156 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
(Serr. 18, 1884. - 
_ ADRIFT IN A SMALLBOAT.—Last Thursday afternoon two men 
in the yacht Bertie anchored off Life Saying Station No, 12, on Cape 
Gad, and wevt ashore in their dinghy for water, In returning they 
broke one oar and were unable to row, and drifted offshore as even- 
ing approached. After drifting some time, their little 10ft. boat being 
half full of water, they were picked up by the schooner H. B. Metcalt, 
Capt. Fossett, and jJanded in Portland. The Bertie was brought into 
Provincetown by two of the crew of a fishing schooner. 
RACING AT MONTREAL.—The annual race for the championship 
flags of the Montreal Y. © took place over the six-mile course at 
Longueuil on Saturday, and was won by Messrs. Roberts’ Violet, 
sailed by Mr. G. W. Barns, 1 hour 42min, 40sec, The Wanderer came 
in second, with Iris a good third. For the onen sailboat race there 
were five entries: distanré, three miles, Mr, D. Beattie’s Swiftshure 
camé in first, Mr. B. Sheppard's Hattie second.—Toronto Mail, 
Sept. 12. 
AN ACCIDENT TO A BOATING PARTY.—Ata picnic near Brown's 
Mills, N. J. on Sept, 12, six girls, none of whom could swim or row, 
went ouf on the lake ina rowboat, which after drifting into deep 
water, capsized. The Rev, Robert Burke and H. A. Fairchild of Phil- 
adelphia, who witnessed the accident, swam ont, and with great diffi- 
culty succeeded in getting the girls to the boat, where they hung on 
until rescued from the shore. 
A BLOCK ISLAND BOAT IN FRANCE,—We learn from Le Yacht 
that a boat has been built in France from the designs which we p_b- 
lished some time since, and which appeared laterin Le Yacht. The 
builder was M. Fexier, of Petit Gennevilliers. The boat has attracted 
much attention in the ports she has visited. 
BELLEVILLE Y. C.—The first race for the flag presented by Com 
Biggar will be sailed early next season. probably in May. As the Ata 
Janta is about to be sald out of the club, Mr. Bell has been asked to 
withdraw his challenge. 
STHAM YACHT RACE.—The race between the Sphinx and Petrel 
did not take place last week, and is now declared off. 
Canaeing. 
FIXTURES. 
Sept. 20.—Knickerbocker €, (., Fall Races. 
Oct, 4,—New York G. @., Fall Races. 
THE CANOES OF 1884. 
[Concluded from page 114.] 
F course next to the boats themselves, the sails were the most im- 
portant feature to the observer, and of these there was a great 
yariety. The lateen. pure and simple, was less numerous than 
at the other meets, but its rival, the balance lug, was there in 
full force; however, it looks as though the qnestion was to be 
settled by the adoption of & compromise. Against many bad 
ones, the lateen can claim one excelent feature: When the sheet 
comes in on a wind, the boom exerts an actual leyerage on the yard, 
being hinged to 1t, prying the head of the latter directly to windward, a 
result obtained with no other sail, making it possible to lie very close, 
but in spite of this advantage there are too many points agamst if as 
a cruising sail. 
The hig, on the contrary, in one shape or another, is adapted for 
almost all work, but there is one strong objection made by those who 
have used it on small and light ballasted canoes, the excess of weight 
aloft. It is improbab e that we shall see very soon a sail that willtake 
its place for large rigs, over 60ft. in a sail for Instance, but an ingeni- 
ous individual has hit on a compromise between it and alateen, which 
has been tried on a number of boats, and promises good results. This 
sail, devised, we believe, by Mr, S. R. Stoddard, is really a balance 
Ing with the lower (pee a or all up to the second batten, cut off, 
leaving a settee sail with one batten. That portion above the batten 
is, of course, triangular, and when the reef is down makes a lateen, 
while the portion between boom and batten is rectangular, as in a 
lug, the full sail thus resembling a balance lug with two reefs in. 
The reefing and h2isting arrangement are yery Ingenious, but require 
cuts to explain them properly, which we will give later on, This sail 
with a mutton leg or lateen dandy makes an excellent 115 for small 
eanoes, and a number were seen in the races, 
The jib also appeared on several boats, being required to preserve 
the balance owing to the positions of masts and centerboard, but we 
still doubt necessity for it in a properly-planned cance. Spinnakers 
were not seen at the meet, and in fact have not come into generaluse 
here yet. 
The balance lugs were many of them fitted with excellent reefing 
gears of yarious kinds, by which sail could be quickly and surely re- 
duced. One or two boats essayed topsails, but they were of more 
troubie than they were worth. Psyche astonished the camp one day 
by appearing with a mainsail of Soft. forward, above as a topsail, her 
small migzen of 17ft., anda mizzen aft of S5ft., presenting a very 
peculiar appearance. One fan mainsail was present, but did nob cre- 
ate a favorable impression, One thingis evident from the races, 
that the average standard of sailing has risen greatly, and a man who 
will win must avail himself of every advantage, perfect sails, proper 
trim, good boat, and a thorough knowledge of what heis doing, The 
ignorance of seme fairly good sailors, as to rules of the road, and the 
Association ries, does little credit to them, and we adyise them to 
study carefully allsuch qnestions during the winter. The Regatta 
Committee owe it to every man who takes the troubie to get his boat 
ready for a race, to enforce strictly the rules, and disqualify, without 
a protest, every one who breaks them, We haye mentioned rudders, 
but the other end of the string, the steering gear, 1s just as important. 
The connection between the two is now made in seyeral ways. 
Some employ chains, some cord and some copper wire, the latter be- 
ing the best, but the wire must beso fitted that it is not bent at each 
movement, or it willsoon be twisted off. We have seen 1t condemned 
for this reason when, if properly fitted, it will last for years. One 
boat that came under our notice, a high-priced and handsome craft, 
had two little strings for rudder Jines that broke the first time any 
strain was thrown on th+m. It is on such details as these that the 
comfort always, and sometimes the life, of the canoeist depends, and 
if the price will not allow the butider to make everything first-class 
let him skimp some of the gimerack and faney work and put in re- 
liable steering gear and storm apron or hatcb; but then the average 
canoeist, who looks through some one else’s eyes at this or that 
fancied improvement, would not buy the boat. 
Here is advice gratis to all beginners who are buying canoes—-but 
they won’t follow it. First—Haye 4 hull of good dimensions and safe 
model, stiff and seaworthy: secund, have the best compartment:. 
wood, imeétal, or other material you can get; third, have an apron and 
hatches that can be carried ready at hand and quickly adjusted so as 
to vlose the well entirely, ke: ping all water out. Don’t rely on the 
hatches u ually furnished witb the canoe to close it for shipment; 
when sailing there is no place to carry them, as the well cannot be 
closed in most summer weather, aud when you want them youcannot 
getthem, Wesawa hatch at the meet as good as it was ugly, but 
must go to fourthly before describing iti have a rudder of proper 
size, hung on strong brass braces, no little screweyes as sometimes 
used, and conueeted by very strong lines to a very strong steering 
gear that can be adjusted to your leg and thabcannot slip out of 
place, If it is going todo such a thing, it will choose the time when 
all depends on keeping head to sea, and when it is simply impossible 
to take off the apron, g0 beiow and repair damages. The leg of a 
man isa toggle joint, one of the most powerful combinations known, 
and when the back is firmly braced, the foree exerted by the foot is 
enormous and enough to carry away a much stronger gear than is 
usually furnished, especially as the pressure cannot always be care- 
fully graduated in avace or ina hard pull, Now that you have the 
requisites you can nickle-plate them, gild them, veneer them, and 
do all you can to make a canoe look like anything but a boat, but if 
ou love canoeing, don’t risk bringing discredit on it by an accident 
ue to a neglect of these essentials. 
Now for the ugly hatch, an invention of Mr. Tredwen's, who has 
probably devised more ingenious fittings than any other canoeist. 
ithe well is square forward and aft. the coaming at the forward 
end is about 34in, higher than the sides, the hatch is flat, no curve, 
and comes avuinst this coaming, but rests on top of the side coam- 
ings, and is binged to the forward coaming by a peculiar hinge which 
allows it to be taken off easily, but prevents it being washed away. 
The sides of this hatch are outside of the coaming, and. extend down 
to the deck. This hatch extends over nearly one-half the distance 
from the fere end of the well to the canoeist, the other half being 
covered by a similar hatch hinged to No.1. Anapron may be car- 
tied, ro‘led up on No, 2 hatch, to which 16 is buttoned, or the floance 
jacket may take its place, In use hateh No, 2is hinged to the other, 
and to open ititis turned back, lying flat on No.1. Now to open 
both they are turned forward once more, until No, 2 lies on the deck, 
forward of the well, No.1 lying on top of it. Both a.e hinged fast 
and cannot wash off, they are instantly closed or opened, they make 
a, flail table when closed, aud are a perfect protection against water, 
but they are as ugly as can be, the square well being ont of harmony 
witb ail the curves of the boal. We have not enumerated all their 
advantages, however, and shall defer them until a picture is ready, 
when we think it will be possible to show another great point, dis- 
pensing with a four-storied pile of lock-up hatches, as now provided. 
The pointed well is, without doubt, the handsomest yet put in a 
canoe, and the best, except for the difficu'ty of fitting an apron to ib, 
whichis considerable, It throws the water to either side, and keeps 
it out for a long time after it would come in in showers with the 
square well, hut when you have to close it in a hurry, its bad side is 
visible at once. The hatches are’curved and will spring out of shape, 
The paddles at the meet were of various patterns, the majority 
being of the styles made by Rushton and Stephens, larger blades than 
the old paddles, Eyerson had some with a short, wide blade, and, 
while not as handsome as the other styles. they were no better in use, 
fhe lengths ranged from 8 to $ft,, although some of 9144 and 10ft were 
used, Where we will stop is impossible to say, but 8ft. will soon be 
considered as short for a 80in. boat as 7ft. was a few years ago; and, 
on the other hand, it is improbable that the coming paddle will ex- 
ceed 10ft.. as beyond that the leverage is too great. We venture to 
predict a standard for 30 to 33in. boats of 9ft. The single paddles were 
present in large numbers, but less diversity of pattern. 
About seats, canoeists each year are sitting higher in paddling, and 
we have not seen any one yet who found himself too high, Mr, John- 
son used a box for a seat, bringing him above the coamings. The 
Mohican, CG. C. have a yery ingenious seat, which makes a backboard 
in paddling, and when turned down makes a seat as wide as the boat 
across the coamings, for sitting on deck in sailing. Apropos of posi- 
tion in a canoe, a canoeist told us lately that he had sat for two years 
where the builder told him to, and only within two weeks discovered 
by accident that in a position one foot further forward he could pad- 
dle easier and faster, and his boat sailed very much closer; so do not 
take it for granted that a builder knows all, but go ahead and learn 
your boat for yourself. 
AMATEUR CANOE BUILDING. 
Fifteenth Paper. 
RUDDERS. 
jee is most essential 10 the safety of a canoe that there shall 
4t be some means of steering besides the paddle. The boat 
is so long that it cannot be turned quickly by the latter, the 
leveruge being comparatively short, and on all but the 
smallest Rob Roys a rudder is a prime necessity. The first 
canoes were built with stem and stern nearly alike, both with 
a long curve, to which it was very difficult to fit a rudder. 
One plan was to use a curved rudder and braces fitted to 
turn, but such a rudder is not only difficult to ship but will 
unship itself on the least provocation. In another plan a 
false stern was made fitting the slernpost, to which it was 
fastened, but straight on its after edge, to which the rudder 
was hung. This plan also was clumsy and unsatisfactory, 
and finally discarded. Another plan was to use a long arnt 
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for the lower brace, projecting three or four inches from the 
sternpost, so that the rudder hung vertically; but this, too, 
is now little used, For many years the sternposts have been 
straight, though mostly set at an angle to the keel, as in the 
old Shadows, giving a good support for a rudder. There 
was a decided objection to this plan, however, as it was 
very difficult to launch the canoe from a bank or dock if the 
water was shoal, the sternpost sticking in the mud and, in 
addition, it made the canoe hard to turn round. To obviate 
these objections and yet allow the rudder to hang properly 
without causing a drag, as it will on a curved or raking 
sternpost, some canoes of late have had the svernpost yerti- 
cal, or nearly so, from the water up, giving 7 to Din. to sup- 
port the rudder, but below the water the heel is rounded 
quickly away into the rocker of the keel, allowing the boat 
to be pushed stern first into mud without sticking fast, and 
also increasing the ease of turning. 
In form the rudder, especially for rough water, should 
drop below the level of the keel several inches, so as to have 
a good hold on the water, even when the boat is pitching 
among waves. With this form of rudder, shown in the 
large plates of canoes, a tricing line is sometimes used, being 
made fast to the rudder, and running over a sheave in the 
sternpost at deck, by means of which the rudder may be 
raised in shoal water. The idea of a drop rudder in two 
parts is not new, but its practical application to canoes is of 
recent date, one of the first having been fitted 10 the Atalan- 
tis by Mr. 8. R. Stoddard in 1883. These rudders, now 
coming into general use, are made of sheet brass, as shown 
in the drawing, a portion being fitted on a pivot like 
a centerboard, allowing it to drop to a distance or to rise on 
striking any obstacle, while it may be raised by a line from 
the well. ‘This rudder acts, to a certain extent, as an after 
centerboard, allowing the centerboard proper to be placed 
further forward than would otherwise be possible. Besides 
this it has a further advantage, that on most canoes it may 
be so proportioned as to fold up, leaving nothing below the 
water-line, thus obviating to a great extent the necessity for 
removing the rudder at alJ, as the boat may be launched with 
the rudder attached, but folded ip so as not to strike bot- 
' 
tom, If the rudder and yoke arc both strongly made, they 
offer excellent handles by which to lift the after end of the 
canoe. The stock of the rudderis made of one piece of 
sheet brass doubled, the rod on which the rudder hangs run- 
ning down inside the seam as shown. The top of each side 
is turned down horizontally, and to the two the rudder-yoke 
is rivetted. The drop portion of the rudder fits between the 
two sides, a boli or rivet passing through the three. 
The usual way of hanging the common rudder by pintles 
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and braces, is shown also, 
A. better plan is to have two 
braces on the rudder, as well as two on the sternpost, with 
a rod of din. brass running down through them, allowing the 
rudder to rise up, but not to unship, An old but very good 
plan is shown at (m),. 
On the rudder are two braces, each 
with a hole through it. 
A similar brace is placed below on 
the sternpost, and a brass rod is screwed or riveted perman- 
ently into it. The upper end of the rod is held by a brace 
with a slot cut in it, as shown, so as to allow the lower 
brace on the rudder to pass through if. A somewhat simi- 
lar device is that patented by Captain Knight, while one on 
a different plan has lately been perfected by the writer, 
The rudder yoke should be strong and well proportioned, 
as if sometimes receives heavy blows. The arnis need not 
be over 44 to 5in. long each, as the shorter length will give 
power enough. Sometimes instead of a yoke a grooved 
wheel is fitted to the rudder head, the lines running in the 
groove. This gives control of the rudder in any position, 
even when backing, and has another advantage in that-the 
mizzen sheet cannot foul and the yoke cannot catch in lines 
or bushes. 
TABHRNAOLES, : 
It is now considered necessary in order to spar a canoe to 
the best advantage, to place the masts so near the ends that 
it_is very difficult, or even impossible to unship them when 
afloat, especially in rough water. The requirements, both of 
conyenience and safety, however, dictate that they must be’ 
capable of being lowered, both for bridges, trees, warps and. 
when in yery rough water. The arrangements by which 
this end is attained are called tabernacles, several styles of 
which are shown. In one form the deck is not cut, but the 
heel of the mast is pivoted between two pieces of (p) oak, each 
24x4in. above deck, fastened securely to the keel and pro- 
jecting 4} to Sin, above deck. These pieces are covered 
above deck with sheet brass ;4;in. thick, and the heel of the 
mast is bound with the same fo prevent splitting. A pin or 
bolt of Zin. brass goes through the three, the mast turning on 
it. The after side of the tabernacle is also of 4in. oak, pro- 
jecting 1}in. above deck, or enough to catch the heel of the 
mast and prevent the later from going forward, The mast 
is raised and supported by a forestay and tackle from the 
stemhead, to permit which, the sail, if a balance lug, must 
have & great peak. 
Another simple form was fitted to a canoe in 1880 by the 
writer. A triangular box was set.in the forward part of the 
canoe, fastened at the bottom to the keel, and at the top to 
the deck, in which a slot was cut, as wide as the mast and 
about 1(t. long, the box, of course, being of the same width 
inside. In practice, the canoeist, seated in the well, could 
place the mast in the box, leaving it, for paddling, lying at 
an angle of 45 degrees, but when desired to raise it, by going 
on the knees the mast could be thrown easily into an up- 
right position, and held by a wooden chock (0) slipped into the 
slot behind it. This chock, with its sides projecting over 
the slot, completely covered it, and kept out all water. 
When the mast was not in use, its place was taken by a 
square plug. The chock was fitted at ils fore end and to 
slide under two screw heads which held it down, and its 
after end was kept down with a brass button. 
Another and better form of tabernacle is that devised by 
Mr. Tredwen and fitted tothe Pearl canoes. This is a square 
box 15 to 18in. long,-as wide as the diameter of the mast 
and as deep as can be fitted tothe boat. It is lined with 
sheet copper and provided with a drain (7) at the bottom. 
For racing purposes two light boxes of wood are made, wide 
enough to fit in the tabernacle, their united length just fill- 
ing the remainder of the box when the mast is init. If the 
must is tobe set forward, both boxes are slipped in behind 
it; the mast may be set aft, the boxes being forward of it, 
or the mast may be placed between the two boxes. By this 
device the mast may be tried in almost any position until its 
proper place is found. In the Pearl the large and small” 
