J^AK. 6, igoo.j 
FOREST ANf) STREAM. 
Where the canoeists succeeded the. yacbtsnien then failed, 
and it is only within the past three years that a national 
union of yachtsmen has been formed. 
One potent factor of the success of canoeing has been 
the distinctive nature of the canoe and its many attract- 
ive characteristics — in the little Rob Roy, the later sail- 
ing and paddling canoes, the racing canoes at a certain 
stage of their development, and the canoe yawls. Each 
of these types was specially fitted for some particular 
form of canoeing that was both novel and interesting. 
It so happens that at the present time, as for several 
years past, there has been no one type of canoe in -the 
fashion for racing, one of the important branches of the 
sport. The open paddling canoe is a fixture, used every- 
where on its merits for general canoeing, and likely to 
retain its popularity independent of the changes of fashion 
which rule in canoeing as well as in yachting. When it 
comes to the racing, however, there is nothing but the 
extreme hiking machine, which, after driving out all 
other types, has failed to justify its own continued exist- 
ence. 
We have discussed in another column the question of 
a new type of canoe which shall appeal to the wants of 
such a number of canoeists as to bring about a revival 
of building and racing. If canoeists themselves can solve 
the question of what such a canoe should be in a gen- 
eral way, there should be little difficulty in planning thi 
lines and details of a satisfactory boat. 
We have frequently had occasion to comment on the 
excessive cost of the Division meets, very simple func- 
tions, lasting usually but a few days; the members who 
attend paying all their own expenses for transportation, 
meals, etc. According to the report of the Eastern 
Division, as published this week, the Division meet of 
1899 must have touched high-water mark in the matter 
of cost, the expenses including prizes being $500. This 
apparently means that the Division paid about $250 in 
addition to the camp fees received of about the same 
amount. As the surplus is nearly $100 less than in 1898, 
it is evident that a few more meets of this kind will 
bankrupt the Division. The Division meet is a good thing 
in many ways, but it is an easy matter to make one cost 
very much more than it is worth. There was a time when 
such impromptu meets, the two at Plum Point on tne 
Hudson, for instance, in 1884-5, were run most success- 
fully at a mere nominal cost outside the individual ex- 
penses of the members. 
The Past and Future of American 
Canoeing— J 880- 1 900. 
The National Canoe Congtess. 
The following is a call issued by leading American 
canoeists: 
A general convention of canoeists will be held at Cald- 
well, Warren county, N. Y. — head of Lake George — Aug. 
3, 4, 5 and 6, 1880, at which it is proposed to perfect the 
organization of a national canoe club, of which local 
clubs now existing will be branches, and to take such 
further action in the interests of the pastime as may be 
deemed expedient. 
Sailing and paddling races will be arranged for each 
day,, the conditions of which will be duly announced. 
All canoeists are invited to attend, and as a preliminary 
measure are requested — whether owning canoes or not — 
to send their names to N. H. Bi.shop, Esq., Lake George, 
Warren county, N. Y., indicating their willingness to 
joint the National Club; annual dues to be nominal. 
Membership will carry with it the right to fly the 
National Club signals; will secure the temporary use of 
boat houses belonging to enrolled clubs, and will entitle 
the member to one copy of club publications. There are 
several excellent hotels at Caldwell, and camping places 
will be secured for all who desire them. 
Invitations will be extended to English and Canadian 
canoeists to attend, with their canoes, as guests, and 
assurances have been received that they will be well rep- 
resented. 
Your active co-operation is earnestly desired. You 
are particularly requested to send the addresses of all 
canoeists in your vicinity to Mr. Bishop, and to invite 
their co-operation. » 
Your suggestions as to the course to be pursued will 
be of service. 
C. L. Norton, commodore of the N. Y. C. C, 849 
Broadway. New York. 
C. E. chase, com.modore of the Jersey City C. C, 287 
Broadway, New York. 
Nicholas Longworth, commodore of the Cincinnati 
C. C. Cincinnati, O. 
W. L. Alden, Isaac F. West. William Whitlock, New 
York. 
G. Livingston ]\Torse. John Habberton, Richard L. 
Neville, New York, 
Kinij;man N. Putnam. Robert J, Wilkin, New Y''ork. 
Robert -D. Wyncoop, E. A. Ransom. Karl F. Bergman, 
Jersey City, N. J. 
Marcus L. Higginbotham, Jersey City, N. J 
W. Harry Potts, Trenton, N. J. 
William J. Gardner, Newark, N. J. 
W. P. Stephens, Rahway, N. J. 
Charles A. Cressy, Landaff, N. H. 
Lucien Wulsin, W. M. Greenwood, Cincinnati, O. 
J: M. Barnes, Louisville, Ky. 
A. H, Siegfried, St. Paul, Minn. 
Lake George is thirty-four miles long, and from one 
to four miles wide, with wild, mountainous shores, which 
the painter, the novelist and the historian have so vividly 
portrayed. From the south the lake is reached from 
Albany by the Rensselaer & Saratoga R. R. to Glens 
Falls: and from that town by plank stage road nine miles 
to Caldwell. Lake Champlain is connected with the 
northern end of Lake George by a portage less than 
two miles long. 
Nathaniel H. Bishop, Sec'y pro tern. 
The above was written by Mr. N. H. Bishop, in the 
study in the third Stof3f^of his cottagfe up on the hillside 
near Caldwell, overlooking the lake, aad was set up and 
printed by him on the small hand press that formed part 
of the furniture of that interesting sanctum, with its 
library of nautical books and its collection of souvenirs 
from the owner's many cruises. It was sent out early 
in the year 1880 to all canoeists whose addresses were 
known to Mr. Bishop. It represented the second stage 
of a task conceived and undertaken by him some two 
years before, of uniting all American canoeists. Mr. 
Bishop, who as a boy made a notable journey on foot 
across South America, a distance of t,ooo miles, was one 
of the first canoeists in the United States, making a 
cruise from Quebec to the Gulf of Mexico in 1874 a 
paper canoe of the Nautilus model, and another long 
cruise from Pittsburg down the Mississippi and throiigh 
the Gulf to Cedar Keys, Fla.. in a sneak box, in 1875-76. 
After this he settled down to spend his summers in a 
beautiful home on Lake George, at that time one of the 
favorite cruising grounds of canoeists. In all of his 
travels Mr. Bishop devoted much of his time to the 
study of the geography and natural history of the regions 
through which he passed, and, like the father of canoeing. 
Capt. John MacGregor, he was a firm believer in the 
canoe as a special inj;trument for the close and accurate 
study of a country. While a believer in the canoe as a 
mere means of recreation and healthy sport, he at the 
same time rated it much higher in the scale of practical 
utility. 
During the summer of 1879 there were a number of 
canoes on Lake George. Some members of the New York 
C. C, established in 1870, were cruising through the lake; 
some were spending the summer on the lake at the differ- 
ent hotels, and had their canoes with them. The late 
Judge Nicholas Longworth, of Cincinnati, then a regular 
visitor at the lake, was also a canoeist, as w^ere several 
of bis associates. As a consequence of this impromptu 
gathering of canoeists, there were cruises, and much 
talk of canoeing, and some races were held, prizes being 
contributed by some of the visitors at the hotels. En- 
couraged by the growing interest in canoeing, Mr. 
Birhop. who was at the time free from business calls, set 
to work duri:ig the fall to perfect the organization of his 
proposed national club. The work — and it involved a 
great deal of labor — was done entirely without aid, those 
whose names were appended to the circular approving 
and indorsing the plan, but doing little or no active 
work to further it. After a couple of years of corre- 
spondence with the leading- canoeists in England, Scot- 
land, Canada and the United States, the general details 
of the proposed organization were formulated and the 
aid of canoeists was invited in the circular. 
The result of this work was in a measure disappoint- 
ing, as but thirteen men were present on Aug. 3, when the 
first meeting was held and the American Canoe Associa- 
tion was formally organized. This number was in- 
creased to about twenty-five by canoeists who came in 
during the remaining days of the camp and took part in 
the races. Though small in numbers, the gathering was 
a representative and enthusiastic one, and when it broke 
up its members went in many directions, to spread the 
work of building up the A. C. A. For the first year 
Mr. Bishop continued as secretary-treasurer, he with Com. 
Longworth buying the Three Sisters, a group of islands 
five miles from Caldwell, clearing them of underbrush 
and building a log house, the "Wigwam" of the Asso- 
ciation; the second meet being held on these islands. 
As the Association gained in strength and membership 
he stepped aside and left its direction to the new men. 
Canoeing as a recognized sport dates back to 1865-66, 
when Capt. John MacGregor made his first cruises in 
the original Rob Roys, small paddling canoes of 14 feet 
length, 26 inches beam and about S'A inches depth amid- 
ships. All the early canoeing was done in these minia- 
ture craft, in which the paddle was the main means of 
propulsion, the single sail being a mere handkerchief. 
The first important change from this model was made 
about 1870 by Mr. Warrington Baden-Powell, after 
several long cruises in the Rob Roy models, his new 
No. 2 Nautilus being 28 inches wide, 13 inches depth 
amidships, with a high sheer to the ends, rigged with 
mainsail, mizzen and jib, and fitted with a rudder and 
foot steering gear. This model was not only fitted for 
rough water, in which the Rob Roy would be unsafe as 
well as uncomfortable, but she could be sailed to ad- 
vantage, though capable of being paddled with ease 
except against a strong wind. In the United States this 
early Nautilus model was introduced almost as early as 
the older Rob Roy, and soon became much more pop- 
ular; most of the canoes of the New York C. C. (the first 
American club) were built from a design kindly sent by 
Mr. Baden-Powell to the founders of the club. 
The ability of the canoe as a sailing craft being once 
demonstrated, a rapid development began in England, 
with a keen rivalry between Mr. Baden-Powell and an- 
other noted canoeist, Mr. E. B. Tredwen, both of the 
Royal C. C. An improved Nautilus was soon followed 
by an equally improved Pearl, the two dividing the sail- 
ing prizes of the club in the then numerous races on 
the Thames, and later on Hendon Lake. Under the in- 
fluence of keen racing and local conditions (a narrow 
and winding river, with puffy winds over the trees and 
banks), a peculiar type of canoe was produced about 
iS8q, with metal centerboards, lead ballast and very large 
sails— a craft unfitted for any use but match .sailing on the 
Thames. 
_ The majority of American canoes in 1880 were varia- 
tions of the Nautilus type, 14 by 30 in dimensions, with 
moderate sheer and mainly fitted with shallow keels. In 
model, build and fittings they were all-round cruising 
craft, and most of them had made cruising records before 
doing much racing. Every canoe that came to camp car- 
ried her owner's tent, bed and camp outfit, and raced with 
her cruising rig. In 1881 the first open Canadian canoes 
were seen at an A. C. A. meet, manned by Messrs. 
Edwards and Rogers. From 1880 to 1886 the' improve- 
ment of the canoe and her fitting was carried on rapidly 
at the hands of such men as Vaux. Gibson, Oliver, 
Bailey, Richards and other old-time cruisers and racers. 
The main end of all was to produce a perfect all-round 
canoe, in which, if time permitted, one might cruise to a 
meet and yet win both sailing and paddling prizes. 
In 1886 two important innovations were introduced; 
Mr. E. H. Barney, of the Springfield C. C , aident 
racing man, brought out ir'ecowsic, a purely racing caiioc, 
with a suit of five interchangeable standing sails-; and 
Mt. Paul Butler, of the Vesper B. C, introduced the 
sliding seat. From this time on, the aim of canoeists 
was directed almost entirely to the construction of faster 
sailing canoes, regardless of general use and paddling; 
the long well, in which the canoeist once slept in com- 
parative comfort, was first given up to a larger center- 
board trunk, and then decked in completely until it be- 
came a mere "bucket." The small standing sails of 
Pecowsic were copied in others of great area, the deep 
drop rudder was introduced, with the thwartship tiller, 
and the sliding seat was lengthened until it became the 
most prominent feature of the canoe. With these changes 
came a cutting away of the model and a reduction of the 
planking, that further unfitted the canoe for other than 
match sailing. 
The meet of 1890, the first salt-water meet, at Jessup's 
Neck, marked the end of another period in canoe design, 
in which, from 1886, the racing features preponderated in 
canoes that were still of fairly good model and strong 
construction. From that time to the present has been 
the era of the racing machine, the hull being whittled 
down to the smallest possible displacement and free- 
board, the construction being cut to the last limit and 
the fittings including only a large centerboard, rudder 
and sliding seat and the sails. As matters are to-day, 
the sailing canoe is fit only for match racing, and such 
racing is dead. At the same time, the perfection of the 
sailing machine has driven out entirely the old all-round 
cruising and racing canoe. Those who follow any other 
branch of the sport but racing do so in the open Cana- 
dian canoe, of which thousands are in use. 
Apart from the canoe proper, fitted for one man and 
capable of being sailed, paddled or handled on shore 
by him alone, canoeing has produced various larger craft 
of the same general type, classed as canoe-yawls and 
canoe-yachts. The former term is applied to such large 
canoes as, through their light draft and absence of fixed 
ballast and outside keel, can be hauled up or housed; 
the latter to tliose with fixed ballast and deep keels, so 
that they must always be kept afloat. All are single- 
handers in that they may be readily sailed by one man 
and at the same time they will accommodate two or more 
in cruising. Paddling or even rowing is out of the 
question except with the smaller canoe-yawls. These 
larger craft have found favor with many who began as 
canoeists, as well as with other new recruits, who prized 
the freedom and independence of canoeing and yet 
wished for something abler, drier and more comfort- 
able than the 30-inch canoe. Where the waters permit 
and land transit is not an object, the advantages of the 
canoe-yawl are indisputable. Though the maximum limit 
of beam for a "canoe" in this country is still 30 inches, 
as it has always been, many good craft have been built 
and used with a breadth of from 3 to 4 feet, according 
to their other dimensions. 
The day of the heavy displacement English canoes 
Pearl and Nautilus ended in 1886, when the two latest 
models of these renowned types visited the United States, 
Mr. Baden-Powell bringing his Nautilus and Mr. Walter 
Stewart a new Pearl— both sailed from below deck and 
heavily ballasted. After being decisively defeated by the 
light American canoes Vesper and Pecowsic at the meet 
at Grindstone Island, they were beaten by the New York 
C. C. boats on New York Bay, though their owners 
abandoned the below-deck position and sailed them from 
the deck This experience led to the introduction of light 
displacement canoes with many American fittings in 
England, and also resulted in the production of a new 
type of sharpie canoe, with flat floor and straight sides, 
sailed without ballast. For some years following 1890 
canoeing and canoe racing were in a very depressed state 
in England, but within a few years there has been a 
marked revival. At the present time the bulk of the 
racing, of which there has been a good deal on the 
Thames, is done in canoes of the cruising class, which 
are limited to 16 feet over all and 42 inches beam, with 
6 inches minimum draft, 9 inches minimum freeboard. 
8 inches minimum sheer at bow and 6 inches at stern, and 
a minimum length of well of 7 feet, of which -3 feet 6 
inches is clear of the centerboard trunk. There must be 
two water-tight bulkheads, but an underbody rudder 
is allowed. While these limitations make a very good 
craft, she is much larger than the old canoe, and really 
a capoe-yawl. It is not apparent that the revival in rac- 
ing in England, so far as it has progressed, is due to the 
admission of 'wider canoes any more than to general 
causes. 
_ The condition of American canoeing at the present 
time, as for several years past, is a peculiar one, and at 
the same time one which must be altered, if the sport 
is to prosper. There are many canoeists throughout the 
country, a large number of canoe clubs, most of then- 
settled in good houses and fairly prosperous in a financial 
way, and there are many canoes in use. At the same time 
there is practically no racing and no designing nor 
building of new craft. Much of the canoeing is done 
in the open canoe, usually the Canadian model, an ex- 
cellent craft for afternoon paddling and similar work as 
well as for hunting and fishing. With the exception of a 
few extreme racing machines, the decked canoe, the craft 
which gave birth to canoeing and made it what it once 
was, has disappeared. As to the racing machines, thev 
are not sufficiently numerous of themselves to make 
good racing, and yet they serve to bar all better types. 
The question which we should like to bring to the at- 
tention of all canoeists in the Association is that of the 
type of canoe that is needed to-day to revive canoeing. 
Can anything be done to encourage the use of the racing- 
machine under the present rules, to induce men to build 
and rape new canoes of the type of Mab and her kind? 
Is it possible to produce a new tj'pe of 16 by 30 all-round 
canoe of stanch construction and of such size and ar- 
rangement as to be generally useful, and yet to be 
capable of racing? Is it desirable in any class of canoe 
to limit the construction of hull and the length of slidin'> 
seat? Is it possible to follow the English plan and d'=- 
sign a larger, wider and abler craft that will become 
generally popular as the old 30-inch canoe was in 1880? 
There have been various evidences of late of a revival 
in canoeing. The outlook for the Association and for 
