FOREST AND STfl^IAM. 
she gradually increased, both moA-ing very slowly. Fi- 
nally Shamrock began to luff, Columbia accepting the 
challenge. The wind fell and left them drifting tor a 
time, Columbia being once caught aback and turned 
fairly around until she was heading home. This oc- 
curred at 2:20, and a little later the wind went round to 
S.E., still very light, and the pair trimmed in for a beat 
out to the mark. At the start Columbia was still ahead 
and to windward, having the advantage of position. A 
beat of an hour followed, in smooth water, and with a 
very light but fairlv steady Avind. At the end of this 
time Shamrock was' so far ahead that Columbia, coming 
up on port tack, was compelled to go about under her 
lee bow. Just after this, there being no prospect what- 
ever of finishing in time, even if they could turn the 
outer mark, they both gave up and started home at about 
3:45- 
THIED DAY — SATURDAY, OCT. 7. 
On Friday the weather changed, a moderate gale 
sweeping up' the coast and bringing rain with a strong 
N.E. wind. It was so rough in the- Horseshoe that. 
Columbia was towed up to Bay Ridge early in the 
morning, though Shamrock rode out the blow in safety. 
Saturday was clear and bright, however, with a fifteeeu- 
knot breeze from N.N.E. in the early morning, but by 
JT o'clock it had fallen to twelve knots and was still 
decreasing. Again it was necessary to lay the course to 
leeward, S.S.W., the same as on Tuesday. The two 
yachts set chib topsails shortly before ix o'clock, Sham- 
'rock's being smaller than that previously carried, but as 
the wind was plainly falling, she lowered it at 10:55 and 
set her large club instead. The gun was fired at 11:20, 
Columbia going over with a lead of 175. at 11:21:02. As 
(111 the first day, while Columbia broke out her balloon 
jibtopsail at the start. Shamrock crossed the line with her 
baby jibtopsail set, looking for a luff that never came. 
With lier spinaker boom down to .starboard, but no sail 
set, - Shamrock lufted out across Columbia's stern, but 
the latter, with her ballooner drawing, also broke her 
spinaker and drew ahead. Columbia still had her jib set, 
but the balloon jibtopsail was doing its work, while 
Shamrock carried her jib, .staysail and baby jibtopsail. 
At 11:34 Shamrock shifted her working staysail for a 
ballooner, and then took in her small jib topsail and 
replaced it with a ballooner. The spinaker was not 
broken out on Columbia until 11:40, Shamrock's follow- 
ing. For the first time in an international yacht race 
the British yacht has essayed to set her spinaker in stops; 
to-day the upper stops were too heavy and failed to break 
out, so that it was necessary to lower the sail until a 
man on the crosstrees could reach and cut the stops. 
There was a heavier roll to the sea than on either pre- 
ceding day, but the yachts seemed to feel it about 
equally. Shamrock gradually drew ahead, and just be- 
fore I o'clock jibed over, Columbia following. Sham- 
rock had held close in toward the Jersey beach, much 
further from a straight .line than Columbia's course. 
She set her working headsails when still far from the 
mark, lutrting the draft of her ballooner, still the most 
useful sail. As they neared the mark Columbia im- 
proved her position, but Shamrock was clear ahead. She 
made a very wide tiirn, however, while Columbia, beau- 
tifully handled, cut in between her and the buoy. The 
times were: Shamrock, 1:36:25; Columbia, 1:36:39. 
There was but gs. between them, showing a gain of 26s. 
in fifteen miles of slow running. 
The windward work began with Columbia in a poor 
position, taking Shamrock's back wind. They started 
home on starboard tack and held it for a couple of min- 
utes, Columbia being first about. Shamrock did not 
follow for another minute, and she was no sooner on 
port than Columbia went on starboard. Five minutes of 
quick short tacks put Shamrock well out on Columbia's 
weather bow and in an excellent position, which she 
continued to improve, working steadily away until after 
about 45m. she had a lead of about half a mile. 
The wind was falling very light and running in streaks 
and patches, as on Tuesday, so that it was evidently 
Shamrock's play to stick close to Columbia, risking no 
flukes, and to keep constantly between her and the light- 
ship, while the indications were that the wind would shift 
further to the eastward or offshore. So far from doing 
this, Shamrock deliberately left Columbia, broke tacks 
and went fluke hunting inshore, with the result that Co- 
lumbia picked up a little of the promised easterly breeze 
and was soon the leading boat. After thus losing her 
place, Shamrock did all that she could to regain it, and 
finally came up so near to Columbia that, as they both 
lay well inshore near Seabright, the shadow of Sham- 
rock's big club topsail was visible for half an hour on 
Columbia's mainsail or headsails. They were now hardly 
more than drifting, and it was evident that the race 
could not finish in time. When it was called ofif at 
4:30 the two were so nearly even that it was a matter 
of doubt which was ahead. Columbia was a little to 
windward, with Shamrock on her lee bow, and with the 
odds in her favor when the difference in time of starting 
and allowance is considered. As in the first race, the latter 
part was a matter of luck nrhich showed nothing more 
than that this challenger is strong where all others have 
been weak — in very light weather, in the running there 
was little to choose, but in the windward work, as long 
as the wind held true the advantage was all with Sham- 
rock. 
So far as is now known, the dimensions, especially 
the extra beam and draft, the added displacement and 
more powerful form of Shamrock, with a lower center of 
effort and center of gravity of rig, a lower center of 
gravity of balla.st and probably more ballast, promise to 
make her a very dangerous boat under .lower sails or a 
reefed mainsail; and at the same time it has been proved 
that she is at least as fast as Columbia in very light 
weather. The strong point of Columbia is probably in 
good working breezes when she can carry her club 
topsail comfortably, at Avhich times her lessened dis- 
placement and longer and finer lines will make it possible 
to drive her at a higher speed than the shorter, broader 
and coarser boat. At the saine time it must be remem- 
bered that the many strong criticisms of Shamrock's 
underw'ater body are more than offset by her work in the 
three trials; if her design were as defective as it has been 
declared to be, it is hardlv possible that she could hold 
Columbia under any conditions. ' ' ' 
The work of the gttard f|i?et h^s thus far been most 
successful, there having been no interference whatever with 
either yacht. A number of vessels have been warned off 
the course, some of them under circumstances which 
have led to formal complaints being lodged against them 
by the officials, on the strength of which it is threatened 
that the licenses of their pilots will be revoked. It is 
rather amusing that among the small number of steam 
yachts which have been warned off the course by the 
guard fleet are White Ladye, Mr. J. L. Johnston, and 
Erin, Sir Thomas Lipton. The attendant fleet has di- 
vided, each daj , part going down the Jersey beach to the 
westward of the racers and part keeping out to sea. 
Each division has been distant from one to two miles 
from the yachts, except at the start and turn, and with 
a continuance of the present arrangements it seems prob- 
able that all danger of crowding or interference of any 
kind will be avoided. , The fleet is a very large one, but 
being so scattered as compared with previous years, one 
docs not .easih' realize its vast proportions. Apropos of 
the oft-repeated suggestion of going to Newport to avoid 
crowding, all the regular passenger steamers that ply 
about Narrangansett Bay and to Block Lsland and Nan- 
tucket are on the course off Sandj' Hook, gathering in 
the dollars, while soiue quite small steamers have come 
from the Delaware River, bearing out our argument that 
it i.s impossible to avoid the steamer fleet as long as men 
come from a distance to see the races and are willing 
to pay good prices. The attendance from distant points 
-—Montreal, Toronto, Chicago, New Brunswick, Toledo, 
Cleveland and other Western and Southern cities — is 
very large, and the interest is increasing rather than the 
reverse as the close matching of the yachts is disclosed. 
38ft. long, loft. beam amidships, depth 3l4ft., and the roof 
of the house rises about 3ft, above the deck, allowing 6ft. 
2in. standing room inside. The hull is flat bottomed with 
a skeg running aft from amidships. The frame is of 2 by 
Sin. timbers, 2ft. apart, double planking on bottom and 
sides, making it stiff and tight. The house is 27ft. long, 
conforming to the shape of the hull, with double walls of 
cedar siding on the outside, and matched % cedar on the 
inside. The house is partitioned into four rooms— kitchen, 
dining room, bunk room and toilet, the three main rooms 
being 8 by 10. Four swinging bunks and two couches 
running the full length of the dining room afford sleeping 
accomodations for six people. There is a range and sink 
in the kitchen, water tank, ice box and all the com- 
forts and conveniences of a modern home. A small pipe 
conducts the rain water from the roof into the water tank. 
The boat draws only Sin. of water. It can be towed on 
tide with a small boat for short distances, can be sailed 
before the wind, but when on a cruise it is generallj^ taken 
in tow by the small passenger steamers running to various 
points on the Sound, and the expense of moving is thus 
merely nominal. The summer months are generally spent 
among the islands, and in the fall it is taken to the flats. 
It furnishes an ideal home for the duck shooter, as it 
can he stationed convenient to the shooting grounds, and 
is easily moved from place to place. There is probablj^ no 
place in the United States where there is such a variety of 
scenery and sport as on Puget Sound, and the house-boat 
is an institution in every way adapted to the highest en- 
joyment of it. 
FAreHAVBN, Wash., Sepl. 21. 
On Saturday evening Mr. Iselin went to New Ro- 
chelle, leaving Columbia in the Horseshoe, near Sham- 
rock. Sir Thomas Lipton and his friends i^emained 
on board Erin, in companj^ with the racers. On Sunday 
afternoon the representatives of the two clubs met at the 
New York Y. C. house to consider a proposition from 
Sir Thomas Lipton to sail the races every day after 
Tuesday. Owing to contracts and arrangements already 
made for Tuesday and Thursday, it was finall}^ decided to 
adhere to the present plan of alternate days until after 
Thursday, when a race will be sailed on each week day 
unless either party objects. The folloAving was drawn up, 
to be inserted in the conditions of the races: 
making. 
The foregoing agreement [the condition of the chal- 
lenge] is further modified by mutual consent as follows: 
Strike out the clause beginning "the first race shall 
be sailed on Tuesday, Oct. 5, 1899," and substitute the 
following: "The races shall be sailed on the following 
The A. C, A. Executive Committee. 
Com. MacKendrick has named Saturday, Oct. 28, as 
the date of the annual meeting of the executive com- 
mittee of the American Canoe Association, the meeting 
to be held at the Toronto C. C. house, Toronto. Messrs. 
C. B. Vaux and H. M. Dater have been appointed an 
auditing committee for the report of the secretary-treas- 
urer. Messrs. D. B. Goodsell, of Yonkers; Herbert 
Begg, of Toronto, and R. Easton Burns, of Kingston, 
have been appointed as regatta committee, the latter as 
chairman. 
Galt, Oct. 4. — Editor Forest and Stream: Having had 
NIAGAR^V, A PCGET SOUND HOUSE-BOAT. 
dates until the series be completed, viz.: Oct. 10, 1899; 
Oct. 12, and on each following day except Sunday; pro- 
vided, however, that immediately on the conclusion of 
the race of Oct. 12 and of each subsequent race the re- 
gatta committee shall inquire of each contestant whether 
he is willing to start the next day, and should either 
contestant reply in the negative one daj' shall intervene 
before starting the next race. Sunday shall not count as 
such intervening day. 
New York, Oct. 9, 1899. 
On behalf of New York Y. C. : Lewis Cass Ledyard, 
vice-commodore; J. V. S. Oddie, secretary; F. W. J. 
Hurst, treasurer; Edward M. Brown, H. F. Lippitt. 
On behalf of the Royal Ulster Y. C: R. G. Harmon- 
Crawford, vice-commodore, R. U. Y. C; H. M. Md- 
Gildowny, R. U. Y. C. 
the privilege of moving at the executive committee meet- 
ing, held in Buffalo in 1898, a resolution recommending 
the regatta committee to hold the races of tlie Associa- 
tion on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of the last 
week of the annual meet, which met the approval of the 
executive committee, and believing that the incidents of 
1899 have emphasized the advantage of holding the 
principal races during those days, I propose to oft'er the 
following addition to the by-laws: 
"That Chap. IX. — duties of regatta committee — be 
amended in the second paragraph by inserting after No. 
6 the following: 'No. 7 — The races required by those by- 
laws to be held at an annual meet .shall be called on Tues- 
day, Wednesday and Thursday of the last week of the 
annual meet.' " 
J. N. MacKendrick. 
If it is agreed after finish of a race to sail next day, the 
code letter L will be flown on the committee steamer; 
but if otherwise, the letter M. 
On Sunday Sir Thomas Lipton was a guest of Col. 
Butler, Ames on the old America, sailing about the 
Lowei" Bay. The day was cloudy, with a fresh N.E. 
breeze and rain at night, continuing through Monday. 
Columbia's crew unbent her mainsail, and both it and her 
club topsail were recut. 
Tuesday, Oct. 10 — 3 P. M. — A dense fog closed in on 
Monday evening, and held up to noon on Tuesday, with 
no wind. A small fleet of steamers went out to the Light- 
ship, and at 11 :i5 the committee boat set the signal, "Race 
off." The fleet steamed in to the port of the Hook, where 
the two yachts, with their tenders, were lying. There 
was no preparation on either for a race. A meeting was 
held on board the flagship, at which Sir Thomas Lipton 
requested that a race be ordered for Wednesday, but tiie 
regatta committee declined to accept the proposal, so the 
next trial will be on Thursday, Oct. 12. 
American Canoe Association. 
Proposals for Membership.- — Associates: Miss Florence 
.Presbrej' and Miss Clara Presbrey, canoe Izan, Taunton 
C. C. Taunton. Mass.; Mrs. S. Gardner Raymond, 
Mrs. Wm, H. Samson, Mrs. Bernhard Lierching, Ironde- 
quoit C. C, Rochester, N. Y. 
NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS. 
The address label on the wrapper shows the date of 
the close of the term for which the subscription is 
paid. The receipt of the paper with such dated ad- 
dress label constitutes the subscriber's receipt for 
money sent to us. 
Subscribers are asked to note on the wrapper the 
date of expiratiod of subscription; and to remit 
promptly for renewal, that delays may be avoided. 
For prospectus and advertising: rates see page ill. 
A Puget Sound House-Boat. 
The illustration is from a photograph of the only house- 
boat on Puget Sound, a bodj' of water peculiarly adapted 
to house-boating. There are houses built upon rafts of no 
pretensions of navigability, and floating "shacks" of all 
kinds used by the fishermen in the rivers, harbors and 
inlets, but this is the only vessel of the kind capable of 
navigating the waters of the Sound at all times of the year 
in almost any kind of weather. It was built during the 
winter of 1896^7 by H. L, Merrill, city clerk at Fair haven, 
Wash., and C. S. Rice, of the same city. The hull is 
Take inventory of the good things in this Issue ot 
Forest and Stream. Recall what a fund was given 
last week. Count on what is to come next week 
Was there ever in all the world a more abundant 
weekly store 9f sportsmen's reading? 
The Forest and Stream is put to press each week on Tuesday. 
Correspondence Intended lor publication .should reach us at the 
latest by Monday and as much earlier as practicable, 
