Grapnel

“ The value of the grapnel was shown that day at the pier above Westover. Though Gadabout swung to the landing finely, a strong off-shore wind caught her; our ropes fell short; and we should have made but sorry work of it if a grapnel had not shot out into the air and saved the day. As it fell upon the wharf, the line attached to it was hauled in hand over hand; and though the grapnel started to come along with it, sliding and hopping over the pier, soon one of its points found a crack or a nail or a knot-hole to get hold of; and the houseboat was readily drawn up and made fast to the pilings. ”

“ The grapnel, two five-armed anchors, with flukes sharply curved and tapering to an oblique tooth-like end—the hooks with which the giant Despair was going to fish from the Great Eastern for a take worth, with all its belongings, more than a million, were brought up to the bows. One of these, weighing 3 cwt., shackled and secured to wire buoy rope, of which there were five miles on board, with a breaking strain calculated at 10 tons, was thrown over at 3·20, ship’s time, and “whistled thro’” the sea, a prey to fortune. ”

“ The outer walls were comparatively low, little more than twenty feet or so in height, and the throw of the grapnel was not a very difficult one. But it proved exceedingly difficult to obtain a lodgment with it. Time after time it was thrown with success well over the wall, but the darkness of the night forced them to fling it at random, and as soon as a strain was put upon it, down it fell again. ”

“ June 24.—'The whole day spent in dredging, without success. This operation consists in allowing the ship to drift slowly across the line where you expect the cable to be, while at the end of a long rope, fast either to the bow or stern, a grapnel drags along the ground. The grapnel is a small anchor, made like four pot-hooks tied back to back. When the rope gets taut the ship is stopped and the grapnel hauled up to the surface in the hopes of finding the cable on its prongs. I am much discontented with myself for idly lounging about and reading Westward Ho! ”

“ The grapnel, which is hooked on to the edge of the car, is lowered down by the rope, which is 100 feet in length, and firmly fastened to the hoop. Now we must exercise judgment and caution in selecting a proper place on which to make our descent by looking along the earth in the direction in which we are travelling. We must not come down among the crops, or we shall have the farmer after us for damages. The trees are particularly dangerous, as we have seen. ”

“ We accordingly let out ballast consisting of bags of fine sand, weighing some 14 lbs. each; in an instant we rose some thousand feet, but the gas that sustained us was getting contaminated with oxygen, and slowly and gradually we settled down again. We now let down a rope about 600 feet long with a small cross-bar of wood at the end, and also our grapnel fastened to a somewhat shorter rope,
Majestically we swooped towards the earth: first, our rope touched the ground, and a hundred yards further on our grapnel caught and held ”

“ The word is adopted from the O. Fr. grape, mod. grappe, bunch or cluster of flowers or fruit, grappes de raisin, bunch of grapes. The French word meant properly a hook; cf. M.H.G. krapfe, Eng. “grapnel,” and “cramp.” The development of meaning seems to be vine-hook, cluster of grapes cut with a hook, and thence in English a single grape of a cluster. The projectile called “grape” or “grape-shot,” formerly used with smooth-bore ordnance, took its name from its general resemblance to a bunch of grapes. ”

“ A strong wire rope, with a grapnel attached, was lowered to a depth of 2000 fathoms. After drifting a while, they grappled the monster and brought him up 1000 fathoms, when, unfortunately, the swivel gave way. ”

“ These last I wound round and round my body, fully thirty feet of line, small “Europe” rope, but tough and strong. The disposal of my precious grapnel, which, luckily, was one of the smallest of its kind, only used, as we had used it, for a temporary holdfast, bothered me a good deal.
‘Finally, I placed my head between two of the flukes, one of which then rested on each shoulder, whilst the stock hung down my back, swinging loosely. To make sure of the flukes not slipping, I passed a piece of line from one to the other, and knotted it securely. ”

“ When engaged in fishing from a boat on rocky ground, it not unfrequently happens that the grapnel or creeper, if simply secured to the end of the painter, and lowered away, will, on an attempt to haul it up again being made, resist every effort and remain firmly fixed among the rocks. To prevent this pass the painter down the shank of the creeper, and take a turn with it over one of the claws just at the back of its bend; now bring your painter up the shank again, and with a piece of common twine tie it fast to the head ring, as shown in the accompanying illustration. ”

“ The claws are made either hooked at the extremity or serrated. The grapnel is then hauled up sufficiently to pull the broken rope tight, and wrought-iron rods 1 inch square with hooks attached at the bottom are let down to catch the bow of the boring-head, which is readily accomplished. Two powerful screw-jacks are applied to the rods at the surface, by means of the step-ladder shown in Fig. ”

“ Another grapnel that is also used where a bore-hole passes through a bed of very stiff clay is shown in Fig. 207, and consists of a long cast-iron cylinder H fitted with a sheet-iron mouthpiece K at the bottom, in which are hinged three conical steel jaws J J opening upwards. The weight of the tool forces it down into the clay with the jaws open; and then on raising it the jaws, having a tendency to fall, cut into the clay and enclose a quantity of it inside the mouthpiece, which on being brought up to the surface is detached from the cylinder H and cleaned out. ”

“ Crank A Term for a Ship that cannot bear her Sails for fear of overseting, or cannot be brought on Ground without Danger of injureing her Body. Cranks Bell Made fast to the Stock, for ringing it. Lantern Supports the Lanterns, either at the Ship's Stern, or at the Round Top. Creeper Made like a Grapnel, but without Flooks, the Use of which is to recover sunken Stores that may be lost over-board. Cringles Are small Pieces of Rope spliced into the Body Rope of Courses and Topsails, and are, First, The Bowline Cringle, to which the Bowline Bridle is fastened. ”

“ CRAB. A wooden pillar, the lower end of which being let down through a ship's decks, rests upon a socket like the capstan, and having in its upper end three or four holes at different heights, long oars are thrust through them, each acting like two levers. It is employed to wind in the cable, or any other weighty matter. Also, a portable wooden or cast-iron machine, fitted with wheels and pinions similar to those of a winch, of use in loading and discharging timber-vessels, &c.—The crab with three claws, is used to launch ships, and to heave them into the dock, or off the key.—To catch a crab. ”

“ And it does burn; it becomes a splendid firework, with cracklings and a blaze of sparks and a cloud of rust that tarnishes the jar. From the end of the fiery coil a red drop breaks off at intervals, shoots quivering through the layer of water left at the bottom of the vessel [93] and embeds itself in the glass which has suddenly grown soft. This metallic tear, with its indomitable heat, makes every one of us shudder. They stamp and cheer and applaud. The timid ones place their hands before their faces and dare not look except through their fingers. ”

“ Clusters of Grapes have been found in Syria, weighing as much as forty pounds, worthy successors of the cluster taken by the Israelitish spies from Eshcol, which “they bare between two upon a staff.”——In some countries, the Grape is believed to have been the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden.——To dream of Grapes foretells to the maiden that her husband will be cheerful, and a great songster. If the dreamer be in love, they augur a speedy union, and denote much happiness in marriage and success in trade. ”

“ You have learned from Captain Edwards of the instruments that are used to kill them—a harpoon and a lance. When the whale-boat comes near enough to the whale, the harpoon, to which a long rope is fastened, is thrown into him. The barb on the harpoon prevents its being pulled out, and the poor whale swims off, dragging the boat by the rope. When he becomes tired, the boat is drawn up, and he is killed with a thrust of the lance. Sometimes the blow of the harpoon kills him, but not often. ”

“ We should notice specially that Grew, better taught than the phytotomists of the 18th century, considers the vessels of the wood as air-passages, though they sometimes convey water. But he goes on with his description of the wall of the vessel; the flat surface disclosed by the unwinding of a vessel is, he says, itself composed of many parallel threads, as in an artificial ribbon, and the threads that are spirally wound answer to the warp in an artificial tissue, being held together by transverse threads, which correspond to the woof. ”

“ When the fish is struck, the head of the harpoon remains in the body of the fish, and carries with it a light rope which is either made fast or held by a man in a small boat, or is attached to some kind of a buoy, which is towed through the water by the struggling fish, and which marks its whereabouts after death. ”

“ Again, take the case of oars, which are fastened to the tholes by loops,—when they are pushed forward and drawn back by the hand, if the ends of the blades are at some distance from the centre, the oars foam with the waves of the sea and drive the ship forward in a straight line with a mighty impulse, while her prow cuts through the rare water. ”

“ Now if he would have it grow hot, let him pour in a little water into the Vessel, which done the hidden Fire will become presently manifest, and make the Vessel so hot, that it cannot be held in ones hand: By how much the more the Water is that is poured thereupon, so much the hotter the Vessel becomes, so that by the too much effusion of water, there is danger of the Vessels breaking into Pieces. A mean therefore is to be observed in the pouring water on, if you would have your Vessel endure the longer, and give a lasting heat. ”

“ Sometimes the tubs attract the careful superintendent: he turns up the clusters, to ascertain that no leaves nor useless length of tendril are entombed in the juicy masses, and anon directs his steps to the pressing-trough, anxious to find that the lusty treaders are persevering manfully in their long-continued dance.'
The pressure of the grapes is a curious part of the process in an age of mechanical improvement like the present. It is performed by men treading among the fruit with their naked feet. ”

“ A fisherman armed with a 12-ft. spinning rod, wading into the water at the precise bit of shingle previously trodden by Grey; (2) a guilty-looking man, looking up and down stream before making the first cast of a full-sized blue phantom; (3) the act of casting, well done, and dropping the bait in the exact place required; (4) the steady winding in of the line with the rod-point kept low; (5) the phantom and its triangles dangling a yard from the rod-point in mid-air, in pause for a fresh cast; (6) the bend of the rod as a hooked fish set the winch a-scream ”

“ Crabb An Engine of Wood with three Claws placed on the Ground like a Capston, and is used at launching or heaving Ships into the Dock. Cradle A Frame of Timber fayd to the Outside of a Ship under her Buildge, for the more securely and commodiously Launching her. Craft Are small Vessels, such as Ketches, Hoys, Smacks, &c. they call all such small Craft. ”

“ Nay, in the very same solid Vessel, you may make the very same two contiguous Liquids to alter their Surfaces; for taking a small Wine-glass, or such like Vessel, and pouring water gently into it, you shall perceive the surface of the water all the way concave, till it rise even with the top, when you shall find it (if you gently and carefully pour in more) to grow very protuberant and convex; the reason of which is plain, for that the solid sides of the containing body are no longer extended, to which the water does more readily adhere then the air ”

“ From the covered road-way, all the parts of this extensive range are easily accessible. Across the road-way, between the houses, is a handsome double gate, a sketch of which is given in Fig. 42.
Crossing the road-way, we enter the cold grapery. The foundation of this rests on piers, the border being outside. There are hot-water pipes in this compartment, to be used only to keep out frost. It may, however, be used as a "second" hot grapery. Passing out of the cold grapery, we enter what may be called the conservatory, its principal use being for the show of ornamental plants ”

“ Whatever the vessel is,—a pitcher, cup, vase, jar, or cream-pot,—its form is either that of some impossible animal, some griffin, or dragon, or dog of the underworld, or its spout is the neck and head of some fantastic monster. ”

“ Since the success of the culture of the delicious varieties of the exotic Grape has been demonstrated, the number of graperies has annually increased, and during the last ten years in a very rapid ratio, until they have become recognized as possible and desirable, among those even whose circumstances are moderate and limited. ”

“ Barker (1651) makes the rod ‘of a hasel of one piece, or of two pieces set together in the most convenient manner, light and gentle.’ He recommends the use of a single hair next the fly,—‘you shall have more rises,’ which is true, ‘and kill more fish,’ which is not so likely. ”