FfflJitlURY 13, 1*80,1 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



31 



iu coining to the line, and finally the dates of races should 

 be. harmoniously settled in order that owners may take 

 advantage of the opportunities offered. To this we may 

 add a fourth requisite, the offering Of " town " or " citi- 

 zens," cups by the municipalities or by voluntary sub- 

 scription among the residents of those ports whose trade 

 and soeiel y will be enriched by the congregation of yachts 

 a public match would induce. 



In a modest way something of this sort has already been 

 attempted from time to time, and the results have always 

 been so satisfactory that we hope to see a similar line of 

 policy pursued after a more permanent and definite as 

 well as enlarged fashion. When once the ball is set in 

 motion it will keep rolling of itself. One season such as 

 we. here propose, would put racing among our craft of 

 large tonnage on so sound a basis that we would hear no 

 more sorrowful wails about its decline. It is not that the 

 spirit of racing is absent, but simply because the oppor- 

 tunities are wanting and the direction in which to oper- 

 ate not understood that an apparent pall of apathy has 

 overtaken the racing of the big ones. 



There is nothing in the Constitution which forbids 

 cities from offering ample purses when the general public 

 is thereby to be benefitted. Such offers are not merely 

 for the welfare of a class, but would serve in many in- 

 stances lo stir the life blood of trade in sundry sleepy- 

 towns along the coast to an unwonted extent, and put 

 sheckles into the tradesmen's pockets. Besides, we have 

 plenty of precedences of the kind and similar appropria- 

 tions havo been made time and again for like purposes, 

 often enough without as much gain to the community as 

 the presence of a fleet of yachts and the attendant crowd 

 of visitors would produce. The tender official consciences 

 of mayors and city adminstrations can therefore vote 

 public regattas without the least compunction as to a 

 sacrifice of their chances in the next world, and since the 

 benefits in this are evident enough or could be readily 

 made so, we ask the various rnimici parities along the 

 Sound and ''down East" to consider these lines in the 

 light of an open letter addressed to them for the benefit 

 of the interests they are especially charged with. A 

 thousand dollars out of the strong box of Port Jefferson, 

 Greenport, Stonington, Saybtook, Salem, Duxbury, Ports- 

 mouth, and double the amount from the coffers of New 

 Haven, New London, Newport, New Bedford, and Port- 

 land, with five thousand from Philadelphia, New York, 

 and Boston, would not only give yachting such an impe- 

 tus and fresh lease of life as it has never yet had, but 

 would return many times the amounts named to the 

 credit side of the public ledger in the way of trade and 

 popularity, reaching all classes, from the huckster to the 

 mayor who may- keep a livery stable or be a bank presi- 

 dent. There is a mine to be worked in this direction, and 

 the port which takes its cue from these columns will be 

 the first to reap the harvest of stray coins which are the 

 proverbial accompaniment of the yachtsman, and many 

 a fair one will be induced to impart her luster to a com- 

 munity the very existence of which was a geographical 

 uncertainty before its name became linked with the fame 

 of a great yacht match. 



If, then, the leading clubs join hands, what is there to 

 terf ere w ith the establishment of a regular round from New 

 York to the East, and from the East to New York? 



With the Seawauhakas starting the ball with an open 

 Corinthian match, say in early June, the Atlantics fol- 

 lowing in a week, next the Brooklyn, if that club is to be 

 revived, as we hope it will, the New York Y, C. toward 

 the latter part of the month, the professional races of the 

 Seawanhakas following in rapid succession : let the fleets 

 then begin to gradually work their way to the eastward, 

 whether in squadron on a cruise or with a roving com- 

 mission, and pick up what there is in the way of town 

 cups and citizens' prizes. All the above races, it must be 

 noted, should, in accord with the programme proposed, 

 be open to yacht clubs willing to recognize each other as 

 brethren of the same color, and the entry should by no 

 means be confined to the half-dozen likely racers of any 



one club. 



Iu the East the same tactics should be pursued. The 

 Portland, the Eastern, the Boston, the Salem, the Dor- 

 chester and other clubs, can throw open their lists to all 

 comers, and arrange dates to suit. When the local 

 matches have been decided, they will make their way 

 around the dreaded Cape and take i n the municipal events 

 that may offer at the Vineyard, New Bedford, etc., and 

 be on hand in time for the grand affair of the season, a 

 series of three or four days' racing off Newport, the water- 

 ing place of America, and which by popular selection 

 should become the Cowes of this Continent. There, in 

 the month of August, might be found the very flower of 

 all the great clubs, the sloops, schooners and steamers, 

 and a finer pageant than the races they would sail could 

 not be brought about in any other quarter of the globe. 



When the battle is over, when yachts of Eastern build 

 shall have pitted their keels and lead against the skim- 

 ming hulls of our smooth-water flyers, and the lockers of 

 the best shall groan with the weight of cups and menien- 

 toesof the season, or the bank books of the fleetest bo 

 swelled by the thousands, then let the swallows of the 

 summer be homeward bound again, the flyers from the 

 East hoist their pennants for tho outside voyage, those 



of the West watch a chance for a smooth sea and a fail- 

 wind to waft, them once more through the Fisher Straits 

 into the placid waters of the more congenial Sound. On 

 the return passage fall racing should be found at such 

 ports which have postponed their dates so as not to clash 

 with other events, and finally a series of matches at homo 

 would wind up a season that has been spent to some ad- 

 vantage, that has brought all yachts of the country to- 

 gether to test then- metal, that will pass into history and 

 form a topic long to be cherished and remembered, Ah ! 

 that would be yacht racing indeed ! 



Business interferes? Not a bit of it ; on the contrary, 

 no means could be found by which the business hours of 

 the business man would be taxed so little as by this sys- 

 tematic method of racing. As nearly all the yachts re- 

 ferred to carry paid hands, and many of them are quite 

 liberally supplied with this article, why let the yachts 

 lay idly at anchor week after week with the hands grow- 

 ing sleek off the cabin pantry ? The often® the owner 

 is on board the better, but it is seldom that his presence 

 is really necessary in a match — some are in the way — 

 and as long as he has to foot the bills, let him get the 

 equivalent from, his craft by sending her the rounds of 

 the racing ports in charge of her master, or a friend, and 

 join her by rail, or steamer whenever he has a chance to 

 quit Exchange and feels like getting .a whiff of the Lord's 

 free air once more and the sight of a horizon not 

 bounded by brick. The Sound and the East are accessi- 

 ble alike, and the time consumed in getting in and out 

 of harbor when at home might as well be spent on the 

 cars or a steamer carrying the owner within hailing dis- 

 tance of his ship, the trip being made by night with "all 

 the modern conveniences," if time be precious. 



As to expense, when once fitted for racing, as all 

 yachts which indulge in a match only once a year gener- 

 ally are, beyond the hiring of extra hands for a match, 

 it amounts to little or nothing. A slight saving iu Piper 

 Heidsieck will cover the bill, and what genuine yachts- 

 man will begrudge his gear its needs while living high 

 down below ? 



When the interests of the sport have grown and devel- 

 oped on the Lakes, a similar series of " rounds " may be 

 instituted to serve like ends upon the great fresh waters 

 of the. inland districts. 



It is pleasing to know that as long as we cannot have 

 the whole programme, there is some chance of several 

 clubs combining to meet during the summer, with a 

 view to racing in a manner similar, to all intents and 

 purposes, to "open" matches; and that the efforts of 

 those interested may be the means of rousing the dor- 

 mant spirit and waking up all hands to the opportunities 

 now passed by is the wish of every good and loyal tar. 



Let us once have racing carried on in a business-like 

 way, and we warrant a heavier crew of seamen among 

 bankers, lawyers, brokers and merchants, and a sounder 

 lot of yachts in our fleet in a single year than we row 

 turn out in a decade. We are tending in the right direc- 

 tion as it is, and are bound in the end to bring up just 

 indicated above ; so we ti-ust these remarks may do some- 

 thing toward hastening the day when the picnic fea- 

 tures of racing and the shriveling isolation of clubs, now 

 all drawn up and petrifying in thoir own shells, will give 

 way to something akin to what all devotees of the sport 

 would rejoice to see — racing carried on upon a broad 

 national basis, not upon the vacillating hobbies and ca- 

 prices of a set, a clique, a club. 



THE CORRUPTION OF SPORT. 



FOR some weeks past there has been a famous battle 

 of brains in Gotham. The champions of the chess 

 board have found worthy antagonists, and the mimic 

 war- of white and red waged ruthlessly, while the chess 

 world stood with suspended breath looking over the 

 shoulders of the combatants. And now that it is all over, 

 and the "championships" duly awarded, it has leaked 

 out that there were unseen agencies presiding over the 

 destinies of the heroes, and upon the battle-field moved 

 potent agents as noiseless and as unsuspected as the gods 

 upon the battle plain of Troy. The America a Bird o' 

 Freedom, as she appears in conquering pose upon the 

 coin of the realm, screamed harshly and effectively in the 

 strife, and the Goddess of Liberty hi gold proved a for- 

 midable antagonist of the Queens in red and white ivory. 

 This evidence of foul play in an intellectual game, which 

 from its very nature is supposed to be "above board," 

 has naturally shocked that portion of the public which 

 had not already wisely concluded that such a denouement 

 would naturally follow the conclusion of the chess tour- 

 nament. 



America, our college professors tell us, is in her money- 

 making stage ; and it takes a less astute individual than 

 the ordinary university professor of Political Economy to 

 see that the average American citizen is— to employ a 

 very slang but a very significant expression— "on the 

 make." The mighty dollar- is the controlling agency in 

 every branch of social and public life. Possibly this 

 generalization may sufficiently account for the mercenary 

 element of so many forms of alleged sport, Generous 

 emulation in physical strength or skill gives place to ;..or- 

 did clutching after purees, gate money, entrance foe or 



prize — provided this last bo convertible into cash. We 

 are not now necessarily referring to the notorious pedes- 

 trian hippodromes, nor to ring encounters. Wehave in 

 mind more than one shooting club whose weekly meet- 

 ings are only SO many gambling schemes among a cliquo 

 for the gathering in of the purses and entrance fees. By 

 a preconcerted understanding this ring manages to se- 

 cure to its members the various money classes, and so 

 divides the stakes. The confiding stranger who has come 

 to pit his skill against theirs is unmercifully and remorse- 

 lessly fleeced and packed off for the simple gull that he is. 

 And yet these very trap-shooting pot-hunters will affect to 

 regard with virtuous indignation the recognized pot- 

 hunter who shoots game for tho market. If there be a 

 distinction between the two, we submit tliat it is a dis- 

 tinction without much, if any, difference. One shoots 

 for the money directly ; the other, for that which will 

 bring him money. The same style of proceedings not 

 unfrequently occur in rifle shooting. The history of 

 American yacht racing contains gome most disreputable 

 records of a similar dishonorable and uusportsmanslike 

 character. Base-ball ha? long since been unhappily rel- 

 egated to the control of the ticket and pool seller, and a 

 sport which possesses many merits as a popular, inex- 

 pensive and practical pastiuia thereby sadly cast into 

 disfavor. 



With the constantly recurring examples of this 

 mercenary feature of participation in sport, true devo- 

 tees of sport for the sport's sake need not be warned 

 against implicating themselves even in tho appearance of 

 evil. Our popular pastimes are too important in thoir 

 hygienic influences alone to be cast into a disrepute 

 which will bar gentlemen from engaging in them and 

 reaping their benefits. We note with great pleasure and 

 as a welcome sign of tho times that some of our gun 

 clubs have abolished ntor'cy prizes iu their regular club 

 matches. If members are inclined to contend for purses, 

 they are not debarred from so doing; that is their matter. 

 But when the club shoots as a club tho competitions are 

 so conducted that the participants are contending for 

 well earned and respected superiority in quick sight and 

 steady aim, not for a paltry sum of money. It behooves 

 sportsmen who would wiu most credit for tho particular 

 form of out-of-door recreation which they may select, to 

 jealously guard its associations from contamination by 

 the presence and influence of the pot-hunting trap 

 shooter, rifle shot and yachtsman. Happily for the 

 gentle art it can never come within the category of tho 

 pastimes which are bought and sold. 



SPORTSMEN IN CONGRESS. 



SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES WHO LOVE ROD AND GUN. 



THE number of sportsmen in Congress at the present 

 time is another evidenceof the constantly increasing 

 propularity of field sports. Members of Congress are 

 representatives of the people in more senses than a politi- 

 cal one. They reflect the social and mental status of 

 their respective constituencies by their manners and con- 

 versation in private, quite as well as they represent the 

 views of their political party by their votes in the House. 

 A dapper, gentlemanly Congressman from New England 

 or the Middle States is as different from the representa- 

 tive, of a frontier district as black is from white. An ex- 

 pert can almost invariably tell from what section of the 

 country a Congressman comes by his dress and general 

 appearance. A majority of the members of the Houso 

 are law-yers. If not sportsmen themselves, they have at 

 least an idea of what the true sportsman desires to be, 

 from knowledge of the game laws and experience in 

 actions for trespass and violations of those laws. Before 

 the war the sporting gentleman in Congress almost in- 

 variably came from the South. Even he was not a. wing 

 shot nor a master of the long range rifle. His kennels 

 were filled with fox and deer hounds, and his stables con- 

 tained hunters which would do credit to the fields of Eng- 

 land and Scotland. To him the deep mouthing of his' 

 hounds was the sole music of the chase, and of the infi- 

 nite pleasure of the silent tramp behind the setter and 

 pointer he knew little or nothing. At that time the 

 hunter iu the East never came to Congress. He was a 

 being who was generally regarded by his money-making 

 neighbors as a lazy, ne'er-do-well, whose only redeeming 

 traits were his boundless good nature and willingness to 

 divide his game with his friends. The farmer usually 

 owned a gun, but it was used as a weapon of defense 

 against predatory animals and birds, and occasionally as 

 the means of securing game which was known to abound 

 in adjoining forests. 



Now there are three members of the House who have 

 won prizes in pigeon matches. There are a dozen mem- 

 bers who are expert wing shots, and the number of 

 Senators and Representatives who take their vacatious in 

 company with rod and gun cannot readily be estimated. 

 I will mention but a few of the gentlemen in Congress 



i' ''ii. ■ ■.-_, pert ftsheimen pr hnntera. Poremosl in tho 

 li I if esp its with rod and fly is Vie. -Pre! ; ! ait W heeler. 

 i.'i' ; ing i- hi' le no. 'ii'. i' 1 ■■ when Congress 



not in session. With only oa ■ 

 eighteen years lie has digfcppea 



duriugttU 

 ghtin the 



past 



Tilda 



of the Adirondacks for several months each summer. 



