74 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Jan. 38, 1897. 
Misdirected Ingenuity. 
One of the recent inventions reported from the Patent 
Office is a comtiined mud guard, skirt holder and rest for 
bicycles. Its practicability may be judged from the fact 
that the attachment is made in the form of an eagle, in which 
the body serves as a mud guard, the wings as a skirt pro- 
tector and the legs as a rest for the bicycle. The wings are 
attached to the body by spring hinges to prevent injury in 
case of a fall, while the legs are operated by a combination 
■of levers and slide rods. It would be interesting to know 
just what the inventor had in view when evolving this mon-' 
Strosity. He could hardly have expected that it would come 
into universal use, or even that a limited number of the at- 
tachments could be sold The vast majority of female 
bicycle riders are sensitive about their appearance, and we 
opine that it would not be an easy matter to find a single 
individual who could be bribed to ride the flipping eagle in 
public. 
Were this an isolated case, an explanation would be forth- 
coming, but the records of the Patent Office teem witb just 
such impractical devices, proving that misdirected ingenuity 
is common enough. 
During a Single period of three months last year 1,100 
patents were applied for for improvements in connection 
with the bicycle. Tires alone were responsible for 550. 
Two hundred were asked for on features of general con- 
struction, fifty -six forsaddles, fifty two for brakes, thirty-one 
for chain improvements, twenty-two far valves, twenty-five 
for lubricators, nineteen for locks, fourteen for devices for 
securing women's dresses, twelve for lamps, seven for bells, 
two for devices for carrying pipes and matches, and one for 
a luncheon carrier; while ice bicycles, chainless bicycles, hill 
climbers and other ideas figure largely. 
It is estimated that two-thirds of all the patents issued are 
valueless to the manufacturer, and in the line of bicycle im- 
provement no doubt the pt-rcentage is immeasurably greater. 
Take for example the item of tires. From the reports it ap- 
pears that more were patented in a week than have been suc- 
cessfully introduced upon the market in the last six years, 
and it" is the same way with the other rlissifications. 
Theories whose practicability have long since besn exploded 
still continue to lure the inventive mind by way of wasted 
funds and energy to ultimate disappointment and failure. 
When we consider the great odds that oppose the introduc- 
tion of articles of real merit, it is little wonder that so many 
fall by the wayside. 
New Models. 
The new models for 1897 have a more finished appearance, 
as a rule, than any bicycles heretofore tamed out. Plush 
joints have been adopted with remarkable unanimity, and 
the frames are more richly and smoothly enameled. The 
option of wood handle bars in place of steel is generally 
given, and improved crank shaft mechanisms all aiming 
toward simplicity of parts are almost universal. Manufac 
turers are also practically unanimous in condemning the old 
style of oil holes, which were fiequently dirt traps, and im- 
proved methods of oiling are found in nearly all the new 
models. Attention has been given to the perfection of 
sprocket wheels, and there has been a general increase in 
their size, while either one or both sprockets are made de- 
tachable. Many manufacturers have adopted D-shaped 
tubing for the rear forks, which allows a greater clearance 
for the tire, and permits the use of larger sizes. 
Ball retaining devices for bearings are common, while 
arrangements are made for adjustment independent of 
frame. 
Considerable attention has been paid to improving the 
general appearance of the new wheels, and fork crowns, 
rims, spokes, handle bars, name plates, etc., show more 
pleasing lines than formerly. It seems to be the general 
policy this year to give the widest possible range in options. 
Brakes will be put on when requested, and special saddles 
and tires may be had without difBculty. 
As a result, we will have handsomer and more perfectly 
finished bicycles, and the amateur will be better able to take 
care of his own wheel and keep it in good condition than 
heretofore. 
The report of the race committee of the Seawanhaka Cor 
inthian Y. C. was prepared solely for the members of the 
club, and was not intended for publication. With the per- 
mission of the committee, however, we publish it entire for 
two or three reasons which will be appreciated by yachts- 
men. In the first place, we consider this report a model for 
every club and race committee in the country, just such a 
clear and pointed statement as should be laid before every 
club at the end of each racing season, solidifying and pre- 
serving the observations and the experiences of the men who, 
not even excepting the racing owners, are most closely in 
touch with the racing work of the year. Invaluable as it is, 
this experience is almost invariably allowed to go to waste 
In any club, no matter how small it may be, which can 
boast of races through the season, there is the opportunity 
offered to the committee to make a report of this nature that 
shall at the same time bring home to the members the exact 
conditions of the racing, and shall excite a new interest in 
the sport. 
The report is valuable in another way in that it bears on 
its face the evidence of the vast amount of work which is 
done, not in this club alone by any means, but in a great 
many clubs, for the encouragement of yachting and yacht 
racing; and, we regret to say, of the lack of support on the 
part of the individual owners of the club. Only those who 
have been concerned with such work can appreciate the 
amount of time and labor, all freely given, that is necessary 
to carry out a complete season's racing, especially with 
the trial and cup races of the past two years thrown 
in. That racing is in other than a fl^ourishing condi- 
tion to-day is, in our opinion, in no way due to the 
yacht clubs or to their active agents, the race com- 
mittees. The present report shows a condition of affairs in 
one club which is almost universal and by no means a soli- 
tary instance. On the part of the club generous sums are 
appropriated for prizes and incidental racing- expenses; on 
the part of the committee, time and labor are ireely given 
in the preparation of a long racing programme, in the 
arrangement of details and the management of each race, 
in measurement, protests, etc. As stated by the committee 
in this case, the support from the racing owner.-, for 
whom all this work is done, is not what might reasonably 
be expected, and the result is too often a disappointment to 
the committee. 
Apart from these general considerations, the report is 
valuable because it deals with a large number of the actual 
issues in modern yachting: the measurement question, the 
reg-ulation of extreme features, the lack of interest in the 
larger and the growth of racing in the smaller classes, and 
kindred subjects. Its value in this respect is in no way im- 
paired by the fact that it is suggestive rather than positive 
on many important points; that it indicates difficulties with- 
out providing at once practicable means of surmounting 
them. In this it is only in the position of many thoughtful 
yachtsmen, who fully appreciate the difficulties and draw- 
backs of the existing state of affairs in yachtihg,"and yet are 
not clear as to an effectual remedy. We hope that this report 
will be the means of awakening, both within and without 
the club, a deeper interest on the part of individual yachts- 
men in the many vital questions of the times. 
The Seawanhaka C. T. C. has followed the Y. E U. in 
adopting the draft limits of the Larchmont and New York 
clubs, The summary of the race committee voices an opin- 
ion that is very general among yachtsmen, that in spite of 
obvious faults of construction, the amendment can now do 
BODY PLAN. 
little positive harm, and something better may be suggested 
before much building is done. It is worth while to note 
that the numerous yachts promised in October are not ma- 
teriahzing now that the building season for large vessels is 
well advanced. 
If the reports that are now current about Mr. Howard 
Goula's projected steam yacht are anything near the tru'h, 
this craft will be a fitting mate to the other great American 
steam yachts, Atalanta and Nourmahal She is to be a 
purely American craft, with all that the term implies in a 
steam yacht, beyond which we need not go into details. Mr. 
Gould has here an opportunity to help the cause of steam 
yacht designing in America and at the same time to save 
money. If he has really decided upon the general size and 
type of boat which he desires, let him institute an open com- 
' petition among designers, limiting it, as it may please him, 
to those of purely American birth, to them and those of 
foreign birth resident in this country, or to all without re- 
gard to nationality. The cost of adequate prizes for such a 
competition would be a small item compared with the half 
milhon dollars or so that the yacht will cost, and which from 
appearances is more than likely to be wasted on a faulty de- 
sign The value of such a competition as a stimulus to and 
a test of American designing should weigh strongly, in addi- 
tion to the mere saving of money. 
Apropos of nothing in particular, but merely as a bit of 
private malice, the Boston Herald of January 10 makes the 
following statement: "In the last Cup race the Seawanhaka 
club's pleasure steamer got in the way of the Defender and 
Valkyrie III." The ''Herald man" is in error in assuming 
thai the Seawanhaka C. Y. C. owns the Old Dominion Line 
of steamers. The club chartered for the Cup races of 1895 
the steamer Guyandotte, of that line, which was a long dis- 
tance from the yachts on the occasion of the unfortunate 
collision. The offending steamer, Yorktown, of the same 
line, was run by its owners as a public boat in charge of her 
regular captain. 
The result of the special meeting of the Lake Y. R. A. 
can hardly be considered satisfactoiy, as matters are still in 
a very mixed condition. The proposal to limit the mid.«hip 
section has been adopted, with a smaller limit than desirable, 
but still the difference is not material. The sequel will ap 
pear to most yachtsmen as an absurdity; the opponents of 
this measure in the larger classes now appear as its cham- 
pions in the smaller, and have succeeded in having the rule 
extended to cover them as well. Using the original argu- 
ments of the other side, that they wished to bar freaks and 
extremes and promote the building of wholesome and useful 
boats, they have proposed a minimum of 19 per cent, in the 
37ft. class and 15 per cent, in the 2att. class. Considering 
the patent facts that the extreme fln keels could not carry the 
necessary displacement to float their fins and bulbs on a 
much smaller section, it may seem that these limits and 
the arguments in support of them were intended as sarcasm, 
but both were put forward soberly and in good faith. It will 
be interesting to watch the development of wholesome and 
useful yachts under such Mmits. 
Another similar matter was no less amusing. The Hamil- 
ton delegates seriously defended the limit of 1251bs. as a fair 
averige for the weight of crew on Jake yachts. The ab- 
surdity of sqch statements in the actual presence of such 
men as Com. Lucas, .^Emilius Jarvis, George Webster, George 
Goodesham, Elliott Mott, Com. Downey, E. A. Burroughs, 
Com. Hower and many more, never seemed to strike the ad- 
vocates of light weight in yachting. 
The proposal to measure with crews on board was unfor- 
tunately lost through the. opposition of the Hamilton dele- 
gates. 
Two new yachts of large size are now assured for the 
English racing, one for (.'has. Day Rose and one for A. B. 
Walker. They will be of about 90ft. linear rating. The 
former will be designed by -I. M. Soper and built by Fay & 
Co., at Southampton; the latter will be designed and built 
by Will Fife, Jr., at Fairlie. 
Mr. Clinton H. Crane, owner of El Heirie, has been 
in Boston during the past week arranging with Lawlcy & 
Co. for the construction of a 20-footer of his own design, 
the work now being under way. 
A MODERN CRUISER. 
The handsome little craft which we hera present, through 
the courtesy of the designer and builder, Mr. W. B. Stearns, 
of the Matblehead Yacht Yard, belongs to a class long since 
made familiar to the readers of the Forest and Stream. 
It is interesting and instructive in the extreme to compare 
this finished design, with its artistic lines and light construc- 
tion, with such experimental boats from the same locality as 
the first little Carmita and Witch, built nearly fifteen years 
ago and illustrated when new in the Forest and Stream. 
With all their sterling qualities as safe and handy cruisers 
and single-handets, these little boats were crude in the 
extreme in model, construction and rig. The modern boat 
of the same type, of which the craft here shown is an excel- 
lent example, is in all respects a model, the same skill and 
care being expended upon her as upon the largest and most 
expensive yachts. ' 
The present craft, now building at Mr. Stearns's yard, is 
intended for day sailing about Massachusetts Bay and tor 
cruising on the Maine coast; for these ends the designer has 
aimed to secure a good, easy sea boat, with plenty of room 
below and on deck, a fair turn of speed, and ample strength 
for hard service through an indefinite period, as in the older 
and much heavier boats. In that secondary but indispensa- 
ble attribute of a yacht, appearance, nothing has been sacri- 
ficed, and the design shows a notably graceful and ship- 
shape craft, and one free from all freak features. For the 
intended use, a few inches of draft more or less is no objec- 
tion, but if circumstances should call for it the draft might 
be somewhat reduced by a straight line for the bottom of 
the keel and the bulbing of the lead. The very easy profile 
has a special advantage in that the yacht is not liable to be 
brought up suddenly by nets, surface lines and similar ob- 
structions that are so serious in the case of the fin type. The 
dimensions of the yacht are as follows: 
Length over all 33ft. 9in. 
l.w.l 21ft. 
Overhang, forward 5f fc. 
aft 6ft. 9in. 
Beam, extreme 7ft. Sin. 
1 w.l 7ft. 2im. 
Draft, extreme 4ft. 10|in. 
Freeboard, least 'ift. 9|in. 
Sheer, forward 1ft. lin, 
aft 6in. 
Displacement, long tons 3 48 
poimds 7,800 
Ballast, lead, all outside, tons 1.71 
pounds 3.840 
Sail area , . 499sq. ft. 
Mast, from stem at l.w.l 5ft. 9in. 
deck to hounds 26ft. 6in. 
Boom „. 24ft. 9in. 
Gaff .i 13ft. Bin.' 
The ,crnstruction is fully illustrated in the plans The 
frame is of oak, with all bent timbers lin. square, spaced 
lOin. Covering the lead keel are Sin. oak floors, with four 
steel strap floors extending ISin up the sides. Forward and 
aft of the lead tbe floors are of lin oak boards The 
clamps are of oak, lixS^in., with oak bilge clamps 3Xliin., 
bent in cold. The deck beams are part of white oak, 
fXl^in., and part of red oak, 3xliin. and HXHin. 'The 
topstrakes are of white oak, bright finished; the remainder 
of the planking is of hard (yellow) pine, fin. The deck is 
of rift sawed white pine, absolutely free from imperfections, 
fin. thick and 3in wide, bent to deck line and fastened with 
blind nails and dowels. 
The sides of the trunk are of oak bent to shape and the 
top is of fin. butternut with lipped seams, these and the 
deck seams payed with marine glue. The cabin joiner 
work is of mahogany and butternut, handsomely finished 
The forecastle is finished in white pine. The upholstery and 
furnishings are all of the best quality. 
All of the blocks, turnbuckles, chain plates and deck fit- 
tings are of phosphor or Tobin bronze, from the yard's 
special patterns, and the iron work is of Norway iron, neatly 
forged and galvanized. The standing rigging is of best 
quality steel tiller rope, ^in. diameter, with metallic splices 
on the shrouds and backstays, the headstay being seized 
back. The running rigging is thoroughly stretched and sea- 
soned before reeving off. The sails are of special yacht 
duck, 6oz., unbighted, with cross cut cloths except in the 
jib 
The cabin is 8ft. 6in. long, with oft. headroom under 
companion and skylight, and 3ft. breadth of floor. It is 
fitted with two large and comfortable lockers, with ward- 
robe and sideboard at the ends of each. The forecastle is 
fitted with ice chest, dish lockers, shelves and folding berth. 
The cockpit is quite roomy, with wide seats inside the coam- 
ing, the seats also forming lockers for stowage. Froni the 
above general specifications, it will be seen that the yacht is 
remarkably complete in her construction and fittings, every- 
thing being of tbe best, and expense not being considered. 
The same boat of less elaborate finish, but with first-class 
woikmansLip throughout, can be built for about $1,300, 
which would not include cabin furnishings and cruising 
outfit. Unlike the original knockabout, this boat is not 
strictly of a local type, but adapted for many places on both 
fresh and salt water, the sail spread and other details being, 
of course, modified as the conditions and intended use may 
demand. Mr. Stearns is a young Boston man whose tastes, 
even as a young boy, led him to designing, after studying 
under Prof. J. H. Biles, at Glasgow, he has established 
himself at Marblehead as both designer and builder, and, as 
this design shows, with much promise of success. The COQ- 
9trttction and sail plans will follow nest week. 
