AkWl S, 1891.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



orlnt-s arp all uiore or lei-H ellipticol, and their motion is from west 

 tn east, coatvary CO 'faeliatjcis of a WBtci; but, viewed from the 

 Eartb, vvli'ch Ih iisflf la motiou, they desLi-ibe a se-riep ot curves 

 ai d loop.-, sometimeH appoai-ins' 'o have ibeir real or dire ct mntlon 

 and ai o litrs t'l becoaie fctaiioaMry or iciroHrade. TI.epe loops 

 were ihe nighlmarf! of ihe ancient astronom«rs, arid ibey rl- 

 t'iiap'td lo account for iLem Dy ihuories sliowiiig ^ OTuierful in- 

 geMiitA , Iryiiii; to i-i cnnnle. tuetr argumeuts vfith the siapoosition 

 thai ilio Smi and ibc x^laneis revoivt-d arourrj iiiHEai th. It, is 

 Ufdiehs ijj hciy tnnt when jr became known fhwt the Eaith ro- 

 voUud avoimd the Sun ibe whole matter whs grf ally simplilied. 



The planetB are ciivided by asironomfrs luto two classes, the 

 Intbrior and SupBiioi; i.iit tor our purposes tney mav well bo 

 dividtd into those wtiicb are mrerphiiuB; and tiot interesting. But 

 after all a diagratn lil;e tliis is tinsaiit^faut' ry, !,nd to a certain 

 exiGEtuiisieaciin?, lor it if. ]nn.ioESU)lH to cotivpv tav it any idea of 

 relative m.'gniiuii. s an i distatices, aud Herschel'.3 old illustra- 

 tion, cvtn if u bas a flavor of tbe Kinoernarifii atjout it, has 

 always /trpcalrd to u.c with singular fcrci : "Cbnose anv wtil 

 leveled rwid. Oa it ulace a ei-ioe 2ft. in diam-ter. Tht'-* will 

 represent the bun, Mtreurv will be repre.sentHd ijv a grain of 

 mustard eeea, oni be cneumfereiice of a r-iiolte ICift. in diameter, 

 for its oridt. Venus a pt-a on ?i, euelr S.^-lft. iu difsmeter. The 

 KarthalftO" pea on a eircie rf 4/iOM. Mara a i-al her large pinV 

 ht ad oil a cirri" of Gf^ti t. Tbe Asfei oids yraiiiB of eatjd ouoibHs 

 rf 1,01)0 ar-d 1, 200ft. .Inp'tei' a mi'der.-ite .-^ized orange in a eircle 

 noail half a inile a n ss. t^aturn a small orange on a circle foui- 

 fitths of a mije. Uranu.s a I'uH-.sized cherry or plum upon tbe 

 circumteir a, e ol s cic'e more than a mile and a half in diame- 

 tev. ^st liL'.iue a gouii -.sized pium on a ciiele two and a half miles 

 indiam::Ler. On this scale tne nearest htar wotrld be 8,000 miies 

 away." 



Ui anns and Nepttmo arc, for all of oMr purposes, practically in- 

 visible, \vbile Mercury, Irom his close proximity to the Stin,i3 80 

 Sfcldom seen that we may almost aism'ss mm witib the ol hers. An 

 old English writer, of the narao of Goad, in lObC, called him "a 

 squirtitiK iacltcy of the '^un, who seldom shuw-s liis head in these 

 pans— as if he were in di bt." 



it ha^- aiwa.\ & bten auppoi^ed. since Schroter, abotit a hundred 

 years tigo, detftmiiied his poiiod of rotation, mat the length of 

 Mercuj-i 's d.ay wae similar to ours, bui, Scbiaparelli. of Milan, who 

 has receijily created so much distu'^&ioij ah lu the crnala iu Mars, 

 has, riur'ng the papt jear, anLioiiiiced (bat, both Meicury antt 

 Vtnu*, ta their rovolu'ion, aiwaj's piv.seiit the same face to the 

 Sun, exactly as tho Moon turns on its a.^is. oncn inmnkiuKher 

 circuit around the Earth. This Wfiiild make the day ot Mercury 

 about 88 of our days long, wh le that of Venus would be in the 

 neigbliurbood of 2!a dav.«. Oue side of each of thtse planets would 

 then be iu constant illumination and the other in constant darli- 

 ness. 



Leaving these knotty questions for the astronomers to fight 

 over, the question presents itself: When from the deck of a yaclit 

 we Fee a hr glit star which does not twjniile, and which we cannot 

 find on our planr-pliej'c, how do we know which of the planets xt 

 is? Of cotn'se, i.i: we have an almanac which gives the lime when 

 each pliinei i ists, r-oulb.a, or sets, the question is at once settled. 

 But let u<< suppoio thatyouhave noalmanac. If the jilanet is very 

 brigtit Jiiiu not (ilccidcdly r^d in cidor, you may be sure tliat it is 

 either Jupuor or v enua. Saturn's place should always be known, 

 as will appear Jif-rtafifcr. If it is anywhere on the meridiHn or 

 anywhere near it, ihe planet is not Venus, tor Venus is never 

 more timn three hours trom the Sun, and of course, most of the 

 time she is much nearer. Her orbit being witpin that ot the 

 Earth, fdie appeais to sin. ply viorate across the Sun, being some- 

 times to tbH west f.f him, wh^n sbo is iMorning Star, and some- 

 times to the east, when she is Evcnirg Star, bhe ihernfore Seta 

 soon after the Sun or rises a sbcrt time before him. She never 

 rises \^ hen the Sun is settiLg nor sets wnt-n the *«un is rising. 



jSIo celestial body comes ro near the Earth as Venus does in por- 

 tions ot her orbit, except tho Moon, and perhaps a strav comet. 

 AtinUrior conjunction, when she is between us and the Sun, si e 

 is only 2C,tJ0O,iJ0iJ of miles distant. This happens ooce in every 581 

 dsy-', and her light then reaches us iu a lidle over two minutes. 



If It weie not tliai sae has phases precisely like the M^on, and 

 that, unfortunately, she wanes as she approaches the Earth, we 

 should at^uch times have ai other smali mnon m the sky, and be 

 able to mmutely examine this planet whicn so nearly resembles 

 tbe Earth in volume and perhaps in physical characteristics. 

 Although at these near auproaclies a m"rt crescent, she becomes 

 at these times suohanotj ct of unusual splendor, that we are 

 always sure to hear from the dt-vout of the Star of Bethlehem; 

 from the quidnuncs of elecirie ligtits .sent up on balloons by 

 Edison— for what rf aeon they never exactly knaw. At last some 

 newspaper '^ets them straigh I, and people begin to realize that it 

 is their old friend Venus, only six timts nearer than they are 

 accnstomed to see her. 



it was my fortune once during thfi war to be a humble member 

 of a brigade which was routed up by the long roll m the e^rly 

 morning, to witn^es this planet rise majestically over an adjacent 

 wood, the nificer in charie of tue picKet having mistaken the fair 

 goddess for a signal iigut of tiie<'ictmy. Before night thatgenile- 

 mun wished that he bad acquired a more accurate idea of oracti- 

 cal asir'-nomy— an't we meant he shouhl. 



By a process of exclusion then, knowing that the planet is not 

 Venu.«, Mars c-' ^ m mn, we may nearly always locate Jupiter. To 

 satisfy otu' i . ver it w- look at him through a good field 



glass under I ile conditions, Jupiter's moons should lie 



plainly vi^i: ; . ui appear in a straight line on either side 



of the phmti, The figure on the screen givrs a very fair idea of 

 whai you would see. This is a telescopic view of Jupiier showing 

 the cloua belts and the great red spot which has txciied so much 

 discussion. 



The red color of Mars makes his identifteaf ion very easy. Saturn 

 would tie more diilicult If it were not t t^a^ his motion is' so slow, 

 tbe pepiod of his revolution being 39}^ years. He consequently 

 accomplishes only about 12'-' a year, i-emaining 2}4 yeais in 

 each eonsit Hatiuji. It follows then, if we once know" what con- 

 siellafi. n, we are p''eity baff* to find him a?aiu after any moder- 

 ate hip-e o£ time. He is now in the constellation of Leo, which is 

 marktd by the teickle. 



The screen shows a view of the most magnificent sight In tho 

 heavens, isaturn surroucded by his sjstem ot rings, probably 

 consisting of a swaim of meteors, moving in orbits nearly circu- 

 lar arid iii one plane. As these rings alwa.NS keep par,*llei to the 

 Equator, wnien is inclined to the nrbit, it follows that twice in 

 each rcV'jiutlou they are edge on, when thev are nearly invisible, 

 except in the largest t-ltscopes. Tliey therefore must be ex- 

 treme Iv thin. Tne Jast disappearam e of the rings was in Pebru- 

 ai'y. lets. The next will he in the autumn of this year, 1891. 



ll a model of Saiurn were constiucted, on a scak of 10 000 miles 

 to the inch, the outer ring would have an exterior diameter of 

 17ic„ Htd the thickness of this sheet of paper would be in fair 

 proportion. 



The n xt view i = a fair telescopic view of Mars as ordinarily seen 

 under f.ix orable ccnditiom. Von notice tbe snovv c;ips. which in- 

 crease ourii g the -Martian winter and decrease otirmg ths sum- 

 mer, also the general cloud-like markings, supposed to be land 

 and water. 



Tbe riis ance of Mars from ihe Earth varies so enormously— 

 from 234,01)0,0U0 to ?ir),000,OOJ of milc^— tnat his app>,reut magnitude 

 vanes irom abeut tnat or Polans 'o that of Jupiter. He is some- 

 times 5^ limes as brisht as at other season^. He can therefore 

 only he satisfdeterily observed when m opposition, wnich happens 

 once In every TSO days. Tue most favorable timt is when the op. 

 po ition occurs a t the planet's per'helion. It is then nearest to tLe 

 Sun. and, as we are then dtrtcuy between it and the Sun, it is con- 

 EtQutntly nearer usihenfhanat any other time. Next year, in 

 1892, he will be nearer than be has been for 15 jears, and astrono- 

 mers hope then to si ttie many questions which are now m dis- 

 pute. The screen shows a map of Mars, by Schiaparelb, who has 

 of late made ^uch startling ann-iuucements in relation to this 

 planer, showing his system of canals, about which there has been 

 so much discu'^sion. 



Such vagUH ideas generally exist on this subject that perhaps a 

 short .statement of what the controversy rtally is mav not be df- 

 void of interest. L-^t me commence by saying that Scbiaparelli 

 occupies a deservedly high position iu the astronomical world, 

 and his staiemems are therefore entitled t^ respectful considera- 

 tion. Duriue the opposii ton of 1881 and 1882 he claimed to have 

 di -covered a netwoi r of fine, straight daik lines, or ciUhIs, as he 

 calls 'htm. erosfjmg the planet lu every direction. The term 

 canal seems to he an unfortunate one, for the narrowest are from 

 40 to 50 m les broad, and they run iiuudrens, some-times thousands 

 ofmilcs;nor is there the sliehtest evidence that they are filled 

 with water. At times these lines are reported to become douoled, 

 two canals appearing where there was only one before. In Fome 

 Ins'ances Schiapar elll claims mat he was actually aole to follow 

 th's "gemioatiou" or doubling, and he thinks that the phenom- 

 enon is in some way connected with the plane' 's change of seasons. 

 H - ami Perrotm, an observer at Nic", who strongly confirms his 

 OOieivations. als-i report that large regions of land are su>j-ci to 

 periodical inundatioiiS, and that inl8H8 a coitineat, "L.\ bia,"' so- 

 called, about as largi as France, was hidden from view in the 

 early part ox that year. 



On the otner hand, Nelsten, at Brussels, made drawings of the 

 planet at tbe same time, in which the continent, reported as In- 

 vlsiblo "completement dis puru" by Schlaparelll ana Perrotin, ie 



plainly shown. Neisten also reports that he could not see the dup. 

 licaied canals, alih.iugb be paw some single, while others to him 

 look like the boundary lines ot two difficTcct tinns on the platet'a 

 surface,. Mr. Pioctor c^'Psidered ibese markniKS to oe '"optical 

 products." He was careful to exfilain mat hedid not meantorall 

 them opi ical illusmns. He ►bought tbi t ' hey were roaily pictured 

 on theie'ina of the eye, but, like ditTra(uive ring.?, could be ex- 

 plained a' cording to f^ome known rp n al law. 



Prof. Hall, of Washtngfon, witu the great refractor of the 

 Naval OtHcrvaiory, the same instrument which discovered the 

 Moons of Mars, observed for eighteen rights and failed to see 

 the Lauhls it portfd. Pr' f . Holrieu, of I he Lick Observatory, failed 

 to see any Oouhlmg of the canals; and Lyhia was frequently 

 drawn, while invisible to Schiaparelli "ud P.'rrotin, 



Prof, W.H. Pickering, iu The October number of the Sidcr red 

 jlfr.?sc«(7cr, reports as tne result of an examination of a series of 

 photographs taken on Mount VViLon, and from a careful series 

 of vts-ual observations at Camtiridge with the Boj den 12in. refrac- 

 tor, that he can see a large number of these markings. He fm-ther 

 says— I use his own words— "I have not jet been abb' to double 

 any of them, or to S' e many of the fainter ones, but I liave the 

 highest admiration for rpe eyesigbt of the aatronome'r who could 

 discover ihtm m the first phu'e with an 8iQ. leleseope." 



Such, then, is V'f evidence, as far as I know it. For the fa.cts I 

 am •ndebreh 10 "Young's Ehments of Astronomy," and to the 

 S'dereai Memfiioer of Dec- mher, 1890. 



When there in ^uch wide divergence of opinion among observ- 

 ers, who all stand ill me frout rank, we cannot wonder thnt 

 astronomers aie looking forward to the great opposition of 1892 

 with much interest and excitement. 



We now come to compsirativtly lamiliar ground. When we see 

 tbiH ob.il ct in the sky we need no oiu'. to tell us that it is the Moon. 

 We al'io know thtii ir is about 240,000 miles from the Earth, thai ii: 

 completes its revolution in about a month, turning once upon lis 

 axis our ing that time, so that the same side is always presented 

 to us. 



Tho "Man in the Moon," that horrible warning to Sabbtith 

 t>reakers, fent th're, with his staff and fBgot, bv Moses, for 

 gathering sticks on the Sabbath day, is one of the famllier recol- 

 lections ot our nurswry. 



Recently, a lady, who seems to_ have escaped the eye of Anti- 

 quity, bas come into fashion. We have most of us gazed at her 

 with interest and rejoiced that tho mytbii:al Lunarians are no 

 louger con tin • d to the sterner sex alone. VV^e also remember, 

 from our school hooks, diat'rams similar to the one now shown, 

 illustratinn New Moon, fir.st quarter, lull Moon and third tjuarter. 



Our reason teaches us that these cbangi-s cannot possibly affe(Jt 

 the weather in any way. and yet, as yachtsmen, we are so < oe- 

 Btanily throwu in wiih tnose whose faith m the theory i.^ fixed 

 and immutable that it is sometimes hard to maintain our skepti- 

 cism. We also hear a good deal from the same sources of -'wet" 

 and "dr.v" moons. When The h^^rns of the oescent are turned up 

 it is to be "dry weather," when they are turned down it is to be 

 ■ wet." 



Now, as these cusps, or horns are obviously always turned away 

 from the Sun and a line connecting them is always perpendicular 

 to a line drawn from tho Moon to the Sun, their precise position 

 at any moment can be calculated with perfect certaintv. Jf then, 

 their potition weie an indication of rain or the reverse the Signal 

 Service might w^Ugiveup ihat branch of its duty and we could 

 make our engagements for months ahe^d eniirelv undisturbed bv 

 the thought of umbrellas and mackintoshes. 



Familiar as we all are with these; f«cts, it is amusing to see the 

 errors into which distinguished artists and authors will some- 

 times car- lessly tall. It was only the other day that I siw a very 

 fine picture by a French artis' of a sunset, in which the new 

 moim was represented as about midway between the zenith and 

 the horizon, with its cusf s turned toward the west; that is to say, 

 with the unillummated s-de toward the Sun. Like Sam Weilcr, 

 I suppose the artiat thought that it looked "more tender" that 

 way. But he was in good company, for Dickens himself, in 

 "Barnaby Rudge." says: "It was a fine dry nignt and the light of 

 the young moon, which was then rising, shed around that peace 

 and tranquility, which gives to even time its most delicious 

 charm." 



The photograph now shown was taken by Mr. Eutherfurd in 

 IS73 and it speaks volumes for his skill, that in spit-i ot all the 

 improvtmcnrh in photography and optical power during the past 

 18 y«ar8, it still loses but little in comparison with the best modern 

 work. 



Tbe next picture is a typical view of three great ring plains, 

 Ptolomy, Alphonsus and Arzachel. Pcolmy has a b'ead'h of 

 about 11.5 mile^. Its wall or rampart is about 13,000ft. high and it 

 contains 46 minute craters. Alphonsus Is 83 miles in diamer and 

 has a central volcano about the height of Vesuvius, Arzachel is 

 t35 miles across and on its west side has a peak 13,6.10ft.. high. 



This view is a copy of a photograph presented to the Camera 

 Club of This city by Professor Keeler. The original was taken by 

 the Lick telescope during the past year. I am enabled to show it 

 to you through the kindness of Mr. B-idgeham, who made the 

 slide from tbe negative ia the possession of the club. 



It represents the Moon in the first quarter and shows an amount 

 of detail which I regret our time will not permit us to examine. 

 Near the center yuu will notice the craters shown separately on 

 the last slide. On the right these dart ''p:)ts are the sn-called 

 Lunar seas, ihe Mare Orisium. Mare Focunditatis, Mare I ran- 

 qailiratis. Mare Serenicatis. Here are the Lunar Alps and the 

 Appenincs, ranging Irom 6,000 to 20,G00tt. in height. Near the edge 

 of Ihe terminator, as tbe line dividing the Illuminated portion 

 trom the dark is called, you notice several minute points of ligbt. 

 Those are tne tops of distant mountains whose bases are still in 

 the shade, but whose peaks are gilded by the rising Sun. This 

 suggesis one of the meihods by which the heights of Lunar moun- 

 tains are measured, and in this connection a glance ai the fdllow- 

 ing slide may he interesting. When tne brignt epot first apoears 

 the distance from the terminator to it is measured. The- radius of 

 the Moon is of course known. We have the two sides of this 

 ri^h angled triangle, and the remaining side, the hypoihenuse. is 

 obviously the radius of the Moon plus the neight of the moun- 

 tain. 



1 suppo=e that there is no one who owns a telescope who is not 

 rou iiiualh asked. How near does the Lick telescope brmg us to 

 the Mo Jt ? So I am going to anticipate the question to-night and 

 tell you all I know about it. The answer seems to be— rememi^er 

 lam not now referring to the nhoiogiapbs just shown— that for 

 ordinary working piu pises, vrsu-illy, about 500 miles. With a 

 power of about 2.5IX) or 3,i00 under exceptional atmospheric condi- 

 tions, this instance can probably be reduced to about 100 miles, 

 perhaps SO miles, but owma: to the sharp bmar shadows and also 

 to the laci that the Moon is seen through a les-* dense atmo'^Dhere 

 than a terresti ial objt ct at the same distance would be, ii is probd- 

 ble that more detail is visible ihan would appear on the Terres- 

 trial object. 



The last vie^v is an ide-.al picture of a lunar landscape, a scene 

 of such alisolute desolat'oi that fori'; no analogy cau be found 

 upon the Earth- with praciicaliy no atmosphere, no water, no life 

 of any kind, and probably a degree of cold which it. would lie hard 

 for us to imagine. A dead world. A t.\ pe of what the Earth, the 

 planets and the Sun may oue dav become, for according to the 

 bi-si authorities everything leads to the conclusion That not they 

 alone, hut all of the afars ^hich you see are gradually losing their 

 heat and cooling off, that in tne course of countless ages thev too, 

 like tne moon, may becune dead worlds. Wtiether a new system 

 ma\ be evolved from the wreck ot me old, it is impossible even to 

 conjecture 



Having now finished up the universe aud suggested tbe possi- 

 bility of a new one, ihis seems to be the proper plnce for me to 

 conclude my remarks and to thank you lor the kind attention 

 with which you have listened to what I fear has been a long paper. 



LIEUT. HBNN'S CRUISE.- Llent. and Mrs. Henn have just 

 finished a loni; cruise at Tiiusviile, Fla., their yacht, the. Minne- 

 haha, being a flat -bottomed Indian K'ver skipjack, 38ft. J. w.l.. 12ft 

 6in. beam, and 3it. 2ia. draft. At Jupiter Inlet they met with 

 unite an adventure, out fonimately . ame off safely Wnen they 

 left Bircajne Bay for the 90-mile nin to Jupiter Inhr the win<l 

 was light and fair, and the sea smooth with risir.g glass, and all 

 went well for tbe first 60 miles, when a heavv sea and rising wind 

 werempt. The boat ^^ix6 kept going and finally the Inlet was 

 reached but the bar was impass.tOlc, and the onlv course was to 

 anchor. The little boat rode very heavily, the sea being so had 

 that the Life Saving crew were una- le (or some time to launch 

 taeirlite lioat. Finally ihty gor nlE and took ashore Mrs. Henn 

 and the steward, LieU'. Henn staying by the jacbt. After a very 

 bad night a shiti of wind ea rned the sea on the bar and t he 3 ach't 

 made, uer way in with some danger, after wbi^h tbe cruise was 

 resumed to Tittisville. Lieut, and Mis. Henn will be m New York 

 shortly on meir way home. Lieut. Henn .-peaks m the highest 

 te'ma of the bravery and Kindness of tne Life Saving crew. 



THISTLE'S NEW OWNER. -The New York Ti'orid is reapnns--- 

 ble for the statement that Tuistle's new owner is no less a person- 

 age than the Emperor of Germany, who will rate her In British 

 watera this enmmer. 



CATS AND SAFETY. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



At Ihe ouiset of the very rf adable account of a "Cruise to the 

 West'ard" iu your last two numbers I find tlie fnlln\vu-g; "I 

 know some ppople wdl hold up their hands at (he irlca ot a cai boat 

 being safe. But no safer boat swims the salt wa.ier for its size 

 than a good Nev\port rr Cape Cod boa t in competent banrig, and 

 no boat is safe in others." 1 confess 1 cntert.Hined s 'mc demur to 

 this, biitl read on. Tbe Vioai the narrator went cruising in was a 

 genu ne Newport eat, :;3ft. l.w.l , lOfi. beam, and 2Sin, ■Iraftr 

 Kvtry thing went lovelv so long as ' he water was sinootn and the 

 breeztj moderate, If we could always have tho.se eonditi ns on« 

 might go cruising in an\ thing. Bat let this laudator of cat'='tell 

 his own story. In Fort Pond Ray 11. came on to blow a good breeze 

 from the northwest. It was evidentiv net more than a good 

 breeze, for tie cat was able to he tied up to an old wharf all night, 

 where they coul i "gei ashore easily m case it blew too hard, for 

 trying to eet out ot the hay at night m face of a nor'wester was 

 out of the question." Whv out of the que'ition? It was not for 

 want of ronm to sail the boat, heoauae, as tiio narrator ttlls u.«, 

 the bay U "beautifully clear and deep and free from, all obstrue- 

 tiou'." It must have *'een on account of thissafe and handy cat. 

 I next made a mental note as I rea.l cf the accumt republished 

 by you afew number.s back from Hiini's oH the manner m wbielii 

 the Englisii fleet of racing yachts, many small ones a,-noog them, 

 forced a pasi^age out ot Kangor Bay some yo'\,ra ago, when sud- 

 denly caught at midnigbf, not in a good plain breeze but in one 

 of tbe savage equinoctials which lash the we.stern coasts of the 

 British Isles. 



Next morning "as the sun rose the wind increased," so our 

 narrator "put in thr e reefs and made a stai t" to bfat out of the 

 bay, "and a liwiy time we tad of it, making good enough way 

 until wo struck the heavy tide at the en'rance. and then we begaa 

 to lo-e gi-oundand boh up and down." Precisely; given a short, 

 shallow, enormously wide boat '-^ith a huse mast in her e>es, a 

 good breeze and a choppy sea. what else could she do but bo>) up 

 and d< wri and lose ground. Obviously there was only one thing 

 to do, and that was to cram ou more canvas and ram her (brougb 

 it, she not being of the kind th.i.t can so to wind waid m a seaway 

 Tiuder an easy sad. So "we put back and shook out a reef and 

 tried it again," wii b sucress. Irwasatood ihmg, thousb, that 

 he had a snue anchorage behind him, seeing tbsit ne had to put 

 back to do so simple a tn ing ('m a snng-riggcd boa .1 a^i sbakmg 

 out a reef. It would have been awkward to have 0- en caught 

 that way on a lee shore. Ramming a boat alorg has its evils. 

 "Tne way we rolled and jumped made us anxious about our mast." 

 Certainly, boing a cat's mast it was n- ce-sarily a big heavy one, 

 and stepped ritrnt where it was impossible (o stav it properly, and 

 what else could the short, broa'i, shallow null do out jump and 

 roll. "Plenty of water eame on board," too. and the "sad, almost 

 new, commenced to tear at the reef grommets." Canvas is only 

 canvas, and if you put your sail plan all in one piece you must 

 expect a big strain on the fastenings. Finally they made a 

 harbor, and then proceeded to investigate the condiliou of things 

 below. This is what they found ; 



"Before stai-ting from Fort Pond we had made everything as 

 snug as we could, hut on opening the cabin door while I was 

 gone for water tbe crew bad been app.'^lled at the damage done.. 

 He had a nearlv m-w oair of trousers, of a very nice light sTipe, 

 that ne had kept for Sunday wear. These were on the bottom of 

 the cabin, and a quart bottle of tomato ketchup was carefully 

 emptied into the seat and had run down hoth legs. Then the 

 coffee p^ t, ^tove cover, shoes, pillow, kerosene can and all ihe 

 odds and ends of a boat's cabin, were all in a mriss on top of them, 

 and all well soaked from tne water we bad shipped, and which" 

 bad splashed up when she heeled. Such a mess I never want to 

 see again, aud I think the crew can echo tiiat." 



All this the result of a good b ret ze on Long Island Sound. What 

 would have happened in case of a genuine blow and the open sea. 

 And yet the narrator thinks a boat capable of culling -:ip such 

 antir^s on such small provocation as good and safe as anything of 

 her size that swims the salt water. Anti-Cat. 



NEW ROCHELLE Y. C. 



THE New Rocbelle Y. C. is making an earnest eflFort to secure 

 the best methods of measure m-nt and classificanon. snd rta 

 committee, Messrs. Henry A. Guaee, Chas. Pryer.and B. W. Din.^- 

 more have lately requested the views of the leading designers in 

 the matter. On April la meeting was held at tbe Grand Union 

 Hotel, at which Messrs. John Hyslop and Wm. Gardner were 

 present in person, while letters were read from Me.'^srs. Burgess. 

 A. Carv Smith. J. Beavor Webb aud H. J. <4ielow. The opinions 

 expressed by these gentlemen were as follows: 



Mr. Gardner; "I am thorougl ly in favor of rating by corrected 

 length. A rating ot this kind brings aU Vioats built to the limit of 

 any class in competition without time allowance, which I roasider 

 a ye-ry desirable feature. 1 should tavor rating lay ti e Spawan- 

 haka rule, or a rule somewhere between that and the old New 

 York rnle. 1 look upon the ratms of rhe Sea wanhaka rule as very 

 much superior to that of the New^Tork, the Inter seeming to be 

 practically a h ngth measurement stated in another form. The 

 great point of rating by a rule that gives opportunity for taking 

 advantage of length is that ihe lactr and the cruiser would be 

 sparred practically the same. The vessels that are now b-ing 

 built are rertalnly very undesirable rraft for our waters. They 

 represent maximum sail area and draught vith a moderate 

 amount of accommodation and a large expense for band'ing. In 

 th'' adoption of rating by corrected lensm I believe we would s«e 

 our racers doubled and trebled. Ou account of our waters and 

 facilities for hauling out, it is of very great importance for us 

 to get the largest tiout possible nn a given nraugbt. 'the ta-ing 

 rule seems to lie best adapted to accomtdish rbat object. Since 

 the advent of profession.al designers almost the eucre tendency 

 bas been toward the large power. We have a great field btfore 

 us in studying and developicg. small powered boats and this would 

 be done if we had rules mat would ericourage designers going in 

 that dirflction, instead of relying so much on brute force for gain- 

 ing speed in racing. The racine boats that I am desiening atthft 

 present time are tne most satisfactory sailint; craft to me that I 

 have ever attempted, and seem to show less objectionanle featuips 

 than auy type of h at 1 have everworted tn. It seems tome 

 that it is time the yacht clubs of this country should be represent ed 

 m a conference to determine upon and draw up racing rules lor 

 the country generalh ." 



Mr. HvpI p: "My opinion is that none of our clubs have vet 

 taken sail spread too much into account. It is impracnoable for 

 anyone club acting by itself to make a classiflcaii> n by length 

 and sa-l area combir ed, rr indeed by length alme or in anv other 

 way, that shall be generally sat sfactory to yachtsmen. I further 

 believe that the geneia' aiopt on of a classification by length 

 and sail area with Ihe respeciivc valuer arranged as now in use 

 by the New York, tbe Seawanbaka, Laichmont. Eastern, and 

 oihei- clubs will be made practicable by ihe Juriher experience of 

 a season or two in tne use !-nd value of (hat rule. Kuch t sperience 

 in these waterr has been gained mainly bv t!ip. use or an allowance 

 itgulated by factors repr.-tenting length' and sail area, but bv a 

 classilicanon cetermined by length alone. A classifier t on which 

 shall result by both factors can be made ar easy and natuial 

 change from a more ex'ended "nd gentr 1 u^^e of length and sail 

 area m the government of allowances. But the d. ti rmina'ion of 

 such a class ncatiou needs more txpt r-cLce, t-reat deliberation 

 and general concurrence 10 end in anyii ing sati-facory ai d en- 

 during. The best rules are thor.e whicho+fer the 1 -vgest d'iscretion 

 and liberty as to the elements and featuie- of a riesign, .^lUd res- 

 trict only such as are directiv connected with the production of 

 speed, and tnese only to the extent of attaching to their use the 

 requirements of a just aUowai ce. The gnat evil of to-day isth^t 

 yacht racing is going our. Cruiring conditions uKve no chance 

 with a large-rigged lead mme. The adoption of a raiing by 

 length and sail area is a gcod thing, but it is prtmiture until we 

 can settle up"n the value of these two thingt— that is, to make 

 them r quivalent." 



Mr. V\'ebb: "The evil lies in classification rather ihan measure- 

 ment. Yachts Hhmdd be classified by their corrected length. 

 Were that adopted I feel sure many yachts would be ba'lt. But 

 unless adonled universally it would avail but little with one or 

 two clubs." 



Mr. Burgess: "T wrote a short paper on the measurement ques- 

 tion f ' r the WeeJc's Sport of Christmas, '89. anri I nave had no j ea- 

 £0n to change my views since. I Relieve in measurim? water line 

 and sail area in same cnmbination. Under the New Y''ork Y. C. 

 rule of '89 twice the load water line plus the square toot of the 

 sail area divided by three. I think we mieh' s' f, ly class boats by 

 their lacing measurement, and I beheve this would proiiuce a 

 bet'er type Than is fostered by the piej-ent h neth classification, 

 and allowances bas' d on the length plus the Fquare root of the 

 sail area divided by two. Even unrter the New York rule it is 

 very desirable 10 invent some fair- r method of mpasutiug ea'l 

 area than at present adopted, but I am not able to suggest any- 

 tningln this respect." 

 Mr. Burgess sajB in the articla mentioned; "I should not 

 , snriousiy ohj-ct to a classification based on rating under the old 

 I New York Y. C. rule on the score of the vessel which would he 

 I produced under it; but the bad effect on sail plans would still be 



