Mat 23, 1896.] 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
428 
l.garde, Lady Evelyn— and two old yawls, Cythera and Nonparielle; we 
IbelievS that this completes the list, though we may possibly have 
[omitted one or two. Of these, Jessica, Hildegarde, Lady Evelvn, 
ICythera and Nonparielle have cut no special figure; they certainly 
[have hurt no one, if they have done no good to their owners. Miranda, 
[instead of making fresh orders for English yards, merely served to 
Igive a much-needed impetus to the then errbryotic 90ft. schooner 
[class, from which has since sprung the fine fleet of American yachts, 
|ArieI, Jjasca, Emerald, Sea Fox and a dozen more. Olara did still bet- 
[ter service in putting some life into the moribund 53ft. sloop class for 
[three or four seasons by beating all the home boats and furnishing a 
[needed incentive to that improvement which has since been realized 
fin the construction of Wasp and Gloriana. Queen Mab, the latest im_ 
Iportation, has done a good service to American yachting in showing a 
[remarkable combination of fine appearance, excellent accommoda- 
tion and speed under a small sail plan, while making known here a 
(system of construction previously unknown, the modern composite, 
and tJvira has helped materially in the same way. 
The most striking example of the terrible wrongs and hardships in- 
Iflicted on American mechanics by unlimited British competition is to 
I be found in Minerva, the Fife 40-footer brought out to this country in 
1 888. This yacht was built at Fairlie, on the Clyde, the work of a 
Scotch designer and Scotch shipwrights. Compared with the Amer- 
ican yachts of her class, she cost $5,000 as compared with varying 
sums from $6,500 to $10,000; she was by far the handsomest of the 
fleet, her construction was materially better in all respects, and in 
speed there was no ground for comparison; she swept all before her 
for her first season, and in her second found but one yacht, a new one 
I specially built, that could make a fitting race with her. 
What was the result? A rush of orders to the Clyde, while Amer- 
I. ican shipwrights went to tramping on the highways? On the other 
I hand, not a single order went to Mr. Fife, but the yards of Boston and 
New York were filled with work in the grand struggle to "beat the 
Minerva" with an American yacht. Though not owing its origin to 
her, the whole 40ft. class, the finest and most successful racing class 
ever known in America, a boon alike to American designers, builders 
and yachtsmen, centers about this one imported yacht. Her importa- 
tion, which would not be possible under such a law as the proposed 
Payne bill, has been from first to last an unmixed good to American 
yachting. For causes which we leave the Marine Journal or some 
Other advocate of prohibitive laws for ships to explain, the success of 
Minerva, in spite of the natural odds against American yards, such as 
wages, etc., brought little work to the foreign yard where she was 
built. Mr. Fife ih the seven years that have elapsed has built just one 
yacht for the United States, the 20-rater Jessica, originally built for 
an American residing in England, and for British rules and races, but 
afterward sent out here. 
The importation of British sailing yachts free of all duty began 
just at the time when American yachtsmen had discovered many of 
the defects of the home built craft and the utter incapacity of the pro- 
fessional yacht builder to improve on the ancient models. After the 
success of the first important cutters and their advocacy by the 
Forest and Stream and many of the more enterprising yachtsmen, 
there was an immediate demand for British yachts and British de- 
signs. What was the result ? Within three years of the awakening, 
the best of the New York and Boston yards were busier than they 
had ever been before, building now, not from their own models, but 
from the designs of Mr. Burgess and Mr. A. Cary Smith; the keels of 
such yachts as Puritan, Mayflower, Sachem, Priscilla, Iroquois and 
Yampa were laid; and tnere began an era of prosperity previously 
unknown to the American builder. If such results arise from the 
free importation of yachts, or if they can even exist by the side of 
such importation, what possible grounds can there be for the passage 
of the Payne bill on a basis of abstract theory, not only unsupported, 
but positively contradicted by the practical experience of fifteen 
years? 
In one respect the case of the steam yacht is different, it is true, 
from that of the small sailing yachts we have instanced, the cost is 
materially greater, and just at the present time American legislators 
as well as shipbuilders can see nothing more than the sum of say 
$1,500,000 that is to go to the Clyde to pay for the steam yachts now 
building there for American owners. This is a great deal of money, 
but on the other hand the American builder who considers that he is 
robbed for the benefit of his foreign rival must take into account that 
while legislation may go a great way in saying what a man shall not 
do with his own, there is a limit, and it cannot say what be shall do. 
It is easy perhaps to prevent the building of yachts abroad, but it 
may be another matter to compel men to build at home a class of 
craft that they do not want, and that is what thus far the home 
builder is prepared to offer them. It is not impossible that, had the 
Payne bill been passed a year ago, Mr. Higgins, after a practical trial 
of the Columbia under charter, might have preferred to do his yacht- 
ing by rail rather than to risk a duplicate of her; and that Messrs. 
Stuy vesant aud Goelet might have determined to stick to sail rather 
than to venture into steam under such opportunities as would be open 
to them. 
Apart from this, however, the question of the amount thus ex- 
pended abroad, and in fact to a large extent of the difference in cost 
between the yards of the Delaware and the Clyde, are mere side 
issues. The main facts are that, as was the case about 1880 in sailing 
yachts, the average yachtsman does not know what he should and can 
have, or how to get it; he does not take the trouble to inform himself, 
but merely sends his captain to a shipbuilder to order a steam yacht. 
The builder, on his part, known little and cares less of the most recent 
advances in steam yacht designing and construction; he does not 
know how antiquated and out of date his pet models are; nor does he 
realize that the ordinary routine of building leaves him no time to im- 
prove them ; and that he must call in the aid of a professional designer 
even if it does cost a little money. What i9 needed now in steam 
yachting is just such a shaking up of dry bones and dusty block 
models as the early cutters created in the sailing fleet between 1880 
and 1884; and tbe way in which this must come is not through a 
cowardly protection, but through open competition; the placing of 
the newest of American steam yachts beside the newest of their 
British rivals. If they can stand the test, so much the better; if they 
fail then the effort must be to improve them and not to protect them. 
Those who believe in the superiority of the American steam yacht 
may find it worth while to make a special journey to the classic shades 
of Gowanus, or what has been left of it by the garbage carts of Brook- 
lyn, and inspect the very latest produot of an American yard— the 
steam yacht Anita, launched late last season and in commission for 
but a short time. We have no doubt that she is really of American 
design; there is a freshness and originality about her that betrays the 
absence of the usual German or Scandinavian aid. She is a brand new 
yacht, the flagship of a prominent club, presumably costing a large 
sum of money. We shall not attempt any detailed description, as 
words fail us; but it is sad to think how many humble but useful 
articles might have been built out of the same amount of wood, iron 
and paint. One of the many novel features that strike the eye is the 
employment of posts modeled after the old four-poster bedsteads, and 
painted the same familiar dull red color, as supports for the boat 
chocks, running up from the rail, the effect being to give a welcome 
Air of retirement ..and repose. Those wh f o see this latest addition to 
the fleet of would-be "protected cruisers," even for the first time, are 
sure to know her, as there is nothing else like her afloat. 
We publish with pleasure the following from the Marine Journal 
which is entirely correct so far as the opening clause goes: 
We regret to announce that the bill to oblige American owners and 
charterers of foreign yachts to pay port charges on them has. after 
successfully passing the House, been hung up in the Senate through 
the same cause that killed the bill that would have raised the revenues 
of the country sufficient to meet its expenditures— a coterie of ob- 
struetioniats with Senator Vest in the lead, who oppose anything 
bearing on the protection of American industries, who get their power 
through the misfortune of bad rules which prevail in the Senate and 
which enable a majority of one to kill any bill he may desire if he is 
long winded enough, even if the only cause is that of a personal 
grudge against a member favoring it. Senator Frye got the House 
bill favorably reported from the Committee on Commerce, of which 
he is the chairman, but gave notice that he would not call it up this 
session in consequence of the opposition as stated above, it being use- 
less to take up the time of the Senate in discussion of the measure 
when it would be impossible to pass it. The bill is not dead, however, 
and renewed vigor at the next session of Congress will doubtless place 
it on the statute books, where it should have been years ago. 
We sincerely hope that the Payne bill has gone to meet its unfortu- 
nate predecessor, the Frye bill; and that the legislators of the fifty-fifth 
Congress will find some other and less hurtful field for experimental 
legislation, and leave yachting to the care of those who know some, 
thing about it, and to the healthful stimulus of fair and free compe- 
tition. 
Though the discussion of the bill has been entirely from the side of 
the large steam yacht, it must not he forgotten that its restrictions 
apply quite as severely to sailing yachts, and would prevent any more 
such experiments as the importation of Minerva and Clara, and would 
even go further in hindering, if not absolutely preventing, interna- 
tional racing. Nothing worse could happen to the American sailing 
fleet to-day than the cessation of all foreign competition, or even that 
due to the occasional visit of such a yacht as Queen Mab. So far as 
the prosperity of yacht racing and yacht building go, we can speak 
with a certain authority in the smaller classes, both as being inter- 
ested ourselves, and for some at least of American builders who have 
profited by the present demand for the small raters. We should 
welcome gladly a provision that would admit free of duty the 
smaller British yachts and canoes; the introduction of such craft 
means a continuation of the interest in their races; under the condi- 
tions now existing, and little likely to be changed, it cannot mean a 
competition in either cost or quality that would put the American 
builder at any disadvantage. 
The commonly accepted opinion of the Emperor of Germany is that 
he is at least original, if not deserving of a still higher encomium; but 
that this is a mistake is reasonably evident after the naming of his 
new Watson cutter, which was launched from the Henderson yard, at 
Patrick, Glasgow, on May 13, The name which he gave to Thistle 
when he purchased her a few years ago, commonplace and hackneyed 
as it is, has been transferred to the new yacht, and she will henceforth 
be known as Meteor II. The old boat, thus most inappropriately 
christened, has recently been named Comet, which is equally bad. 
His Majesty may be able to astonish Europe, but he evidently is not a 
success in naming yachts. The new yacht, which is at least deserving 
of a new and fitting name, will be raced in British waters by Lord 
Lonsdale, representing the Emperor, who is not likely to visit Eng- 
land this year. The stories about her as a possible challenger for the 
America's Cup are too absurd and indefinite as yet to be worthy of 
serious attention; she cannot challenge this year, and a thousand 
things may happen before next season. 
YACHT DESIGNING.-VHI. 
BY W. P. STEPHENS. 
Of the multitude of forces acting on a vessel, the buoy- 
ancy on the immersed portion of the hull, the force of 
gravity, the impact of the waves also on parts of t>e hull, 
and that of the wind on both sails and hull, the former is 
by far the most important. This importance, especially 
as relates to the stability of vessels, has been recognized 
for over a century and a half; and the two allied subjects, 
buoyancy and stability, have received the attention of 
many eminent scientists, both French and British. The 
general subject of stability, intricate and complicated as 
some of its parts are, is a most fascinating one for the 
student and investigator, and until a comparatively recent 
date the study of it has been confined almost entirely to 
this class, the practical builder or even naval constructor 
devoting little attention to it. Since the loss of the British 
war ship Captain in the Bay of Biscay some twenty years 
ago, followed by a number of similar disasters to war and 
merchant ships, such as the capsizing of the Eurydice, the 
steamship Austral and the steamship Daphne, the latter on 
launching, much has been done by British builders to put 
into practical application the experimental and theoretical 
work of such men as Bouguer, Dupin, Reech, Daymard 
and Dargnies. Through the work of these brilliant men, 
beginning before the middle of the last century, France 
justly claims the first place; but within the present gener- 
ation the British builders and constructors, ftlessrs. Denny, 
Inglis, Barnes, White, Prof. Elgar and Sir Edward J.' 
Reed, have made the study of stability a part of the every- 
day operations of the shipyard, achieving results of the 
greatest practical value. Important as it is, the subject 
has received no attention from American shipbuilders. 
In no other science than naval architecture is there so 
great a difference between the conditions existing in 
actual practice and those necessarily assumed in theory 
as the basis for all investigation, as well as for the practi- 
cal work of designing. This difference, due largely to the 
unstable nature of the great media, water and wind, 
which control all floating bodies, must be considered at 
all times by the designer; in fact his professional success 
will depend very largely upon the accuracy with which 
he estimates- it. The actual elements of a vessel are ao 
concealed and so difficult if not impossible to obtain, 
the designer must perforce accept some very inade- 
quate substitute. So far as the mathematical part of the 
work is concerned, results may be obtained tbat are, in a 
general sense, absolutely accurate; but there still remains 
a wide gap between them and the conditions existing in 
the vessel m every-day service. No very great amount of 
skill is required to make a set of drawings of a vessel and 
to calculate with practical accuracy the displacement, 
position of C. B., C. E,, C. L. R., metacenter and many 
other important elements; but it must always be borne in 
mind that these are the elements of the model or the paper 
design only, and not of the vessel built from them, how- 
ever carefully and correctly the work may be done. The 
C. E. of the sail plan and the C. L. R. of the hull may be 
located on the drawing with very.little labor and absolute 
accuracy, so far as all this goes; but the corresponding 
centers of the vessel herself are changing every moment 
under the influence of sea and wind, their positions, even 
for a certain force of wind and angle of heel, cannot be 
ascertained with even approximate accuracy, and if known 
would be of little value, being instantly replaced by others 
as short-lived. This particular case, of the adjustment of 
a sail plan, is typical of the indirect way in whicli 
the designer of necessity works; a certain balance 
of the C. B., O. L. R. and C. E. in the design 
of a known vessel gives some particular result, such 
as too much lee or weather helm, or possibly a perfect 
balance, in the vessel herself. The difference between 
the theory and practice in this case serves as a basis for 
deductions in the case of another vessel of similar type, 
or differing in a certain known degree. The method of 
the designer is indirect, and based on a very limited 
foundation of accurate methods, which stops with the 
mathematical calculations; but with experience and care- 
ful observation he is at last enabled to bridge very suc- 
cessfully the wide gap between theory and practice. 
The working drawings of a vessel may be made with any 
desired degree of mechanical accuracy, dependent on 
the scale of the drawing and the time and labor em 
ployed; but there will still remain quite a margin of dif- 
ference between them and the hull, spars and sails made 
by an enlargement from them. It is commonly assumed 
that with a sufficient number of accurate measurements, 
from a well-made drawing, the displacement can be 
calculated to within a very minute margin; but in the 
case of large vessels the possible errors in this one detail 
of the work may be both numerous and serious, due to 
errors in measuring the offsets, clerical errors in the 
lengthy calculations, the approximate character of many 
of the processes of computation, the actual errors that 
occur in getting out and setting up the many parts, the 
varying density of the water in which the vessel floats, 
and the difficulty of ascertaining the exact draft. How- 
ever much they may be minimized by more perfect 
methods in the drafting room, the mould loft, on the 
bending floor and in the work on the stocks, as well as 
by the care and skill of the designer, these differences 
FIG 8. 
A C— Vertical axis. W L— Normal load wateline, 15 degrees. B— Center of 
buoyancy, normal position. Bl B2— Center of buoyancy, inclined position. 
G— enter of gravity. M -Metacenter. Ml, M2, etc.— Shifting metacenter. 
1, 2, 3, 4— Pro-metacenters and metacent'i*. Q Z— Rightinglever. S— Inter- 
section of normal and inclined waterllnes. W 6 Wl— Emersed wedge. 
L S LI— Immersed wedge. 
between the design and the vessel must always exist to 
such an extent as to demand the serious attention of the 
designer at all stages of his work; he must constantly 
bear in mind that the drawing, including the calcula- 
tions, is one thing, and the vessel when afloat quite 
another, 
This difference between assumed and existing conditions 
constitutes one of the serious difficulties encountered in 
the study of stability, resistance, rolling and similar ob- 
jects. In that abstract study which is the source of all 
our knowledge of the laws of stability in a floating body, 
the basis is an impossible vessel, floating in perfectly still 
water, either motionless or heeled in one of two direc- 
tions, longitudinal or transverse, the heeling force being 
constant and regular. When we contrast this dummy 
with the vessel herself, now heeling at a steady angle, the 
next moment with planksheer deep under water, pitching 
heavily into the hollow of a sea and then supported on its 
crest, her sails perhaps becalmed one moment and then 
filled out before a squall, we are led to wonder what use- 
ful relation can be discovered between two such dissimilar 
objects. Inadequate as it is, the study of the dummy 
vessel under impossible conditions is the only course open 
to the student, and he must make the beBt of it. We shall 
not attempt to go far into the study of stability; it is one 
deserving of lengthy and special treatment at the hands 
of an expert, as has been done by Sir Edward J. Reed in 
his valuable work, "The Stability of Ships," but it seems 
desirable here, in view of the frequent occurrence of cer- 
tain technical terms in the public prints and the general 
ignorance as to their meaning, to define as clearly as pos- 
sible these terms and to explain the general method of 
investigation, tsm^zz. 
The figures 7 and 8 represent the transverse section of a 
