: The Wonder Island Boys: The Mysteries of the Caverns by Finlay Roger Thompson - Islands Juvenile fiction; Castaways Juvenile fiction Children's Book Series

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be overlaid with thin boards running fore and aft, as in Fig. 2, as they had no means for matching the boards and thus putting them together tightly.

The sides were two and a half feet high. Six and a half feet from the forward end was a cross beam , into which the mast was to be stepped. At the stern the bottom was sloping upwardly at an angle and brackets were extended back and joined at their rear ends, to which the lower end of the rudder post was attached.

Amidships a keel was formed, projecting down from the bottom, this keel being, at its widest part, two feet, and tapering down to merge with the bottom, fore and aft. The cross section shows how well he had formed the vessel, proportionally.

In addition to the cross seats, similar arrangements for comfort were made along the sides, and beneath the side seats were spaces in which their supplies were to be placed. The space forward of the mast was entirely closed over with a roof which sloped in both directions, and here provision was made for two berths. This would also afford them protection and serve as a means to keep out the water and insure at least one dry spot for their comfort.

As usual, George had some inquiries to make about the boat. "It has always been a matter of wonder why all boats are made with the big bulging part nearest the forward end?"

The Professor's eyes twinkled. "Probably there are a great many others who have had such thoughts. There is really no reason for it. It is not known how the custom originated, except that in sailing vessels the claim is that the ship can be maneuvered more easily by such construction."

"In what way does it make it easier to handle?"

"When a ship is driven forward by the wind, all the force exerted on the sails is transferred to the forward part of the ship, hence if made narrow at its forward end it would be driven down into the water, and the hull would, therefore, be submerged more at the forward than at the rear end. Furthermore, by having a tapering rear end, the rudder has a better opportunity of veering the ship around and you can see that the bulging part, being located forward of the middle portion of the ship, acts as a sort of pivot."

"But it seems to me that none of the reasons given will apply to a steamship, and still all the ships I have seen are made in the same way as the sailing vessels."

"That is exactly what I inferred in my answer to your first question. The truth is, that in experiments which have been made, it is shown that to have the widest part of a steamer near the stern, gives lines to a hull which has less resistance than if made in the conventional way."

"I thought probably the reason for making them so was just the same as in the case of an arrow, where the heaviest part is at the forward end."

"In that case an entirely different principle is involved. A body falls, or is projected through the air, with its heaviest end foremost, because of the greater momentum in that portion."

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