188 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Feb. 18, 1892. 



speed. This type is already represented by Vamoose, Norwood, Now 

 Then, Buzz and a few other yachts : but unfortunately all attempts 

 to race them has been attended with such a maximum of bluster 

 and brag, aud .such a minimum of steaming, that the sport just now 

 is in very low repute. 



The fleet will be increased this coming season by a Dew yacht, the 

 joint effort of Messrs. Gardner aud Mosher, designed specially for 

 high speed and for experimental purposes, and an attempt will again 

 be made by the American Y. C. to secure a bona fide race; 

 attempt which, it is to be hoped, will not be allowed to degenerate 

 into a mere advertising scheme, but which will be carried out to the 

 credit of all parties. 



There is every reason why racing of this sort is worthy of encour- 

 agement; it offers plenty of exciting sport, different, in its way from 

 match sailing, but none the less interesting to some; and if properly 

 managed it ma}" be the means of throwing light on many intricate 

 points of. marine engineering, and of leading to the improvement of 

 all classes of steam yachts. A $500 cup is now up for a race early in 

 the season, and it rests with those owners who are really in earnesi 

 to have their boats ready iu time and at the line; leaving the adver- 

 tising contingent to air their excuses in the columns of the daily 

 papers. 



The current number of The Yachtsman contains a second install- 

 ment of the vindication of the new deed, by its Boston correspondent, 

 the chief points being the extinct centerboird question and 1 he waiv- 

 ing of the dimension clause, which is quoted word for word. We 

 need only point out that in this clause, which prescribes the method 

 of procedure on the part of the challenger, the words shall and must 

 are used throughout; he shall give ten months' notice, with 

 which there must be sent the dimensions of the yacht. In this way, 

 aud in no other, can a challenge he sent with any certainty that it 

 will meet with other than such a discourteous reception than has 

 been accorded to others even less informal in the past. It is a fact 

 that when the second informal notice of challenge by the Royal 

 Clyde Y. C, iu behalf of Mr. Sweet, was under consideration in 1887, 

 a motion was made by a leading officer of the cJub that any such 

 letters received in the future should be returned to the sender. 



By its action in many cases feince 1882 the New York Y. C. hub 

 firmly established the principle that it can (or wdl) take no official 

 notice of any overtures for a race unless made in the exact form 

 prescribed in the deed of gift: and with a full knowledge of this fact, 

 it is idle for yachtsmen, however jirominent, to talk about waiving 

 anything. 



If it is now ready to depart from the line of conduct pursued in 

 the cases of both of the Royal Clyde challenges, and to accept and 

 recognize a notice of an intention to challenge, and a request for 

 mutual agreement as to details, the club must pass a resolution to 

 that effect before any challenger will be found who will ri*k an open 

 rebuff by sending a challenge without naming dimensions. 



The present situation is practically this: The New York Y. C. de- 

 sires a challenge and has no prospect of receiving one. In the event 

 of a letter from a foreign club expressing a desire to challeuge and 

 requesting terms mutually agreeable, the club would be ready to ac- 

 knowledge the letter and to make terms that would in all probability 

 be perfectly fair. At the same time, such a course would amount to 

 nothing less than a repudiation of the new deed, and while it might 

 meet with the approval of a majority of the members, it would be 

 opposed by the friends of the deed, and any one challenging in this 

 way incurs the risk of a discourteous rebuff. If he wishes to avoid 

 such a possibility he must first recognize the new deed as a fair and 

 legal document by sending a "challenge in due form" with all par- 

 ticulars and dimensions as enumerated; but he may accompany this 

 with an humble request that he may be allowed to depart from these 

 dimensions, and that other dates than those named may be chosen. 

 That he would get what he asked for is very probable, but only as a 

 "generous concession," not as a matter of right. We are still look- 

 ing for the promised discussion of the legal side of the question. 



FEATHERING PROPELLERS. — The feathering propeller, by 

 Which the pitch of the blades maybe altered while afloat from the 

 inside of the vessel, is a novelty to American yachtsmen, though the 

 device is largely used abroad by steam yachts. The steam yacht 

 Nubienne, which visited this country in 1884, was fitted with one, 

 and the new Sultana, built in 1890 at the Erie Basin, Brooklyn, also 

 had one. The angle of the blades may he varied at will, and both 

 blades may be feathered so as to reduce the drag when under sail 

 alone. The drawings which we reproduce this week from Engineer- 

 ing show clearly the mechanism by which these results are ob- 

 tained. 



BOUNCER. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The old yachting readers of your paper will doubttess remember 

 that some ten or twelve years ago when introducing the Nonpareil 

 sharpie for regular yachting purposes, I made the broad claim ihat 

 better work could be obtained from a hoat designed to sail on or over 

 the water rather than through it. Io other words, that the water 

 should be used as an inclined plane instead of an element to be vio- 

 lently wedged apart. 



My arguments were met sometimes by personal abuse, but more 

 frequently by such assertions as "Shoal boats cannot go to wind- 

 ward," "are unsafe," "impossible to be made seaworthy." etc., etc. 



Well, I went on building my sharpies of light draft': even fae 

 largest of them— 05ft. in length— drew butSOin. of water. Several of 

 them sailed to Florida and back in the winter, and I have yet to learn 

 of a Nonpareil sharpie yacht meeting with any disaster due to unsea- 

 worthiness. Hundreds of these boats, or others copied directly from 

 them, are to day in use all over the United States and even in Eng- 

 land (birthplace of the cutter type of wedge-shaped yachts). I see 

 that a clear counterfeit of the Nonpareil sharpie is claimed by one of 

 your correspondents as an English invention and reputed to be doing 

 wonderful work. 



The sharpie is a good boat, but until the measurement of length on 

 deck for time allowance was practically abolished she could not com- 

 pete in windward speed with wider and deeper boats, simply because 

 she was not as large as they were, and for no other reason. 



When deck length measurement was done away with it became at 

 once apparent to me that the day had come for proving that greater 

 speed could be attained over rather than through the water, and in 

 ihe spring of 1890 I designed the little yawl-rigged, spoon-shaped 

 Bouncer, and sailed her in all available regattas on Long Island 

 Sound, with the result that she beat everything of her size or any 

 where near her racing length, both above and under, no matter wba't 

 rig was opposed to her, in spite of the fact that the wedge scientists 

 had long since decided that yawl rigs must be, and were. slow. Her 

 best performance was invariably to windward in strong winds. In 

 brief the Bouncer drew only 5in. of water, yet distanced the deep, 

 sharp boats of her size under exactly the conditions of weather said 

 to be best suited to them. 



In none of her races was ballast shi 1'ted : in fact she carried scarce! v 

 any dead weight, and sailed some of her best races with but one man 

 aboard. The Forest and Strkam has a deserved reputation for fair- 

 ness, and 1 ask you to publish this letter, because a theory first 

 broached in your columns should properly have its successful proof 

 recorded through the samo medium. Since the little Bouncer ap- 

 peared I have built a number of these so-called spoon shaped boats 

 of larger size, the sloop yacht Chippewa being the largest. All of 

 them have been prize winners, and have easily defeated the deep 

 wedge type in every fair test. 



Judging from recent newspaper articles and illustrations, several 

 yacht designers of deserved renown are now adopting the spoon 

 form for shaping their racers. This I am glad tc see, not onlv be- 

 cause it indorses a principle J have believed in since 1 was a boy, but 

 because it will make popular the speediest and handiest type of boat 

 yet produced. The Bouncer was just one year Jn advance of an\ 

 • :i shaped boat recorded as showing remarkable speed. Chip"- 

 powa and Gloriaua appeared a year later nnd clinched the argument, 



KpWn h In % }'■, Feb. R. XaoKte Vjttwm. 



FEATHERING PROPELLERS. 



THE accompanying engraving shows clearly the mechanical de- 

 tails of the design of the Maro ue feathering- propeller. A solid 

 collar is formed on the base of each propeller blade, and below this 

 again is a toothed pinion; the propeller Inss, within which are suit- 

 able recesses with bearing surfaces for the collars, is made in halves 

 and bolted together by longitudinal bolts, in the usual way; the outer 

 end of the propeller boss, not shown in the engraving, is of spherical 

 form. Each blade is actuated by a rod supported iii guides or bear- 

 ings where necessary, and terminating in a toothed rack, which gears 

 with the pinions on the base of the blades. The rods are connected 

 to a disc, revolving between guide or thrust plates, which are bolted 

 together as indicated in the engraving, and by moving them forward 

 or backward, the straight rods, by the racks at the end of them, 

 actuate the prooeller blades, causing them to rotate and assume any 

 desired angle with the center line of the propeller shaft. 



In the example selected for illustration, the necessary movement 

 is imparted to the guide or thrust plates, by causing them to rotate 

 along a short length of a square threaded screw, formed on a portion 

 of the propeller shaft, by suitable gearing, or by an endless pitch 

 chain, which is worked either by hand, or bv a steam steering gear 

 according to the size of the vessel. To meet special cases the feath- 



Gfadys, steam yacht, sailed from Charleston, S. C, for Cuba on 

 Feb. 13. At the same date the steam yachts Far Nieuteaud Wanderer 

 were at Charleston. 



The Roberts Safety Watertube Boiler Co. has issued a special 

 "yacht list" of vessels fitted with the company's boilers, giviuj the 

 flags, dimensions, etc. 



Three of the new stations of the New York Y. 0., at New Londou, 

 Whitestone and Vineyard Haven, will be ready bv June 1, and will be 

 kept open through September. 



Wadena, steam yacht, Mr. J.H. Wade, after calling at Norfolk 

 and several Southern ports, was at St. Thomas on Jan. 27, sailing 

 three days later for Barbadoes. 



The new house of the Seawanhaka 0 Y. C. at Oyster Bay- was turned 

 over to the house committee on Feb. 18, in advance of the date of the 

 contract. It will be furnished and ready before the season opens. 



We have received the first number of a new nautical publication . 

 the I,'-.- vista Nantiva. published in Italy, and devoted to rowing, 

 yachting, the navy and merchant marine; a handsome paper with a 

 number of excellent illustrations. 



The Racine Hardware Manufacturing Co. have recently turned out 

 iu their boat department a handsome little cutter from the lines. o f 



FEATHERING PROPELLER. 



eriug gear can however be actuated without interfering iu any way 

 with the stern tube or shafting, although naturally a direct thrust 

 from the guide plates is to be preferred. 



The propeller illustrated is of small dimensions, and the details 

 are. of course, varied somewhat to suit large vessels, the principle 

 however remaining the same : the blades are generally built up of steel 

 or phosphor-bronze sheets on a strong cast steel frame, and are in 

 relative proportion longer and narrower than those shown in the en- 

 graving. Means also are provided of automatically varying the 

 steam supply to suit the angle of the blades, so as to prevent the 

 engines racing wheu the pitch of the blades is reduced beyond a 

 given point; aud by a small wormwheel and gear, not shown in the 

 engraving, the exact angle assumed by the blades is indicated on a 

 dial at any part of the vessel. 



It will be noted that the propeller blades being entirely independ- 

 ent of one another, no strain is thrown on the feathering gear if one 

 or more of them should he carried awav. 



Several steam launches and small yachts have been fitted with the 

 propellers, and have now been running some, time, and it is stated 

 with satisfactory results; one of them is, we hear, now in the Thames 

 for trial, and an extended series of trial runs with another vessel 

 on the Scheldt, has been made by the officials of the French and 

 Belgian Governments. Other trials made by the French Govern- 

 ment engineers on the Seine have led them to fit a propeller, at then- 

 own expense, to one of the dockyard tugs indicating about 500 horse- 

 power, which is now nearly ready for service.— Engineering. 



AMERICAN Y. C. 



ON Feb. 9, the anuual meeting of the American Y. C. was held at 

 Delrnonico's, New York; the following officers being elected: 

 Com. Frank R. Lawrence, steam yacht Tbyra: Yice-Com. John P 

 Kennedy, steam yacht Viola; Rear' Com. Sheldon O. Reynolds, steam 

 yacht Sigma: Sec'y. Thomas L. Scovill: Treats. George W. Hall: Fleet 

 Surgeon, Charles I.Pardee. M.D; Meas. Charles H. Hasweil; Con- 

 sulting Engineer, George W. Magee; L T . S. N. Trustees, to serve three 

 years; Washington E. Connor, sloop yacht Nahli; Wra. H. Starbuck. 

 steam yacht Tillie, to serve two years: John R. Hegemau, steam 

 yacht Evelyn; Charles H. Osgood, steam yacht Narwhal, to serve one 

 year; Clement Gould, steam yacht Adroit: William I. Quintard. sloop 

 yacht Nahma; Regatta Committee. George W. Hall, Ezra S- Connor. 

 William S, Alley, J. Howard Wainwright. Stephen W. Roach. 



The club appropriated $500 as a prize for a race of steam yachts, 

 and June 18 was named as the protiable date. It is expected that 

 Vamoose, Norwood, the new Gardner-Mosher boat, and others will 

 enter. The naphtha launch regatta will be held on March 4, the 

 special sailing regatta on July 9, the steam yacht regatta on July 10. 



From June 0 to Sept 10, a steamer will run daily between the club 

 house and Wall street, leaving the club house at Millon Point at 

 8 A.M. and arriving at Wall street at 9:30 A.M.; returning, leave 

 Wall street at 8:30 P. M., stopping at Twenty-fourth street, arriving 

 at club house at 5 P. M. 



Com, Lawrence suggested the desirability of a large attendance of 

 the club fleet at the World's Fair next year. 



On Feb 16 a special meeting was held, at which the annual dues 

 were raised to $40. 



NEW YACHTS. 



Ni . new 40 has yet loomed up. the two or three lately ptomised in 

 the daily papers having failed to materialize. Ac the same 

 time work is increasing at Herreshoffs,andonFeb. 29 the new Rogers 

 boat Wasp will be launched to leave the slip way clear for the keel 

 of a steam yacht. This new boat, for Mrs. Helen T. Newberry, of 

 Detroit, will be 131ft, over all, 108ft. l.w.l.. 17ft. Gin. beam and lift, 

 depth, with triple expansion engines and a speed of 10 miles. She 

 will be named Truant. 



The firm has also an order for a 30 racer for Boston, as well as 

 three 3l-footers, one a centerboarder. One 21-footer will be a fin 

 keel for Mr. E. T. Bigelow. They have also orders for a 24ft. cat- 

 yawl like Gannet. and one lift. Gin fin and a 10ft. racer Stewart 



& Binney have an order for a ,21ft. centerboarder. . . Mr. J. Borden 

 will design a fin keel for the same class, and others are building, 

 making a racing class of at least a dozen boats of all types, cutters, 

 fin keels and centerboards, the latter including (Jape ea'ts. Designer 



McYeyhas also a design for a 21ft. centerboard racer Lawlev has 



the Gardner schooner partly plated, and the three ai -footers planked 

 up. . . At City Island Piepgra.-s has the Brooks schooner well under 

 way . . . Wood Bros, are at work on the Gardner-Mosher launch, and 

 also are doing some excellent work on a Gardner 25 S.L. racer for 

 Mr. Oswald Sanderson. She will be of a peculiar form below the 

 water, but shorter and wider than the present boats of the .•! . .. 

 At New Roehelle Webber is busy with a Gardner design for a Phila- 

 delphia owner, a keel boat of 85fc. S.L At Bay Ridge Wailin & 



Gorman are working on the four cats for the Seawanhaka C. Y.C. 



NEWS NOTES. 



Crystal, 80 footer, has been sold to E. T. Bigelow, of Boston. 



The new "Gloriana Fisherman," the James S. Steele, is proving a 

 great success. beiDg a dry , fast and able boat. 



A correspondent asks the address of makers of the swan boat of 

 water velocipede; perhaps some of our readers can ioforni us. 



Oneida, steam yacht, Mr, E. C. Benedict, was at Wilmington, ff, ('.. 

 in Feb, II, awaiting her owner, who will sail for Cuba in her. 



The Oswego V. 0. has aunuimeed the following fixtures May aS- 

 81, annual cruise to Great Sodus Bay. July 18, annual regatta L. Y 

 nil A 



the Lark, published in Kunhardts ■•Small Yachts." The company ii 

 making a specialty of small sailing and cruising craft. 



The Corinthian Mosquito Fleet has selected May 30, June 25 and 

 Sept. 10 for three regattas, and a number of other races will be held 

 as the occasion occurs. The fleet will devote special attention to the 

 25ft. s.l. class. Ex- Commodore Sanderson will have a new Gardner 

 boat, shorter, wider, and carrying more sail than Nameless and Smug- 

 gler, which with the tin keel of Mr. Kersey will add a new interest to 

 the racing owing to the diversity of types'. 



The annual meeting of the San Francisco Corinthian Y. C. was 

 held ou Jan. 27, the officers elected being: Com., W. A. Stringer; 

 Vice- Com.. John W. Pew; Sec y, E. S. Eminous: Treas , W. F, 

 Dixey; Port Capt,, H. E. Penned;' Meas., H. H. Gorter; Directors, B. 

 Hobart and F. E. Baker. Regatta Committee: C. H. Crocker, H. J. 

 Kelly and A. D. Cross. The club has 161 active and 8 honorary 

 members. 



The annual meeting of the Buffalo Y. C. was held on Jan. 5, the 

 following officers being elected: Com., F. B. Howcr: Vice-Onm., 

 Alan S. Chisholm; Bee. Sec'y. F. W. Caulkins; Cor. Sec'v, ft, L. 

 Campbell; Treas., W. (). Cow'Jes: Fleet Surgeons, Drs. H. Mickle and 

 E. P. 11 ussev: Meas , Howard A.Baker. Board of Directors: F. B. 

 flower, A.. S. Chisholm, F. W Caulkins, H L. Campbell, W. C. 

 Cowles, H. D. Williams, J. S. Thompson, F. Bennett and L. G. 

 Nortbrup. Regatta Committee: J, De Zietir.sk i, K. P. Scars and H. 

 P. Pulsifer. 



At the annual meeting, on Feb. 9, the Eastern Y'. C. elected the fol- 

 lowing officers: Com., J. Malcolm Forbes; Vice-Corn., W. Amory 

 Gardner; Hear Com., Charles A. Longfellow: Sec'y, William S. Eaton. 

 Jr.; Treas., P. T. Jackson; Meas.. Arthur H. Clark. Members of the 

 Council at Large: C. O. Fester, Augustus Hemmenwav. Regaita 

 Committee: William S. Eaton, Jr , P. T. Jackson. A. N. Rantoul, R. 

 D. Sears, H. H. Buck. Committee on Admissions: R. H.Stevenson, 

 C. F. Adams, 2d, Gordon Dexter. F. E. Peabody and the secretary- 

 ex officio. House Committee: Dudley L. Pichman, E. B. Haven, 

 George P. Messervy, T. Wattson Merrill and the secretary ex officio. 



One night came on a hurricane. 



The sea was mountains rolling. 

 When Barney Buntliuo turned his quid 



Aud said to Billy Bowling: 

 "A strong sou'wester's blowing, Bill; 



Hark ! don't you hear it roar now; 

 Lord help 'em ! how I pities all 



Unhappy folks on shore now."— Caiman. 



The annual meeting of the Indian Harbor Y. C. was held on Feb. 

 11. the following officers being elected: Com.. John Holler, sloop 

 Nirvana; Yiee Com., Francis Burritt, sloops Champion and Rival; 

 Rear-Corn.. M. F. Plant, cabin cat Nellie; Treas.. Richard Cutwater; 

 Secy. R. B. Bruch; Meas., J. N. Cornwall : Regatta Com , F. S. Dor- 

 emus. E D Cowman, D. M. Winn e. Delegates to the New York Y. 

 R. A., G. E. Doremus, E. B Hart, Jr., G. E. Gartland. A committee 

 was appointed to select a site for a club house and to report at a 

 special meeting to be called sarly in the spring. The annual regatta 

 w i'd be sailed on July 30 or Aug. 6. A special .xv.vei.stol.-e race will 

 probably be arranged for the latter part of June, The secretary re- 

 ported a membership of 55 and 30 yachts enrolled in the fleet. 



The brig J. C. Noyes. formerly of Newbury port, built in Calais, Me. . 

 iu 1875, sailed from Norfolk for Deruarara Sept. 11, and as no tidings 

 have since been received, grave fears are entertained for thesafetv 

 of her crew. The Noyes had the distinction of being the only lull 

 rigged brig beluoeing to any port in the United States, though for- 

 merly it was a favorite rig. The Noyes was the last of the edition 

 issued from 1K46, to something later than 1850, There were many of 

 this rig owned and sailed from this port. To the ten or twelve owned 

 by the late Capt. .1. N. dishing may be added the brigs Forest, 

 L'Orient. Washington, Arcturus, Millinoket, Calcutta, Adelaide, 

 Camargo, Charlotte and Ark. The last three named loaded in this 

 port for California in 1819, and had the honor of taking many of the 

 '•Forty-niners" through the Golden Gate. With the loss of the Noves 

 the rig becomes obsolete— Exchange. 



'• 'In 1H31 New York was the leading shipbuilding place in this coun- 

 try, though the business was not large nor the establishments numer- 

 ous as compared with a later date. There were Bergh & Co., Webb 

 & Allen, Bell & Brown. Picket t & Thomas, Smith & Dimon and Jabez 

 Williams. Later, Divine Burtis, William H. Brown, William Collier. 

 Thomas Collier. Joan Englis and a few others of lesser note were 

 added. At the earlier date the Allaire and Novelty Works were the 

 only builders of note of marine engines. Later, Fletcher & Harrison, 

 the, Morgan, the Phtenix and a few other engine building works were 

 established. In the earlier years the amount of business done at 

 New York varied, owing largely to the frequent passage and repeal 

 of tariff laws, thus grtatly unsettling business. But as all or nearly 

 alt of the foreign packet ships were built here, there was alwavs 

 something being Aaue."--Wm. H. Webb in N. Y. Tribune, 



'■"Wed, India Hurricanes and the Great March Blizzard." 1 ' Bg 

 Everett Harden, U. S. Hydmyraplrie Office. Lame- quarto, with %;} 

 lithographic platen. Price $L Contains full history of the great 

 storm of March, 1888, with practical information how to handle a 

 flCKSci n a cyclone,; use of oil at sea, etc. 



A Hook Anour Indian?.- -The Forest and Stiikam will ma 

 free on application a descriptive circ ular of Mr. Grinnell's boo 

 "Pawnee Hero Stories and Folk-tales," giving a table of ponton, 

 ami specimen illustrationa ft pin the volum* — Ady. 



