In the mean time, the sledge has mov ed several fathoms from the place where it was when the laying began. These motions of the sledge and top must be exactly adjusted to each other. The rope must be of a certain length, there fore the sledge must stop at a certain place. At that moment the rope should be laid; that is, the top should be at the tackle-hoard. In this consists the address of the ffireman. lie has his attention di rected both ways. Ile looks at the strands, and when he sees any of them hanging slacker between the stakes than the others, he calls to the heavers at the tackle-board to heave more upon that strand. He finds it more difficult to re" gulate the motion of the top. It requires a considerable force to keep it in the an gle of the strands, and it is always dispo. sed to start forward. To prevent or check this, some straps of soft rope are brought round the staff of the top, and then wrapped several times round the rope behind the top, and kept firmly down by a lanyard or bandage. This both holds back the top, and greatly assists the laying of the rope, causing the strands to fall into their places, and keep close to each other, which is sometimes very difficult, especially in ropes composed of more than three strands. It will greatly improve the laying the rope, if the top has a sharp, smooth, tapering pin of hard wood, pointed at the end, projecting so far from the middle of the smaller end, that it gets in between the strands wit.ch are, closing. This supports them, and makes their closing more and re gular. The top, its notches, the pin, and the warp, or strap, which is lapped round the rope, are a11 smeared with grease or soap, to assist the closing. The foreman judges ofthe progress of closing chiefly by his acquaintance with the walk, knowing that when the sledge is abreast ors certain stake, the top should be abreast of a cer tain other stake. When he finds the top too far down the walk, he slackens the motion at the tackle board, and makes the men turn briskly at the sledge. By this the top is forced up the walk, and the laying of the rope accelerates, while the sledge remains in the same place, be cause the strands are losing their twist, and are lengthening, while the closed rope is shortening, When, on the other hand, he thinks the top too far advanced, and fears that it will be at the head of the walk before the sledge has got to its pro per place, he makes the men heave brisk ly on the strands, and the heavers at the sledge-crank work softly. This quickens the motion of the sledge by shortening the strands; and by thus compensating what has been overdone, the sledge and top come to their places at once, and the work appears to answer the intention.
When the top approaches the tackle board, the heaving at the sledge could not cause the strands behind the top to close well, without having previ ously produced an extravagant degree of twist in the intermediate rope. The ef fort of the crank must therefore be as sisted by men stationed along the rope, each furnished with a tool called a wool der. This is a stout oaken stick, about three feet long, having a strap of soft rope-yarn, or cordage, fastened on its middle or end. The strap is wrapped round the laid rope, and the wo•ktnaii works with the stick as a lever, twisting the rope round in the direction of the crank's motion. The woolders should keep their eye on the men at the crank, Sind make their motion correspond with theirs. Thus they send thrward the twist produced by the crank, witimut either in. creasing or diminishing it, in that part of the rope which lies between them and the sledge. Such is the general and es sential process of rope-making. The fi bres of hemp are twisted into taros, that they may make a line of an length, and stick among each other with a three equal to their own cohesion. The yarns are made into cords of permanent twist by laying them ; and that we may have a rope of any degree of strength, many yarns are united in one strand, for the same reason that many fibres were united in one yarn ; and in the course of this process it is in our power to give the rope a solidity and hardness, which make it less penetrable by water, which would rot it in a short while. Some of these purposes are in consistent with others ; and the skill of a rope-maker lies in making the best com• pensation, so that the rope may on the whole be the best in point of strength, pliancy, and duration, that the quantity of hemp in it can produce. The billowing rule tin' judgieg of the weight which a rope whl bear is not far from the truth. It supposes them rather too strong; but it is so easily remember ed, that it may be of use. Multiply the circumference in inches by itself, and take the fifth part of the product, it will express the tons which the rope will car. ry. Thus, if the rope has six inches cir cumference, 6 times 6 is 36, the fifth of which is 72. tons.
5 Bore yarn, among sailors, is the yarn of any rope untwisted, but commonly made up of junk ; its use is to make sin. net,mats,