Thurs. Feb. 26.-- Cunningham's Rig. -- The barque Melita (formerly schooner Georgeinea) has this rig applied to her topsails, which were made by Messrs. Palmer & Walker, of East Boston. Yesterday, many experiments were made with the rig, in the presence of a large number of nautical gentlemen and others, and every experiment was successful. By lowering the topsail yards, both topsails were closereefed and set, without any one going aloft, in 92 seconds. The yards revolve as they are lowered, and roll the sail around them as they descend. The Melita lies at the north side of Central wharf, and if the weather continued favorably, will have her sails loose today, to afford shipmasters and others an opportunity of seeing how they are reefed. Captain McKay, who has recently been in England, and who has the agency for this rig, informs us that over two thousand sail of large vessel have it on the other side of the water. We saw a letter to him from the captain of a ship now at Savannah, in which he speakes of it in high terms. He has the rig applied only to his main-topsail, but says when he returns to Liverpool he will apply it to the others also.


Boston Daily Atlas, 1857, Thursday, February 26.

Transcribed by Lars Bruzelius.


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