398 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



IDEC. 6, 1888- 



pj 1/2 m o 1 z 



SUGAR ISLAND. SITE OF THE A. 0. A. MEET OF 1880. 

 A, Camp of 1884-85-86, Grindstone Island. Main Camp. B, Squaw Point. CI, Delaney's Farmhouse. E, Sugar Island. F, Proposed Ladies' Camp. 



be put into a form like the camp dues, paid only wbob a fnemM 

 attends a moot, rather than tho annual dues, which rnanj have 

 paid for years though too far away to attend a meet, the better it 

 will be. We are in favor then of a policy by which each Division 

 will be induced to increase its membership by the addition of 

 every desirable canoeist within its borders, and at the same time 

 of such an economical administration of affairs as shall provide 

 for reasonable expenditures' in the way of prizes and facilities for 

 the proper conduct of the races and camp; and when these are 

 provided for, it a "dangerous surplus" be left, that, the dues be 

 decreased first by the abolishment of the initial fee. and then by 

 a reduction of tho annual dues to every club Which shall join the 

 A. C. A. in a body, paying a lump suin to the Division purser in 

 place of $1 to be collected from each individual member. This 

 plan, to which we have alluded before, is too radical to be under- 

 taken in haste, and the details are as yet in a very crude shape, 

 but the main points of it are that there is a very large proportion 

 of club members that are not in t he A . ( '. A., 'and who can onl v 

 be brought in through a scheme which will induce their clubs to 

 join as compact bodies. A careful can vas of the question will 

 show that with such an increase of membership as would follow 

 from a number of clubs joining in this way, the, receipts Would be 

 so large, with no great increase of expenses, that a reduction of 

 dues even below the present low figure would be possible. 



Two amendments to the constitution were proposed and adopted 

 by those present at the meeting; the first fixing a uniform date at 

 which all Division officers should take office, the second changing 

 the date of appointment of Division regatta committees. The for- 

 mer point was an omission at the time the new constit ution was 

 drawn up, the matter not being thoroughly considered, so that 

 the officers who were elected at a Division meet took office at once. 

 In practice the plan was objectionable* because the new purser 

 came in, and the books were, transferred to him, at the very time 

 when he is most occupied with new applications, just; preceding 

 the A. C. A. meet; and further, he was hardlv settled in office he- 

 fore he was obliged to prepare his annual report. In the same way 

 the new vice-commodore took command of the Division just pre- 

 ceding the A. C. A. meet, and so was not fully familiar with his 

 duties at tho timo he went to the meet. Under the new amend- 

 ment the terms of .all officers end in the dull season in tho fall, 

 with the Executive Committee meeting, so that the new officers 

 have ample time to become familiar with their duties before the 

 season's work, both for the division and A. C. A. meet, begins. The 

 second change was made because it.ha6 proved impossible in prac- 

 tice to appoint men at. the end of oae season to the regufi a com- 



mittee, with any 

 their duties propc 

 vice-commodore n 

 by wnich time he 

 Two very impo 

 first time by the 



. (hat they will be able to attend to 

 rly nearly a. year later. As now arranged each 

 ly select his regatta commit tee late in January, 

 an tell who will he able to serve. 

 I an i subjei is were discussed this year for the 

 xeeutive committee, the question of limiting 

 racing canoes and that of order in camp. While all the officers 

 present were outspoken in favor of some action in behalf of the 

 legitimate cruising canoe as opposed to the racing machine, after 

 a long discussion no practicable method of restricting the 

 maciiines»was proposed. A limit of sail area and a rule prohib- 

 iting standing rigs and seats wider than t he canoe were discussed, 

 but it was not deemed best to recommend the adoption of either. 

 It was decided to take no action at present, but to leave it to an- 

 other year to say whether some of the evils would not either cor- 

 rect themselves or become so much greater that more stringent 

 rules would be welcomed by all, and in the meantime to trust to 

 the judgment of the regatta committee to provide some races for 

 canoes that, are in every respect cruiser.-. The following resolu- 

 tion was finally int roduced by Mr. Andrews and seconded bv ex- 

 Commodore Rathbun, "Resolved, That the executive committee 

 Association deprecates most fit rongly the 

 racing appliances that are irit 'ompati ble 

 oi cruising, and rcconimendstothe regatta 

 gramme of the races shall be so arranged 

 is possible i he legitimate cruising canoe." 

 ion. time since the Royal O. C. considered 

 wa have not yet had a report of the action 



of the American Canoe 

 introduction of special 

 with the requirements 

 committee that the pre 

 as to encourage as far i 

 At its fall meeting a si 

 the same question, but 

 taken. 



The question of order in camp is one that is each year of more 

 importance as uew men come in. Of course a wide latitude must 

 be allowed in sucb a camp as far as mere conventionalities are 

 concerned, but a.tthesa.me time it is most essential that anything 

 approaching drunkenness or open disorder must be promptly sup- 

 pressed. At one of the Grindstone camps some trouble was caused 

 by two canoeists, total strangers, from a distant point, who 

 drank more than was good for them, and were finally invited 

 by the officers to continue their cruise at once and to stop no 

 longer in camp. In 1887 there was a little trouble of the 

 same nature, and again in the last camp. In everv case it 

 was due to but one or two persons, strangers who had lately 

 .mined the A. C. A. From early morning until midnight the 

 camp is full ot noise, song and frolic, that is part of the sport 

 and all expect and enjoy it. The trouble begins after the 

 camp bas quieted down for the night and when nearly e 



5do 



one is desirous of a quiet rest. It is" within tin 

 two noisy men, whether sober or not does not ma 

 tims, to keep the whole camp awake, as has been 

 the case. It is asking too much of the Con 

 that they shall be up all night plaving police, and i 

 posed that the executive committee shall be i 

 ing, to hear complaints and investigate any 

 £J!£&2MS* SJ tlR ' S»^ m 4 \ ttee served to stop all trouble" this 

 thStVt P n . V" er y ucrt i*" 1 ,1,:u ,f jt b e generally understood 

 !£ a i!l- s S c ^' aiso ^ e ? will be promptly dealt with, there will be 

 no ground of complaint. The matter was suggested this year by 



r of one or 

 r to their vic- 

 li*e t han once 

 e and his aids 

 has been pro- 

 u every morn- 

 s of disorder 



lOx-Com. (iibson, and after being discussed at the meeting the fol- 

 lesolutiomwns passed: Resolved. "Tliatiu view of the necessity of 

 preserving order and quiet in camp during the night, the hour oj 

 f taps' shall be changed from 10 to 11:30 P. M; after which hour 

 quiet must he maintained." The old rule, of quiet after 10 P, M., 

 was broken as a matter of course by all, from the officers down, 

 but the new limit. U;30 P. M.,is far more practicable. 



In regard to a site the feeling was strongly in favor of Sugar 

 Island, which was selected unanimously. It is a beautiful little 

 island about half a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide, located, 

 as shown on the accompanying chart, within a mile of tho old 

 camp ground of 18S+, \S"> and '80. It is miles from Gananoque, 

 f> miles from Clayton, and a little over 1 mile from the farmhouse 

 ott Grindstone Island, where many took their meals at the old 

 camps. The shape of the island is'shown in the chart, irregular, 

 with several little bays, and a wide peninsula on the south side, 

 on which it has been proposed to locate tile ladies' camp. The 

 ground in the center is quitohigh, and in no place, we understand, 

 is it boggy or swampy. A good locat ion pan hi; had for a. wharf, 

 and an offer has been made already to build the wharf, do w hat 

 underbrushing is necessary, and to run a small steamer as a ferry 

 boat, for the privilege of running tho camp store. Lumber can 

 be hail cheaply from Uananoque, and if the excellent plan as that 

 originated by the site committee this year be followed, the floats 

 and stages can he built without cost to the Association. 



The two successful Division meets held in '87 and '88 in the 

 Northern Division have helped canoeing greatly in Canada, and 

 there is now much euthusiam over the coming" meet, and every 

 indication of a very satisfactory attendance. The Central 

 Division will not hold a Division meet of its own this year, but 

 will lend all its efforts to the general meet on Sugar Island. The 

 Eastern Division is likely to hold a local meet early in the year, 

 as bsuaUand then to turn out in good numbers at the A. C. A. 

 meet. The Atlantic Division is now arranging for a large Division 

 meet in July, about a month prior to the A. C. A. meet, but it also 

 expects to send a large delegat ion to the A. C. A. meet. Thus 

 there is ev ery prospect of a larger nicer than ever before in the 

 coming August, and also that at the end of the year the Associa- 

 tion will be in a most prosperous condition, both' in numbers and 

 in finances, and with added experience to guide it toward a st ill 

 more extended sphere of usefulness. 



TH ROUGH BULL'S FALLS TO HARPER'S FERRY 



LEAVES FROM THE LOG OJ? THE FHANKIE. 



rpilE river flowed deep and smooth for several miles— a noble. 

 JL majest ic stream a quarter of a mile wide or thereabouts— till 

 we readied the vicinity of Hull's Falls, noted as the worst place 

 on the river, and hut two or three miles from Harper's 1'errv and 

 the Potomac. Wo landed at the old stone wharf known as Bnoi - 

 andoab. <'ity, and walked down the railroad track to reconnoitre. 

 Just below the broad, still flow ends in a wide, shallow, reefy 

 rapid, the distinction between the rapid and the deep water above 

 being so marked— so much of the reefs being above water— that at 

 low water it looks more like the beach of a lake than the continu- 

 ation of a river. At the present stage, however, the u'ater covered 

 the entire expanse and fell away down the slope in a white, foamy 



We followed it for halt a mile or thereabouts, the boat channel 

 being plainly apparent— a perfectly clear, swift, narrowlittle road 

 of water, close to the railroad emba nkmeut, along the inner side- 

 till we came to the falls. And the falls! They were no more like 

 the falls I have frequently seen from the car windows than a 

 breeze is like a cyclone. The great boulder-strewn ledge, over 

 and among which the water falls almost perpendicularly, was a 

 continuous deep, heavy cataract, the rocks all covered, a'ud over 

 the two great boulders close to the railroad, so familiar to passers 

 by, between which at low water most of the river finds its way 

 over the ledge, the water now rushed in colossal billows, while the 

 whole breadth of the river below the ledge was churned iuto a 

 white mass of heaving, tumbling, seething, foam-crested breakers; 

 and the spectacle was awe-inspiring. The boat, channel passes 

 t he end of the falls next, to the railroad, in a short canal cut 

 through the rock, and ordiuarily affords a safe, easy passage 

 around the falls, but tbe water now rushed through this narrow 

 little gap with immense power; two great furrows of water like 

 those thrown from the bows of a large, rupidlv-moviug steamer, 

 only much larger, extending diagonally in parallel lines across it 

 from top t,o bottom, while below it was joined by the great mass 

 of waters over the ledge, and the quarter of a miieof huge rollers 

 that followed menaced certain destruction to our small craft, 

 even it they succeeded in living through the chute, while all 

 around us and far away below us the mountains closed in on 

 cither side, shouldering the river right and left, as it fought 

 savagely tor the passage it had cut down deep into their very 

 foundations. A continuous series of great rocky reefs or 

 girders reached a.c-ross the gorge from one colossal' wall to the 

 ottier, over which the river rushed and foamed on its way down 

 the steeply sloping defile as though, having cut deep down below 

 the floor of the Vfilley, it was tripping and falling over the 

 very foundation sills of the mountains, while far away the 

 imposing Maryland Heights shut squarely across the vista as 

 though finally opposing a successful barrier to the river, which 

 joining the Potomac at its base, the two, united, with a supreme 

 eflort rend their way through the mightv barrier, whose timc- 

 scarrcd flanks dip down into the water on either side. 



I he houses, shops and ruined Government buildings of Har- 

 per s Ferry were visible at the very end of the long down-hill 

 vista, three miles away. We followed on down tbe railroad 



(which hero descends at the rate of 90ft. to tho milej for a mile, 

 and found the noted mountain gorge filled from side to side with 

 the turbulent, heaving, rushing flood, and the outlook was very 

 dubious indeed. 



"Well, wbat do you iliink'.-" said George, as we returned and 

 stood on the edge of the canal gating ruefully at the thunderous 

 cataract and the raging torrent pouring through the narrow 

 channel. 



"Well, 1 think the best way to get in is to go back to Halltown. 

 just opposite where we left the canoe, and getting a couple of those 

 section hands I noticed there working on the t rack as we came 

 down, to carry the boats over to the station there, and we'll walk 

 in."' 



"O, pshaw! I hate to abandon the cruise in sight of Harper's 

 Petty after coming this far and passing through all we ha ve been 

 through to get there." 



"So do 1, but I hate to get wet, too, and probably lose a canoe or 

 two with an outfit, to say nothing of the personal risk, which will 

 assuredly be the case if we tackle this canal and these rollers." 



"Can't we make it, don't you think V" 



"I tun afraid not; in fact I am so sure of it that I have, no desire 

 to try it. Those huge swells in the canal will swamp ns as soon 

 as we attempt it." 



"Clear across there below the falls and for a long way down the 

 water is comparatively smooth. Now, if we could onlv get over 

 iuto that we would be all right." 



"Yes, if we were there, but the getting there is the thing. I'll 

 tell you what we'll do. I still think the safe, sensible plan is to 

 take no chances and abandon the cruise right here and walk in, 

 for there's more rough water ahead: we arc not out of the woods 

 by any means when we pass these falls. See how the gorge falls 

 away below us! There's bound to be bad water with such a fall, 

 and besides all Ihese reefs are below us. We didn't go far enough 

 when we. were down there; we ought to have taken a look around 

 that bond and below those islands; but I hate to be beaten so near 

 the end of the cruise as badly as you do. If the river was not so 

 high the canal would push us around I his place easily, but itcan't 

 be passed now and that's all there is of it. You notice the river is 

 smooth above the falls and below the rapids? Well, we'll drop 

 down the boat channel through the rapid, and when we reach Hie 

 lower point of that island above there we'll cross over to the other 

 side, and the chances are that we'll find some place to slip by like 

 we did at Watson's Falls. We'll take t he chances anyhow." 



We accordingly returned to the canoes, re-embarked and drop- 

 ped cautiously down the chute, through tho rapids, until we 

 reached tbe landmark agreed upon, when we turned our bows up 

 stream and drove the boats across the river as rapidly as possible, 

 for we were perilously near the falls. We landed on the rocks 

 close to the shore, and lifted and slid tho boats over the ledge 

 forming the falls now, a very narrow, deep, sw ift, crooked little 

 channel, which we were fortunate enough to find, evidently a dr\ 

 gully at low water, down which, after a very difficult job getting 

 aboard t he canoes at all— owing to the fierce rush of the torrent 

 — we shot, like arrows, one at a time. Midway down, in spite of 

 every effort, I ran square upon a huge rock in midstream; tbe 

 bow of the "boat glanced off, and she struck broadside on with a 

 crash that I felt sure had smashed in the entire side. I averted a 

 capsize by my usual tactics, of instantly jumping out on to the 

 rock, while George shot by me like an arrow and was lost to sight 

 around a sharp bend to the left. 1 examined my canoe to see if 

 there was enough of her left to carry me out of my predicament, 

 for, as before mentioned, the rock on which 1 struck was in mid- 

 stream; and to my surprise and pleasure I found she was entirely 

 uninjured, so I pusbed her oil the rock, hauled her carefully 

 alongside, stepped quickly in (a delicate operation in such a tor- 

 rent) and was whirled swiftly awa\ . I shot around the cane and 

 tound (ieorge entangled in the bushes at the end of tho chute on 

 the left side, and in an instant more found myself entangled in 

 the bushes on the right, or down-stream side. As the current set 

 squarely throngh the bushes on my side, I had no resource but to 

 get out up to my waist in the water and work the boat clear. 1 

 was soon clear and back in tho oauoe, and in a few minutes more 

 we. found ourselves out in the river again, in the smooth water 

 below the falls, and for a mile or more we had a comparatively 

 smooth run. 



We passed the collection of clumpy, bushy islands clustered in 

 the bend of the river, and stopped appalled at the sight that 

 burst upon our astonished vision. For a mile or two ahead the 

 gorge was filled with a horrible mass of t umbling, roaring, writh- 

 ing, leaping-, foaming white water, the uplifted crests of the 

 great waves splashing high in the air in every directiou, while 

 far ahead, but dimly seen through the gathering twilight, stand- 

 ing calm and dignified above the horrible commotion below it, 

 was the bridge across the Shenandoah, immediately above its 

 junction with the Potomac, a beacon to indicate our haven. 



It was impossible to return, and there seemed no outlet for us, 

 but straight ahead; so in we plowed, 1 in the lead and George 

 following close to the right bank. The power of the water, its 

 velocity and the magnitude of the huge rollers were something 

 frightful and far surpassed anything wo had experienced before. 

 As the dangers thickened I kept perfectly cool and steady and 

 managed my boat with all the skill and power ! possessed, but 

 she was like a straw in the. resistless overwhelming torrent. 



1 turned to see how George was faring; as 1 looked, half tbe hull 

 of his boat was visible out of the water, which poured from her 

 decks in sheets and dripped glistening from her glossy black 

 sides. An instant later she plunged clown again till all I could 

 see was his head and shoulders among the angry-crested waves, 

 roaring around him to engulf him. 



A dozen times at least I gave.myself up for capsized and pre- 

 pared to jump out and swim for life, but each time regained my 



