FOREST AND STREAM 
THE SARATOGA REGATTA COURSE. 
W E were driven along the boulevard of Saratoga, past 
John Morrissey’s solid but unpretending brick 
structure—down by the racing parks, until we came to 
Moon’s Hotel. As we walked out upon th e bluff in front of 
the hotel, bur eyes rested upon a scene which elicited ex¬ 
pressions of admiration and delight from every one present. 
After spending some time in an examination of the differ¬ 
ent farm-houses lying upon the borders of the lake, we 
made the following selections:—Yale, Mr. Myers; Harvard, 
Mr. James Reilley, or Schuyler; Trinity, Mr. John Reilley; 
Wesleyan, Mr. W. Able. Columbia had ■ previously decid¬ 
ed upon Mr. C. P. Moon, or Mr. Myers, and William upon 
Mr. H. Moon, or Schuyler. All these peaces are very good 
ones, there is not much choice between then. The moral 
objections urged against Saratoga are not supported by 
facts; some are worthless, others are absurb. That John 
Morrissey is ffie proprietor of a gambling establishment 
‘must be admitted; but that it is free of access to any one, 
that it invites visitors, must be denied. It is not a public 
gambling-house, but a private club-house, very difficult of 
access. All who enter are sharply questioned, and if it 
does not appear that they are members, or friends of mem¬ 
bers, they are excluded. Many persons are daily turned 
away from its doors. It is wellnigh impossible for a young 
man to gain admission there; much less, then, a college 
student. John Morrissey is a very shrewd man, and he 
knows very well that should any college student be fleeced 
in his rooms, the hostility already existing in Saratoga 
against him would be fanned to such a breeze that he 
would be compelled to give up his business entirely. A 
gentleman assured your correspondent that John Morrissey 
told him that rather than have the College Regatta in Sara¬ 
toga, he would give $1,000. 
The Saratoga Rowing Association has demonstrated its 
dbility to suppress pool selling, in the case of the National 
Amateur Regatta, held here last August. Public sentiment 
in Saratoga, which has hitherto been rather careless on the 
subject of the regatta, is now fully aroused. Every one, 
from the hod-carrier upward, is so jealous of the honor of 
the city, that all will do their utmost to render the next 
College Regatta a success in every particular. We were 
f reatly pleased with the men comprising the Saratoga 
Lowing Association, they are all gentlemen of high charac¬ 
ter and integrity. Enthusiastic as Mr. Conkling, the Pres¬ 
ident, certainly was, he has not exaggerated the advantages 
offered by Saratoga.— Cor. College Argus. 
Yachting Notes. —The approach of spring always pro¬ 
duces activity among the yachting men, and the fine open 
weather which has prevailed for the past few days has 
•already awakened some of them. Several Brooklyn yachts 
have been sold and it is not probable that their places will 
be supplied. The following, which had wintered at Com¬ 
modore Frank Bates’, have changed hands:— 
The Lina S., 21 feet, 6 inches, has gone to Key West. 
Ada, cabin sloop, 40 feet, owned by Dr. Bliven, has gone 
to Florida. 
Flirt, steam propeller, has gone to Florida. 
Coquette, sloop, 28 feet, owned by the Columbia Yacht 
'Club, has been sold and goes to Charleston. 
Cloud, sloop, 26 feet, owned by the Columbia Yacht 
Club, has been sold to a -club on the North River. 
Monroe, sloop, 28 feet, has been sold to a Jersey club. 
Midnight, slopp, has been sold to the Staten Island Cub; 
now at Frank Bates’. 
The Eddie, owned by Commodore Hughes, of the Oceanic 
Yacht Club, will be got afloat as soon as possible, the 
Commodore being anxious to have the first sail of the sea¬ 
son. 
Mr. George Farley intends making considerable altera¬ 
tions in the rig of his fast little sloops, Only Daughter and 
Short Branch. A match is talked of between the former 
and a Harlem yacht, but nothing definite has yet been ar¬ 
ranged. Mr. Farley says that with the new rig nothing 
afloat of their size will keep up with them. 
The Sophia, Brooklyn, W. T. Lee, and several others, 
now at the foot of Court street, will soon be got ready for 
sailing, and although the season will not show many new 
boats, it will be a lively one in yachting. The Dauntless 
will be in commission again, and several races between last 
year’s new boats, especially the medium sized schooners, are 
already being talked of. 
Mr. G. L. Haight’s sloop Genia, will appear in an entirely 
new rig .—Brooklyn Eagle. 
—The Williamsburg Yacht Club held their annual meet¬ 
ing last week at the Club House, foot of Eagle street, 
Greenpoint, when the following officers were elected for 
the ensuing year:— 
Commodore, William H. Rexter; Vice Commodore, 
James Clifford; President, T. W. Reeves; Secretary, Charles 
E. Mielke; Assistant Secretary, A. Parick; Treasurer, Chas. 
Lahman* f Measurer, Joseph Northrop; Steward, Edward 
Grissan; Trustees, S. S. Free, Frank Thorne, Isaac Mer- 
rett, Edward Grissan, William Sware; Regatta Committee 
Gallaudet Pease, Levi Smith, William Joy, George w’ 
Kidd, E. O Tuttle. 
This club has a fleet of twenty cabin and open boats, its 
membership amounts to 100, and the New Club House is a 
very elegant and useful building. The annual regatta will 
take place in June. 
—At the annual meeting of the Union Boat Club held in 
Boston, Monday evening 2d instant, the following officers 
ior the ensuing year were elected:— 
President, Henry B. Rice; Vice President, Edward N. 
Fenno, Captain, Robert S. Russell; Lieutenant, Charles H. 
Williams; Secretary, Edward B. Robins; Treasurer, Wm. 
F Robert? 116 ^ 018 ’ ^ ^ Baxter, Daniel* Sargent, George 
—Commodore Ashbury (Cambria), we hear will not fit 
•out The Iona or Livonia again. The Iona is lying on the 
mud at Cowes, England, for sale, and the Livonia is at pres¬ 
ent cruising in the Mediterranean, chartered by Sir F. 
Gooch, with the option of purchase. 
—The Harlem Reflating Association held their annual meet¬ 
sing last week when the following boat clubs sent dele¬ 
gates. New York Athletic, New York Rowing, Nassau 
Boat Chib, Atalanta Boat Club, Harlem Rowing Club, 
Dauntless Boat Club. The following were the officers 
elected:— 
President, H. G. Meeker, New York Athletic Club; Vice 
President, George Roahr, Atalanta Boat Club; Secretary 
and Treasurer, H. M. Knapp, Harlem Rowing Club; Direc¬ 
tors, Mr. Ingersoll, New York Rowing Club; J. McCarthy, 
Dauntless Boat Club; John C. Babcock, Nassau Boat 
Club. 
—The Argonanta Rowing Association of Bergen Point, 
N. J., have accepted the challenge of the Buffalo Rowing 
Club, that is, to row them a four-oared race, distance three 
miles straight away, provided they will agree to some minor 
alterations. 
—The Woodside Rowing Club of Newark, N. J., held 
their annual meeting last week and elected the following 
officers for the ensuing year:— 
President, R. Smith Carter; Vice President, J. H. Os¬ 
born; Secretary, W. A. Lentillion; Treasurer, Joseph A. 
Dreyfous; Captain, Wm. Robison; Directors, J. Hendricks, 
Peter Wilier, George Nevers, C. B. Rogers, J. H. East- 
wood, and Edward Benson. 
—A Poughkeepsie ice-boat is said to have crossed the 
river at that point, distance one mile, in the incredible time 
of thirty-one seconds. 
—The Jersey City Yacht Club held their regular meeting 
last week when the following gentlemen were elected to 
serve in their respective official capacities for the ensuing 
year:— 
Commodore, R. Donshea; Vice Commodore, C. E. Gard¬ 
ner; Treasurer, A. B. Reynolds; Secretary, Frank Higham; 
Measurer, J. Kaylor; Board of directors, A. Brainard, 
John Ward, M. M. Brokaw, William Clark, J. B. Haight 
and E. S. Rudderow; Finance Committee, William Clark, 
John Ward and A. Brainard; Standing Committee, W. 
Oldering, A. P. Curtis and J. Duncuff. 
—The boating season on the Harlem River is fairly 
opened and fleets of scullers are in daily practice. A very 
large number of boats are being built for the Harlem clubs, 
and the season promises unusual activity and interest.. 
—The following men under the coaching of W. J. Otis, 
L. S. S., are hard at work in the Gymnasium, for the 
Freshman Crew:—rMessrs. Bacon, Brett Harwood, King, 
LeMoine, Martin, Morgan, Page, Patton, Perry, Taylor, 
and Wiley. Any six of the above will make a strong crew, 
and ought to promise well for the Regatta.— Harvard Mag¬ 
enta. 
—The Columbia Boat Club of Brooklyn, at their recent 
annual meeting elected the following gentlemen as officers 
for the ensuing year:— 
President, James Foster, Jr.; Vice President, L. W. 
Bangs; Secretary, E. A. Loveys; Treasurer. F. F. Learens, 
Captain, Charles S. Osborn; Lieutenant, Charles S. But¬ 
ler; Coxswain, H. H. Ackerman; Trustees, W. Chapman, 
C. O. Lewis, John Halsey, H. R. Johnson, and G. F. 
Barsett. 
—The Oxford and Cambridge boat race in England is at¬ 
tracting as usual general attention among amateur boating 
men. Both crews have arrived at their several head quar¬ 
ters on the Thames River near London. The Cambridge 
crew are slightly the favorites. The race takes place on 
Saturday, March 28th. 
Amherst, Mass., February 28,1874. ; 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
The gymnasium here has recently been presented by an enthusiastic alum¬ 
nus with a pair of patent rowing weights, which give so much satisfaction to 
our rowing men that I venture some description of them for your read¬ 
ers. Though I say rowing “weights,” there are in fact, no weights used. 
The apparatus consists of a cylinder filled with water, the two ends of 
which are connected by a small hollow tube, allowing the liquid to make 
a complete circuit. The cylinder is fitted with a piston, having a valve 
in its center opening upwards, which works between the two openings 
of the tube into the cylinder. One end of the cylinder is pivoted on a 
standard twelve or fourteen inches from the floor, so that ic may swing 
horizontally each way. Thus arranged the oarsman sits in front of the 
cylinder, and his stroke draws the piston through it, forcing the water 
forward and through the small tube back into the cylinder again, in the 
rear of the piston. A receiver opens the valve in the piston and allows 
it to pass easily back to its first position. The stroke, instead of pulling 
up a weight, consists here of forcing water through a small tube, and the 
resistance is of course in proportion to the celerity of the piston stroke. 
It may be further increased by means of. a stop cock, which diminishes 
at will the diameter of the small,tube. At the end of the piston rod is a 
socket, which receives the oar and permits all the motions of feathering 
to be made. The whole contrivance gives an exercise altogether more 
like rowing than anything yet. I notice in a recent number pf your pa¬ 
per a communication which devotes considerable attention to the refu¬ 
sal of Amherst to row at Saratoga, and her withdrawal from the Nation¬ 
al College Rowing Association. Indeed, our “childish action” seems to 
have disturbed the mind of your correspondent a good deal, and he hopes 
it may be rescinded. The subject is so threadbare—for this action has 
provoked an amount of discussion altogether incompatible with the idea 
of its being wholly erroneous—that I only feel authorized to say anything 
more by the way in which the action in question has been misstated and 
misconstrued. As it is always well to know what you are talking about, 
I commend to “J.” before he writes anything more on this subject the 
perusal of the resolutions which were passed by Amherst in reference to 
this matter, and which appeared in your columns. Therein* is correctly 
stated our position. Amherst believes that the college regatta is a con¬ 
test between students and gentlemen; that it should be controlled and 
managed by such, and that it should not be made subsidiary to any 
other purpose whatsoever. Amherst believes that it is decidedly preju¬ 
dicial to the interests of college boating to place the regatta in the hands 
of a community whose most prominent citizen is a blackleg, and to 
which he and others of his kind give tone. If, during the summer sea¬ 
son, this is not the fact at Saratoga, then, as was said at Hartford, there 
is a “wide, deep seated, and ineradicable delusion on the subject” which 
in our opinion makes it unwise to hold the regatta there, or it being de¬ 
cided to»do so for Amherst to participate therein. 
Furthermore, we favor and always have favored a New England College 
Rowing Association. Whether this notion is correct or not, time will 
determine and any present discussion would be useless. Our action in 
refusing to row at Saratoga and withdrawing from the National Rowing 
Association was taken advisedly, and it is not likely to be reconsidered 
or rescinded. F. W. Whitridge. 
New Orleans, March 6, 1874. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
Thinking that you would like to know how the boating interest is pro¬ 
gressing here, I write you to say it is flourishing. Since my last ivriting 
we have admitted another club—the Louisiana-to our State Rowing As 
sociation, five in all, now organized here. The Louisiana, Riverside and 
ourselves are established on the Mississippi, the St. John and Pelican on 
the Bayou St. John, a quiet little sheet of water connecting with Lake 
Ponchartrain, in the rear of the city. A regatta has been arranged for 
September 1. The St. John and Pelican will probably have'a match race 
about the 15th of May. Our boys are making their crews up for the com¬ 
ing season, and when they have a measuring, of oars I shall let you know. 
Our river is very full just now, and rowing 1£ mile's against stream is 
well calculated to try the rowing powers of any crew, and affords a good 
opportunity to the ambitious ones for the September pull to try them¬ 
selves. If you can give me the name of a good book on Rowing and 
Training, and where I can get it 1 shall be obliged. I have Argonaut’ 
work. Who -is the best boat builder in your neighborhood? We are put 
ting up a new boat house, fronting on the Misssisippi River. The size- 
will be 30x60, a very elegant and neat affair, and a pleasant place to spend 
our leisure time. _ “Trick.” 
atiomil ffngtiiMS. 
^gr Will our University correspondents kindly send us their most recen 
catalogues. a 
THE BASE BALL SEASON OF 1874. 
THE INTERNATIONAL VISIT. * 
T HOUGH March is the inaugural month of the profes¬ 
sional base hall season, the amateur branch of the fra¬ 
ternity, composing the great majority, do not think of tak¬ 
ing the field until the middle of April. Indeed it is May 
before they properly get to work. Last season was quite a 
successful one in regard to amateur play, especially in this 
city and its vicinity, but the promise is that the coming 
season will far surpass it in regard to the number of clubs 
and players participating in the season’s contest; but if the 
rules governing amateur play are to be revised in accordance 
with the suggestions of the convention Of December last, 
the play of the nines of the association clubs will be very 
far from equalling in excellent fielding the exhibitions 
of last season. The rule governing the delivery of 
the ball to the bat in the professional code admits of a com¬ 
bination of pitching and throwing which gives the pitcher 
full power to engage in strategic play; that is, he is allowed 
to send in the ball either by a slow pitch or toss, which 
gives the ball curved lines difficult to judge in hitting, or 
to send.it in by an underhand throw, with the arm swing¬ 
ing perpendicularly to the side of tlfe body, the only deliv¬ 
ery of the ball which admits of speed with accuracy of aim 
and command of the ball. This experience .has shown to 
be the proper rule of delivery. To this underhand throw¬ 
ing, however, the junior clubs of the amateur fraternity 
strongly object. Boy like, they want to see the rules word¬ 
ed so as to bring the game down to the old time level of 
the school boy days, when home run hits and scores of 
fifty runs to a match, and contests occupying over three 
hours was the rule of the game. Should the juniors form 
a majority ill the coming amateur convention, and thereby 
bring about the return to the old rule of the legitimate 
pitching of the ball, then opportunities for beautiful field¬ 
ing will be lost, and half the attraction of the present style 
of play will be lost. It is to be hoped that they will, how¬ 
ever, adopt the more manly rule of the professional code, 
and thereby save their game from so retrograde a movement 
as that of returning to the old time style of play of fifteen 
years ago. 
At the professional convention which took place in Boston 
eight clubs were represented, viz.: the Athletic, Balti¬ 
more, Boston, Chicago, Hartford, Mutual and Phila¬ 
delphia, and nines of these clubs will all enter the 
arena to contest for the Associaiton pennant this sea¬ 
son. The code of rules prepared for the convention by 
Mr. Chadwick was adopted with but slight modification, 
the only rule not endorsed being that recommending the 
change in the game from nine men to ten. This new game, 
however, is to be allowed in exhibition contests, and if it 
works satisfactorily it is to be. adopted entirely next sea¬ 
son. The new rule is more advantageous to the amateurs 
than to the. professionals, especially if the former carry out 
their plan of prohibiting any delivery but that of a pitched 
or tossed ball, in which case the extra man will be sadly 
needed to help keep down the large batting scores. 
The great base ball event of 1874 will be the visit of the 
Boston champions and the ex-champion Athletics to Eng¬ 
land, in August next. Mr. Spalding, the avant courier of 
the tourists, has been very successful in England in his in¬ 
ternational mission, and he brings to this country full 
assurances of a cordial greeting to the American base 
ballists from their' cricketing cousins of England, and 
of an enthusiastic Welcome on the occasion of their 
first appearance at Lord’s Grounds, London, which 
event has been set down to take place on the Bank 
holiday, August 3d. The arrangements on that day 
will include special accommodations fqr the American 
visitors who are expected to accompany the players, and 
the American flag is to be displayed from the flag staff, 
and the royal band is to compliment the party by playing 
the American national airs. It is calculated that nearly 
10,000 people will be present. The London papers of Feb- 
uary make special editorial mention of the proposed visit, 
and the event is fast becoming the talk of every cricket 
city and town in the kingdom. The ball players will in¬ 
clude Messrs. Harry and George Wright, Spalding, Hall, 
Barnes, White, Leonard, McVey, Beale, and Schaffer, of 
Boston; and Clapp, McBride, Fisler, Sutton, Reach, Sensy, 
Murnan, Gedney, McMullen, and McGeary, of Philadel¬ 
phia. The English cricketers are very desirous that 
Messrs. Chas. and Dan Newhall and Meade, noted Ameri¬ 
can cricketers, shall accompany tfie party, and they pro¬ 
pose to play the same English eleven against the American 
twenty-two ball players that they did in Philadelphia. It 
is to be hoped that the Young America Cricket Club will 
send out a delegation to help Harry Wright win some crick¬ 
et matches. 
