She is 185 feet long on deck, between perpendiculars, and 196 over all, from the knight-heads to the taffrail; has 37 feet extreme breadth of beam, 23 feet depth of hold, including 7 feet 9 inches height of between decks, and will register about 1125 tons. Her dead rise at half floor is 19 inches, rounding of sides 6 inches, and sheer 3 feet. She has long and sharp ends, with rounded lines and is planked up smooth to the covering board, without projections. The outline of her bow, above the load-displacement line, is decidedly convex, but truly beautiful in its curves, with just flare enough to carry the anchor clear. The mouldings of the planksheer and main rail are continued parallel from stem to stern, in perfect unison with the sheer of the planking below, and though this may seem of little importance to some, yet those who consider regularity in the smallest details, as the prime element of beauty in a ship, will appreciate this marked uniformity. For a head she has the representation of a mermaid emerging from the sea, with a hand raised over her head, as if beckoning her lover to approach. It is relieved with flowered gilding and other ornamental work; otherwise, the bow is plain to nakedness, but its very plainness adds to its beauty. Broadside on, the easy curve of her sheer, particularly as its rise forward, throws an air of lightness over her upper works, that "fills the eye" with admiration. The outline of her stern is arched from the quarters below the taffrail, but on the line of the monkey rail is semi-elliptical, curved at the turns of the quarters. It is very light, and swells between the quarters and between the archboard and the rail, and is finely ornamented with gilded carved work on a black ground.

Her run is long and clean, her counter and transom light, and are finished in the same uniform style of beauty as the rest of her hull. She is coppered up to 18 and 19 feet, and is painted black outside; inside she is painted pearl color, relieved with white.

The arrangements of her upper deck, like those of the general run of clippers, consist of a topgallant forecastle, a house amidships, for the crew, galley, &c., and a trunk cabin built into a half-poop deck. But as the cabin contains only five state-rooms, and a few other necessary apartments, with the pantry and officers' rooms before it, she has a spacious quarter-deck. The cabin is plain, but neat, and contains excellent accommodations for a few passengers. It has two entrances forward, one on each side of the house, with a clear passage across, which forms its ante-room, and another entrance aft, which leads to the poop.

We can speak of her materials, and the style of her construction, from personal observation, having inspected her frequently, from the time her keel was laid until she was launched. Her keel is of rock maple, sided 15 inches, and moulded 34; the floor timbers are 16 by 13 and 12, and she has two depths of midship keelsons, each 16 inches square, and sister keelsons of 10 by 15 inches. There are two copper bolts of 1¼ inch through every floor timber and the keel, driven alternately through the first depth of keelson also, and riveted on the outside. The navel timbers are bolted diagonally and vertically through the sister keelsons into the keel, and the sister keelsons are also bolted horizontally through the midship keelsons and each other. The floor ceiling is 4½ inches thick, and commencing below the floor-heads, and extending towards the bilge, there are five strakes of 10 by 13 inches, then five of 9 by 13, graduated to 6 inches thickness, without projections, and the ceiling continues this substance to the deck.

The stem is moulded 27 inches at the foot and 15 at the head, and the apron fills in the angle abaft it. The sternpost is moulded 29 at the heel, and 18 at the head, and is supported by heavy knees, worked in with the dead wood. Her main transom is 19 inches square, with long wing transoms, all closely bolted.

Her deck frames are of yellow pine, and the lower deck beams are 14 by 15 inches, the partner beams an inch stouter on the square, and they are secured with oak hanging and lodging knees, and have oak stanchions of 10 inches square, kneed above and below, and clasped with iron. The hanging knees are sided from 10 to 12 inches, are moulded in the throats nearly 2 feet, and bolted with 1 inch iron, driven both ways.

The between decks waterways are 15 inches square, with two strakes of 10 by 13 inches over them, and 1 of the same size inside of them, morticed over the beams. This thick work extends fore and aft, is lock scarphed and square fastened horizontally, and is bolted vertically also. She is square fastened throughout, and all her thickwork is lock scarphed, the same as the strakes above the waterways. The ceiling above is from 5 to 6 inches in thickness, and is finished smooth as cabinet work. Her upper deck beams are 10 by 15 inches, their lower square bright and varnished, and, except the thickwork, which is blue, the other paintwork in the between decks is white. The hanging and lodging knees under the upper deck beams are of hacmatack, and are nearly of the same dimensions as those below. The stanchions are of oak, turned and secured in the usual style, with iron rods and screws. Her lower deck is of hard pine, 3½ inches thick, and the upper deck is of white pine, of the same substance.

Her upper deck waterways are 10 by 14 inches, with two strakes of 6 inches thickness inside of them, let over the beams and cross bolted. She has 8 hooks forward, and 5 aft, which completely span the angles of her ends and cross all the cants, and these were bolted alternately from inside and outside, and riveted.

Her garboards are 7 by 13 inches, let into the keel, and are bolted through it and each other, and upwards through the timbers. The two strakes outside of them are diminished to 4 inches thickness, the substance of her bottom planking and her wales are 5½ inches thick by 7 wide, and she is square fastened with treenails, and butt and bilge bolted with copper. Her bulwarks stanchions are of oak, and the planksheer and main rail are each 6 inches thick, the latter 4 feet 3 inches high from the deck, with a monkey rail of 15 inches over it, and the bulwarks are beaded in the usual style.

Her frame is of seasoned white oak, salted, her scantling of hard pine, and she is coppered and copper fastened, and has all the means of ventilation now in general use.

She is a fullrigged ship. Her fore and mainmasts are built of hard pine, each in 14 pieces, dowalled together, bolted and hooped over all; the mizzenmast is of a single spar. The fore and main topmasts, &c., and the yards upon both those masts, are alike. The following are the dimensions of her masts and yards:

The bowsprit 25 feet outboard and 28 inches in diameter; jibboom and flying jibboom of one spar, 18 inches in diameter at the cap, and divided at 21 and 13 feet for the two jibs, with 5 feet end; spanker boom 46 feet long, and gaff 34, main spencer gaff 20 feet, and the other spars in proportion.

Her rigging is of Russia hemp, very stout and well fitted, and her sails are of cotton duck, made by the best of workmen, the Messrs. Porter of East Boston. Her spars were made by A.W. & B.L. Fernald, of the same place, who rank as through workmen among the first of their profession. Francis Low & Co. rigged her; and her rigging, like all which they turn out of hand, is fitted to stand the test of time. Her ornamental work was made by Mr. J.W. Mason, whose skill as a marine artist is universally acknowledged.

The ship in all her outfits is as perfect as a ship need to be, and as such will reflect credit upon her owners, whenever she is seen.

As already stated, she was built at East Boston, by Mr. Sam'l Hall, and it is but doing him simple justice to state, that she is not only one of the best, but one of the most beautiful he ever built.

Although she has sharp ends, yet she possesses large stowage capacity, and will unquestionably prove a very swift sailer. She is owned by Messrs. Crocker & Sturgis and D.G. & W.B. Bacon, and is now loading rapidly in Messrs. Glidden & Williams' line of San Francisco clippers, and like all the ships which they load, will assuredly be ready for sea on the say she is advertised to sail. In the meantime we advise those who admire the beautiful in naval architecture, to call and see her. She lies at the south side of Lewis wharf.

Transcribed by Lars Bruzelius.

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Copyright © 1997 Lars Bruzelius.