The New Clipper Ship Mastiff, of New York.

This vessel has been designed for the California and China trade, but as she is very capacious and buoyant, she might be profitable employed in any trade, which requires a light draught of water, with good carrying qualities. If our foreign trade should fail, she could enter any of our great Southern ports, and carry as much provisions or cotton as the general run vessels of her register, yet she has fine ends for sailing, and spreads a large surface of canvass. She is 169 feet long between perpendiculars, has 37½ feet extreme breadth of beam, 22 feet depth of hold, including 7 feet 8 inches height of between decks, and registers 1030 tons. Her dead rise at half floor is 1 foot, rounding or swell of sides 9 inches, and sheer 4 feet. She has a bold, dashy forerake, but very little flare, and her lines, though finely formed, are decidedly convex. A full figure of a well-fed mastiff, on the lookout, ornaments the bow, and the head of his brother peers from among the gilded carved work on the stern. The sheer is truly graduated the whole length of the vessel, with just rise enough forward, to throw an air of lightness over the bow. Her stern is light and rounded, and tastefully ornamented with gilded carved work, ever which are her name and port of hail. Her bottom is sheathed with yellow, above it the hull is painted black, and inboard her houses and bulwarks are light pearl color, an the water-ways blue. Like all other clippers, her accommodations are upon the upper deck and consist of a large house, for the crew; the galley, store-rooms, &c., abaft the foremast, and a house, which extends to the main rigging, built into a half-poop deck. This after house contains two spacious cabins, which are beautifully wainscotted, relieved with gilding and painted pure white. The after-cabin contains two recess sofas, 4 state-rooms, and has a staircase aft, which leads to the poop. The forward-cabin contains 7 state-rooms and the pantry, and also takes in the after-hatchway, which is enclosed, and has a skylight over it, so that it answers the treble purpose of a staircase to the deck below, a ventilator and skylight. The furniture of the cabins and state-rooms is neat, without ostenation, and was finished and arranged by Messrs. James H. Beal & Brother, in their usual style of excellence.

The ship has also an open top gallant fore-castle, with wing closets on each side, and paint lockers, &c., farther forward. In warm latitudes it might easily accommodate the crew, if required, for it is high and spacious. She has two capstans, a patent windlass, with the patent fleeting flange, which is now coming into general use, and Crane's chain stoppers. The fleeting flange and chain stoppers enable a ship to have her anchor hove up without any necessity for stopping, as the flange keeps the chain in place, and the stopper secures every link as it is hove in - fouling, surging or running out are therefore impossible. We cannot too highly recommend these valuable inventions to the attention of ship owners, especially as their cost is quite moderate, compared with their usefulness.

The ship has a superior white oak frame. Her keel is of rock maple, sided 14 and moulded 26 inches, floor timbers 12 by 15, three depths of midship keelsons, each 11 by 15 inches, and sister keelsons 14 inches square, the whole closely and strongly bolted. The floor ceiling is 4½ inches square, scarphed and square fastened. the ceiling above is double, and so arranged that the butts of the under strakes are all covered by the middle of the upper strakes; both combined are 8 inches thick, and are square fastened. All the hooks are of white oak, also the hanging and lodging knees connected with the lower deck beams. There are three pairs of pointers in each end, filled in with massive hooks, and bolted on both sides; there are also large hooks in the between decks, and under and over the bowsprit. The hanging knees are sided from 12 to 10 inches, have three feet arms, 5 feet bodies, 16 bolts and 4 spikes in each, measure from 18 to 22 inches in the angles, and their lower ends rest upon a lap-strake or stringer, which extends fore and aft. The lower deck beams are about 15 inches square amidships, tapered, as usual, toward the ends, and have hard pine stanchions of 7 by 12 inches, clasped with iron above and below.

The between decks waterways are 14 inches square, the thickwork over them 10 by 22 inches, and that inside 10 by 12, all double and square-fastened. The ceiling above is 5 inches thick, and the clamp under the upper deck beams is 6 by 14 inches. The upper deck beams are 10 by 14 inches, have turned stanchions of oak, with iron through their entres, and their hanging and lodging knees are of hacmatack, nearly of the same size as those below, fastened and finished in excellent style. There are cargo ports in the sides opposite the main hatchway; the lower parts of the beams and the stanchions are bright and varnished, the thickwork and waterways are blue, and the rest white.

The upper deck waterways are 10 by 12 inches, the planking of both decks 3½ inches thick, the lower one of hard pine, and the upper one of white pine, and the covering-board and mail-rail are each 6 inches thick. The bulwarks stanchions are of oak, and the whole height of the bulwarks, including the monkey rail, is about 5½ feet. Her garboards are 7 by 13 inches, bottom plank 4½ inches thick, and wales 5½ by 6 inches, all square fastened with treenails, and butt and bilge bolted with yellow metal. She was built by Mr. Donald McKay, at East Boston, and like all his ships, is remarkably well finished. The planking is smooth and regular, and every moulding is true in its sweep fore and aft.

She is rather heavily sparred. her lower masts and bowsprit are built of hard pine and hooped with iron, and her topmasts and standing jibboom are also of hard pine. She has a main skysail yard rigged aloft, but carries nothing higher than royals on the fore and mizzen. Her rigging is of Russia hemp; and she has all the cabin and iron work aloft and about the bowsprit, now in general use. All her masts are bright, and her yards and bowsprit black. From the royal yards to the deadeyes, she looks quite neat and clipperly. Her spars were draughted, and her sails made by Messrs. E.F. Porter, Mayhew & Co., and she was rigged by Capt. Brewater & Son. Both have done their work well.

She was built for Geo. B. Upton, Esq., who also designed her model, but she is now owned by Warren Delano, Esq., of New York. Capt. W.O. Johnson, formerly of the famous ship Channing, commands her. He has the reputation of being as able and experienced sailor, a courteous and intelligent gentleman, and is well acquainted with the California and China trade.

The ship now lies at the north side of Commercial wharf, and is loading in Mr. Winsor's line of California clippers. We must not omit to state, that she was built and equipped under the superintendence of our esteemed friend, Capt. Alden Gifford, and is the 365th vessel he has fitted out.

The Boston Daily Atlas, February 6, 1856.

Transcribed by Lars Bruzelius

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