Old Marine Engines-The World of the One-Lunger, is a new book
which brings together a fascinating combination of history,
technical talk, and people stories you won’t want to miss.
Stan Grayson, who wrote it, records the tale of what happened to
one lungers-which might otherwise have escaped into the land of
limbo and the sea of no return.
Grayson talks about it in his preface:
‘The two-cycle marine engine, the classic one-lunger,
belonged to a world that has ceased to exist. It was a product of
the great move toward mechanization and away from a centuries-old
reliance on the craft of sail. Gas engines spawned a new craft. For
a quarter of a century and more, these engines represented a way of
life for their owners. They were part of a working world in which,
to survive, a fisherman had to know how to fix things by himself.
He had to know how things worked. Mostly, these fishermen lived in
scattered harbors and out ports all along the coasts. They were
able men, and they got by. Their two-cycle engines were as much a
part of daily life as horses or boats.’
Most of those people are gone, Grayson finds, but there are
collectors throughout the world who are strongly devoted to the
engines, the literature, the lore and everything else connected
with them.
People wrote to the International Marine Publishing Co., at
Camden, Me., to learn more about early marine engines. Roger
Taylor, company president, asked Grayson if he would like to do a
book on the subject. So he did, and here it is.
One-lungers opened brand new opportunities to fishermen and
pleasure boaters. They were installed in yachts, dories, catboats,
schooners, workboats and launches.
One of the engaging yarns spun by Grayson is centered on
‘Daisy’, a 22-foot torpedo stern launch built by Lozier
Motor Co. in 1905 at Pittsburgh, N.Y. Woven in with Daisy’s
story is the tale of the company that made her, founded by Henry
Abram Lozier, Sr. in 1900, and the man who renewed here, Jim
Doughty, of Wolfeboro, N.H. What Doughty did to restore the launch
makes fascinating reading for all restorers.
Included is a list of marine engine builders, plus a lot of
other very informative reading, photos and drawings. For the gas
engine specialist, this is a very good book.
