TREASURE ISLAND

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21376, 19 January 1935, Page 11

TREASURE ISLAND

TO TUB BDITO® or Tits PUSB3. Sir,—Comment on some o£ the nautical aspects of the film "Treasure Island" may be appreciated by those who enjoyed its presentation at the Regent, und who arc aiso interested in. the great days of sail. As noted by your reviewer, the film closely follows the book, and where it differs is usually an improvement, in some cases very much so; for instance, in the book the Hispaniola was a schooner of! 200 tons, wnereas at the date of the story, there was no such thing; vessels .of that size being square rigged; though there were plenty of them about later on. For more than •su years we have had, on the coast oi New Zealand, a .very fine sample of a 200-ton schooner, in the Huia; but the film quite rightly gives the Hispaniola square rig, although in this it is not quite accurate, for it is a very fine reproduction of the rig of aii American ship, such as a whaler ol about the middle of last century, with three royals and gaff spankerwhereas such a vessel, at the date of Ine story, would have been a barque, wnh lateen mizzen and no royals. J Ins however, only applies to the rig; the hull is true to the period. Later on, quite small ships were square rigged on all three masts; in the wars ot the French Revolution and up to Waterloo, ships of only 200 tons were so rigged. This was because, as towards the end of the Great War, they were liable to have to sail in convoynot on account of U boats, but because it was the golden age of privateering; and when you have to keep ir "hn n 'i 1S very handy t0 be able * yo . l ' r erojick," i.e., throw th<* way PS abElCk t0 check Lho ship's fwnprf S ° ns 1 - he P' c ' ture is conwhon n criticism is quite disarmed thr Vt- chance of admiring the H'span.ola, as she carries on m - c ~/ ull m a smart breeze. the only serious mistake occurs when Long John is at the wheel, and i ,? rdei ' 1:0 "starboard" turns the wheel the wrong way. As a British seaman. John Silver would never nave done that, although it would be u P° ss, 'ble for a foreigner to. do so. Many years ago, the writer happened to witness an instance of tbis. Coming up channel in a full-rigged ship, a Russian Finn had the misfortune to be at the wheel when the pilot took charge and. like the man in the picture, turned the wheel the wrong way on the order "starboard!" The pilot went off, bang! and in flowery language called on the captain to send to the wheel a man who could steer. Now, to be sent from the wheel is a serious disgrace to a sailor man; and the worst of it was that it would be hard to find a better helmsman on that or any other ship. Heavy running, i.e., before a strong wind and

big sea, few could keep the main deck drier, and that is a great test of a helmsman; and when steering in a steady breeze, "by the mizzen royal,'' he would keep the leach of the sail just gently lifting, without either going too rigid, or aback, as it would be almost certain to do now and then with the majority of men at the wheel. Though not very long in British ships, that Finn had quite enough English to carry on with; why, then, should such a man make such a mistake? To reply to this question would require some length, but as the answer would explain the whole tricky subject of steering orders, the effort might be worth while. Seafaring people are notoriously conservative, both m the use of words and methods, especially those working under canvas; and this applied, as much as anywhere, to steering orders, until, within the last few months, they were brought up to date by the shipping authorities of the world. Previous to this they all dated from the time when ships, like boats, were steered with a tiller, i.e., a bar or beam fixed to the rudder head. With this contrivance, if the ship s head was to be swung to port the order might be to starboard the helm, when the tiller would be pushed to starboard, and the rudder and the ship's head would be turned to port. For big ships this was a clumsy method. A Portuguese vessel, captured early in Queen Elizabeths rrign, required 14 men to steer her, with tackles to the ship's sides. But she was as large as one of Nelson s 74's. When the wheel was invented, it was made to turn over in the same direction as the ship's head moved. While this would make the idea of steering come easier to a beginner, the reason was probably as follows: whether using a tiller or wheel, the old steersman always stood to windward, so to bring the ship's head up to the wind the order was "put the helm down." This would thus be the same whether tiller or wheel was used, and in sail the words "down" and < up were more often used than starboard," "larboard," or "port"; and it is quite likely that Russian Finn had not heard the word "starboard used in that connexion during the three months' passage just ending. But in steam conditions are different, and the new regulations, making the orders correspond to the way the ship's head turns, are no doubt timely.—Yours, eIC " M. J. BURKE. | January 17, 1935.