Sail
sal, an expanse of canvas used to catch the wind in order to propel a ship. In a measure, any cloth will answer the purpose. The Egyptians used a single large sail made of linen or papyrus. The body of a person or even a paddle held up serves to catch the wind. An open umbrella is of assistance in case a rowboat is desired to go with the wind. The natives use various materials in different parts of the world. Bamboo matting is in use extensively in the East Indies.
The best sail cloth, however, is made of flax. It possesses flexibility, lightness, and strength to a remarkable degree. Sail cloth is made usually in bolts twenty-four inches wide and forty yards in length. Such bolts vary in weight from twenty-five pounds for No. 8 to forty-six pounds for No. 1, according to the strength to be expected. In making large purchases, it is customary to test the quality of the cloth by subjecting narrow strips to a breaking weight.
The making of sails is a trade in itself. The sailmaker uses needles of various sizes. If the sail has been laid out and the strips cut off at the proper length and angle, he proceeds to sew them together in double flat seams. The selvages are lapped from an inch to an inch and one half, according to weight. The needle is pushed through the cloth, not with a thimble, but with a palm protector. About 120 stitches are taken to the yard. The edges of the sail are strengthened by sewing in a cord or rope. In the navy, this rope may be from an inch to six inches in diameter, according to the size of the sail. Loops are formed in this rope at short intervals to serve as eyelets for the cordage of the ship.
The top margin of a sail is called its head; the lower margin the foot. The eyes at the lower corner are called clews. The ropes that run from the clews to stretch the sail are called shrouds. A full-rigged, three-masted sailing ship has between thirty and forty sails. Each has its name. The lowest sail on a mast is the course; the next is the top-sail; above that comes the top-gallant-sail; then the royal; lastly, if used, the sky-sail, or "sky-scraper." Each of the sails named may be widened by a pair of narrower supplementary sails called studding sails.
The name of each sail has prefixed to it the name of the mast on which it is set. Thus we have the fore-topsail, the maintopsail, and the mizzen-topsail. The jibs are sails attached to the bowsprit projecting from the prow of the ship. A timber used for spreading the foot of a sail is called a boom; one used for extending the head of the sail, a gaff. A cross timber on a mast is known as a yard. The term spar is used to include any round timber in the rigging, whether mast, yard, gaff, or boom. The single sail of a small boat is called usually a lug sail. The sails set on the masts of a ship are known as square sails. The spanker, the staysails and the jibs are more or less triangular in shape. They are known as fore-and-aft sails. Each sail is provided with short pieces of rope with which to tie it up when rolled. The number of sails which are set is, of course, determined by the wind.
Sailors distinguish winds as light airs, winds, and breezes; moderate breezes, fresh breezes, and strong breezes; moderate gales, fresh gales, strong gales, heavy gales, and storms. It is considered necessary to keep some canvas flying even in a storm in order to handle the ship.
See Ship
Saint Andrew. See Andrew; Saint
St. Andrews, an ancient city of Fife-shire, Scotland. It was named for St. Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland. It is situated on the North Sea, about three fourths of the way from Edinburgh to Dundee. It was made a royal burgh by David I in 1140. It became the seat of a bishop in the ninth century, and of an archbishop in 1472. It was for centuries the ecclesiastical capital of the kingdom. The old cathedral and castle are both in ruins. St. Andrews played no little part in the early days of the Scotch reformation. Cardinal Beaton was assassinated here and George Wishart was burned at the stake at the door of the castle. The University of St. Andrews, the earliest in Scotland, was founded in 1411. It has a library of 100,000 volumes, and is now attended by about 250 students. The population of the city is about 8,000. It is the Scottish head quarters of the game of golf. Its links are of ancient renown. The manufacture of golf clubs and balls is a characteristic industry. See Golf; Scotland
St. Augustine, sant aw'gus-ten, the county seat of St. John County, Florida. It is the oldest European settlement in the United States. It was founded by the Spaniards under Menendez September 8,1565, forty years before the settlement of Santa Fe. Twenty years later it was plundered by Drake, but it remained under Spanish rule for two centuries. During the Revolutionary War, it was occupied by the British as a military depot, but was restored to the Spanish in 1783. In 1821 it passed with Florida to the United States. The city is situated on the seacoast, about thirty-six miles southeast of Jacksonville. It is built on a narrow, sandy peninsula about twelve feet above sea level. The seashore is defended by a coral wall with granite coping. The entrance to the peninsula was defended by the Spaniards by a wall. The old gate, with a few feet of wall on either side is still standing.
The streets are narrow. Saint George, the main thoroughfare and widest street, is only seventeen feet in width. The balconies of the old Spanish houses overhang the streets, and in many cases they almost meet. Many of the old Spanish buildings are still in a good state of preservation. The old fort of San Marco, now Fort Marion, is occupied by the United States government. It has the form of a trapezium and covers about four acres. In its time it was considered a model of military architecture. There are moats and outworks. The walls are twenty-one feet high, with bastions at the corners. There are heavy casements, dungeons, and subterranean passages. The fort, as well as the other principal buildings of the city, and the walls mentioned are composed of a shelly conglomerate, known locally as coquina (ko-kee'na), quarried on Anastasia Island in the harbor. It is quarried easily, but hardens on exposure to the air. The same material is crushed for pavements and boulevards.
In the center of the city there is an open place known as the Plaza. An old cathedral, which formerly stood here with a Moorish bell tower, was injured by fire, but the front remained almost uninjured, and was incorporated into a new structure. The old church bell, bearing the date of 1682, was also preserved.
The city is noted for beautiful shaded walks and magnificent boulevards. The mildness and evenness of the winters has made St. Augustine famous as a winter resort. The permanent population of the city is about 5,000. From 10,000 to 25,000 tourists, however, pass the winter here. The Ponce de Leon Hotel, built at a cost of over $2,000,000, is one of the finest edifices of the sort in the world. It is surrounded by spacious verandas. Mural decorations within give a pictorial history of the adventures of the Spaniards. The chief local industries are lumbering and fishing. St. Augustine may be reached by boat or by the Florida East Coast Railway via Jacksonville.
St. Bartholomew. SEE BARTHOLOMEW.
St. Christopher. SEE CHRISTOPHER.