The New Ship Bostonian.

This is a good, substantial vessel of 1100 tons, designed to stow a large cargo, and sail well. She is 183 feet long between perpendiculars on deck, has 36 feet breadth of beam and 23½ feet depth of hold, including 8 feet height of between decks. Her lines are rounded, and although quite full on the harping, she has a fair entrance and clearance, and a long, buoyant floor. For a head she has a full figure of Benj. Franklin, representing him in the garb of his day, having a continental hat under his left arm, and a manuscript in the right hand. Compared with the best paintings of the venerable sage, it is an excellent likeness, and the apparel is well executed. It, however, rakes too much forward, but this was unavoidable, to harmonize with the bow, especially as the bow is without either head or trail boards. Viewed end on, the figure looks well, but a side view shows its inclination unfavorably; but this is not the fault of the artist, for if the cutwater had been sprung farther out, the figure would have been placed in a more upright, and consequently, more natural position; but then it would not have been so snug, nor so well protected from the action of the sea as it is at present. The cutwater abaft the figure is ornamented with gilded branches.

The ship has a narrow waist of four strakes, between the mouldings of the upper wale and the planksheer, and the stern is nearly oval in outline, but rounded in the wake of the monkey-rail, and is ornamented with an arch of gilded carved work, in the apex of which are an eagle on the wing, a hand printing press, books, &c. The stern is quite light, and looks well, and the run is clean and finely formed.

All her accommodations are on the upper deck. She has a fine cabin, built into a half-poop deck, with beautiful recess sofas, splendid plate glass mirrors, papier maché cornices, and all the other finery peculiar to a first class packet. Its staterooms are large and well ventilated, and its furniture is of the choicest kind, elegantly arranged. Before it is spacious anterooms, which contains the pantry and rooms for the officers, and its front windows are of stained glass.

Over the after and main hatchways she has moveable houses, and abaft the foremast, a large house for the crew and other purposes. She has an open topgallant forecastle, which extends aft to the windlass, with a capstan on it, and aft she has another capstan. Inside she is painted dark buff color, and has mahogany gangway boards, and outside she is painted black.

Of the style of her construction and her materials, it is only necessary to say, that her frame is of white oak, and her planking and ceiling are of hard pine finished in the best style. The details of her fastening and timber are about the same as those of clipper ships of 1500 tons, and so they ought to be, for she will carry nearly as much cargo. She has oak hooks and pointers, oak knees and stanchions in the hold, double thick work over her between decks waterways, hackmatack knees under her upper deck beams, and is square fastened throughout. We are glad to see that she has the good old fashioned guntackle purchase for a steering apparatus, and also that she has Crane's self-acting chains toppers.

Her lower masts are of single spars, the fore and main 30 inches in diameter, and the mizzen 25, and the fore and main topmasts 16 inches in diameter. The lower masts, commencing with the fore, are -- 74, 79 and 70 feet long; topmasts 42, 43 and 32; topgallantmasts 23, 24 and 16; royalmasts 15, 16 and 11 feet. The yards upon the fore and mainmasts are alike, viz: 66, 54, 38 and 27 feet square, and upon the mizzenmast 52, 40, 20 and 20, and the other spars in like proportions. The lower masts are bright below the futtock rigging, the tops and mast-heads white, and the yards black. She is well rigged and looks strong and snug aloft. Her spars were made by Mr. Pigeon, Capt. Brewster rigged her, and Messrs. E.F. Porter & Co. made her sails. Mr. Gleason, who ornamented the clipper Edwin Forest, also made the head and other ornamental work of this ship, and has done it as well as it could have been done by any artist in Boston.

The ship is owned by Messrs. Geo. Callender & Co. and is commanded by Capt. King, formerly of the ship Moses Wheeler. She was built at East Boston by Mr. Daniel D. Kelly, and is as good a ship of her class as we have seen. Mr. Kelly has now on the stocks another ship of larger dimensions, which, when finished, will add to his reputation as a faithful and enterprising ship builder. The Bostonian is now lying at the south side of Central Wharf, and is loading with despatch for New Oreleans in Messrs. Allen & Weltch's line of packets.


Boston Daily Atlas, 1854, March 6.

Transcribed by Lars Bruzelius


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