156 
FOREST AND STREAM 
hard and soft clams. There are a few porgees to he had in the bay and 
Mngflsh occasionally. Back of the cultivated strip there are the woods, 
which extend hack some four miles towards Bridgehampton, and in the 
watered portion woodcock shooting is good in season. In the fall excellent 
wild fowl shooting is to be had in the bay, and for purposes of a family 
sojourn in summer to parties liking a very retired and out-of-the-way 
country place, Noyac presents an attractive locality. H. C. 
—An attentive Florida correspondent sends the following 
note:— 
[It will he perceived that he speaks of black bass (Grystes 
salrnoides ) of the surprising weight of 21 lbs., which is 
something unheard of by us, and is a fact well worth mak¬ 
ing a note of for future reference.— Ed.] 
New Smyrna, E. Florida, 1 
March 81, 1874. f 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
Yours of the 19th came to hand last night—a letter is as long coming 
herefrom New York as it takes to go to England. I am preparing for 
Professor Baird a statement of the spawning periods of the sea-fish of 
this coast, with other particulars, and I will give you an abstract of it. I 
get it from the native fishermen. 
As to the list of sportsmen in Florida, few come to this place; the 
house is now empty. Enterprise, Palatka and Sand Point are the chief 
rendezvous of our craft in this region. I can report as having been here 
lately, E. G. Pendleton, Virginia; F. B. Tucker, W. L. Fairbrother, 
Chicago; E. U. Wright, W. W. Fisher, Bindley Johnson, Philadelphia; 
,George M. Downes, John Ilalx, Rutherford Stuyvesant and wife, New 
York; T. J. Pierrepont, J. F. Masters and wife, Henry Shipman, 
Brooklyn; Wm. S. Peele, Boston, most of them belonging to the hunt¬ 
er or fisher folk, 
Skeepshead fishing is over, as they are now spawning. Bass or redfish, 
salt water trout, kingfish and pigfish are our principle game now, some 
groupers and snappers, which, from their rarity, are much prized. The 
arge fish are beginning to be troublesome, the sharks, rays and sawfish, 
which carry away so many hooks that I fear I shall be destitute before I 
leave. We have now many catfish in the river; two kinds, one much re¬ 
sembling the fresh water cat of the clear lakes weighing, say 2 to 3 lbs. 
The other a larger kind, from 4 lbs. to 1G lbs. with very long dorsal and 
pectoral fins, armed with sharp spears. They have eggs in them as large 
as cherries, and the fishermen say they are viviparous, like the rays and 
sharks. I think it is Galeichthys marinus (Cuvier.) The drum will soOn 
be in season, aud then we shall have a new sensation, they being very 
large heavy fish from 10 lbs. to 50 lbs. 
There is a fresh water stream not far off, Spruce Creek, which is said 
to abound in large trout, black bass. I have heard of two being killed 
there this spring which weighed respectively 19 lbs, and 21 lbs. I shall 
try to visit this stream and if so wilFreport to you. Very truly yours, 
Samuel C. Clarke. 
ichting md 
All communications from Secretaries and friends should be mailed not 
later than Monday in each week. 
HIGH WATER, FOR THE WEEK. 
DATE. 
BOSTON. 
NEW YORK. 
. . 
| CIIARL’ST’N 
1 
te m. 
h. m. 
h, m. 
April 16.1 
11 45 
8 28 
7 45 
April 17.. 1 
morn. 
9 18 
8 31 
April 18.. .. 
0 31 
10 6 
9 20 
April 13. 
1 20 
10 54 
10 12 
April 20. 
i 2 12 
IT 52 
11 7 
April 21. 
3 7 1 
morn. 1 
morn 
April 22. 1 
1 4 4 1 
0 51 1 
0 4 
—Mr. John F. Munn has recently launched from liis 
yard, at the foot of Court street, Brooklyn, a singular look¬ 
ing yacht, designed by her owner, Mr. J. W. Holmes. She 
is intended for a cruising vessel, we believe, but bow suc¬ 
cessful she will be even in that way is a question involved 
in considerable doubt. That the idea of speed in connec¬ 
tion with this vessel never entered the designer’s brain we 
can readily conceive. Her dimensions are as follows:— 
Length on load water line, 36 feet; length over all, 40 feet; 
beam, 16 feet; draft of water aft, 3 feet 6inches; forward, 2 
feet 6 inches; length of centre board, 13 feet. Her depth of 
bold and freeboard we did not ascertain accurately, and 
dare not hazard a guess, for they are simply incredible. 
Neither her entrance or her delivery is particularly fine, as 
may well be imagined when we remember that her length 
on the load water line is 36 feet, and that her beam is 16 
feet, and placed only a few inches above this water line. 
Her sides are straight, and their height out of water for¬ 
ward is enormous. The house extends clear across the 
deck, and is flush with the rail. At the forward end there 
is a row of dead b’ghts, showing that ventilation at all 
events has not been neglected. Abaft tlie bouse tbe entire 
boat is cock pit. But more singular than the hull itself, 
when we consider the purposes for which we understand 
the yacht is intended, is the rig adopted. Why any one 
should step a mast 65 feet in length in the eyes of a boat of 
this size, and condense liis canvas into mainsail and topsail 
for prospective cruises to the West Indies, passes all under¬ 
standing. Her boom is to be 42 feet long, and gaff tlie same 
length, though we understand the head of the mainsail only 
hauls out to within twelve feet of the end of the gaff, leav¬ 
ing that amount of pole to aid ir spreading a peculiar kind 
of sail, which above the gaff has the appearance of a club 
topsail, and below that spar officiates as a species of ring 
tail. 
—Mr. Dickerson’s keel sloop tbe “Psyche,” which our 
readers will remember touched bottom near Rockaway last 
fall, is at Mr. Steer’s yard for repairs. As yet, nothing but 
internal work has been commenced, but that more than this 
must be done before she is launched again is evident, for 
she is at present without a keel, without garhoard strakes, 
and without various other planks, all of great utility, as 
they will come below her water line. 
—Mr. Steers has also in his yard the sloop yacht “Gus- 
sie.” This vessel, we believe, he built for his own use, 
originally, but she has been much changed since then. 
During the past winter she has been raised about ten 
inches, keeping the same sheer as before. 
—Mr. Rutherford Stuyvesant is making very extensive 
alterations in his yacht, the Palmer, which will unques¬ 
tionably improve her heavy weather qualities, though it is 
doubtful whether her speed over the New York Yacht Club 
course will be increased. She is at the yard of Mr. Henry 
Steers, under whose supervision the changes are being 
made, aud when she leaves there very few of her old 
friends will recognize her with a flush deck fore an^ aft, 
great increase of freeboard, and with much diminished 
sheer. Her top sides will be raised forward from five to six 
inches, in the waist twenty-two inches, and at the stern 
fourteen inches, and she ’will have light bulwarks about 
two feet in height. We imagine that she will require con¬ 
siderable more ballast than formerly to counteract the in¬ 
fluence of the additional weight, all of which will he above 
the water line. As the old masts are to be used, the area 
of her lower sails will probably be reduced in order to get 
the saddles at the proper distance above the new deck. 
—Rear Commodore $. B. Colgate, of the Seawanaliaka 
Yacht Club, has his schooner, the Idler, at Mr. Henry 
Steer’s yard, where she has been recaulked and thoroughly 
overhauled. There have been no alterations in the hull, 
hut her masts have been taken out, and wi’l he changed by 
shifting the position of the hounds about three feet lower 
down. This w ill of course shorten tlie luffs of the fore 
and mainsails, but by the use of longer gaffs, and jieaking 
no tbe beads of the sails at a greater angle, the loss in area 
wib be more than counterbalanced by the improvement in 
shape. With topsails set, there will be no reduction in 
canvas, for the tacks of the topsails will fill in the corners 
taken out at tie throats of the lower sails. Indeed, with 
the end of the lexer’s main boom twenty-six feet over the 
stern, and bead gear to match, it does not seem a matter of 
vital importance if there had been a loss of a few feet in 
sail area. 
—A large number of gentlemen have been cruising this 
season upon tlie St. John River, Florida, in small yachts 
and sail boats. Several of these craft were arranged with 
every combination of comfort, without being too large to 
follow the tributaries of that river to their remote sources. 
Those wlio thus reach tbe points far from the main water 
routes are rewarded by seeing abundant game, and gain 
the chances of shooting and fishing beyond the ground 
overrun by the multitude. The amount of animal life on 
and near the St. Jolm has been greatly diminished. Shoot¬ 
ing from boats, and constant hunting by professionals, who 
get good prices from the steamboats for venison, and from 
travellers for plumage birds, has rendered the game birds 
and animals very scarce and shy. James IL Peabody, 
Esq., of Philadelphia, has his steam yacht Falcon on the 
river. She is well arranged for the service, and combines 
a 1 ’I tlie qualities proved desirable by a long experience in 
bunting here, and no more delightful life can be imagined 
than cruising with her, manned as she is by an excellent 
crew. The number of tourists going up the Ocklawaha 
has been very large. Colonel Hart has a new boat upon 
the route, but could not carry all who wished to see the 
romantic river and wonderful spring, so he is about laying 
the keels for two more boats of the peculiarly strong form 
that alone can endure the hard knocks they get from cy¬ 
press knees and oak houghs. 
—A meeting of the Lynn Yacht Club was held at their 
club house in Lynn, Massachusetts, Tuesday evening last, 
when it. was decided to hold their usual regatta on the 17th 
of June. 
Dorchester Yacht Club.— It was our intention to 
have published in this issue an authentic list of the yachts, 
owners, etc., belonging to this club, hut we are informed 
that at the annual meeting of the club a change was made 
in the rule for measuring yachts. Under the new rule the 
length of all boats will be increased from about three 
inches for the smaller boats to about six inches for the 
larger ones. The boats are measured while in the water, 
and as there are not more than three now in commission it 
would he impossible to give correct figures, which we hope 
to do in May. The yacht Bessie has been purchased by W. 
Whitney Lewis, Esq., the measurer of the club, of her late 
owner, W. F. Whitney. George F. Clarke, Esq., has dis¬ 
posed of the yacht Merlin to S. S. Gray, Esq., of the Bev- 
e’\v Yacht Chub, but still retains the cutter Saxori. The 
MeUin has left the club. Edward Burgess has sold the 
Firefly to George H. Balcli, who has entered her in the 
Dorchester, Beverly, and Boston yacht clubs. 
Boston Yacht Club.— Tlie sloop yacht Owl has been 
purchased of Mr. Cunningham by J. E. McCreary, of Phil¬ 
adelphia, where she will probably be taken. She is now 
at her moorings off the Club House. The schooner yacht 
Rebecca, owned by J. LI. Reed, lias recently been added to 
tbe club roll. We published last week a list of the yachts 
of this club, into which several errors inadvertently crept. 
We shall, before the season opens, publish a carefully re¬ 
vised list. 
South Boston Yacht Club. —This club gave their last 
social party of tlie season on Easter Monday evening. 
Their club house at City Point was gaily decorated with 
flags and yacht signals for tlie occasion, and a large number 
of the members with their ladies participated in the festivi¬ 
ties. Under the influence of their new commodore, J. N. 
Roberts, Esq., and his associate officers, the members are 
uncommonly active in promoting the success and welfare 
of the organization. At the last regular meeting the stew¬ 
ard, Mr. Winett, presented the commodore, in the name of 
the club, a complete set of colors and signals for his use. 
Improvements are to be made on and around the club 
house, which will make it every way desirable for the pur¬ 
poses intended. Yaclit owners are now busily engaged in 
putting their boats in condition and making such altera¬ 
tions as past experience and future needs have suggested. 
-O --— — ~ UCiUUging to 
organization, compiled from the latest information:— 
Name. 
1 
Owner. 
| Water 
1 Line. 
Keel 
°r 
loentre Board 
Starry Banner. 
steamer. 
Thomas Taylor. 
-•| 61 
Keel. 
Banshee. 
Carrier Hove. ....... 
Leslie. 
Hattie. 
Haze. 
Kittie. 
Mercury. 
Ranger. 
Wanderer. .|W. Nelson 
SLOOPS. 
A^nie. P. McKenna 
Bessie.... 
Columbia 
Clyde 
SCHOONERS. 
W. J Oreutt. 
T. Barker. 
S. W. Bailey. 
T. Christian. 
J. B. Moody. 
J. M. Ward. 
J. N. Roberts. 
T. R. Miller. 
F. A. Taylor.. 
R. W. Bibber. 
T. Lutted. 
Cycla.|H. R. Smith. 
Clytie... 
Fannie. 
Fearless. 
Fly. 
Grade.. 
Hope. 
Kate. 
Kelpie. 
May. 
Maud. 
Mabel. 
Nellie. 
Naiad Queen. 
Posey. 
Petrel. 
Puzzle. 
Queen Mab. 
Ripple.. 
Rover. 
Starlight. 
Startle. 
Uncle Moses. 
Unique. 
J. N. Roberts_ 
Benjamin Dean.. 
J. A. Woodward. 
W. B. Alexander. 
J. M.Learned_ 
M. S. Dix. 
C. T. Haley. 
S. J. Capen. 
W. Gorman. 
C. E. Fuller. 
J. N. Roberts_ 
Walter Reed. 
W. Kilner. 
H. J. McKee. 
M. F. Murphy_ 
C. A. Wheeler... 
M. J. Kiley. 
C. D. Maeomber. 
J. II. btark. 
F. S. Wright. 
A. T. Plummer.. 
C. H.Dolbeare... 
J. Stewart. 
23.5 
31.5 
21 
26.1 
22 
31 
33 
31.4 
25 
28 
17 
19.10 
23 
24.6 
18 
21.6 
20 
16 
24 
16 
20 
28 
18 
18 
19.2 
23 
26.1 
24 
18.6 
22.3 
21.0 
22.1 
22 
35.6 
20 
21 
20 
Keel. 
Keel. 
Keel. 
Keel. 
Keel* 
Keel. 
Keel. 
Keel. 
Keel. 
Keel. 
Keel. 
C. B.- 
Keel. 
C. B. 
C. B. 
C. B. 
Keel. 
Keel. 
Keel. 
Keel. 
Keel. 
C. B. 
C. B. 
C. B. 
C.B. 
Keel. 
C. B. 
C.B. 
C.B. 
Keel. 
C. B. 
C. B. 
C!. B. 
Keel. 
C. B. 
Keel. 
C. B. 
There are 130 members on the rolls. Their first regatta 
will take place in June, and doubtless others will be held 
during the season. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
The annual meeting of the Argonaut Boating Club of Toronto, Cana¬ 
da, was held at the Rossin House, in that city, on the 4th inst., when the 
following officers were elected for the year 1874-5: President, Mr. n. 
O’Brien; Vice President, Mr. Spragge; Captain, Mr. Roger Lambe; 
Treasurer, Mr. George Tizard; Secretary, Mr. Walter H. Newesey; Ex¬ 
ecutive Committee, Messrs. J. F. Smith, John Martland, ^ W. Fisher 
C. E. Ryesson, James E. Ellis, Rusk Harris and Harrold Lambe. This 
association is in a very flourishing condition, numbering some one hun¬ 
dred and fifty members, and with a fleet of eleven racing and practice 
boats. The club lately erected, at a cost of over five thousand dollars, a 
very commodious and pretty boathouse on the Esplanade fronting the 
bay. „ Walter R. Neusey, Honl, Sec’y. 
—The Halifax Boating Club will, if Mr. Brown is will¬ 
ing to row—as there is little doubt lie will be—accept the 
challenges of both Coulter and Scharff, and undertake the 
management of the races on his behalf. James Ten Eyck, 
who was challenged by Scharff at the same time as Brown, 
has accepted the challenge. William Scharff, of Pittsburg, 
Pennsylvania, a member of the McKee boat club of Pitts¬ 
burg, and George Brown, of Plalifax, Nova Scotia, are ar¬ 
ranging a race for the championship of America and a 
large sum of money. 
—The St. Augustine, Florida, Yacht Club, has elected 
the following offioers for the ensuing year: Commodore 
Gordon Granger, Esq.; Vice Commodore, Daniel Egar, 
Esq.; Secretary and Treasurer, R. F. Armstrong, Esq.; 
Measurer, Charles E. Crapy, Esq.; House Committee, W. 
H. Robinson, Esq., of Florida, J. M. Morton of New York. 
It is to be legally incorporated. 
Columbia College, April 13tli, 1874. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
Although our crew has not been definitely decided upon, 
the following will most likely be the men selected, and the 
positions in which they will row:—G. C. Kobbe, ’74, how; 
Simpson, School of Mines, or G. Griswold, ’77, 2; Wells, 
School of Mines, 3; E. Rapallo, ’74, 4; R C. Cornell, 74, 
5; B. F. Rees, School of Mines, stroke. Rees, Cornell, and 
Rapallo hold over from last year’s crew. Simpson and 
Wells have had some previous experience in rowing, while 
Kobbe and Griswold are new men, and the latter is also 
rather young. You will see that our material is of the 
best, and if we do not turn out a good crew it will not be 
for the want of men. Fearon, of Yonkers, has been build¬ 
ing us an addition to the college fleet, and hard work will 
soon be begun at Harlem. Our quarters at Saratoga have 
been selected, and tbe crew w T ill arrive at the lake early in 
June, so as to have at least a month’s practice on the 
course. There is some talk of adopting the English stroke 
this season, and two graduates of Cambridge—old Colum¬ 
bia students also—have offered to train the crew if it should 
be thought best to adopt it, but the probabilities are that 
the change will not be made until one more trial has shown 
whether the same stroke that put us fourth last year cam 
not bring us in ahead. I will write again in a few days, or 
as soon as Captain Rees selects bis men. Yours, W.A. 
•--- 
Portland, Me. , April 9, 1874. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
The annual meeting and supper of the Orient Boat Club 
took place at the Preble House on the evening of the Gtb 
instant. The following officers were chosen:—President, 
H. P. Ladd; Yice President, E. Dennis; Secretary, C. M. 
Henry; Treasurer, G. D. Loring. Regatta Committee, H. 
P. Ladd, C. M. Henry, J. Frazier. The boathouses oc¬ 
cupied by the Emerald Club and the noted Longshore crew 
are to he torn down to make way for wharf improvements. 
It is expected that O’Brien of the famous McLaren crew, of 
St. John, will occupy the seat of Conwell, the stroke oar or 
the Longshoremen the coming season. A second match be¬ 
tween the rival brushmaking scullers, Frazier of this city 
and Lane of Boston, is already talked of, and will probably 
be arranged in a few weeks. Mr. Henry, of the Orients, 
offers to row anybody in this vicinity for $100 aside, and a 
response from Davis, of the Emeralds, (the present State 
champion,) is looked for. Vidl 
—A page of yachting and boating matter is unavoidably 
deferred. 
