356 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Oct. 30, 1897. 
narrow limits; Lake George, with its hotels on every hand .• 
its hordes of professional tourists and its squally winds, 
offers few inducements, besides being so well known to 
many. Lake Champlain offers broader waters and better 
winds, with chances for the desired degree of seclusion and 
isolation, but the proximity of the Adirondack Mountains 
makes the climate damp and uncertain. The idea of a meet 
on salt water is approached with apprehension by every ex- 
ecutive, after the successful failure at Jessup's Neck, it is 
felt to be a very risky experiment, as canoeing is to-day. 
Such a locality as Chesapeake Bay, however promising, is 
too far from the practical center of the Association. If 
there are other practicable localities as yet unknown, such 
as any of the inland lakes of New York, the sooner they are 
discovered and introduced to the attention of the Associa- 
tion the better. 
The St. Lawrence River is likely to be the scene of the 
majority of A. C. A. meets in the future, but even there the 
advance of civilization has been strongly marked since the 
first G-rindstone meet of 1884. The available localities are 
even now limited; and whatever the opinion may be as to 
the desirability or the reverse of a permanent camp site 
owned by the Association: and of tlie continuance of the 
avowed policy of the past, to have no permanent connection 
with any one locality or particular place, but to change 
each year; the requirements of common prudence indicate 
the desirability of speedily securing a site, if one be still 
available, that the Association can control positively for the 
future. 
As between Grindstone and Stave Island, the real choice 
this year, we have frequently discussed the good and bad 
points of both. The camp site of 1889, on Stave Island, 
selected for the meet of 1898, was with one exception the 
worst on which an A. 0. A. meet has ever been located. _ A 
different arrangement of the camp will be tried this coming 
year, and some of the old drawbacks, stich as the absence of 
a camp dock and the long walk through the fields from the 
landing to the camp, will be removed. At the same time, 
speaking from our recollection of 1889, the location has 
other serious objections which cannot be remedied. 
One of the most important pieces of work which comes 
before the annual meeting is the amendment of the racing 
rules; and this work can never be done at one meeting alone, 
much less in the two or three hours at most that can be 
spared for it out of a busy day. In order that the work 
shall be satisfactorily done, two things are necessary: In the 
first place, the racing men, or tho.se interestsd in the 
racing rules must exert themselves in advance in study- 
ing the subject of amendments, in discussing it with 
others, and in framing amendments in exact and defi- 
nite language. From the racing men, above all others, 
the suggestions for the amendment of the racing rules must 
come; and if they neglect the matter they can rightly find 
no fault with such action as may finally be taken. 
In the second place, the proposals, as they come from dif- 
ferent quarters, must be carefully considered and caucussed 
by some committee, being put in final shape and so pre- 
sented as to be taken up, discussed and voted on in proper 
order. Unless this is done, the time of the executive com- 
mittee is wasted in pointless and fruitless discussion. 
The constitution of the Association designates as the 
proper persons for this task of preparing and presenting the 
amendments the retiring regatta committee, a body that is 
presumably, by virtue of a year's experience, fully compe- 
tent to deal with all such matters. It has been contended at 
times that the incoming committee was the one to do tbis 
work, as it would be charged with the carrying out of the 
rules; but against this is the plain fact that the new commit- 
tee has just been elected and seldom organizes before the 
executive committee meeting, its troubles (let us hope, its 
joys as well) are all before it. and unless it be composed of 
men who have previously held the same position, it has not 
the experience of the old committee. 
The work of preparing the amendments being completed, 
the constitution further says that the report of the commit- 
tee, embodying all changes and suggestions, shall be pub- 
lished in the official organs of the Association at least two 
weeks in advance of the meeting. It is then, on the basis of 
this publication, the duty of the members of the committee 
to make themselves familiar with all matters which will 
come before them for action, in order that discussion naay 
be condensed to the main points and only the best action 
taken. 
This year, as is almost invariably the case, nobody did any- 
thing in advance of the meeting. Such proposals for amend- 
ment as were made were nearly all in crude shape, and 
amounted to little more than mere suggestions, requiring 
careful work on the part of some one familiar with all the 
points involved before they could be submitted to the vote of 
the executive committee. A number of them were published 
well in advance, but apparently attracted no notice from 
those directly interested in them. The regatta committee 
declined to express any opinions, and simply dumped them 
down en masse on the executive committee. The only won- 
der under the circumstances, is that any amendment was 
adopted, and that the entire undertaking was not a failure. 
The limitation of war canoes proved to be a fruitful bone 
of contention, both parties apparently having a valid ground 
of argument. The proposal of the Northern Division, for a 
length limit of 35ft., was made public at the meet, and it 
should have been discussed by the advocates of the 30ft. limit 
during the intervening two months, and some amicable ar- 
rangement reached with the other side. Instead of this, no 
notice was taken of it until the afternoon of the meeting, 
when it was met with a hearty onslaught from the advo- 
cates of the 30ft. canoes. That a basis of compromise was 
finallyreached after valuable time had been wasted, was due 
to the efforts of those not directly interested in the question, 
the commodore and others. 
The one direct and specific proposal before the meeting for 
the amendment of Rule I. was published in the Foeest and 
SxREAii a month in advance, and special attention was then 
called to it, with a request for objections and discussion. In 
spite of this notice, it was quite evident that some who op- 
posed it had never read it through and did not understand 
what they were arguing against. ^ ^ . . ^ , 
The rule as it now stands seems to embody the gist of the 
sentiment expressed during the year as to amendments. 
The sailing canoe is still limited to 30in, extreme beam, as 
before, no proposal for the enlargement of this limit having 
been made. Canoes of less beam may enter the sailing 
races as before, but none are likely to. A greater beam may 
be taken, in a specified ratio, by decreasing the length from 
16f fc 
In the paddling races no canoe of under 30in. beam (with 
3^in. allowed for variation in building) may enter, taut 
canoes of over that beam may enter, as practically they 
could in the past in a certain case (if less than 16ft. length). 
Now any canoe not over 16£t. length and under 30in. beam 
may enter, but of course a man who elects to paddle a 33 or 
36in. canoe against one of 30in, cannot expect to win much 
but hard work. , ^ . a t. ^- 
The most important of the various amendments was that 
restricting the trophy race to service canoes. The argu- 
ments against this were well set forth in the two letters pub- 
lished last week from Detroit, copies of which were sent in 
advance to every member of the committee. Some of these 
arguments or rather insinuations, were in bad taste and 
TiiSounded in fact, but that has nothing to do with the case. 
Granting that the main arguments, as to the usage in sports 
at large, and rowing in particular, were well grounded, 
there is still another side to the question, with which the A. 
C A is directly concerned. It has for years given full scope 
to the wishes of the paddling racers, and has kept all Jinyts 
off the canoes in the trophy race, and at times in other import- 
ant races also. This has been done largelv in deference to 
the demands of the Northern Division, which has always led 
in the paddling, and which has claimed that the Association 
should recognize the racing shell paddling canoe, and estab- 
lish records of times. 
The result speaks for itself; the character of the competi- 
tion, the attendance at the meets, the number of competitors 
and the nature of the racing machine itself, have all fallen 
far below what might have been expected. Some of the 
canoes produced for this competition have been the flimsiest 
of traps, fairly falling to pieces under working strain: the 
trophy has gone begging with but one contestant at the line; 
the men who have won it once have taken no interest in the 
Association or the camp at any time, and none in the trophy 
after their names were once on it. We can say without 
hesitation that the racing-shell canoe, after a full ten years 
or more of trial, has been a complete failure. 
The new amendment by which the regular A. C. A. limits 
extend to the canoes in the trophy race is designed to en- 
courage the entry of good service canoes. Like every other 
rule of raciner it will be evaded to a certain extent, and it 
may even fail entirely of its purpose, as other good rules 
have; but on the other hand it will for a time at least give a 
fair fighting chance for the trophy to any good man in an 
honest service canoe, of not under 30in. beam nor under 
451bs. weight of hull with .^Ibs. of ballast, tt would cer- 
tainly seem that under these restrictions there exists little 
inducement to build anything flimsy and unduly fragile, 
while the provision as to beam measurements tends to pre- 
vent a V-shaped .shell. 
The war caroe question has been settled by a compromise 
by which the length of new canoes is limited to .30ft., that of 
many existing ones in the Eastern Division, while the old 
35ft. canoes in the Northern Division will still be free to 
enter. There is no special injustice in this, as it has been 
the custom to race together any and every size of so-called 
"war canoe" from 20ft. to 35ft., as occasion demanded. The 
strong rivalry of the Divisions awakened this year should 
lead to some good racing at Stn.ve Island. It may be that 
there will be several of each size of canoe present, so that 
races between boats of the same length may be possible. 
For Association racing, at least, where facility of transpor- 
tation counts for so much, the 30ft. canoe is by far prefer- 
able, 
An Eng^lish View of American Canoeing. 
From ihe Field 
We are never surprised to see, but indeed always expect to 
see, the acme of common sense in the editorial writings in 
relation to canoeing in the American Forest and Stream; 
and we personally know the editor as a practical canoeist 
and an expert naval architect. It is. therelore, with the 
greatest interest that we have overhauled his review of canoe 
racine in America for 1897, five columns in amount, in the 
Forest and Stream of Sept. 18. He gives valuable criti- 
cism on canoeing as it exists, he states the cause of its late 
down trending in plain words, and Ire forecasts distinctly 
that a period of renewed prosperity is before the American 
Canoe Association. 
There are, however, many points in the FoREST AND 
Stream article which are of the utmost importance to Eng- 
lish canoemen. or at least to such of them as have the whole 
sport of canoeine at heart, rather than f he personal conve- 
niences of a small local group of canoemen, and we will men- 
tion those points. But, on the other hand, we are somewhat 
surprised that America, usually credited with go ahead 
notions and promnt action toward improvement is actually 
lagging behind English action, and apjjarently about to 
plunge into another season, 1898, with admitted faults and no 
attempt made to remedy the evil. 
We should have thought that, with the experience of the 
1897 season's racing in England before them, the American 
legislative body would, at any rate, have placed on the 
agenda paper, for the meeting on Oct. 16, motions for the 
discussion of the question of the adoption of some scheme 
similar to the English two-class classifications, which have 
proved so successful in reviving canoe racing this season in 
England; but not a suggestion appears as yet to in any way 
check that devastating pestilence, the racing machine. The 
action taken in the Royal C. C, when experience showed be- 
yond doubt that the racing machine was to a grave extent 
damaging the general prosperity of the sport, was most 
thoroughly fair to both sides; the racing machine was not 
to be killed, or even curtailed or limited in any way as to its 
classification rule; but it was henceforth to share the enjoy- 
ment of the racing, challenge cup and all, with a larger and 
more powerful class of useful canoe, which in its turn was 
to be carefully restricted and limited so as to prevent its 
harboring or encouraging a useless type of canoe racing 
machine nature. Now the racer and the cruiser thus put to 
sail together have so evenly divided the racing honors this 
season that those who have sensible heads can plainly see 
that it is no longer absolutely necessary to have a racing 
machine for the enjoyment of racing. They race together, 
and the first in wins first prize, and the second prize goes to 
the first canoe in of a different class to the first in. It so 
happens that a "cruiser" has thus far won a majority of the 
season's races, but a racer has won the important cup race. 
The result of any change must be gradual where a sport 
is tackled at rather low ebb, but revival of canoe sailing is 
undoubtedly going on, and the entries for the autumn races, 
commencing to-day, show a marked increase, and the in- 
crease is nearly all on the large, useful canoe side. The 
Royal C. C.'s rules of classification for the two classes of 
canoes have been most carefully thought out, and as they at 
present stand, the one produces an out-and-out racing ma- 
chine and the other, the cruising class, produces a comfort- 
able, roomy canoe, capable of almost any work that a canoe 
can be put to in cruising, and at the same time a canoe 
equally successful at racing with the up-to-date machine, 
sailing level, that is, without any time allowance or silly 
handicapping, and after experience of the working of the 
rule, now thoroughly well tested, we are of opinion that 
there is not a word or dimension in the cruiser rule of classi- 
fication which needs alteration or can be safely or usefully 
altered. 
Turning now to the article m Forest And Stream, the 
causes contributing to the late low-water state of canoe 
racing in America are ably set out, and after mentioning 
many side shows, such as golf, cycling and small-rater 
sailing, which have no doubt drawn men away, the article 
goes on to describe the unhealthy state to which canoe sail- 
ing itself has drifted, thus: "It is no wonder that there is 
so little interest in the trophy and the unlimited sailing 
races, as the successful canoe in this work must be a fearful 
and wonderful machine, comparatively costly, only to be 
obtained by hard work on the part of her owner, and of no 
use whatever except for a few days' racing at the most." Of 
course, that is exactly the case so long as there is only the 
racing machine class allowed in the competition, but if a 
carefully guarded class of cruising canoes were allowed to 
sail for the trophy, on a level footing, no time, no favor, with 
the machines, would not the entries and the interest immedi- 
ately jump up, just as they have done in England? And 
one step further: if those races could once again be Interna- 
tionally contested, as in 1886 and 1887, would not the com- 
petitors and the campers be trebled from that cause alone? 
And once the ball of keen rivalry is set rolling anew it would 
take a lot of stopping. 
But the rules of the two countries as to classification dif- 
fer so widely m each class that tfeere is ahsolntelj too chance 
of any English canoeman putting himself exactly in the hole 
mentioned in the lines we quote above. We would not go 
the length of suggesting to America that she should exactly 
copy the Royal C. C. classification rules, though we doubt 
not it would have a grand effect toward the revival of her 
canoe sailing, and that it would at once 0]3en the door to 
further international racing; but we can easily go so far as 
to suggest that the Canadian canoe clubs, and which form a 
branch of the American association, should consider the 
matter, and if necessary adjourn the A. C. A. meetihg on 
Oct. 16 for the further consideration of the classification 
question. The Canadian clubs would more properly follow 
the lead of their parent English club, and no doubt an ap- 
plication from Canada to remodel the classification would 
he successful and be accepted by the American divisions. 
Forest and Stream unfortunately holds the opinion that 
"the present A. C. A. rules in the main are very satisfactory; 
the great trouble is that men will not build and race under 
them." Well, the probability is that it is just the unsatis- 
factory state of the rules which puts men off building or 
racing in America as it did iu England. The sailing canoej 
if not built too small, crank and fiimsy, and not too large, 
heavy and unportable, can completely furnish the acme of 
.single-handed sailing; the canoe can safely do all the sailing 
Cruising which a single-handed small yacht usually per- 
forms; and from the portable side of the question, she is fat 
easier to transport, to house, and to move under manudl 
labor; and, finally, her cost of production and maintenance 
is about half that of the small yacht or sailing boat. 
In the modern cruising canoe it is easy to sail two people, 
and, if necessary, to carry camp gear for two; and further 
than this, two men can strip the boat of her gear and carry 
her any short distance, as is often requisite during a lengthy 
cruise. As to the canoe-yawl or the small yacht, the latter 
quality does not exist. The class gives a good all-round sailing 
canoe, almost as securely safeguarded as a "one-design one- 
class" rule could supply, but with freedom as to model and 
improvement of rig and fittings which that straight-jacket 
the "one-design" class prohibits. 
British Canoe Association. 
The ofiBcers of the British Canoe Association, elected at 
the annual general meeting at the camp, Dromineer, Ireland, 
on July 26, are: Com., T. H. R. Bartley: Vice-Com., Ernest 
Kipling; Rear Com., A. E. Wale; Hon. Sec'y-Treas., George 
Huntley, Redheugh Bridge Works, Gateshead-on-Tyne, 
Eng.; Hon. Auditor, R. M. Richardson. Three localities 
have been suggested for the 1898 meet — Kerrara Island, 
Oban, Scotland; Sneekemeer, Freesland, Holland; and Mul- 
roy Bay, N. W. Ireland. Sneekemeer was the favorite in an 
informal voing in camp, but the final decision will be made 
by the general committee prior to March 31. 
A. C. A. Membership. 
Applications for membership may be made to the purser 
of the division in which the applicant resides on blanks fur- 
nished by purser, the applicant becoming a member provided 
no objection be made within fourteen days after his name 
has been officially published in the Forest and Stream, 
eastern division. 
Name. Residence. 
William D. Cram Haverhill, Mass. . 
Club. 
.Pemigewasset. 
Calumet Heights Rifle Scores. 
CnrcAon, III., Oct. 17.— Below are the scores made to-day at the. 
regular weekly rifle contesst of the Calumet Hfiighrs riflemen. The 
wind blew slrbngly from the left quarter and the sky was overcast. 
Scores: 
Oct. so: 
Davis 2318256867-48 Paterson .243H525C40 -34 
Norcom 0000021141— 9 Whitman 1505030961-34 
On Oct. 3, with a clear sky and light wind, the following scores 
were made: 
Men's contest, 200yds., off-hand. 
Harlan 4493395456 -53 
Booth 2 5 2 1 2 4 6 5 6 3-36 
Davl3 36 5 75647 7 3—53 
Hobbs , 5 47 10 559-44 8-61 
Schmidt 358 10 01455 2—38 
Norcom 028837 4 13 1—30 
Ten shots, 100yds., ladies' medal contest: 
Mrs Schmidt mhsmmss 
A. C. Patkrson. 
Pittsburg Rifle Shot. 
Pittsburg, Pa , Oct. 23 —Inclosed you will find a target which was 
shot by Mr. Harry Sperling, it being the cleanest score made during 
the tournament at the recent Exposition here. Mr. Sperling shot ex- 
ceedingly well, considering the disadvantage that he had: his rifle 
was accidentally let fall, which in some way injured the firing pin;_ 
and I venture to say that he would have given ihem all a good race' 
had this accident not happened. 
In the shoot-ofE between Phillips and Ingeryoll of 25 shots— 5 on each 
MR. SPBBUNO'S soobb: 10 10 10 10 10—50. 
score— Mr. Phillips accidentally shot in the wrong target, makine a 
dead center, but lost the shot and medai also, which you will see by 
his score. . , , „ 
I send you the following record of the shooting contest held for one 
week at my shooting: gallery in the Pittsburg Exposition : 
C P Mayer.lOO 100 100 100 1O0-500 W B Pierce 95 95 95 9.t 94-474 
KFPhillipslOO 100 100 100 99-499 Mr Lyon 96 95 94 94 t3— 47? 
FlnsersolUOO 100 100 100 99 - 499 Mr Stoner 93 98 93 93 9i-464 
H Sperling. 99 98 97 97 97-488 Mr Calvert Eb 94 tl 91 90-462 
Galbreath. 97 97 t6 96 96-483 Mr Dimiing . . . .93 92 92 92 91-460 
DocEweng 97 97 96 96 95-481 W C Bedell 91 89 8? 87 85-440 
CaptStaib. 96 95 95 95 94-475 L A Smith 87 84 81 81 77 -410 
Three very fine medals were awarded to the best marksmen mak- 
ing the best score out of a possible 5Q0 points, under the following 
conditions: Off hand, distance 50ft., 22cal, rifle, any weight of rifle and 
trigger pull allowed, any sight except telescope sight permitted; the 
istanda^d target used, 10 shots to a aoore, best five .scores to a uonnf 
