FOREST AND STREIAM. 
The present month is the occasion of the annual elec- 
tions of the majority of yacht dubs throughout the coun- 
try The many reports which come to us, some of which 
are summarized this week, are nearly all marked on 
favorable statements as to membership and financial condi- 
tion: the clubs as a rule being out of debt and m easy 
circumstances, or carrying safely a moderate amount of 
debt incurred in making improvements m property, ihe 
sport is evidently in a prosperous condition in many 
ways, whatever may be the case as to building and racing. 
The latest and most reliable report of the doings of 
Sir Thomas Lipton states that he was recently m con- 
ference with Mr. Will Fife, Jr., concerning a new yacht, 
but that nothing will be done toward another challenge, 
even for 1901, during the continuance of the war m 
South Africa. 
A Rig for Housing Small Yachts. 
One of tlie notable features of modern yachting is the 
very large fleet of small sailing craft, in size entitled to 
the name of "boat," but in quaUty of design and construc- 
tion and in manner of rigging well entitled to the more 
pretentious title of "yacht." While some of these are 
so small and light that as a matter of course they are 
housed like canoes and rowboats when not in use, and 
many are of such size and so rigged that of necessity 
they are kept afloat at moorings, a great many are very 
close to the dividing line at which it is a question as to 
which method is the more advisable. Where there is a 
sheltered anchorage and a janitor is kept, and where the 
boats are used every day or so, there are advantages in 
keeping them afloat; but where, as is frequently the case, 
the boats are used mostly for "week-end" work and must 
lie idle much of the time, with no one to keep them 
free of water and to air and dry the sails, the advantages 
are largely on the side of housing. To do this successfully 
it is necessary that the rig shall be simple, both in its 
general plan and in its mechanical details, and that some 
convenient method of hoisting and transporting shall be 
provided. 
The method here described was devised to meet just 
such conditions as above outlined, by Mr. Henry Burden, 
2d, of Cazenovia, N. Y. The yacht is one of the many 
built by the Spalding St. Lawrence Boat Company from 
the La Gloria design by Mr. W. P. Stephens, first pub- 
lished in the Forest and Stream of Oct. 27, 1892, 
being the larger size, iSft. l.w.l., 23ft. 6in. over all and 
Sft. beam. She was built in 1895, and has been in con- 
stant use ever since. Concerning the boat herself, Mr. 
Burden writes: "La Gloria is a most successful piece of 
designing, and an excellent boat for our uses here, inland, 
fresh-water lake, surrounded by hills, where the winds are 
shifting and puffy. Having been through the whole 
gamut of lug sails, leg-o'-mutton sails, sliding gunter rigs, 
etc., I have come back to the old 'boom and gaff,' and I 
may say that I will never again waste time and money on 
anything else. The present sail plan, put on in 1898, 
works perfectly in light airs, and in a squally and puffy 
hlow; with full sail she is so balanced as to carry a dis- 
tinct but not too strong weather helm, and she seems to 
balance just as well under reefed mainsail. I have found 
it desirable to add two pieces of lead ballast, each 44lbs., 
fitted with handles and stowed just forward of the mast, 
being moulded to fit on each side of the keel. These I 
take out before hoisting the boat." 
The boat was originally rigged as a yawl, with 292 sq. 
ft. of sail, being used for general sailing with a crew of 
two, or sometimes single-handed, and for racing with a 
mixed fleet of small yachts of various types, no ballast 
heing carried. After a time the rig was changed to the 
English gunter or so-called lug, with but mainsail and 
jib. In the sail plan now used, with gaff, the area has 
been reduced to 252 sq. ft., as being quite enough for 
single-hand work with the amount of ballast noted. In 
the races the weather is apt to change suddenly from 
hard puffs to very light winds, or the reverse, so that it is 
not desirable to carry much fixed ballast and at the same 
time no more than two are desirable as crgw. The 
dimensions of the rig are: 
Mast — 
From stem at L.W.L...... 4ft. Bin. 
Deck to hounds 17ft, 
Bowsprit beyond stem at L.W.L 3ft. 3in. 
Boom i8ft. 
Gaff loft. 
Hoist 12ft. 
Mainsail 207 sq. ft. 
Jib 45 sq. ft. 
Total 252 sq. ft. 
The mast, which is hollow, is easily unshipped by one 
man. The standing rigging is all fitted with short 
pendants from the hounds and legs hooking in. In 
housing the boat .she is run alongside the house, the piazza 
of which overhangs the slip. The jib is taken in, the 
mainsail is lowered and the boom and gaff detached rfom 
the mast and laid on deck, the halyards being detached 
from the gaff and left on the mast. The shrouds are cast 
off at the foot and then from the piazza the rigging is un- 
hooked from the short pendants at the masthead, after 
which the mast may be lifted out by one man and laid on 
deck beside the boom, ready for hoisting. Where a piazza 
is not available, the pendants may be longer, reaching to 
within 6ft. of the deck. 
The hoisting apparatus consists of a railway made of a 
5in. I beam running the length of the house and out over 
the water, with a Yale & Towne trolley and a Harrington 
differential pulley, the whole rig being fitted for a weight 
of 2,oooIbs. From the hoisting chain is hung a beam of 
beech,^ loft. 9in. long, 3m. thick, sin. deep at the middle, 
and 3in at the ends. The lifting rods, which with the 
hooks are of f^in. round iron, galvanized, are fastened to 
blocks of red oak bolted to the keel with lagscrews, as 
shown. The center of gravity of the hull is exactly at 
$he center of over all length. 
With this rig the boat can be launched from the boat 
liouse floor, the mast stepped and the sails hoisted, ready 
for sailing, in from 25 to 30 minutes by one man alone; 
and she can be dismantled and housed in fifteen minutes; 
the work being done much more quickly with a hand to 
help. When thus housed the boat is always clean and 
dry, seldom requiring revarnishing and painting, and the 
sails are kept in perfect condition. 
The whole plan is excellently adapted for a one-design 
fleet in an exposed location where no good mooring 
ground is available ; the trolley system being so modified as 
to permit a boat to be carried to any part of the house. 
The hoisting apparatus as here shown is quite powerful 
enough for a much larger boat, or for a fin-keel craft, with 
the fin in a trunk, as fitted in some of the La Gloria and 
Scarecrow boats. In the latter case a shackle could be 
fitted under the center of the lifting beam by which it 
could be fastened to the upper edge of the fin, the lifting 
rods being replaced by chains of greater length. The 
first operation of hoisting would be to Uft the fin until the 
bulb brought up against the lower side of the keel, when 
the boat would be suspended partly by the fin from the 
middle of the beam and partly by the chains at each end. 
Steam Yacht Design in America. 
The current number of Marine Engineering contains 
the third and last part of a very interesting paper on 
steam yacht designing, by Mr. William A. Fairburn, head 
draftsman of the Bath Iron Works. Speaking of a part of 
the subject to which the Forest and Stream has for 
many years called attention, Mr. Fairburn says: "Con- 
siderable controversy has appeared of late in a few yacht- 
ing papers, criticising the general appearance of various 
American steam yachts. The writer will not here make 
any plea for American-designed and built steam yachts, 
but he wiU say, and this most forcibly, that there are men 
in America to-day capable of designing steam yachts 
which, in appearance, accommodation and sea-going qual- 
ities, will be equal to the best production of foreign de- 
signers. It is about time for the patriotism of American 
yachtsmen to assert itself so that we can build Amer- 
ican-designed steam yachts for American owners. Many 
yachts on both side of the Atlantic could without doubt 
be classed as failures. The design of a steam ya,cht by 
the majority of ship-building firms is not given the strict 
attention and careful consideration which it is entitled to, 
and that is why there are so many naval architects to-day 
who make a specialty of yacht design. The most skillful 
naval architect cannot design a truly handsome, success- 
ful steam yacht if he is not thoroughly in sympathy with 
his work. He needs to be schooled to the work. His 
judgment must be good and his taste such that all lines 
of the vessel harmonize with each other. Many a pleasure 
craft to-day has graceful endings — bow and stern very 
pleasing to the eye when viewed separately, but when 
placed on the same vessel they lack harmony and fail to 
balance. The combination of sheer, bow and stern is 
generally what determined the appearance of the yacht, 
but much also depends on the location and rake of spars, 
stack, etc., and the arrangement of the deck work. On a 
steam yacht much has to be sacrificed to get a fine 
appearance." 
While in the discussion of the Payne bill a few years 
ago, and on other occasions, Mr. Fairburn has taken issue 
with the Forest and Stream on the question of steam 
yacht design, there is very little in the above which is 
not in accord with our position throughout. The only 
point we would question is the inference that American 
designers have yet turned out any work that will equal in 
appearance the Clyde steam yachts; it may be urged that 
this is only a matter of taste, but we believe that any 
impartial jury of experts would award the precedence for 
appearance to the Clyde fleet. The main points of our 
contention may be summed up as follows : That in a 
steam yacht appearance is an essential only second to sea- 
worthiness, accommodation and general efficiency; that 
most of the steam yachts turned out by American ship- 
building firms are failures in appearance as well as in 
other essentials; that a satisfactory design can only be 
made by a skilled naval architect who makes a specialty of 
this particular line of work; and that yachtsmen should 
deal with the designer first and the builder afterward, in- 
stead of ignoring the former entirely. These points may 
be stated rather more forcibly than by Mr. Fairburn, but 
they are substantially in accord with his remarks as above 
quoted. 
On the subject of the steam yacht as a naval auxiliary 
he says: "In time of war the full-powered steam yacht 
will undoubtedly prove an acquisition to the navy, acting 
as a dispatch and special service vessel. The high speed 
j'acht built for Sound and coast work has been and may 
continue to be a very popular vessel in America ; and these 
vessels having fair accommodation, high speed, light draft, 
good maneuvering qualities and ability to rapidly get up 
steam, could probably with little expense be converted into 
torpedo or patrol vessels in case of an emergency, pro- 
vided they are not too small; for the general dimensions, 
the model and the motive power are about the same for 
the fast yacht as for the torpedo boat. Nevertheless, weil- 
designed pleasure yachts will not make first-class war 
vessels, and these vessels should onlj' be thought of as 
auxiliaries, being used only when war vessels cannot be 
procured." 
The whole subject of the conversion of yachts to 
war purposes is better understood now than it was a year 
ago, and it is pretty plain that such a conversion is most 
costly, ineffective and in every way undesirable; the ex- 
perience of 1898 should never be repeated, and prompt 
steps should be taken by the Government to avoid the 
neces5it3' for such action by the design and construction of 
a special fleet of small vessels that are neither yachts nbr 
torpedo boats. Any points which these two classes may 
have in common are more than offset by the great cost of 
the yacht, the necessary destruction of valuable furnish- 
ings, the defective arrangement for war uses, both as 
regards crew space and storage, and the lack of distilling 
plant and similar auxiliaries. 
Mr. Fairburn gives some interesting figures on the cost 
of steam yachts, as follows: "A small steam yacht like 
the Oberon costs about $7,000, and this vessel is no larger 
than many a launch. A yacht fit for fair weather coasting 
is very cheap at $18,000, and the majority of this class ex- 
ceed this figure by a good deal. It is said that the Illa- 
warra, io6ft. long and of twelve knots speed, cost about 
$60,000; the Peregrine, 131ft. long and fourteen knots, 
$95,000; the Electra, $125,000, and the builders of the 
Atalanta, Eleanor and Corsair II. received about $200,000 
each for the construction of these vessels. It is said that 
John Jacob Astor (the late William Astor) paid $240,000 
for the Nourmahal; the Varuna cost Eugene Higgins 
about $300,000 ,and the Aphrodite has cost Col. Payne 
about $360,000. These prices are for the boats complete, 
without the fittings and furnishings and equipment fur- 
nished by the owner. The largest yachts afloat to-day 
are probably worth from $400,000 to $600,000 complete, 
with all furnishings on board. But initial cost is not all 
that must be considered, for it costs a fortune every year 
to keep any of these large pleasure craft in commission, 
the running expenses of the larger vessels running from 
$8,000 to $15,000 per month, and sometimes, when there is 
much entertainment, even more." 
Seawanhafca Cofinthian Y. C. 
The annual meeting of the Seawanhaka Corinthian 
Y. C. was held at Sherry's on Jan. 9, with Com. Rouse 
in the chair. The reports of the officers and committees 
showed a generally prosperous condition of the club; the 
trustees reported that the bonded indebtedness on the 
Oyster Bay property had been readjusted in an advan- 
tageous manner. The following officers and committees 
were elected: 
Com., Percy Chubb, cutter Vigilant; Vice-Corn., Col- 
gate Hoyt, steam yacht Tide 11. ; Rear-Com., Henry C. 
Eno, schr. Latona; Sec'y, Allen E. Whitman; Treas., 
Frank S. Hastings; Meas., John Hyslop; Fleet Surgeon, 
H. Holbrook Curtis, M. D.; Fleet Chaplain, W. Mon- 
tague Geer, D. D. 
Race Committee— Charles W. Wetmore, Charles A. 
Sherman, Clinton H. Crane, Johnston de FoVlst and 
Macomb G. Foster. » 4- '■ 
Committee on Lectures and ' Ehtei^Tnments— Allen E. 
Whitman, Jacob Wendell, jr., and' Elijah Woodward. 
Committee on Lines and Models— John, Hyslop, A. 
Gary Smith and H. M.- Crilne. 
La\y Committee— Wilmbt T.' Cox, Alfred Ely and W. 
Kintzing Post. J' 
A plan has been prepared for a town^club house in the 
form of a bachelor's apartment house somewhere in the 
club district with two of the lower floors specially fitted 
up for the use of the club. It is estimated that an in- 
vestment of this nature at the present time will pay a 
good return in the future-, and members have teen asked 
to subscribe to the amount of $100,000; it is understood 
that about $75,000 has already been subscribed. The Race 
Committee has issued a special circular, calling attention 
to the raceabout class as now found in the East, and giving 
the rules and a description of these boats. It is pro- 
posed to give a series of weekly races every Saturday for 
boats of the class Owned in the club, and other races for 
the class if sufficient interest is shown to warrant them. 
Cotinthian of Philadelphia, 
The annual meeting of the Corinthian Y. C, of Phila- 
delphia, on Jan. 10 at the Hotel Bellevue, marked the 
close of a very prosperous year, the club now having a 
waiting list beyond its limit of membership, the fleet num- 
bering 10 schooners, 15 cutters and sloops, 9 yawls, 8 
knockabouts, 22 open boats, 11 steam yachts, 5 auxiliaries 
and 8 launches. The floating has been cancelled, a new 
basin has been built at Essington, and the club still has a 
balance in the treasury. The following officers were 
elected : Trustees to serve three years, Frank H. Rosen- 
marten, Dr. R. H. Harte ; to serve for one year, Robert K. 
Neff. Com., Alexander Van Rensselaer, steam yacht 
May; Vice-Com., Robert J. W. Koons, schr. Priscilla; 
Rear-Com., Robert M. Riddle, yawl Spalpeen; Sec'y, Ad- 
dison F. Bancroft; Treas., George E. Kirkpatrick; Meas., 
Albert C. Wood ; Race Committee, A. F. Bancroft, I. W. 
Jeanes, H. S. Jeanes; Committee on Admissions, C. H. 
Brock, Alexander Van Renssalaer, G. H. Millett, B. 
Pratt, F. H. Rosengarten. 
The rules were amended so that there shall be but one 
club meeting in a year, and the limit of membership was 
raised to 200. The annual dinner followed the business 
meeting, seventy persons being present. 
Western Yachting. 
Chicago, III, Jan. 13.— Lake Geneva Y. C, of Wis- 
consin, is already beginnig preparations for the annual 
regatta of the Inland Lake Yachting Association, which 
will occur on Lake Geneva next August. Messrs. Car- 
penter, Porter, Rumsey and Heyworth are at work now 
on the programme, and are hustling up entries among the 
best of the yachtsmen at Chicago, Oshkosh, Oconomwoc, 
etc. Avis I. and Avis II. will both be entered by William 
Hale Thompson, and we shall no doubt hear also from 
very many others of the more famous boats of the Wis- 
consin waters. 
The Columbia Y. C. had its last regular monthly meet- 
ing a week ago, and decided upon an open regatta for 
July 4 next, to be sailed off the lake front of Chicago. 
There will be a great effort to make this the strongest 
event of the season, and invitations are preparing which 
will be sent out to yachtsmen of all the ports of the Great 
Lakes. The regatta will be sailed in two series, with 
divers classes, which will let in big and little. A special 
meeting of this club is holding to-night for the pur- 
poses of appointing committees, etc. The Columbia Y./G. 
is one of the most active of the Western associations, and 
this coming season it hopes to meet representatives . f rem 
all of the Great Lakes and the inland lakes north apd 
west of here. E. 
The Boston branch of the Yacht Masters & Engineers' 
Association has elected the following officers: Pres., A. 
C. Corkum; Vice-Pres., Edward Colbeth; Sec'y, George 
Lewis; Treas., Capt. J. E. Thompson; Trustees, J. K. 
Gray, G. E. Studley, A. G. Gould and Edward Colbe^, 
