136 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[March 18, 1880. 



an J there will be less business for the undertakers every season, 

 which no one will regret. The risks of the tight-rope performer 

 ought not to he accepted In a well-designed yacht. As long as 

 they are present, sailors and men who tire not. agents for life insur- 

 ance companies will repudiate such craft as productions not 

 even ouual to those of the Fiji Island savages. 



A REPLY TO "CORINTHIAN." 



Editor Fores! and Stream:— 



In a late article by " Corinthian" ho attacks Mr. Smith for his 

 assertion that length measurement would tend to produce over- 

 sparred vowels, and this from the gontloman who sparred 

 Virai, Madcap, Intrepid. Tidal Wave and the new Mischief, is re- 

 markably cool, to say the least; much more so it seems to me 

 than he would make it for "Mr. Smith. "Corinthian" should re- 

 member that an architect makes his plans of a house according to 

 the requirements of the person proposing to build, and likewise a 

 yacht designer must do as the owner wishes, though often against 

 his own better judgment However this may be, I don't see that 

 "Corinthian's" remark alters the truth of Mr. Smith's assertion 

 at all. 1 was once inclined to think as "Corinthian" docs— that 

 length is the principal and only element of speed, but I have had 

 reason to change my mind somewhat. I have seen the cutter 

 MUHel sailing day after day in company with Midge, Schemer and 

 of. hold her own with Schemer or Chief, and 

 h if any on Midge. Now Murkt Is -10.55 raet 

 and Schemer 37.17 feet water-lice, 

 r-line. In a run from New Lon- 



Chief. She 001 



could not gain 



water-line, Chief 45 feet over all, 



whilo Midge is but 2«.B feet 



don to Newport the C/ife/ and Schemer beat Muriel badly, and 

 Midge also got in well ahead of her. Glancing at the beam of 

 theso vessels we (bid Muriel to be 9.14 feot, Schemer 14.5 feet, Midge 

 10.9 feet. The Chief's beam I do not know exactly, bu t she luis, I 

 should judge, about IS feet. Taking in view these figures and 

 facta, should not beam have qu Ite as much consideration as length, 

 and were ilfurid to meet theso vessels in a race on a length basis, 

 would she have her duo? Likewise iu the Volantc-Schemer race 

 spoken of, Vulante has 40 feet on water-line by 13 feot beam, to 

 Schemer's 37x14.5, and the fact that Tblaufe was outsailed "Corin- 

 thian" attributes to the fact that she is slow ; so indeed would he 

 conclude in any case when narrow and beamy yachts sail 

 together on length ; except perhaps in double reef breezes. I 

 have seen but few very narrow yachts of the English type sailing 

 with wide center-board vessels, but those I have seen c ann ot have 

 a fair race with center-board yaohts of similar length in our aver- 

 age racing weather without receiving considerable time allow- 

 ance, owing to their being smaller. 



That the English type of boat is the more weatherly any one 

 will allow who has seen them in their native waters, and if a gen- 

 tleman wishes a rougb-weather yacht why should he be debarred 

 a fair race with his center-board friends, which, I think, is 

 attainable as near as possible by the present Seawanhaka rules, 

 which Mr. Smith advocates. I cito these instances as bringing 

 together vessels of opposite extremes which it might be desirable 

 to race together. 



A time allowance based upon length alone will do well enough 

 when all vessels are of the same general shape, but it cannot be 

 made to apply fairly to such cases as I have spoken of. " Corin- 

 thian" also inquires If it would not be fairer to compare Inlre/jid 

 to Rambler, one of ber own class, rather than to Tidal Wave. 

 Probably it would: so let us make the examination. Rambler is 

 'MM feet longer on water-line than Intrepid, and by length allow- 

 ance this would give Intrepid something more than a minute less 

 tluui what she now receives from Rambler by cubic allowance 1 



As to freeboard, Rambler has but 2 feot 8 inches, while Intrepid 

 has 3 feet inches. The Rambler's draught without keel is 8.2 feet, 

 or C per cent, of her length, while lnlre t nd draws 8.5 feet without 

 keel, or S per cent, of her length. How much this difference taxes 

 intrepid by cubic allowance " Corinthian" need not be told. 



He seems desirous, too, of tiavlng'pointod out a yacht of scien- 

 tific construction that has developed speed without some altera- 

 tions. Saying nothing of many English yachts of this kind I 

 could name, I will point to Madcap. Three days after her sails 

 were first bent she entered the N. Y. Y. Club Kegatta and was an 

 easy winner against, such craft as Kaiser and Active, the latter a 

 mueli larger yacht, built from a model by Mr. William Force. 

 " Corinthian" also casts reflections upon Ytndex as a slow and 

 uuweatherly yaeht. The best argument on the question of her 

 Speed is her former owner'B well-filled plate-locker, trophies of 

 races won by a keel against center-board yachts. 



As to any question of her weatherly qualities, the fact of her 

 cruising the coast from Cape Sable to Savannah and twice round- 

 ing Hattoras in midwinter Is a sufficient answer; a feat, I think, 

 "Corinthian" would hesitate to undertake in some of the sloops 

 of the same class whoso good qualities in other respocta he is not 

 slow to praise. 



It would seem as though " Corinthian" had some other object In 

 view than an argument on time allowance when he so rabidly 

 attacks Mr. Smith and his productions, and when he aims so gra- 

 tuitous and uncalled for a slur at the owner of a little cutter. I 

 pray "Corinthian" will take it in good part when I express my 

 aentiments to this effect— that a gentleman when writing under 

 cover of a nom de plume should exercise greater courtesy than 

 when he assumes the responsibility of his words over his own 

 „ am0 . O. K. CrOMW-BLL. 



We regret that the desire to leave our columns open to all 

 shades of opinion should have been the untoward cause for the 

 appearance iu print of the allusions referred to by Mr. Cromwell. 

 Concerning measurement by length wo believe " Corinthian" is 

 too good a mathomaticlan to countenance any such folly, though 

 his letter may Have madeit appear so. Length measurement is 

 ' when they find thein- 

 problom. Intelligent 

 .vor of simple length 

 lve&Ugatiun and come 

 o Staple, As Mr. Crom- 

 lough for boats of one 

 u-y element will suffice 

 n of size. It is in matching different types that the 

 f simple length is detected. As long as length is 



.pith size it can be applied with equity. When it is 



no longer Interchangeable with slzo it's application becomes illog- 

 ical and unfair and its effect is vicious, forcing the growth of 

 ,l,ort, dumpy vessels to an inordinate degree. A glance at a few 

 commonplace figures will explain this even to the most obtuse. 

 A desirea a cutter H0xl3x3 for bis own good reasons, right or 

 wrong. B builds a Sloop of the same length, (I0x;:0x7. On length 

 both would sail on oven terms. They will ton in the following 

 proportion: the cutter, 00x18x8-6,480; <"" BlPOP, UOxAM-K.iOO. 

 In other words, the sloop maybe IJU per cent, larger and yet en- 

 ter this amount unpaid when racing pi) length. The fallacy of 

 nucha rule is so glaring thai; it is a wonder how it erci gained 

 widespread adhesion. The effect of such a rule is equally evident 

 No one could build anything departing from the beamy typo 

 irlttwut Blvlntf up all hope of raota?. Benee the unfortunate 



the straw at which drown 

 selves too unintelligent tc 



ug men clutch 

 grasp a Simple 



persona who pSg'in With 



invariably discover :1s sho 

 to the conclusion that it. i 



r prejudice in f 

 tcomiiigsupon 

 a altogether too 



well oorrcctlj remarks, it 

 type, but in that ease ali 



will do well en 

 nost any arbitra 



clove 



preponderance of the round " wash bowl" vessels in our fleet 

 with all the drawbacks of huge spars and excessive canvas, want 

 of accommodations, except under a trunk, unseaworthiness un- 

 less under a very slow rig, and dangerous enough to count the 

 victims drowned annually by the hundred. Such eraft maybe 

 the highest conceivable in naval design to a certain class, but we 

 submit that educated men will be slow toacoept the results of 

 the day as anything more than the clumsiest makeshifts in which 

 all elements of a safe, haudy, roomy, weatherly vessel are 

 swamped in the necessity for producing the most power— the 

 greatest size— on a given length, a method by which taxation is 

 wrongfully escaped at the expense of the most desirable quali- 

 ties the perfect yacht, should possess. Length measurement is 

 the most detrimental over devised, and wilh the intelligence of 

 the age it should be a disgrace to find the rule on the books of 

 any club. 



UNCAPSIZABLE BOATS. 



Editur Forest and Stream :— 



It was with no small degree of pleasure I read your yachting 

 columns in your last number. I have had considerable experi- 

 ence iu boating and shipping in various countries, yet i! is with 

 diffidence I offer you the following remarks, relative to two im- 

 provements of a nautical character which I am Introducing, and 

 which improvements are now being protected by letters patent 

 hero and in other parts. One of these Inventions is for preventing 

 open boats or any small vessels from upsetting by pressure of 

 wind or squalls. The other is an improvement for yachts, or for 

 other vessels, by which they can be mado more weatherly than 

 heretofore, and that without the use of oentor-boards and false 

 keels. I am quite convinced that science and practice have done 

 nearly all that can be done in the way of perfecting the linos of 

 shipping, the dimensions and placing of sails, eto. But the ques- 

 tion of present perfection has been carried too far in other re- 

 spects, and hence many simple yet important things relative to 

 other qualities havo been entirely overlooked. My present im- 

 provements are In the latter direction. I have submitted these 

 improvements to several gentlemen of high scientific attain- 

 ments, civil engineers, yachtsmen, and nautical men. On first 

 naming the matter to them, I was always met with a smile of in- 

 credulity ; yet all of these gentlemen, on seeing the matter illus- 

 trated, were just as ready to admit the importance of these im- 

 provements in complimentary terms. 



I am sorry I cannot show my models to the public at present, 

 aa they are now in Washington ; but privately I can refer you to 

 a gentlemen of this city who is notod for his scientific knowl- 

 edge of yachting. He has inspected my models and approved 

 them. With your leave, I shall offer further detallB in a subse- 

 quent communication. John MoLeod. 



New Turk, March tilth. 



The inventor has explained his improvements to us, and they 

 are certainly ingenious enough to justify full particulars, as soon 

 as ho is prepared to make public the specifications upon which 

 his patents are fo unded. 



YACHTING NEWS. 



Jersey City Canoe Club.— The editor of these columns returns 

 his thanks for recent election to the J. C. C. C, and hopes to 

 meet the members of the club with a paddle of his own construc- 

 tion this spring. 



Empire Yacht Club.— Officers for the year :— Commodore, 

 Henry Hill; Vice-Commodore, Peter Krumeleh ; Hear Commo- 

 dore, John S. MeDuff ; President, William O. Davis: Secretary, 

 James McGlymonl; Treasurer, William C. Formau ; Measurer, 

 Andrew T. Brush; Regatta Committee :— Richard Cullon, Robert 

 Miller, John Widdor, John Fitzslmmons and Tuoo. Wergbe. A 

 new club-house is in prospect. 



Steam Yacht Burneu.— The Arroifl, of Geneva Lake, Wiscon- 

 sin, was burnod by an incendiary March Hth. Loss nearly $15,- 

 000. If we mistake not, this is the Arrow built by the Kirby 

 Brothers, of Wyandotte, for high speed. She attained about 18 

 miles aa hour. 



fffam uns jfe almnn. 



IN SEARCH OF FERNS. 



AS I listen to the stormy music of the March wind, 

 while it " bloweth where it listeth," and watch the 

 strong, swift flow of waters swollen by spring freshets, 

 my heart throbs with a vain longing to add my shadow 

 to the innumerable other shadows that diversify a cer- 

 tain sunny exposure in the woods from slope to summit. 

 But the chilliness in the air vetoes any such excursion at 

 present. Therefore I must be content with a retrospect of 

 a bright day in the spring that has gone, and hope for just 

 such another in the spring that is here. The earliest ver- 

 nal flowers bloom again ; the snowdrop, emblem of hope, 

 shows itself as the longer days encroach upon the night, 

 and the yellow crocuses, sacred to Saint valentine, the 

 lover's saint, 



"The first gilt thing 

 That wears the, trembling pearls of Spring," 

 have awakened from their late lethargic state, and the 

 borders are gay with the "cloth of gold." Surely some 

 early wild flowers are in bloom in the woods now ; at least 

 the mosses, saturated by recent rains, are in all proba- 

 bility fresh and vigorous and green, while the lichens re- 

 joice in the solitude of which tney are the fit emblem. 



It will not be a great while now until there comes the 

 anniversary of a day on which four itinerant pleasure- 

 seekers, bound together in a sort of quadrilateral friend- 

 ship by one common purpose, arrayed themselves — not 

 altogether like "lilies of the field" — -and, armed with bas- 

 kets and gardening trowels, betook themselves to sylvan 

 scenes, a short distance from the co mm on haunts of 

 men, 



The historian was the least but not the last of the party. 

 The landscape was not now to her, and for that reason 

 she was looked up to asa "guide, philosopher and friend" 

 by those who at times followed in her footsteps, at others 

 kept by her side, and at others formed exploring parties 

 on their own responsibility, Our route for alinoBt a mile 

 lay along the railroad, The genial temperature of the 

 air, the soft blue of the sky, the gleaming beau by of the 

 water course, over whose sands and shallows the willows 

 hung their pensive branches, all contributed to add to the 

 lightness of hearts that were free from care, and seemed 

 iii their general joyousness to be moved by the vital im- 

 pulses or the season. Presently we came to a long rail- 

 road bridge which the historian of the party absolutely 

 declined to cross. There are certain heights which ren- 

 der me dizzy-headed. Fame itself should come to me in 

 moderation ; I fear I could not stand too great an amount 



even of prosperity. After considerable urging and 

 offers of assistance, for which I was obstinately ungrate- 

 ful, it. was decided to go down to the water-course and 

 build a bridge in a primitive way by throwing stones 

 therein, While contributing my share of manual labor, 

 and keeping a watchful eye in hopes that a trilobito 

 might peradventure find its way into my fingers as a 

 relic of the paleozoic age, I redee'med my reputation in 

 the eyes of my companions by unearthing and dispatch- 

 ing a long, lithe wriggling snake that had its local habi- 

 tation underneath a goodly rock I had appropriated for 

 the bridge that was iu process of construction, I am by 

 nature peaceable, except when I come in contact with a 

 snake ; let it rim from me never so nimbly, pursue it I 

 must, and great is my joy in that victory which ends in 

 the total destruction of the serpent, who is my natural 

 enemy. There was a chorus of congratulations "from two 

 of the party who had stood rather aloof, and fervent as- 

 surances that I should conquer all my enemies for a year 

 to come, whereupon I admonished them to remain my 

 friends, in view of the discomfiture that awaited them in 

 case they did not. 



"We managed, after a time, oy considerable activity, 

 to cross over our bridge without wotting our feet. Clam- 

 bering up tho clayey bank, we found ourselves in an open 

 field, through which for a hundred yards or so we fol- 

 lowed the furrows of a plow (hat had lately turned up 

 the fresh soil. Next came a hillside covered with young 

 timber and dotted hero and therewith a spontaneous out- 

 growth of May apples, sangumaria, blue-bells, trillicians, 

 and various other wfld flowers too numerous to mention. 

 Beyond lay woods of heavier timber, but here was our 

 stopping place, for the long fronds of the caterpillar fern 

 unfolded on the hillside, and the maiden-hair, green like 

 unto the hair of a Naiad, clrtstered around certain bare, 

 gnarled, angular roots, from which it required more dig- 

 ging than was merely " a labor of love'' to disengage it. 



For a time w^e were enthusiasts. We vied witli one 

 another as to which should have the finest collection. A 

 disinterested spectator could hardly have told which one 

 of our perspiring crowd best deserved the title of the 

 "Queen of Spades." Trillicians, blue bells, anemones, 

 wood violets and ferns innumerable rewarded our quick, 

 attentive eyes, and when we dug for the roots of tho 

 spotted-leaved adder tongue, with what sincerity and 

 earnestness did we assert that those same roots must 

 reach to the center of gravity, 



Then came a time when we rested from our labors, laid 

 aside our trowels and roamed here and there along the 

 hillside, watching the sparrows and redbirds, until in a 

 great thorn tree was discovered a neat of one of the lat- 

 ter ; but the crowning event of the day was the discovery 

 of a spring, out of which might have drank the Satyrs 

 and Dryads— so pure, so clear, so crystal-like were its pel- 

 lucid waters. It was discovered in a little cleft in tho 

 hillside, and there was general rejoicing, for e.verv one of 

 us was thirsty ; but cup wc had none. There is an old 

 proverb that "God reaches us good things by our own 

 hands." We verified it, and not contented with a mere 

 handful wo knelt upon our knees and drank freely, Wo 

 imbibed by turns, and the last- to drink was om youngest, 

 who knelt'so gracefully njid bent down her flushed face 

 so daintily that wc constituted ourselves a committee of 

 interruption, and from the hank above commeuted so 

 freely upon her attitude and appearance that she could 

 not drink for laughter, which threatened to choke her. 

 How beseechingly did she turn her brown eyes upward 

 and entreat of us to desist. It was resolved that the 

 spring should be known henceforth and forever as the 

 Minnie-Mallie-Flora-Elizabeth-Spring. 



Slowly then wo turned our faces homeward, now 

 pausing to mark a bird whose plumage glistened with a 

 brilliant, bronze, metallic lustre, or stooping to gather 

 one more hunch of the anemones that, bent their pearly 

 heads in countless mfrnbers. How green was that grassy 

 slope 1 How full of genial delights ! We lingered, loth 

 to go. How far away we felt ourselves from life's every- 

 day cares. Hero might wc indulge in snatches of reverie, 

 in tender recollections, in buoyant hope for the future, 

 safe sheltered from proud defiance, or bitter hate, or ma- 

 lignant innuendo. 



It seemed to me, as I lingered in the dreamy and tran- 

 quil spot, that it needed but the charm of moonlight to 

 reveal Oberon and Titana dancing in voiceless joy, but 

 sentiment fled before the practical suggestion that my 

 followers would be compelled to break a long and 

 mg spear of grass in case abstraction unfit ted me to he 

 their leader, and I remembered that when Charles the 

 Simple, of France, was abandoned by his lords they 

 broke a straw in token that their allegiance ceased. 



I take up the burden of life agaiU, and with it a basket 

 and trowel that grow heavier as we draw nearer home. 

 How tired we are, and \'et our morning has been conse- 

 crated by associations which we would gladly keep green 

 forever. With eager eyes do we look forward. Hearing 

 the village, and with what good will do we write in the 

 expressive ejaculation, " Dulce domum." L. G. P 



PUBLISHE RS' DEP ARTMENT. 



" The California Rowing Boat Apparatus, " says the 

 San Francisco Olympian, " bears off the palm, has no 

 springs to draw the body forward with a jerk, as is the 

 case in all previous attempts at Rowing Machines, The 

 oars slide in friction bars, while the pressure is regulated 

 by thumb-screws. The boat is mounted on rockers, and 

 careen:-, if the puller is unsteady in Ins seat. It is pro- 

 nounced by oarsmen to be a perfect imitation for boot 

 and water, and as a health machine surpasses anything 

 yet devised." Inclose stamp for illustrated circular" 

 Branch California Novelty works. 39 Washington street', 

 Chicago, 111. ; also for sale at 530 Commercial street, San 

 Francisco, Cal. — [Adv. 



A Great Discovkrv by a Great Man.— Tins, pri- 

 marily, is what Warner's Safe, Nervine is. The great 

 man is one of the most famous Uving physicians. He 

 found a harmless remedy for all kinds of pain, others 

 improved it, and the final result is the Safe Nervine now 

 manufactured only by 5, H, Warner & Co,— ( l.'ic, 



— Spratt's dog biscuits have become a staple article ot 

 diet for -dogs, and are growing in favor everyday. We 

 are pleased to learn that another want has been supplied 

 .ufacture of Spratt's Patent Forage Biscuits, 

 which are intended for horses. The convenii a> 

 value of this new food cannot be overestimated, Sea 

 advertisement elsewhere. 



