March l6, 1891.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



181 



Ifc was my first cruise in my first canoe, and in addition t,o tbe 

 temerity born of inexperience, T bad ilie most unbounded confi- 

 dence in tlie ability of that wonderfuJ craft to do anythiug and 

 everything required of her. 



This confidence was founded largely upon the highly-colored 

 and somesvhat sangume descriptions of canoes and canoeing 

 found in the. pages of the catalogue of a prominent builder, which 

 lor mouths bad been my daily snirly; and it is a wonder I wasn'i. 

 drowned a dozen times on Liiis cruise, which in my raw entbnsi- 

 aaml had undertaken entirely alone. 



Before tbia ratber eventful cruise was over, however, I found 

 through ibe prompt and ready assistance of that proverbially 

 severe teacher— experience— that while "our littie Shadow" prop"- 

 erly handled" might "live in any sea," my poorlv-designed, home- 

 made canva"! canoe wouldn't; at least not without discomfort, 

 and some personal risk to her crew; and I soon learned to dread 

 the tumultuous ranids with which tbe river abounded, whose big 

 waves usually swept bodily over my canoe from stern to stern, 

 dashing in by the bucketful under my poorly arranged apron; 

 and as 1 looked complacently at the admirable Ti*edwen harches 

 in front of me, which so completely protected the cockpit of the 

 Frankie from rain and seas, I smiled as I thought of that bed- 

 ticking apron, with strips of wood tacked along the sides, and 

 held in pla^e by little pieces of bent tin tacked to the wooden 

 stnps and hooked over the coaming, which I had to lean forward 

 and hold down with hoth hands in rough water to keep the crests 

 of the waves from lifting bodily overboard. 



I had fortunately kept a firm grip on mypaddJe all this time, 

 and as my t;ent went flying out of the canoo 1 made a wild grab 

 for it ami raught it rind managed by bard work to retain it, in 

 spite of the wbirlinE; waters which so nearly wrenched it from my 

 giasp. 



By this Time 1 bad pulled myself together and recovered my 

 accustomed coolness; and as 1 found my canoe immovably fast 

 upon th* rocks, against which the s'rong rush of water held her 

 with such force that a tf am of liorses could hardly have pulled 

 her loose, I calmly proceeded to lash my rescued tent: and my 

 paddle fast to tbe deck with a paiurer, so as to laave the free use 

 of my hands. I then twisted and pulled and worked the canoe 

 around tintit I linally got her on a level keel, with her coaming 

 above the water, which still flowed freelv over her decks, and then 

 proceeded to utipuck my kitchen furniture, which was stowed 

 under the forward deck, until i got hold of a six-quart hur-ket, 

 with which I soon made abort work of the load ot water which 

 held her down. When I bad gotten the water down to some four 

 or live inches, she began to get restless and uneasy on her bed of 

 rocks, so I took the hint and repacked my bucket and kitchei i'ur- 

 niture, and unlasbed my tent and paddle, packing the former 

 securely under the deck and laving the latter where I could quickly 

 lay hands on it, and continued my bailing operations with a tin 

 cup. Presently she started, so I gave her a parting lif and shove 

 oflf the rocks, grasped my paddle, threw myself over the coaming 

 into the cociqjii, and aww 1 went with a rush down the rapids 

 without apron, imck-rpsr or seat, silting flat on the lloor in three 

 inches of vvattr; while the big waves roiled their crests freely over 

 the coamioH of i he open cockpit into my lap. v 



I landed at the mill half a mile below at the foot of the rapid, 

 and as I stood shivering disconsolately around in the sun for the 

 nest three lionrs, drymg out and waiting for my plunder, that 

 covered pretty much .all the fencing in the neighborhood, to do 

 likewise, and pretended not to notice the covert .smiles and semi- 

 audible snickers of the inevitable little crowd of curious rustics 

 around me. 1 concluded that, after all, perhaps canoeing was a 

 humbug. At any rate, the nest time I attempted to jump a mill 

 dam I hoped tlie traditional fool-killer would be in the immediate 

 vicinity, and would not be derelict in his duty. 



WINTEE QUARTERS.— The usual Friday night meeting will 

 he held on March 20 at 19 W. Twenty-fourth strrer; dinner at 7 

 P. M., followed by a talk by Mr. H. C. Ward on the "Cruisers' Para- 

 dise," with music later under the direction of Mr. M. T. Bennett. 



WAR OANOE.S.-The Wanderers War Canoe Oluh has been 

 formed at Monti'eal, and will have a war canoe from the Toronto 

 Canoe and Boat, Co. The same firm will build one for the Argo- 

 nauts of Toronto. 



lAMTHE C. C.-The lanthe C. C. wiU rejoice in a new house 

 this spring on property iately purchased bv it. On AprQ i a con- 

 cert will be given in Newark in aid of the building fund. 



MOHICAN C. C.-The last camp-lire of i:he Mohican C. C. was 

 enlivened by a lantern exhibition by Mr. F. L. DunneU, followed 

 by music. 



Model Faclits and Boats. Their desfj/n, making and sailina, with 

 ilewigm cmd wonting draivinga. Postpaid, $3. 



Yachtsmen who do not see what they want under this heading 

 will please lookunder the hatches of ihe Canop, peep into the 

 Kennel, squint down the barrel of the BMe, open the Fish Car and 

 Game Baa, inquire of the Sportuman Tourist, and if their yearn- 

 ings are still unsatisfted, push their explorations into the Editorta/ 

 and AdvrtMng Departments. 



FIXTURES. 



APRIX. 



5. Excelsior, Ann., New York. 26. Corinthian, Opening Cruise, 



San Francisco. 



MAY. 



2. SauFrancisco, Opening.Sau- 80. Corinthian, Annual, San 



sal i to. Francisco. 



3. San Francisco, Squad. Sail. 30. Eastern, Handicap, Marble- 

 23. San Francisco, Fish Cruise. head. 



28-?l. Portland, Cruise. 30. Brooklyn. Opening, Graves- 



30. Cor. Mos. Fleet, Larchmont. end Bay. 



30. Rochester, Open, Sodus Bay. 30-31, San Francisco, Cruise, 



Mare Island. 



JTtNB. 



11. Rochester, Review.Oharlbtle 20. Brooklyn, Spring, Gravesend 

 11. Portland, Annual. Bay. 



13. Monatiquot, Opening, Wey- 20 Corinthian. Marblehead' 

 mouth. Sweep and Club,Marbleh'd 



13. Massachusetts, Spring, Dor- 20-31. San Francisco, Cruise, 



Chester. 

 13. Lynn, Lynn. 

 13. (Juincy. 



1.5. Phila,. Ann., Del. River. 

 17. Hull. Under 21ft. 

 17. Massachusetts, Ann .Nahant 

 17. Eastern, Sweeps., Marbleh'd 



Martinez 

 23. Pa vonia. Annual, New York. 

 25. Rochester, Club, Charlotte. 

 37. Hull, All Classes. 

 27. Dorchester, Club, Dorchester 

 27. Lynn, Lynn, 



27. Quincy, First CJhampionship 



18. Eoch., Ladies' Da.y.Charlotte 2ti. Eastern, Ann., Marblehead. 



20. Cor. Mos. Fleet, Larchmont. 29. Massaxihusetts, Ladies' Race, 

 20, Hull Corinthian, 1st Cham. Dorchester Bay. 



JULY. 



Rochester, Cruise, Oak Orch. 1.5. Monatiquot, Ist Cham., Wey- 

 3 l-S. San Francisco, Cruise, mouth. 



Mare Island. 16. Lake Y.R.A., R. C.Y.C., Tor. 



3. Monaticiuot. Club, Weym'th. 17. Lake Y. R. a.. Queen City, 



4. American, Naphtha,Milton's Toronto. 



Neck. 18. American, Steam, Milton's 

 i. Larchmont, Ann., Larchm't. Neck. 



4. Corinthian, Marblehead. 18. Hull, First cham., 1st and 2d 



Sweep and Club.Marbleh'd classes. 



6. American, Sailing, Milton's 18. New York, Ann., New York. 



Neck. 18. Riverside, Annual. 



— . Eastern, Handicap, Marble- 18. Hull Cormthian, Club. 



head. 18-19. San f rancisco.Fiah.Cruise 



— . Eastern, Cruise, Maine Coast 20. Lake Y. R. A., Rochester, 



7, New Rochelle, Ann., New Rochester. 



Rochelle. 20, Rochester, L.Y.R.A., Charl. 



11. Dorchester, Club, Dorchester 23, Lake Y.R.A.,03wego,Oswego 



11. Hull, First Cham., 3d, 4th, 25. Dorchester,Open. Dorchester 



5th and 6th classes. 25. Qnincv, Second Cham. 



11. Lynn. Lynn. 25, Corinthian, Marblehead, 1st 

 11. Corinthian,Marbleh'd,Cruise Cham., Marblehead. 



14. Quincv. Ladies' Day. 

 14. Lake Y. R. A., Hamilton, 



Hamilton. 

 — . Massachusetts, d6ft. Special. 



— . Corinthian. Marblehead, 

 Ladies' Day, Marblehead. 

 28. Monatiquot, Pennant. Wey- 

 mouth. 



STARLtNG, steatu yacht, built by A. D. Story for E. A. Sec- 

 comb in 1888, hafi been sold to W, C. Langley, owner of the once 

 famous EUsworth schooner Comet. 



THE EATOi^ STEAjNIER -On March 13 at Lawley's yard the 

 new 65ft. steam launch for C. S. Eaton, owner of Rosalind, was 

 successfully Jaunohed. 



A CRUISE TO THE WEST'ARD. 



PAllT I. 



"VTOT being able to own as fine a cruising yacht as the Yampa, 

 -L^ Sea Fox, or even the Titania, is no bar to the eniayment of a 

 summer cruise, and so far as that goes, last summer in Newport I 

 met a gentleman who owns two ."js fine yachte as float, who had 

 just bought a large Cape cat, and with one man to iielp him, was 

 starting out on a cruise in it, as he said, for real pleasure. He 

 said he ran his sloop and schooner for style, and got down to a cat- 

 boat for pleaani e, as that entailed no drunken cooks, no enormous 

 supply bills, no champagne suppers and their attendant headaches 

 at every port, and no crowd of '■necessity" friends, and he could 

 get around as well and nearly as quickly and fully as safely. 1 

 know^some persons will hold up their hands at the idea of a' cat 

 boat being safe. But no safer boat swims salt water for its size 

 than a good Newport or Cape cat, in competent hanas, and no boat 

 is safe in others. 



It was the 3d of September before we could leave our business 

 for two weeks to take caro of itself, so on that date, at 9 P. M,, we 

 found ourselves sailing into Newport Harbor all re,qdy for a fort- 

 night's cruise to the wesl'ard in the morning. My boat, a 23t't. 

 cat, 10ft. beam and 38in. draft, with good cahin accommodations 

 and 3,8(1011)?. of pig iron closely .stowed below the floor, looked, and 

 waf, ,'it^le to meet most any kindof weather,and she certainly had 

 to bet(}re she eot back to Newport again. We use an alchohol 

 stove fur aener"! purposes, being much more cleanly and easily 

 handbd than kerosene or wood, although we bad a small wood 

 stove well forward for cold weat her or einei f^'cucies. We had on 

 board plenty of bread, butter, crackers, canned meats and somas, 

 and the water tank full of clear spring water. A complete change 

 of clothes from head to foot, with extra shirts and stocbings. A 

 Winchester rifle and a sliotgun, and a little good whisky formedi- 

 cinal use. 



That night we fii^pt as only tired men can sleep, and turned out 

 earlv, only to And a heavy fog covering everything, including our 

 spirit.s, like a wet blanket. The crew got breakfast and put things 

 in order while I went uo town for a spare pipe. About 10 o'clock 

 the fog lifted some, and the wind being light, Imt from tbe north- 

 west, we concluded to Ti-y for Stouingron or New Jjondon. Taking 

 our compass course at Castle Hill, we were soon out on the broad 

 Atlantic, tbe wind peovt^d lighter out here, hut rlie fog cleared 

 away entirely, and at 2:30 P. M. we were at Point .Judith; and the 

 ciew trying to got dinner and keep the remains of his breakfast 

 down at the same time. The long, lazv swell off this point made 

 the latter job so difflcult an un'Jertaking I soon saw I was to dine 

 on cnld \v;iler and hard tack, with my pipe for dessert, and pro- 

 ceeded til do so. 



The long stretch of lo\v, sandy beach in sight from here, over 

 sixteen miles in a nearly straight line, is anything but pleasant to 

 see, wrecks being nesrlv as numerous as houses, and no ghost of a 

 harbor. The air continued very lisht and from nearly ahead, 

 necessitating a long leg and a short one from here to Watch Hill, 

 and the tide just starting to run east. For the rest of the after- 

 noon the crew busied himself in trying to keep alive and hold the 

 various parts of his anantomy together, and 1 speculated about 

 where the black cloud in tbe north would catch us. At sunset 

 Watch Hill was still far ahead, and the black cloud gave me some 

 uneasiness. I decided to get into Stonington if I could, and I laid 

 my course to pick up the Spar Buoy oflC Watch Hill Reef close 

 aboard. 



The wind had crawled around well to the north by this time, 

 and it was thick looking and dark. Suddenly a line of white 

 ahead made me sing out to the crew. Breakersl and that one word 

 cm-' d his seasickness instautly. I knew I had stood too far in, 

 and was close into Watch Hill. It only took a minute to come 

 about and lay ofi' shore on a line parallel to this line of white 

 water. We held off with a good stifli breeze for perhaps ten min- 

 utes, when smash! something struck our boom; it was thebi:oy. 

 and glad enough I was to see it, even in this unceremonious man- 

 ner, for it was now black all around and raininu, with an ncca- 

 siona] flash of lightning. The barometer bad fallen but a little 

 all tbe afternoon, so 1 was not afraid of a serious blow, but it 

 made my hair raise just a little to think of running into Fisher's 

 Island Sound for the lirst time at night, and in a thunder squall. 



We lay to and took in a couple of reefs, then laid our couise for 

 Latimer's Reef Light, which soon hove in sight. " eaching this in 

 short order, for it was blowing half a gale, we hauled up northeast 

 for Stoninston, I had a good many misgivings as to my course 

 here, as my chart was two years old, and I had heard that a break- 

 water was in process of construction, which was not down on thy 

 chart. Stoniofcton Light showed clear and white ahead in a short 

 time, and the wind and rain had greatly subsided. Suddenly a 

 flash of lightning showed a loner gray line of rocks ahead, stretcli- 

 ing on either side as far as we could see. Here wa.s a dilemma and 

 no mistake. The crew mutinied and insisted that the captain did 

 not know his business, and although the captain did not feel very 

 comfortable In his own mind, the crew did not find it out. 



Two things were plain. One was that Stonington light showed 

 clear right ahead, distant about a mile, and the other was that 

 an apparently tight stone wall was stretched from shore to shore 

 of the bay. The captain concluded that tbe Government was not 

 fool enough to build this wall with no opening, so decided to sail 

 westward for a piece till an opening or the =hore showed up. No 

 sooner was this decision reached than ared light suddenly showed 

 on tbe starboard bow and very near. Steering for this took us in 

 a tew minutes into smooth water and a good harbor in Stoning- 

 ton at 10:30 P. M. Only yachtsmen can appreciate how good our 

 supper of beefsteak, eggs, coft'ee and bread tasted that night and 

 no dreams or nightmare to follow, as such a supper would surely 

 cause to a landsman. Only a peaceful and unbroken sleep till 

 7 A. M. next day. 



One thing 1 never could understand about sailors, and that is 

 how they can wake up after only four hours' sleep. 1 know noth- 

 ing short of Gabi-iel's trumpet will wake me when I am asleep on 

 the water, unless I am especially anxious about my position, it 

 can rain and thunder, and do anything but throw me on the floor 

 and only cause me to sleep the sounder, and the bare idea of hav- 

 ing to turn out after only four hours' sleep would almost prevent 

 sleep, and my crew are generally fullv as bad. If more persons 

 suffering from insomnia would try this cheap remedy the doctors 

 would lose a good many dollars. 



We left Stoninerton at about 8 A. M-. and had a very pleasant 

 and uneventful sail to New London. How in the world a large 

 vessel can sail through Fisher's Island Sound I don't see, as we 

 found a perfect forest ot buoys marking shoals and ledges, until 

 we w^ere tired of thinkinsr of them. We arrived at New London 

 about noon, and agreed to get dinner ashore, as our own cooijinar 

 did not seem quite up to the mark, although in another week we 

 did not care who cooked, so that we got something to eat. The 

 afternoon was pleasantly spent in rambling around over the old 

 city and in visiting the ruins of Fort Griswold across the river 

 and hearing of its brave defence in 1781. It was well after dark 

 when we started for our bo 't. 



The crew knew just where she lay and so did the captain, but 

 the two places were not identical by about half a mile. As the 

 crew's locality was nearrst, we tried that first, and after much 

 trouble, climbing over alOfc. fence, we found ourselves in a large 

 lumber and cohI yard combined, and immediately met with a 

 rather warm reception from a big watchman and hie dog. 1 never 

 could tell bow we both gnt back over the fence in less than a sec- 

 ond, for it certainly took us all of ten minutes to climb in. Hold- 

 ing a parley from the street side of the fence, we came to the 

 conclusion our boat was not there, so agreed to investigate the 

 locality where tbe captain was sure she lay. After tumbling over 

 a lot of oil barrels on an old wharf, we saw a S£ hooner at an ad- 

 joining wharf That I felt sure was the one our small boat lay side 

 of, but soon found that nothing is more deceptive than strange 

 schooners after riark. 



In the following half-hour we boarded at least half a dozen 

 vessels trying to find tbe right one, meeting with diflferent recep- 

 tions, and often with none at all. It was now 10 o'clock and very 

 dark, so, almost despairing of ever finding our skiff, we hailed a 

 passing boat and asked the occupant if he had seen a strange cat- 

 boat in the habor. He had. Would he put us aboard her? He 

 would. So in a few minutes we were rustling around getting 

 supper in our own comfortable cabin. Next morning at daylight 

 oar skiff was in plain sight right where we had left her, and we 

 soon had her alongside. 



Anchored just astern of us was a large scow sloop, with Centen- 

 nial, Greenport, painted on her stern. Now here was our chance, 

 we wanted to go to Greenport, and through Plum Gut to get there 

 too, but our courage was hardly up to the sticking point. Soon a 

 frowsy-looking man appeared on deck, and a hail from us pro- 

 duced the information that he was the captain, and was bound to 

 Greenport if the wind held out. Taking our bottle of medicine I 

 put myself aboard the old sloop for a yarn. The captain was not 

 in a very talkative mood, so 1 asked him to take an eye-opener. 

 "You first," he said. I told him I rai ely used it, but carried it for 

 accidents. He allowed he was an "accident," and I had the 

 pleasure of seeing a good quarter of my quart disappear down his 

 throat. But it limbered bis tongue, and he agreed to pilot me 

 throughPlum Gut and into Greenport as soon as his "old woman" 

 woke up enough to help him hoist his sails, cautioning me, how- 

 ever, that he would not slow up for me, and that his boat was very 

 fast, and could beat half the yachts on the coast; a Btatement 

 ibat her looks certainly belied, 



I foolishly agreed to help him get up hia sails, so as to hurry 

 matters somewhat, and very soon founa m vbi-1[ pulling and .sway- 

 ing all my 2001 bs. could do and he obligingly holding the turn; but 

 I was too proud to back out now, .and before I had ieft him 1 had 

 hoisted the mainsail and jib and gone aloft and loosed his top- 

 sail. While he got Ins anchor I slipped oyer her side into my 

 skiff, mentally cussing myself for being such a fool, and I am 

 afrs.id tlS:! cussing was not all mental when I got aboard my own 

 boat and found my crew nearly dead fromlaughter and the break- 

 fast suffering from my absence. 



When we got sail on our boat and things cleared away in good 

 .shape the Centennial wns out of sight around the bend below. 

 Before he had got to Rartlett's Reef we had passed him, and in a 

 good steady breeze, too, and from there to Plum Gut we luffed, 

 quietly along in his wake, our greatest labor beine not to get too 

 far ahead of him; but our much-dreaded Plum Gut was growing 

 nearer and plainer all the time, and soon we could see the tide 

 rips at tbe entrance and also two slonp yachts trying to get 

 thi'ough and apparently having a hard time of it. We concluded 

 that if our pilot did not know the way any better than he did the 

 sa^iling qualit'es of his old sloop we stood a slim show of getting 

 throuKh that day; but in this we were disappointed. 



.lust before vve reached the tide rips tlie skipper hailed us atid 

 at the same time luffed up and took in his topsail. He told us to 

 keep right in his wake and we would go through flving. but to be 

 careful and follow him exactly, as he was going through inside 

 the beacon to avoid the tide. This information rather staggered 

 us, as the chart gave the passase as impossible, and I began to hope 

 my whisky bad not gone to his bead. However, we told him to 

 heave ahead and, sure enough, iu a very few minutes we were 

 through and in smoit.h water, without fairly knowing how it was 

 done. I think he held on to the reef of rocks that makes off the 

 Orient shore, until ho took a back current, and then run through 

 on the west side of the beacon and verv close to it, keeping in the 

 back water all the way through, Any way it was well done, but I 

 would not advise a stranger to trv it. The two sloops that had' 

 tried to get through the Ciut had given it up and gone around 

 Plum Island. 



As soon as we were well through the skipper luffed, and told me 

 to come aboard and bring my medicine, as his ' old woman" 

 needed some to brace her nerves after the passaae. 1 had not 

 seen any female onboard so far all day, so was inclined to think 

 his own nerves were the ones needing bracing. I went on boards 

 and the skipper went below, taking a good pint and a half or 

 whisky with him. I got tired ot waiting for him to appear, 

 and poked my head down the companionway just in time to see 

 the last drop in tbe bottle disappea.r down the throat of his old 

 woman. I said g"od-bye, and told him to keep the bottle to re- 

 member me by, and got into my own boat as fast as I could con- 

 sistent with due dignity. In half an hour, when we rounded the 

 point near Orient, the old sloop still lay aoout as we left her, with 

 no signs of life aboard. This troubled us so that when nearly up 

 to (ireenport we took a stretch back to help them home, but "saw 

 tbe skipper was then on decH: and able to navigate. But it was a 

 good lesson well learned, and never since "have I had more than 

 one good drink on board my boat for strangers at any one time. 



We had a brush going up to Greenport this time with a couple 

 of native catboats that said they were fast; they might have 

 been. We had to take their word for it, as they could not prove 

 it. We c:ist anchor between two very handsome schooner yachts in . 

 the harbor, and had commenced preparaaions for dinner and sup- _ 

 per in one, when the crew informed me we were running .short of 

 grub. 1 told him if he could not give us quail on toast, to give us 

 what he could. 1 may have been a little snarp in my remarks, for 

 Iwastireil. Anyway, he shut his mouth tight and went below, 

 and in half an hour calle d to supper. I noticed he had apparently 

 eaten most of his, so called for mine. "None left," he said. Of 

 the generous supply we started with none was left but one potato 

 and one egg, and that was small rations for a hungry man. It is 

 astonishing what an amount a man can get away with and still 

 live when on the water. 



The next morning dawned as clear and beautif lol an autumn day 

 as one ever sees, and Shelter Island opposite looked so pleasant 

 and inviting we sailed over to cultivate its nearer acquaintance. 

 Its high bluffs covered with trees, its beach all white pebbles of 

 nearly uniform size, its green lawns and beautiful summer houses, 

 all combined to make it seem almost a paradise; so much so, that 

 after sailing for an hour and finding a pretty little bay, we decided 

 to anchor and spend the day on the island. Our small anchor had 

 perhaps twenty fathoms of warp on it; so we sailed in to within 

 about lOOyds. of shore and east it overboard. Down it went, faster 

 and faster, until it finally bit up at the end of our warp; but no 

 bottom. The tide runs very stroHg here, and the amount of back- 

 ache and sw-eati'^'g required to get tnat anchor aboard again can 

 be imagined. This time we stood nearly ashore before casting 

 anchor, and found about twenty feet of water and good holdine 

 bottom. 



We got breakfast here. Then had a smoke and decided on fui"- 

 ther plans. The result of the conference was that we decided to 

 stay where we were that day and see the place and enjoy oui'- 

 selves, also to stock up on enough provisions to last a week. Then 

 for Peconic Bay, Sag Harbor, and back home over nearly our old 

 course. If we had stuck to this we would have had a better time 

 of it, but would have missed much valuable experience. 



QUEQDECHAt:. 



[to be oonclttded]. 



THE FRYE BILL. 



IN addition to the many emphatic protests from such clubs as 

 the New York, Eastern and Larchmont, as well as from 

 American yachtsmen generally, against the obnoxious "Frye 

 bill" prohibiting the sailing of foreiKn-built yachts m American 

 waters, our foreign exchanges. English, French and German, are 

 outspoken in condemnation of the measure. Now that Congress 

 has adjourned, there is no immediate prospect of tbe passage of 

 such a law, and the matter may never be brought up again; but 

 even in that case a great harm has been done to the fame of 

 American yachtsmen. 



While the features of the bill which provoked the most general 

 condemnation were those relating' to foreign-built yachts, they 

 were hardly worse than the final provision, by which the smaller 

 class of American-built yachts were prohibited from 'flying the 

 American flag. 



Although all immediate danger in both directions is averted, the 

 same malign power which inspired this bill, and which has al- 

 ready done so much in a short time to annoy yachtsmen and to 

 discourage and hamper the growth of yachting, is still at work: 

 and its evil influence is likely to bear still harder on yachtsmen 

 this year than ever before. 



Before submitting to the added restrictions and exactions, there 

 is one thing for American yacht smen to bear in mind; that there 

 is no law of the United States which compels a yacht of any size 

 to take out a I'cense or other papers, and that it is entirely volun- 

 tary with every yachtsman whetlier his yacht shall be a "docu- 

 mented vessel of the United States." The attempt to make 

 licensing compulsory, and to class yachts large and small with 

 recognized merchant vessels, is a piece of petty officialism which 

 only requires a little opposition on the part of the leading clubs 

 and yacntsmen to expose and put an end to. 



A FOOLISH VENTURE.— On March U a match was made 

 between Capt. Wm. A. Andrews and Capt. Josiah W. Lawler for 

 a race across the Atlantic in 15ft. dories, the agreement being as 

 follows: "Article of agreement made this day between Capts. 

 Jo-iah W. Lawler, of Chelsea, and William A. Andrews, of Cam- 

 bridge. Wituesseth. that the said Josiah W. Lawler and William 

 A. Andrews shall each procure a boat, and fit out same, said boat 

 to be not over 15ft. over all, and they shall race said boats from 

 off the vicmity of Boston Lower L'ght to the Lizard Point, L tnd's 

 End, Eng.. the race to be started on or about June 17. It is further 

 agreed between the parties that the boat arriving at liand's End 

 first shall receive a suitably inscribed silver cup, as a souvenir of 

 the race. Each boat shall be sailed by th". parties to this race, 

 and uo other person shall be allowed on board. In witness where- 

 of we have set our hand this 14r,h day of March, 1891.— VYiiUASt 

 A. Andrews, Joseph W. Lawler. Witness: Edwakb Sheb,- 

 LOCK " Captain Lawler was in commann of the Norton yawl 

 Neversink on her voyage from New l^ork to Paris in 1889, and 

 whatever credit accrued from her trip is due to him, as Captain 

 Norton did not accompany him. 



MANHATTAN ATHLETIC CLUB.-At a meeting of the yachts- 

 rnsn of the Manhattan A. C. on March 14, the Cherry Diamond Y. 

 G. was organized, its ohject being the encouragement of boat sail- 

 ing and racing. The limit of length for boats was fixed at 53ft. 

 l.w.l. Among the yachtsmen present were William W nit- 

 lock, Joseph W. Gibson, Seymour Hyde, and C. S. MoCuUoh. 

 After the name of the club had been chosen, Messrs. Wbitlock, 

 Brown, and Gibson were anpoioted as a nominating committee to 

 elect officers for the new club. The ticket submitted bv them was 

 as follows: Com., J. C. Summers; Vice-Com„ Edmund 'C. Stanton; 

 Rear-Com., William J. Swan: Sec'y-Trea.s., C. H. Kaubel; Fleet 

 Captain, Joseph W. Gibson. These gentlemen were unanimously 

 elected. A committee was then appointed to frame a constitutioa 

 and by»law8 for the club. 



