Jan. 19, 1888.1 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



513 



THE CRUISING SCHOONER ALERT. 



THE accompanying drawings show the deck and interior of the 

 Alert, whose lines were given last week. The bowsprit is a 

 single round stick, as is now the fashion, but not fitted to house, 

 the heel being stepped in locust bitts running down to the keel. 

 Tho windlass is of the pump-brake pattern. Abaft it is the fore- 

 castle hatch, with a 12in. iron ladder on after side, while abaft the 

 foremast is a second hatch leading to the galley. The main com- 

 panion is in the form of a cabin trunk, 8ft. square and 2t!in. high, 

 with windows in the side and fore end. The floor beneath this 

 trunk is raised 2ft. above the level of the cabin floor, so that those 

 in this after room can have a view on all sides from the windows. 

 This room, 8ft. square, is used as a smoking and chart room, and 

 for changing oilers and boots when coming below. On the port 

 side is a large locker for oilers aud boots, while to starboard are 

 signal and chart lockers. On each side is a long seat. The entire 

 arrangement is a very convenient one. as the owner has always a 

 view of the deck, which can be reached in a moment, while the 

 drip from wet clothing is not carried into the saloon and state- 

 rooms. Abaft this room is the captain's cabin, the space about it 

 being utilized as a sail locker. There being no eenterboard trunk 

 to monopolize the best portion of the boat, the designer has 

 had a free scope, and has succeeded in obtaining very good 

 accommodations. The main saloon, lfxl9ft., is placed for- 

 ward inst ead of aft, as is usual, thus being convenient to the 

 galley. From the chart room two steps lead to a long passage, 

 with portieres at each end, along the side of which are the state- 

 rooms. The owner's room, 13x 9ft. Sin. , is on the starboard side, 

 abaft the saloon. It will be handsomely fitted up with berth, 

 large sofa, dressing table with mirror, wash stand and cushioned 

 lockers. Opening on it is a bath and toilet room. Abaft the bath- 

 room, and opening on by a door, is a large stateroom, fitted with 

 shelves and desk in addition to the regular furniture, which will 

 do duty as the owner's study when not required for guests. On 

 the port side of the passage are three staterooms for guests and 

 a toilet room. There are thus six staterooms, including the one 

 abaft the smoking room. The main saloon is a large and hand- 

 some room, fitted with a long sofa on each side. The dining table 

 is circular, while on the starboard side is a card table. Against 

 the fore bulkhead is a sideboard, and opposite to it a maniel and 

 fireplace. In the floor just under the skylight is a large hatch, 

 giving access to the ample stowage room in the bold. The galley 

 is 13ft. long, with a stateroom in each of the forward corners, one 

 for cook and steward and one for mate and pilot. There is also a 

 large cold blast refrigerator, and dressers, shelves aud pantries in 

 plenty. The crew's mess table is against the foremast, and the 

 lamp locker is in one corner. The forecastle is separate from the 

 galley, with a door between. It contains hammock cots for seven 

 men. 



THE DEED OF GIFT. 



ONE of the foremost features of the international contests of 

 the past three years has been the generous and forgiving spirit 

 displayed by Boston to her old rival and detractor, the returning 

 of good for evil, the heaping of coals on the head of an old enemy. 

 In this pi-esent era of peace and joy and love, of unity in all things, 

 it is hard to realize that only three short years have passed since 

 New York was laughing in scorn and derision over the news that 

 Boston was to build a large racing yacht; when the utter failure 

 of such an attempt to rival New York's supremacy was gleefully 

 predicted. Remembering all this, there are some carping cynics 

 who still maintain that what Boston has done was not solely fiom 

 love and affection toward New York, but that rather the shrewd 

 and canny yachtsmen of the Huh were wise enough to realize 

 that their hour had come, and at the same time were able enough 

 to benefit by the opportunity and place Boston at the head of 

 American yachting. The generous manner in which Boston has 

 hurried again to the defense of the New York Y. C. at a time 

 when neither cup, honors nor credit were to be gained, is a suf- 

 ficient answer to these uncharitable insinuations and is ample 

 proof of the love and affection which exists between these two 

 great cities. The yachtsmen and the press of Boston have rallied 

 to the defense of the new deed of gift, and as the case now stands, 

 Boston is again doing all the fighting while ISew York looks on. 



The comments made by the Forest and Stream have called 

 out a number of excuses and statements in both the Boston Globe 

 and Herald during the last three weeks, of course at too great 

 length to admit of republishing them in full, but all that has yet 

 appeared in defense of the deed of gift may be classed under one 

 of three heads: general indorsement and commendation; irrele- 

 vant and unimportant facts; and incorrect and misleading state- 

 ments. 



Speaking with authority for Gen. Paine, Mr. Burgess and Com. 

 Forbes, the papers mentioned have praised the provisions of the 

 new deed, one and all, as wise, generous and eminently fair, and 

 in addition the Boston Herald presents the indorsement of half a 

 dozen more commodores of Boston clubs. We are willing to give 

 full weight to the individual opinions of the gentlemen, recogniz- 

 ing them as we do as the leaders in Eastern yachting, but at the 

 same time we contend that no amount of general indorsement will 

 constitute an answer to a specific charge. Most of the points 

 brought out in the interviews with the commodores mentioned are 

 treated on elsewhere, and it would be needless as well as impos- 

 sible to discuss each interview in detail here. 



As a sample of the second method of defense, we quote from the 

 Boston Globe: 



"In the first place, a new set of conditions were imperatively 

 needed. The old deed w T as thoroughly inadequate. By its pro- 

 visions yachts of almost any siz« could challenge for the'Cup, and 

 the challenger had no assurance that a big boat would not he put 

 against a little one. Indeed, if the challenging yacht had been of 

 a size where the American yachts were weak, and there had been 

 a doubt of the ability of the American boats of similar size to de- 

 fend the Cup, it is a question whether it would not have been the 

 duty of the Cup Committee to put a larger yacht against tne 

 challenger, of course with the usual time allowance. There were 

 quest 1 ons about the precedence of challenges, and after lodging 

 a notice and starting to build his yacht the challenger might be 

 superceded by a yacht already built. These and many other ques- 

 tions were in doubt, and it was deemed necessary to make the deed 

 exact. This, at least, has been done, and there is now no doubt of 

 the meaning of the deed, and the challenger knows beforehand 

 just what he has to expect." 



The question of the advisability of a change in the deed of gift 

 has never been disputed, in fact the first suggestion for such a 

 change was made in the Forest and Stream of Oct. 6, in com- 

 menting on the last Cup race. In that article, and still more in 

 detail a week later, we discussed the changes necessary to accom- 

 modate the Cup races to modern conditions, and while the right of 

 the holders to change the first deed is at least doubtful, no objec- 

 tion would have been raised to changes which while possibly not 

 quite legal, were in the spirit of the original and in the interest of 

 fair play. The Globe's defense of the new deed, that it is exact 

 and definite in its demands, will not hold, as will be seen on in- 

 spection, and even by the Globe's own admission, quoted further 

 on. The criticisms of the Field on Mayflower and Thistle have 

 also been brought forward, but it is not evident that thev prove 

 anything in particular. 



Of this same irrelevant nature is the statement of Com. Forbes, 

 "the Forest and Stream is a cutter paper, and for the past few 

 years has fallen into a habit of grumbling at anything American." 

 The Forest and Stream has for years been the leader in the re- 

 forms that have led directly to Puritan and Yolunteer; the strong- 

 est advocate of the principles now generally adopted in American 

 yachting, and iu the fight for these principles it defended the 

 English cutter, the only craft that then embodied them. Because 

 we have praised in the past much that w r as not American, it does 

 not follow that we are opposed to American yachts as they now 

 are, or that we cannot give a fair and impartial judgment onsuch 

 questions as arise over the deed of gift. Our readers know r what 

 our position has been toward Mr. Burgess and his boats, and 

 wl ether the charge of chronic grumbling against matters Ameri- 

 can is deserved. Just now we are carrying on a vigorous fight 

 against something we believe to be hurtful in every way to Ameri- 

 can yachting. The Boston Globe reiterates Com. Forties's charge 

 and adds: "If this were not the fact, the paper would separate the 

 good points in the deed from what it considers to be the bad ones, 

 and not join in a wholesale condemnation of the terms, refusing 

 to see any good in them at all." 



In the Forest and Stream of Nov. 3 the deed was criticised at 

 length, such points as seemed for the better being noted, but 

 naturally the bulk of the criticism was devoted to the several 

 more prominent points which have since created so much dis- 

 cussion. 



Both of these critics ignore the fact that the Forest and 

 Stream: is backed in its objections by the two papers which for 

 years have opposed it on every point, but which now call loudly 

 for a further revision of the obnoxious document. 

 • Much stress has been laid on the claim that six months' notice 

 was not sufficient time in which to build a defending yacht, but it 

 is a fact that in every case for four years the challengers have 

 offered the lengths of their boats nearly a year in advance, which 

 offers have been received in a hostile and discourteous spirit by 

 the New York Y. C. In 1884 Genesta sent a notice of her inten- 

 tion to challenge, all that she could do legally, in October, Galatea 

 doing the same, Galatea challenged again in September, 1885, so 



