302 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Not. 13, ia86. 



8TEAM TACHl RACING. 

 nPHE report of tbe Regatta Committee of the American 

 Y. C, Tvhich we publish this week, will furnish an 

 interesting study to all interested in steam yachts. 



The regatta of last July was the most extensive affair of the 

 kind ever attempted here or abroad, and its success reflects 

 great credit on the club and its officprs. Owing to the num- 

 ber of entries and prizes and the computations involved, it 

 is but lately that the report was completed, and it was only 

 made public at the last meeting of the American Y. C. 



It now gives in a compact form the most valuable details 

 of the leading American steam yachts, and affords a basis 

 for comparison of the boats and also for the perfection of a 

 system of time allowance for steam yachts. This subject is 

 a stumbling block in the way of regatta committees and only 

 last year brought to grief the first steam regatta in America; 

 but this season the club have been more fortunate. The 

 subject has been studied carefully by a number of experts 

 and no less than four systems were tried in the regatta. The 

 general principle governing all of them is that certain the- 

 oretic speeds are to be expected from certain elements of 

 size or power, and the actual peformance of each yacht 

 compared with its theoretic work, ami rated as it exceeds 

 or falls short of the latter. The table computed by Mr. F. 

 8. Kinney, a gentleman who has devoted much time to the 

 study of steam propulsion, is based on an average of the 

 speed of existing yachts of various sizes, the result being an 

 estimate of the speed of fairly goo<l boats of different 

 lengths, from 50 to 300 feet. The actual speed of 

 each yacht entered was compared with the estimated 

 speed for its length, its rating depending on the 

 difference, plus or minus, between the two. Of the ten 

 yachts competing for the cup given by Mr Kinney, only 

 one made the course m less than the estimated time, the others 

 being from a few minutes to several hours behind. In the 

 Systems of Alessrs. Emery and Isherwood the theoretic 

 speeds are computed from the water line length, and the 

 actual and theoretic p^rformance are compared in each case, 

 as under the Kinney system. In the Luudborg system, as 

 well as the one tried last year, not only length but the pro 

 pelling power is considered in the computation, but while 

 the formulas are comphcated the results are of little value, 

 as it is impossible to estimate even approxiinately the value 

 of each factor in th^ m. 



The regatta of 1885 was a success in every way, both as to 

 the actual racing and also as a pleasant cruise for the club, 

 and the results are very encouraging for so young an organi- 

 zation. There can never be the same interest in a steam 

 yacht race as in one between saihng craft, the sight being 

 less imposing and the handling of the boats being unseen, 

 but racing must have its place in the devi-lopment of this, as 

 in all other sports, and Ine manner in which this feature is 

 now being conducted in America augurs well for its success. 

 The matter is comp-iratively a new one, the subject of rating 

 is a difficult one, and it has received little attention here or 

 even abroad, but the earnest manner in which it Is now being 

 pushed by the Ameiican Y. C. must bring good results in 

 the near future. 



[From a Special Correspondent.] 

 RESOURCES OF THE NORTHWEST. 

 npHE Dakota of to-day is the Iowa of ten years ago. The 

 Dakota of five years hence will be the Iowa of to-day. 

 So rapid is progress and development in the West. Ten 

 years ago it would not have been thought possible that a 

 decade could have made such a change in the Territory. 

 From a sparsely settled prairie the region has become one 

 great farm. 



The wheat product of the Territory is always greater than 

 the requirements of the settlers, and always— even in the 

 worst seasons— the farmers have a considerable surplus. The 

 wide belt of country which is tributary to the Northern 

 Pacific Railroad, pours a very large proportion of its pro- 

 duct in to Minneapolis, and this city proves itself able to 

 take care of it all. 



Perhaps a few figures may convey a more exact idea of 

 the milling capacity of this thriving town than can be given 

 by any g neral statement. Pur the year which ended Sept 

 1, 1885. the total flour pmduct of Minneapolis was 5.450,163 

 barrel-^, as against 4,797,340 for the previous year, an incr- ase 

 of 653,823. There were shioped from Minneiipolis 5 298,641 

 barrels, as og linst 4,8t4,424 for tlie previous year. The ex- 

 ports were 1:989,552. an increase of 257,553 barrels over the 

 year ending Sept, 1, 1884. 



These figures demonstrate that Minneapolis is the largest 

 primary wheat market in the world, her receipts during the 

 year exceeding those of Chicago by ll.O.lO 000 bushels. The 

 total number of bushels received during the past year was 

 33,112,840, against 2:^,514,576 the year previous. Shipments 

 were 5,584,320, against 3,133,749 m 1883-4. 



These statistics give some idea of the producing power of 

 the Northwest during the year past. Let us look at some 

 figures for one week in October last, taken from the Narth- 

 wesiem Miller. It says : 



Once more the mills have forged ahead of all previou.-s record's 

 Last week [en^in^O.^^. 17J -hey touched an ou.put very little belo^ 

 3J,0D barrels dai y. This .as acco.nplished. too, wit. one mill of 

 Ti'T '"^t ""■^""'^ production of tbe week was 



lu.SOO barrels, avera^in? 23.03! t ar-els daily, against 171,108 barrel, 

 tbe p, eceoinfc we^-k, and m,m bar rels f,.r ti.. eorr. spou..iBg time in 

 1834. This is an actual gain over rhe heav lest work done l-st year of 

 25,000 barrels for six days, and is to a lar^e extent attributable to the 

 rapidity with which new wheat may be Kround. As more of the new 



crop Is used, the capacity of the mills seems greater. The new wheat 

 is generally going into larger exclusive use, and as the millers become 

 acquainted with it, they are more favorably impressed with It. For 

 the current week two mills, with a combined capacity of 1,300 barrels, 

 have been cut off, one from damage by fire and the other for repairs. 

 An even twenty are left in operation. They are uniformly doing 

 heavy work, but it is more than likely that the output wUI fall off 

 somewhat. The millers have begun to talk about shutting down, and 

 say that will be the only course left for them to take, especially if 

 freights are advanced at the close of navigation as is usual. They 

 claim they are not more than clearing themselves and that flour must 

 either go up or wheat go down before there can be an incentive to 

 keep the mills in operation. The receipts the past week were wheat, 

 1,606,640 bushels. Shipments: Flour, 107,453 barrels; wheat, 108.640 

 bushels; mill stuff, 6,089 tons. Wheat in store in public elevators: 

 Minneapolis. 3,398,028 bushels; Duluth, 1,306,825; St. Paul, 763,000. 



So much for the wheat products of the country which is 

 tributary to the Northern Pacific Railroad. 



But it is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone," and 

 although it is the grain of this wonderful country that has 

 attracted the most attention, and proved the greatest source 

 of wealth to its settlers, the cattle country which lies west 

 of it is not less important from an economic point of view. 

 All through Dakota, as all through Iowa, a great deal of 

 stock is raised, but it is all farm stock, and — near the line of 

 the railroad at lea.>-t— range cattle have no place, except 

 on the extreme western border of the Territory. These 

 farms, however, produce and fatten in the aggregate a vast 

 number of cattle, but their numbers are small as compared 

 with the great herds which inhabit the country which was 

 but a few years ago the buffalo range. The buffalo has gone 

 and the Indian has been forced on to his reservation, and 

 now the plains are free to the cattle and the cowboys who 

 ride tbe range. It is all in the way of improvement and 

 progress, and it puts money in men's pockets and benefits 

 the country, but is it not, too, just a little bit sad to see such 

 changes as this take place? To see nature wholly thrust aside 

 and industry taking her place. 



The stock country of the Northern Pacific Railroad com- 

 mences at the Little Mi'-souri River, and extends westward 

 into the mountains. Over the most of this region up to the 

 present time it has not been found that crops could be grown 

 vrith certainty without irrigation. Therefore, while the 

 valleys of all ihe streams are cultivated, the uplands are for 

 the most part left free to the cattle. 



It is but little more than ten years since I traversed the 

 region lying between the Missouri and the Little Missouri. 

 It was then as dry a country as one would wish to see, and 

 the general opinion of those who parsed through it at that 

 time was that it would never be available for crops, but 

 might support a few cattle Now one stes wheat fields on 

 all the bluffs, irrigation is not thought of, and the cattle have 

 been pushed on to the westward. Where in 1874 we saw 

 deer, elk and antelope in considerable numbers, are now 

 thriving towns. This apparent climatic change warrants 

 the belief that a few more years may see wheat grown with- 

 otit irrigation on the uplands west of the Little Missouri 

 River. Now, however, the cattle feed all over the hills. 

 Grand cattle they are, too. Most of them are descendants of 

 the stock driven across the plains many years ago to Oregon 

 and Washington and Western Montana, and since then still 

 further improved and graded up by the frequent introduc- 

 tion of thoroughbred bulls. Occasionally one sees a few 

 head of Texan cattle; not the old-fashioned broad-horned 

 steer, with a greyhound body and long, slim legs, 

 but the modern improved Texan, who still has 

 about him enough of the characteristics of his Span- 

 ish ancestor to be recognized at once by a practiced 

 eye. These have been brought in from the south to fatten 

 on these northern pastures, where the grass is so much more 

 nutritious than it is on their native plains that it is said that 

 there is a difference of 400 pounds between a four year-old 

 steer reared in Texas and the same animal driven when a 

 yearling to Montana or Wyoming. On the whole, the cattle 

 seen in Montana are very fine — better, it seemed to me, in the 

 northern portion of the Territory than in the south. The 

 rapidity of the growth of this business has been something 

 phenomenal, and since it has become fashionable for wealthy 

 young Americans and Englishmen to start ranches, there has 

 been a fear that cattle raising might be overdone. This does 

 not seem probable. It is true tliat two or three years ago 

 there was such a rush to buy ranches and stock to put on 

 them that the prices of cattle rose to ridiculously high fig- 

 ures; but that time has passed. Cattle have gone down to 

 reasonable fiyures, and, wMle the fabulous profits of ten 

 years ago will never be made again, the business, if conducted 

 on business principles, is a safe and paying one. People 

 mast have beef to eat. 



Montana up to within a comparatively short time has 

 been rather behindhand in the matter of large herds. It is 

 one of the old- st cattle-growing Territories, herds having 

 been started in the western part of the Territory early in the 

 sixties; hut it is only within the last six or eight years that 

 the Territory has come prominently to the front as a grazing 

 region. Now, however, it has as large herds as can be 

 found anywhere in the West, and what is more, a number of 

 the largest companies in the southern country are moving 

 their bands up north into Montana. The fact is, that the 

 mildness of the climate, due to the frequent Chinook breez- s, 

 gives this Territory a great advantage over others which 

 have a colder climate. The snow— on the praiiies, at least- 

 does not fall to any great depth, and is almost sure either to 

 be blown off by a cold wind, or, what more frequently oc- 

 curs, to be melted by a Chmook. The cattle are thus always 



able to find food, and so the winter loss is very small. It 

 might be thought, because Montana is so much further oorth 

 than Colorado, that the winters would be much more severe, 

 and so the danger to stock greater, than in that State j but 

 this does not appear to be the case. Besides the modifying 

 influence of the warm winter winds from the Pacific coast, 

 the fact that the plains of Montana are for the most part 

 much lower than those of Colorado and Wyoming, tends to 

 make the winters mild and easily endurable. No better 

 proof is needed of the fact that Montana is a great cattle 

 country than the rapidity with which the good ranch loca- 

 tions have been taken up. Sheep are said to do well here, 

 though of course in sheep, as in all other occupations where 

 the profits are great, the risks are also great as compared with 

 cattle. 



It goes without sayinff that in a country where cattle will 

 do well horses will do much better, and I have been some- 

 what surprised to learn that horse raising has been somewhat 

 neglected in this Territory. There are, of course, horse 

 ranches; but from what I could learn they are not as num- 

 erous as I should have supposed they would be. It costs no 

 more to raise a horse than it does a s-teer, and the horse, if he 

 be the right kind of an animal, is usually worth more than 

 the steer at four years old. Moreover, there is vastly less 

 ri>k about horses than there is about cattle. A hor?e will dig 

 throuirh the snow and keep fat where a steer would starve 

 to death, and under ordinary circumstances, without shelter 

 or feeding, will do much better through the winter and come 

 out in better shape in spring than the latter, No doubt more 

 and more people will take hold of this industry as time 

 passes. It is one that seems likely to pay well. 



All this is of the prairie. The changes wrought in the 

 mountain country by the last few years are not less remark- 

 able. We hear every now and then of new discoveries of 

 gold and silver in Montana and Idaho. Rich strikes are 

 reported and claims of untold value staked out. There is a 

 wild rush to the new camps. People utterly ignorant of 

 mining pour into them. Then comes the reaction. Those 

 who imagined that a fortune was to be had for the mere 

 trouble of shoveling dirt out of a hole, find that there is an- 

 other side to mining, and become discouraged. There is an 

 exodus of these simpletons, and the mines are reported by 

 them as being valueless. The excitement dies away and is 

 forgotten. But some of the old hands, the men who are 

 competent to judge of the ground, are likely to "stay with" 

 their claims. They develop them, find new leads, and before 

 long the camp is founded on a solid basis. Mills go up and 

 the mines are worked. 



Through just this process of development many of the 

 mining camps of the West have passed. The excitement of 

 the Cojur d'Alene district was an example of this kind. 

 Most of those who went there in the first excitement, reached 

 the mines in the dead of winter, when the snow lay four 

 feet deep on the ground. They were utterly unprovided for 

 this state of things, and it was but a short time before they 

 began to leave in crowds. People laughed at the fools who 

 had gone there, and it was said that the excitement had been 

 got up for speculative purposes. Now, however, the mines 

 of the Coeur d'Alene are known to have proved extremely 

 rich, and I was shown this summer a lot of the most beauti- 

 ful gold quartz specimens that I have ever seen. It is 

 thought by many old miners that the camp will soon equal 

 Butte in importance. 



All through these mountains new mines are being con- 

 stantly discovered, and I believe that the mineral wealth of 

 the Territory has as yet been scarcely touched. 



Over the main range, and beyond the mining district just 

 referred to, lies another rich belt of country, rich certainly 

 in timber and in its agricultural possibilities, and probably 

 rich also in mines. The grain of Oi-egon and Washington, 

 and the splendid horses and cattle which they produce, are 

 known all over America; while the forests which clothe the 

 mountains of the Pacific slope send their products as far as' 

 distant Australia. Even the waters furnish a crop which ia 

 well worth the gathering, as the statistics of the salmon- 

 canning industry show. 



While presenting so many attractions to the settler, the 

 region is a delightful one to the tourist and pleasure seeker. 

 From the lovely lakes and oak openings of Minnesota one 

 crosses the broad plains to reach the gateway of the Yellow- 

 stone Park. Satiated with the marvels of this wonderful 

 region, he proceeds westward through the picturesque 

 scenery of the Rocky Mountains, and again crossing and re- 

 cros^ing the Missouri, passes over the range down Clarke's 

 Fork, past peaceful Pend d Oreille, mountain-giit, over the 

 plains of Washington Territory, by Snake River and down the 

 Columbia to Portland. Here he may pau-^e again and rest 

 for awhile in view of the raaje.«tic snow-clad peaks which 

 tower from ten to fourteen thousand feet above him. Thence 

 he may go to Puget Sound, famed for its loveliness, and 

 from there may continue his journeyings in any direction 

 with the sure prospect of finding fresh scenes to delight him. 

 Alaska is within easy reach, and he will be wise who devotes 

 a few weeks to the stupendous scenery of the Inlet region 

 of British Columbia. 



Friends of Adikondack Deeb Protection will be 

 glad to learn that Gt n. Curtis is to go back to the New York 

 Senate this year. It was through the determined efforts of 

 Gen. Curtis that the non-hounding bill was pushed through 

 and made a law; and so long as he remains in the Senate 

 proper game protection will have a staunch supporter. 



