Nov. 10, 1887.} 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



study in any of the many deep and intricate branches which con- 

 cern design and navigation. The object of the present course is 

 to offer information in a compact form by means of lectures hy 

 experts in the various departments, giving such an intelligent anil 

 comprehensive review of each subject as may servo as an intro- 

 duction and guide, as well as an inducement to tho hearer of fur- 

 ther study. 



Besides the lectures practical instruction will he given as pro- 

 vided by the Society for the First Aid to the Injured, in the treat- 

 ment of ordinary accidents; while the kitchen will he brought into 

 play for practical lessons in oookerv. 



During the season a lecture, illustrated by the polyopticon, will 

 be given upon the best methods of amateur photography. 



An effort will be made to form a class for instruction in navi- 

 gation, under Captain Howard Patterson, of the School of Navi- 

 gation, with examinations for master's certificate; also a class for 

 instruction in rigging and splicing, and one for practice in the use 

 of hand signal Hags, as employed in the Navy. 



It is less than a year siuce the plan of a town club bouse was 

 first proposed, and although an enormous amount of work was in- 

 volved in the practical carrying out of the scheme, enough has 

 been done thus far to make sure the ultimate success of the pro- 

 ject. The Seavvanhaka Corinthian Y. C. now offers to Corinthian 

 yachtsmen every opportunity for study and improvement during 

 the season when yachting is practically dead. In this club, how- 

 over, the cessation of work in one direction is only the signal for 

 new and no less beneficial exertions in another field, and the work 

 of the winter is apt to bear good fruit in tho summer's racing. 

 The number of men who feel a deep and earnest interest in yacht- 

 ing and sailing and the studies connected with the*, was 'never 

 as large as now, and the club cannot fail to reap a full return for 

 its liberal and progressive policy in an increased membership and 

 a marked imrpovement in the standard of practical efficiency. 



EARLY CENTERBOARD BOATS. 



THE following extracts from an old publication, tho European 

 Magazine, are given by Mr. Herbert B. Powell iu a letter to 

 the Field, and throw additional light on the early application of 

 the centerboard: 



"A paragraph having appeared in the public papers that sliding 

 keels are a new invention equal in importance to the discovery of 

 the compass, I must beg leave to say that this assertion is not 

 true, for sliding keels never can or ought to be fixed to ships of 

 any sort, especially ships of war, which are hardly strong enough 

 at present to bear the immense weight of metal, much less to be 

 made weaker in the most essential part of them; nor would it be 

 safe to have three, large apertures lengthways in the keel of a 

 ship, which, besides weakening, must hurt her stowage. If the 

 discovery of sliding keels is great, the public are indebted for it to 

 the Indians of South America, whose Balzas (see them described 

 in 'Ullea's Voyage,' Vol. 1, page 181) have these sliding keels: and 

 from them the idea has been takeu, which has been very ingen- 

 iously improved upon.'' 



Here follows a letter to Mr. Sewell, who appears to have been 

 editor of the European Magazine, from Lieut. Malborn, R. N., 

 dated June 20, 1793, in which the writer concludes: 



"The slightest inspection will convince any one that the latter 

 objection has no weight; and let facts speak for toe former. The 

 cutter built by the Admiralty, after eighteen months' const ant 

 cruising in the Channel, was found, on a minute insnection in 

 Woolwich Dockyard, to be perfectly free from any appearance of 

 defects that could possibly arise from her being weakened or 

 strained by the sliding keels." 



The next article refers to the sea-going qualities of the Trial 

 cutter, refered to above, and is written by one who took a trip in 

 her especially to observe the working ot her sliding keels, called 

 here "Cant. Schank's Sliding Keels." They weighed anchor at 

 5 P. M., July ?>, 1792, off Gravesend, and crossed the "Spaniard," 

 which sand they touched, but passed over "so easily that people 

 only felt an unusual motion," the keel rising about llin. 



"This vessel, call the Trial cutter, built as far under the direc- 

 tion of Capt. Schank as our establishment will permit, is of the 

 following dimensions: 



Length 65ft. Burthen 121 tons 



Breadth..- . .21f t. 4in. Draft readv for sea 6ft Gin. 



Depth (moulded),... 20ft. Din. (?) Centerboard below keel 7ft. 



Depth (in hold) 7ft. 2in. Draft extreme ISft.flin. 



Pierced for twelve guns, mounts eight carriages and four swivels. 

 Her keel a bad piece of timber. 



"These sliding keels, as they are at present called, may with 

 nearly the same propriety be called rudders, gaffs, booms, or any 

 other term. They are composed of two planks 14ft. long, 3ft. 

 broad for the fore and aft, another of the same length, 6ft. broad, 

 for midships, which slide by means of a winch through the decks, 

 and a mortice through the keel to the depth of 7ft. below the real 

 keel at pleasure; thus they act as leeboards. * * * The room 

 taken up by them and their wells, not more than 6in., before and 

 aft the mast, is less than the mast and its step by lin., conse- 

 quently can be reckoned in no other light than a useful parting or 

 cabins as well as stanchions to the deck, and are found useful in 

 navigating; and the helm is so easily managed, that the strength 

 of a child is sufficient when the keels are used, while that of a 

 man with a tiller rope is scarce sufficient without them; and, as I 

 was informed by the lieutenant iMaloorn) and master, she could 

 be steered, as was frequently done, by the keels only, and, in case 

 of the loss of the rudder, could be navigated to any port by menus 

 of this invention. She draws 6ft. light, and Oft. 6in. when all her 

 guns and stores are in; other vessels of her burthen draw 13ft. 

 This new invention, when down, extends 7ft. below her real keel, 

 by which she keeps the wind better than any other vessel in the 

 service; can carry as much press of sail as any vessel, and is capa- 

 ble of stowing more than any sharp-built vessel, etc." 



In a previous issue of the same magazine is a letter to the Earl 

 of Ailesbury, dated March 7, 1791, from one James Wright, in 

 which Capt. Schank, after having a most flattering allusion made 

 to the "buddings of his line genius," is mentioned as having had 



"Command of all His Majesty's ships of war on the great lakes 

 [in America], which, in fact, are little seas. * * * It was there 

 the invention of sliding keels for boats originated, and which 

 answered beyond expectation, and greatly facilitated our BUepeSB 

 in different parts of the Continent. His great iugenuity in this 

 difficult art has procured him the warmest patronage and friend- 

 ship of the Duke of Northumberland, who was an eye witness in 

 America to the great utility of sliding keels. * * * Two vessels 

 were order ed by the Navy Board to be fitted out, each of 13 tons, 

 and similar in dimensions, ballast and sails— one on the old con- 

 struction, the other flat-bottomed, with sliding keels. Sir Charles 

 Middlcton, of the Commissioners of the Navy, and the surveyor 

 attended; and. although the vessel had lee-boards, a greater 

 quantity of ballast and two Thames pilots aboard (winch was ;d! 

 unfair), yet Capt. Schank's vessel with three sliding keels beat the 

 other vessel, to the astonishment of all present, one-half of the 

 whole distance sailed, and no doubt she would have beat her 

 much more had she been furnished with a Thames pilot; the cur- 

 rents of that river not being known at all to any of his sailors was 

 a great detriment to the vessel's sailing." 



It was after this trial that it was decided to build the cutter 

 Trial, of 120 tons burden, the "command of which was given to 

 Lieut. Malbor n, a pupil of Capt. Schank. She proved a great 

 success. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Sir William Petty, circa A.D.. 1667, according to Evelyn's aud 

 Pepys's diaries, invented the centerboard. He also built, the 

 double-hulled Experiment, which "sayled 2ft. for 1 of any ot His 

 Majestye's shippes," and after a short but brilliantly victorious 

 career was lost with all hands in a storm which wrecked hundreds 

 of vessels in the Bay of Biscay. Fdying Pontoon. 



BjrookTjVN, N. T., Nov. L 



OPEN BOATS ON THE DELAWARE. — All along the Delaware 

 from Trenton to Chester the old-fashioned eatboat aud sloop, 

 sailed with live ballast to windward, are found in plenty, and 

 many of the boats are very fast, with local reputations.' This 

 spring a new boat, the Coronet, was built for Mr. Dolan, of Tor- 

 resdale, Pa., from a design by Mr. A. Gary Smith, and during the 

 season she has done very well with the boats of local build. She 

 has sailed against the winner of the regatta of July 4, beating her 

 37m. in a light breeze, and later in a strong wind she beat her 6m; 

 in a three-mile beat to windward, when the wind fell and the race 

 was called. This is a good record, especially when it is considered 

 that the boats in any r locality are usually the outcome of a long 

 course of racing and specially adapted to the prevailing condi- 

 tions. 



NO CHALLENGE FROM NOVA SCOTIA.-A Halifax yachts- 

 man, a member of the R. N. S. Yacht Squadron, writes as follows 

 concerning the new deed of gift: "If the extracts published in 

 some of the daily papers give all the important particulars of the 

 new deed of gift, I fear it may be some time before there is another 

 contest for the America's Cup. It seems there are no restrictions 

 on beam or sail spread, and no lime, allowance; boats must be 90ft. 

 and with enormous sail plans. This seems to be retrograding." 



Finish. 

 Hi 13 in 

 10 18 16 

 10 18 B0 

 10 IS 52 

 10 16 40 



io 20 m 



champion pennant for the fourth time. 



Corrected. 

 1 13 47 

 1 16 35 

 1 17 50 

 1 18 15 

 1 18 30 

 1 20 45 

 At the 



MONTGOMERY SAILING CLUB.-Twentieth weekly cruise, 

 Norristowu to Indian Creek and return, distance 5 miles. Wind 

 very light at start, afterward fresh southwest. The start was 

 made at 9 A. M. and the wind sprang up at 10:20 so that fully one 

 hour was lost in drifting about before the real soiling- commenced. 

 The Flying Eagle started about 10:20 and sailded the course in 

 about lh. 10m. Owing to errors made by the time keeper the 

 times made by the PI ay ford and Lulu are estimated from their 

 relative position at the finish, and may not be absolutely correct. 

 „ , , i_ Finish. Corrected. 



Bowers, tnckup, DoHaven 11 18 13 2 hi 33 



Igidious, tucktip. Win. Rochell 11 15 54 2 17 44 



Graeie, skiff, E. A. Leopold 11 27 15 2 18 12 



Priscilla, tuckup, E. Stanley 11 18 19 8 18 56 



Josephine, tnckup, E. Sowers 11 31 00 2 20 25 



E. C. Potts, tnckup, Parker Bros 11 23 52 2 22 12 



J'laylonl, I nek up, G-riedale Bros 11 24 01 2 22 21 



Princess, canoe. C. Wainwright 11 2!) 55 2 32 38 



Lulu, tuckup, J. Frith 11 24 20 2 24 09 



H. C. Scott, tuckup. W. Carnathan 11 27 45 2 26 45 



Flying Eagle, tuckup, J. Berndt 11 30 29 2 30 29 



Bowers winner champion flag. A protest was filed against 

 Josephine for paddling over the line at the start, and also against 

 H. ('. Scott for sculling with the rudder. Judge. Thomas Koehell. 



Oct. 30— Twenty-second and last regatta of the season. Norris- 

 town to Indian Creek and return, distance 5 miles, weather clear 

 and cold, wind fresh northerly. The start was made at 9 A. M. 

 The boats were all tuckups: 



Length. 



Priscilla 15.03 



G. W. Bowers 15.04 



H. C. Scott 14.11 



Josephine 15.05 



Igidious 15.05 



Lulu 14.10 



Priscilla win 



close of this race the record for the season stood as follows: Pris- 

 cilla winner 4 times, Flying Eagle 4, Cocktail 4. Josephine.", Graeie 

 3, Igidious 2, Bowers 1, Little Tycoon 1. The tie for first place was 

 sailed off iu the afternoon at 2 o'clock. At this time the wind had 

 increased to a whole sail breeze, some of the smaller boats who 

 accompanied the racers preferring to take in a reef. The usual 

 course of 5 miles was sailed: 



Finish. 



Priscilla, L. G. Palmer 3 05 00 



Flying Eagle, Geo. Bitter 3 10 40 



Cocktail, Paul Brandt 3 12 15 



The Priscilla wins the championship for the season of 1887. The 

 time made in sailing off the tic was the best ever made over this 

 course. The PriseiUa had a lead of nearly half a mile at the 

 finish. She carried a mainsail of 191ft., and had a crew of three 

 men including the captain. She was built this season by Wignall 

 of Philadelphia, and is undoubtedly the fastest boat in the club. 

 The Flying Eagle has 162ft. of canvas and carried four men. The 

 Cocktail carried 165ft. of sail and three men. The Priscilla won 

 nearly all of her lead by close pointing in three long reaches, to 

 the buoy at Indian Creek, the other boats ma king about a dozen 

 tacks each. She increased her lead slightly in the run home by 

 virtue of her large sail aud small crew. Judges, Thomos Rochell 

 and William Alcorn. 



The following summary of some of the leading features of our 

 boats and racing this season may interest, some of your readers. 

 The Montgomery Sailing Club' was organized last March with 

 about a dozen members on the roll. There are at present forty- 

 four active members in the club, and it is proposed to raise the 

 initiation fee very materially as a means of checking its rapid 

 growth. The boats range from 12 to 10ft. in length, and race iu 

 one class under an allowance based on the cubical contents of 

 each hull. The fleet originally consisted of tuckups and duckers 

 of about 15ft. length, and one open canoe or skiff 12ft. long. Short ly 

 after the organization of the club, the owner of the hiker May- 

 flower applied for admittance to the club. A majority of the 

 members were opposed to the admission of such a, craft, and a 

 rule was adopted limiting the size of mainsail of any boat to 180ft. 

 The Mayflower is a 15ft. boat and carried 40yds. (310ft.) of sail. 

 When reefed down to 190ft., the 12ft. skiff, Graeie, beat her over 

 the course without time allowance. Mr. Adams, the owner of the 

 Mayflower, then ordered a 16ft. hiker of one of the most skillful 

 builders in Philadelphia. The new boat carried a sail of 50yds. 

 (300ft.) and is named the Pennsylvania. After repeated requests 

 by her owner, the boat was entered on the club list and given an 

 arbitrary handicap of 12 minutes for a course of 5 miles. The 

 owner accepted the handicap and competed in a number of races, 

 withdrawing in all excepting two, in which cases he was placed 

 last. The record of the club boats for the 22 races sailed this 

 season is as follows. The boats arc allowed points in accordance 

 with their position in each race, the h st boat being allowed one 

 point, next to last two points, etc., the winner being allowed as 

 many points as there were boats in the . ace. The record is based 

 on corrected time, not actual time. 



Sail 



(^mating. 



Elapsed. Corrected. 



1 05 00 1 05 37 



1 10 40 1 10 40 



1 12 15 1 11 15 



Cocktail 14.09 



Priscilla 15.03 



Flying Eagle 15.04 



G. W. Bbwers 15.04 



Graeie 12.00 



E. C. Potts 14.11 



Josephine 15.05 



Igidious 15.05 



Play ford 15.02 



Lulu 14.10 



Ino 15.02 



Princess 15.00 



Elsie 14.10 



Little Tycoon 10.00 



H. C. Scott.. 14.11 



Pennsylvania 16 . 00 



46 

 45 

 51 

 43 

 20 

 43 

 48 

 51 

 43 

 50 

 38 

 24 

 38 

 54 

 46 



165 

 191 

 162 



85 

 184 

 161 

 191 



174 

 110 

 85 

 110 

 177 

 172 

 300 



14 

 15 

 6 

 19 

 15 

 14 

 19 

 2 

 11 

 12 

 2 

 11 

 7 

 9 

 2 



50 



6.25 



86 



6.14 



86 



5.73 



32 



5.33 



100 



5.26 



71 



4.73 



64 



4.57 



83 



4.36 



8 



4.00 



36 



3.27 



38 



3.16 



6 



3.00 



30 



2.72 



19 



2.71 



22 



2.44 



2 



1.00 



The column of cubic feet refers to the size of the boat and is 

 obtained by the following formula ) 2 X^= cubical contents of 

 hull. G is the girth of boat at point of greatest beam, and L the 

 length. Centerboards are raised or removed when the girth 

 measurement is taken. The Graeie is heavily handicapped in 

 girth measurement, as she has high sides with wooden blocks 

 fastened outside of gunwales, for row locks, and a 4in. keel, around 

 which the measuring string was drawn. Her girth is recorded as 

 7ft. 4in., while that of the Princess, a boat of the same depth and 

 2in. more beam is 7ft. 2in. The allowances for a five mile course 

 are as follows: Little Tycoon allows Igidi- as a ad Flying Eagle 

 33s., Lulu 44s„ Josephine lm. 8s., Cocktail and H. C. Scott lm. 33s., 

 Priscilla lm. 46s., E. C. Potts, G. W. Bowers and F. & W. Playford 

 2m. 13s., Ino and Elsie 3m. 25s., Princess 7m. 50s. , Graeie 9m. 36s. 

 Priscilla and Igidious are handicapped lm. 50s. for excess of sail 

 area. — E. A. Leopold, Com. M. S. C. 



NEW YACHTS.— Mr. A. Gary Smith will begin at once a design 

 for a singlesticker for the second class for a membor of the New 

 York and Seawanhaka clubs. She will be a racer, of light con- 

 struction, and the wooden hull will be built by Poillon, at 

 Gowanus. The dimensions and details of the design are not yet 



fully decided upon Mr. E. L. Williams, the designer and builder 



of Pilgrim and Prince Karl, has completed a design for a oenter- 

 board-keel boat for a Boston gentleman. She will be 36ft. 1. w. 1., 

 14ft. beam at deck, 12ft. Sin. beam at 1. w. 1., 5f t. 9in. in extreme 



draft at sternpost. She will carry t)/z tons of lead on keel The 



new Burgess schooner, which the Lawleys will build, is for Mr. 



Herman Oelrichs, of New York Besides the steel yacht from 



Mr. Watson's design for Hamilton, Ont., there will be added to 

 the local fleet a Burgess boat about 38ft. 1. w. 1.; one from a desigu 

 by C. P. Kunhardt, and a cutter from a design by Mr. C. P. Clay- 

 ton, of Southampton, Eng. This last boat will be 60ft. over all, 

 42ft. 1. w. 1., 13ft. beam, Oft. draft, with 15 tons of lead on keel. 



STUART'S OIL AND GREASE EXTRACTOR. — The steam 

 yacht Stranger, Mr. Geo. S.* Scott, now refitting for a Southern 

 voyage, is using successfully the new oil and grease extractor in- 

 vented by Mr. Sinclair Stuart, and fitted to the Cunard and other 

 large steamers. By this device the oil, grease and gri t are extracted 

 from the exhaust steam before it is returned to the condenser, 

 pumps or boiler, preventing the injury to them which follows the 

 presence of oil and grease. This is the first applica tion of the 

 device to yachts, though it is of no less value than in merchant 

 vessels. 



YACHT MEASUREMENT ABROAD.— At the meeting of the 

 Council of the Y. R. A. on Oct. 25, Mr. W. G. Jameson made a 

 motion that length on loadlino be struck out of the measurement 

 rule, making it a pure sail area role, which motion was seconded 

 by Capt. Percy Hewitt. The weight of opinion in the discussion 

 that followed was against any alteration of the present rule, made 

 last December for 7 years. A letter was read from Mr. Watson 

 protesting against the efforts to change the rule, and also against 

 the sail area rule itself. A vote was taken, only Mr. Jameson vot- 

 ing in favor of the changes. By a unanimous vote the B and C 

 classes were abandoned. 



Secretaries of canoe clubs are requested to send to Forest and 

 Stbisaai their addresses, with name, membership, signal, etc., of 

 their clubs, and also notices in advance, of meetings and races, and 

 report of the same. Canoeists and all interested in canoeing are 

 requested to forward to Forest and Stream their addresses, with 

 logs of cruises, maps, and information concerning their local 

 waters, drawings or descriptions of boats and fittings, and all items 

 relating to the sport. 



AMERICAN CANOE ASSOCIATION. 



Officers, 1886-87. 

 Commodore: R. J. Wilkin - , Brooklyn, N. Y. 

 Secretary-Treasurer: Wm. hi. Caeteh, Trenton, BT. J. 

 Officers-Elect 1887-88. 



Commodore: R. W. Gibson \ ,, h w v 



Secretary-Treasurer: F. L. Mix. X Aioany, n. y. 

 Vice-Corn. Rear-Com. Purser. 



Central Div.. Henry Stan ton... R. \V. Ballev E.W. Brown, l-16B"wav, N.Y. 



Eastern Div..L. Q. Jones Geo. M. Barnev. . . . W. B. Davidson, Hartford. 



W'tnernDiv..A.D. T.Mcttaehen . I oj 



Applications for membership must be made to division pursers, accom- 

 panied oy the recommendation of an active member and the sum of S3.00 

 for ent.ru lire fee and dues for current, year (§1.00). Every member attending 

 the Kcncral A. c. A. camp shall pay $1.00 for camp expenses. Application 

 sent to the Sec'y-Trens, will he forwarded bv him to the proper Division. 



Persons residing in the Central Division wishing to become members of 

 the A. C. A., will be furnished with printed form... of application by address- 

 ing the Purser. * _ 



PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO CONSTITUTION. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



While, the objections of "Runic and File" in the last number of 

 Forest an d St t! ram are all right in principle, he takes, an ex- 

 treme, view of the case and one that can never arise in practice. 

 The idea of the amendment, as 1 understand it, is that the execu- 

 tive committee shall have the benefit of the advice and counsel 

 of some of the oldest, ablest and best members of the A.C.A.; men 

 who have been chosen to fill the highest office in the Association. 

 The. number of commodores is small and increases only by one 

 each year, the full number thus far being seven, including the 

 commodore who retires at the coming meeting. Of these seven 

 one is present by right, while only one or perhaps two others are 

 at all likely to be present, in practice it means, this year that one 

 ex-commodore, who will be in Albany, will be admitted to the 

 meeting. Next year one or two may be present whose voice and 

 counsel might aid the executive committee, composed in part of 

 new men. As the commodores are chosen from all localities there 

 is little danger of any concerted action against the. will of the 

 majority, and as very few are likely to avail themselves of the 

 privilege if offered there does not appear to be any great danger 

 of such a result as "Bank and File" anticipates. C. P. 



THE LOCATION OF THE NEXT MEET. 



THE question of the location of the meet, always a difficult one, 

 is made still more complicated this year by the action of the 

 Eastern canoeists in declining to accept the Commodorcship and 

 consequently the management of the meet, which went to them 

 this year by right. It was expected that with a meet in the East- 

 ern Division, the site would be on salt water about Long Island 

 Sound, as the Eastern men had favored such a meet, but at the last 

 moment their decision not to accept the Commodorcship made it 

 necessary to elect a Commodore without regard to the plan of 

 rotation, which it was intended should be a permanent feature of 

 the. division scheme. The election of Vice-Corn. Gibson to the 

 office of Commodore was a very wise act, considering his long ex- 

 perience in A. C. A work, and the necessity of having an able and 

 experienced man in the position at this time; but it carried with 

 it the necessity of holding the meet somewhere within reach of 

 the Commodore, as he must personally look after most of the 

 arrangements. It has been informally proposed to hold the next, 

 meet at Lake George, and many who have been there before are 

 in favor of it: but, as will be seen, the project has brought out some 

 vigorous protests from canoeists about. New York. 



It is claimed, and with some reason, that a meet near New York 

 city and on salt water would only be just to canoeists in that 

 vicinity, and would be of permanent benefit to canoeing and the 

 A. C. A., also that the meets have been for a long enough time in the 

 vicinity of central New York. Our correspondent "Boatswain" 

 goes into the matter in earnest, but after pitching heavily into 

 the Association he offers no practical solution of the real difficulty. 

 His inferences from the figures are misleading, the reason for so 

 large a preponderance from the Middle States being because the 

 canoeists from that locality so for outnumber those in the West 

 and Canada. He is also in error in his statement con- 

 cerning the West; the definite offer of the Commodorcship and a. 

 meet in the West was made, in 1885 by the A. C. A., but Western 

 canoeists preferred to be entirely independent of the A. C. A. 



We should favor a meet near New York as but fair to canoeists 

 in that locality and likely to benefit canoeing, but the great ques- 

 tion is as to where it could be held. In fact the great requisites 

 of a large meet, still water and no tides, are not to be found on 

 the salt water. There are no good places on the Hudson River; 

 Staten Island, New York Bay, and the west end of the Sound offer 

 no suitable sites, the location mentioned by "Boatswain," the 

 Shrewsbury River, is unsuited for a meet by reason of the violent 

 tides and the rise and fall. The river itself is small in extent, and 

 the shores we believe low, while about the Highlands and mouth 

 of the river, though a most beautiful cruising ground, there is no 

 water for a meet, the tide being unusually strong. 



There are many beautiful spots along the Sound on both shores, 

 but everywhere the same objection holds good, the rise and fall of 

 the tide. What would be done with a fleet of two or three hundred 

 canoes on a beach where the tide runs up for a hundred feet and 

 down again twice each day, to say nothing of the chance of a 

 heavy sea? No system of floats seems possible without an extra- 

 ordinary outlay, and no other plan has yet been proposed. At 

 Grindstone and Bow-Arrow Point, a canoe was run up or off of the 

 rough stages a dozen times each day by her owner alone, but on a 

 tidal beach a carry r of a dozen yards at least must be made every 

 time a canoe is used, while there is apt to be more or less danger 

 from the sea. There are beautiful camp sites and line sailing 

 waters in abundance, Thimble Islands, Huntington Bay, Narra- 

 gansett Bay, but all have from 4 to 5ft. rise and fall of tide. Shin- 

 necock Bay is the best in this respect, but even it has the disadvan- 

 tage of being difficult of access. 



This much seems certain, that a salt-water meet will not be 

 specially pleasant to inland men, the hot sand, salt wind, strong 

 currents, and difficulty of landing, to say nothiug of possible 

 mosquitoes, all combine to make salt water very trying at first, 

 and those who take the responsibility of a salt-water meet may 

 expect, to be roundly blamed if it is not a success. It is readily 

 seen that such water as Lake Champlain or the St. Lawrence 

 offers far greater advantages for such a gathering as a large meet 

 of canoes, and glad as we should be to see a meet near New York 

 and on salt water, we are still willing to go a little further afield 

 for such a camp as on Eel Bay or at Bow- Arrow Point. The ques- 

 tion will be decided this week, and we hope satisfactorily to the 

 majority. The time must come soon when the Central Division 

 will be divided, forming a new division with New York as a cen- 

 ter, and then the division meet will inevitably be on salt water. 

 Such a division now seems a necessity, as there are many canoeists 

 about New York city and New Jersey who cannot visit a distant 

 meet and for whose needs some provision must be made. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I notice in this week's issue of your paper, that the "Jerseyites" 

 want Lake George to be the place of the A. C. A. meet for 1887. 



That ma5 r be the opinion of one or two of the canoeists from the 

 State, but. it is not. the wish of the great majority. We are united 

 on a salt-water camp, and are not particular where it is held. I 

 wouhl mention the Shrewsbury Riveras a place easy of access and 

 with good sailing grounds. At Rod Bank, on the North Shrews- 

 bury, there are about fifty canoeists, who no doubt would come 

 into the ranks if we could have a meet where they could enjoy it. 

 Fifty canoeists would be at the meet from Passaic waters, while 

 if it is held at the north the number would not be o ver h alf a dozen. 

 In your issue of Sept. 29 the secretary of the A. C. A. publishes a 

 list of members who have not paid up. The account stands about 

 thus: West 35, East 31, Middle 105, North 2 and South 2 members. 

 The West, have taken the bull by the horns and have an organiza- 

 tion of their own and will not come back into our ranks. Why? 

 Because they have been badly treated by the A. C. A., the meets 

 being held always in the North. Why is it that the Middle States 

 have so large a majority in the above figures? Because the meets 

 are held where very few canoeists can get at them. Every year 

 there is talk of "next y r ear" the meet will be near New York, 



canoe owners join the A. C. A. on that idea, the meet 1 



xt year' 



is not hold near New York, the "next year" those same canoeisu 

 do not pay up, and do not care if they are ruled out of the Associa- 

 tion for not "paying up," because they have an idea the A. 0. A, 



