" Baron Charles
Dupin compared the farmer Smith with the barber Arkwright: "He
had the same perseverance and the same indomitable courage.
These two moral qualities enabled him to triumph over every
obstacle." This was the merit of "Screw" Smith--that he was
determined to realize what his predecessors had dreamt of
achieving; and he eventually accomplished his great purpose.
Footnotes for Chapter II.
[1] In the Transactions of the Institution of Naval Architects
for 1860, it was pointed out that the general dimensions and form
of bottom of this ship were very similar to the most famous
line-of-battle ships built down to the end of last century, some
of which were then in existence.
[2] According to the calculation of Mr. Chatfield, of Her
Majesty's dockyard at Plymouth, in a paper read before the
British Association in 1841 on shipbuilding.
[3] The phrase "wooden walls" is derived from the Greek. When
the city of Athens was once in danger of being attacked and
destroyed, the oracle of Delphi was consulted. The inhabitants
were told that there was no safety for them but in their "wooden
walls,"--that is their shipping. As they had then a powerful
fleet, the oracle gave them rational advice, which had the effect
of saving the Athenian people.
[4] An account of these is given by Bennet Woodcraft in his
Sketch of the Origin and Progress of Steam Navigation, London,
1848.
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