F^OHfiST AKS STREAM. 
^mT. 2, 1899.] 
ried her spinaker tor a time, but shifted to a balloon jib. 
"Beaver set her spinaker well forward and made it draw 
over the whole leg, but she lost over a minute more. The 
second mark was limed: 
Time. Elapsed. Gain. Lead. 
Genesee 2 35 48 1 30 09 0 01 17 0 12 28 
Beaver 2 48 16 13126 
They had the wind about abeam on the last le^, and 
considerabl}' more of it ; with almost a whole-sail breeze 
and smooth water, it was expected that Genesee would add 
a good deal to her already large lead, but on the other 
hand Beaver picked up nearly two minutes, the final times 
being : 
Leg. Course. 
Time. Elapsed. Gain. Elapsed. Lead. 
Genesee ..,,3 32 11 0 56 23 4 IT 17 0 10 47 
Beaver 3 42 58 0 54 42 0 01 41 4 27 58 
After the finish the loser sailed up and cheered the 
winner, amid salutes from the large fleet in attendance. 
The delivery of the cup took place in the evening at the 
island club house, the band of the Forty-eighth High- 
landers being present and the handsome grounds being 
illuminated. A large party of American and Canadian 
yachtsmen, with many ladies, completely filled the club 
house in the evening, after the two crews and the judges 
had dined together as gue.sts of Mr. MacDonald, the 
scrutineer on Beaver. Com. Plummer introditced Mr. 
John Shaw, the Mayor of Toronto, who welcomed the 
visitors in a short speech. The Commodore then tendered 
the cup to Com, Morgan, of the Chicago Y. C, who spoke 
briefly, being followed by Mr. Crawford, of the C. Y. C. 
race committee. Speeches were then demanded of Messrs. 
Hanley and Davis, Mr. Burroughs and Mr. Jarvis. The 
latter ^voke of the good feeling which had characterized 
the enui cqutest, from the first negotiations to the last 
face, anu. "i the close sailing- of the two boats, widely 
different in model, promising that the Chicago Y. C. 
should not wait long for a challenge. 
The contest was marked on each side by a devotion to 
the work and a personal attention to detail on the part of 
port, on Sept. 2, 4 and 6, and have placed the event in tlie 
hands of the Regatta Committee, 
The courses will be both triangular and to wmdward, or 
to leeward and return, out from Brenton's Reef L. S. 
The start will be at 11 A. M., wind and weather per- 
mitting. The races will be subject to postponement at the 
discretion of the Challenge Committee,. or at the request of 
either of the competing vessels. 
Sailing directions can be obtained at New York Y. C, 
Station No. 6 (Newport), after Aug. 29. 
The America's Cup. — For this event the Regatta Com- 
mittee have chartered the side-wheel steamer Republic, 
formerly of the Philadelphia & Cape May Transporta- 
tion Company, and with a licensed passenger capacity of 
2,500. . 
For each race, members will be provided with tickets at 
the club's expense, and may procure extra tickets for their 
friends at $5 each. Members' tickets will be non-trans- 
ferable, and, as well as the extra tickets, will admit but 
one person each. All tickets will include lunch, exclusive 
of wines, etc. , 
Tickets will be issued according to priority of applica- 
tion, which should be made to Mr. J. Y-. S. Oddie, the 
Secretary of the club, who, at the request of the Regatta 
Committee, will have the management of the ves,sel. 
S. Nicholson Kane, 
Chester Grtswold, 
Irving ' Grxnnell, 
Regatta Committee. 
Before saib'ng from tbe Clyde, the skipper of Shamrock 
received the following instructions: 
Greenock, July 31. — Sailing instructions for ihe yachts 
Erin and Shamrock, while malting the voyage from the 
Clyde to Sandy Hook: 
1. Erin will only tow Shamrock in calm weather. 
2. Whenever there is any wind Shairirock will proceed 
under sail. ' \ 
3. Vessels will sail frotil the tail of the Bank, Greenock. 
1§? 
fdce al Lake S^ti LoMh Sft ^Satutday ^ftertio6tt over the 
regular mternational course, either triangular or to wind- 
ward and return. I would not be willing to make a 
bet such as you suggest, but would be glad to subscribe 
tO' a small trophy, to become the property of the winner. 
If you could arrange to send your boat down here for 
Saturday, Aug. 26, there is on that day an open race for 
the Lake Two Mountains Challenge cup, to be held on 
the Lake of Two Mountains, a fine sheet of water on 
the Ottawa, about fifteen miles west of the St. Lawrence 
S'. C 1 have communicated with the officials of the 
Lake of Two Mountains Club, and have ascertained that 
they would be very glad to have entries from one or more 
of your craft. The race is open to all, but there will be 
nothing competing but our 20-footers, Yours very truly, 
(Signed) G. H, Puggan. 
Aug. 19. 
The American Bottle Fleet. 
r Krom the Army and Navy Keg-tsti'i-. 
A \'KRY interesting report giving the operations of the 
"Bottle Fleet" for the past year has been prepared by the 
hydrographic office. It shows that during the last fiscal 
year 151 return.s were made to the hydrographic office. 
There is no wa> of ascertainitig the exact number ol bot 
ties cast adrift during that period, but it is thought 
•to be a thousand or more, thus showing that only a com- 
paratively small percentage of those released are recov- 
ered. A great majority of those that were picked up and 
sent back to Washington were found on the coast border- 
ing the Atlantic. This undoubtedly was the result oi 
the bottles being thrown overboard in the Atlantic by 
captains leaving ports in this country. The map pre- 
pared by the hydrographic office shows that with one or 
two exceptions all bottles cast adrift in the .Atlantic be- 
tween Florida and Halifax, within a few hundred miles of 
the coast, took a northwesterly course, winding up on the 
English or French coast. The lines described by them 
1, 
HAMILTON. 
MYRTLE. 
TORONTO. WEIR, 
From Photos by Bruce, Toronto, 
BEAVER. 
TORONTO. 
WEIR. 
the principals which is rather exceptional. When Genesee 
was hauled out, Mr. Burroughs was present, working 
underneath the bottom in the dirt and slime from the oil 
works which befouls a part of Toronto Bay ; and each 
time Beaver was hauled out, by night as well as day, Mr. 
Jaiwis superintended everything, taking a hand himself in 
polishing the bottom. On each boat nothing was left to 
chance, bitt every possible effort was made to eliminate 
defects and to avoid all possibility of accident. 
The handling of the two boats was very even, there be- 
ing few mistakes on either side. The crew of Beaver 
was smarter with the spinaker and other light sails. Mr. 
Davis did excellent work as skipper throughout the races, 
though his opponent, Mr. Jarvis, is generally recognized 
as the best amateur on the lakes. In the first race on the 
first leg Genesee profited by using a balloon jib instead of 
a spinaker, thus being able to luff and get by Beaver, and 
on the second leg of the second race, after Beaver had 
passed her down wind, the race was won by Genesee's 
clever maneuvering in the luffing matches. 
There was a general feeling on the part of the Canadians 
that the very light weather suited Genesee, while it gave no 
opportunity for Beaver to show herself at her best in a 
moderate or strong breeze. 
As the Rochester Y. C. now holds the Fisher cup, it is 
probable that Genesee and Beaver may meet a.gain this 
fall off Charlotte, as the R. C. Y. C. propo,se3 to challenge. 
The America's Cup. 
During the past week Shamrock has been at the Erie 
Basin drydocks, as closely guarded as the conditions will 
admit, though visitors are able to look at her topsides from 
an adjoining wharf. It is expected that Sir Thomas Lip- 
ton and Mr. Will Fife, Jr., will be here by Sept, i, as 
they sailed on Aug. 26 on the Campania. The yacht will 
not be docked until they arrive. Her mast was stepped on 
Aug. 28. and she will have her first sail on Aug. 31. 
Columbia's steel mast was stepped on Aug, 24, having 
been repaired, and about three tons of ballast was stowed 
aboard. She was - under way on Aug. 26, but her new 
steel topsail yard buckled at the slings, making almost a 
right angle. It has been decided to sail a series of trial 
races between her and Defender off Newport, as per the 
-following official circular: 
New York. Aug. 25. — Trial Races — The committee on 
the challenge from the Royal Ulster Y. C. have decided to 
hold trial races between Columbia and Defender at New 
4. Vessels wiU proceed down the Irish Channel and 
rendezvous at Fastnet, if not in company (and report at 
Browhead if possible). 
5. If vessels are in company, they will pass to north of 
Flores Island, in the Azores. 
6. If vessels are not in company, they will proceed to 
Horta Bay, in Fairyland, and report, waiting arrival of 
either vessel. 
7. If vessels are not in company when in vicinity of 
latitude 38 north, longitude 50 west, the Erin will wait 
for such a time as in the opinion of the captain of Erin 
is necessary and reasonable to allow Shamrock to join 
company. And after such time to proceed on voyage to 
New York. It is understood that ample time will be al- 
lowed Shamrock to join Erin. 
8. Speed of towing will be regulated by the-* captains of 
Shamrock. 
Glencairn III and Akabo. 
Chippewa .Yacht Club, Chippewa Bay, Aug. 14. — 
Capt. Duggan, Royal St. Law^rence Yacht Club, Dorval, 
Quebec — Dear Sir : The international races recently 
sailed by 3'ou and Mr. Crane were witnessed by a number 
of our members and closely followed through the pubHc 
prints by the rest of us. We think we have a faster boat 
than Glencairn, and I write to ask if you can bring your 
yacht to Chippewa Bay for a race. To make it interesting 
we herewith offer to sail you a race over our regular 
course of about eleven miles. $300 a side, naming the 
Akabo, Mr, C. Allen Hayden, as our boat. The purse of 
$600 is yours if you win. If we win we will allow you 
$50 for your expenses, give $50 to the cre\v of the Akabo 
and the balance of $500 to some charitable object agreed 
upon by the officers of this club. In order to insure a 
good honest race, Ave make the condition that the time 
limit shall be tvvo hours and fifteen minutes. I will add 
that our yachts have sailed the course in less than one 
hour and thirty-one minutes. Any date that may be agree- 
able to you between Aug. 25 and Sept, 2, both inclusive, 
would be satisfactory to us. Trusting you will accept this 
challenge, I am - Yours sincerely, 
Jas. G. Knap, SecV- 
James G. Knap. Esq., Sec'y Chippewa Bay Yacht CJnb, 
Chippewa Bay, N. Y. — Dear Sir: In answer to your 
favor of the r4th inst., I fear it is quite impossible for me 
or my crew to sail the race you suggest at Chippewa 
Bay. If, however, you are anxious to try conclusions with 
Gleneaira III.,; we should be glad to sail yovi a friendly 
are practically straight, and show little variation. One 
bottle adopted a rather eccentric path. It escaped tlie 
currents followed by most of its fellows, and starting from 
a point opposite the Massachusetts coast, took a wider 
detour to the south. It passed within a few hundred 
miles of the Cape Verde Islands and then fell into the 
.strong current that sweeps along the northern coast of 
South America. It had straightened out in the direction 
of the Gulf of Mexico, when it became stranded on one 
of the Windward Islands. It was two years and six 
months on its journey, during which it traversed 3,600 
miles, an average of four miles per day. Decidedly the 
most remarkable drift of one of these bottles in recent 
years occurred last fall. 
A messenger, knov/n officially on the chart of the 
department as No. 26, was thrown overboard from the 
Hamburg-American liner Fuerst Bismarck May i, \^<^A. 
about 350 miles southeast of Cape Race, and recovered, 
according to the letter of transmittal from the United 
States Consul at Hamburg, Aug. i, 1898, at Twielenfletli, 
in the vicinity of Gluckstadt, on the Elbe. The distance 
between these two points, following the indicated route, 
through the English Channel, is 2,400 miles, and as the 
bottle was at sea a total of but 92 days, this gives it a 
daily average of 26.1 miles as the lowest possible speed 
it could have traveled. This is far in excess of anv 
similar drift hitherto reported to the hydrographic office 
the nearest approach to it being a daily average of 21.;: 
miles, which was attained by a bottle thrown overboa-ril 
Dec. 25, 1895, about 200 miles distant from the point ar 
which No. 26 was dropped into the sea, and recovered 
March 28, i8g6, on one of the Shetland Islands. One 01 
the bottles recovered last year had been afloat since Oct, 
J"5j iSpSj while another, also recovered last year, had bee-' 
drifting since August, 1894, having covered 1,500 miles, a 
an average of one mile per day. In the case of the bottl>- 
from the Fuerst Bismarck, the officials were incline i 
to doubt the accuracy of the information contained on thr- 
slip sent in, and an inquiry was made of the steamboa • 
officials in regard to the matter. Capt. A. Albers prompt 
ly looked into the affair, and reported that the date c > 
which the bottle was thrown from his ship was cOrrec. 
as shown by his ship's log. 
The speed made by this "floater" is equal to that > \ 
the majority of slow-going sailing ships. In the ear-' 
history of the investigation of ocean currents by th ■ 
systern a bottle was known to remain afloat for ten yea- 
This is the most remarkable achievement of this kir ' 
on record. Of course there is no absolute rule by which 
the distance traveled by these messengers may be'aiscer- 
