92 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
club house on Chelsea Bridge, Charlestown, on Jan. 24, 
the following afScers being elected: Com., E. J- Har- 
rington; Vice-Com., C. F. Bronian; Fleet Capt., D. C. 
Roberts ; Sec'y, and Treas., F. J. Harrington ; Fin. Sec y, 
William Holm; Directors, Solon E. Badger, John A. 
Gibson, M. P. Hogan, H. L. Johnson ; House Committee, 
J. W. Fraser, Jr.. E. A. Hinkley, J. D. Simington; Mem- 
bership Committee, Charles Dennett, George Holm, Jos- 
eph McCabe, William Nichols, W, H. Tolman. 
S? fc? 
On Jan 20 a small auxiliary schooner was launched 
at Bayles' yard, at Port Jefferson, for F. S. Palmer, who 
will use her in trading in Central American waters. She 
was named Intrepid, so that there is likely to be more or 
less confusion in the future with the large schooner 
Intrepid and the large auxiliary steam yacht of the same 
name, 
^ ^ ^ 
Queen Mab, cutter, has been sold by C. F. L. Hobm- 
son to C. V. Brokaw. 
n in, H 
The Chicago Y, C. has formally decided not to_ begin 
Awork on its proposed new club house until late in the 
■summer. This decision was reached after it became 
known that it would be impossible to finish the building 
that the C. Y. C. plans call for in time for next season's 
regattas. 
The club has received permission from the officials at 
Washington to erect the home on the lake in the same 
manner as the Columbia Y. C. house is erected. The 
:site of the building will be close to the Van Buren street 
■gap, and the cost of the club house will be close to 
:$20 000. It will be easily the finest fresh-water yacht 
.club house in the country. 
At present the entire fleet of the Chicago Y. C. is at 
'South Chicago. This includes thirty-five boats of all 
descriptions. It is probable that at least fifteen or twenty 
m.ore yachts will be added to the fleet before the opening 
of the season. — Chicago Inter-Ocean. 
•I B% >^ 
We are advised that the statement recently made in 
our columns of the ownership of Avis I. is incorrect, as 
she was purchased last July by Mr. Davis, of Delavan 
Lake. 
American Canoe Association, J899-J900. 
Commodore, W. G. MacKendrick, 200 Eastern avenue. Toronto, 
Secretary-Treasurer, Herbert Begg, 24 King street, Toronto, Can. 
Librarian, W. P. Stephens, Thirty-second street »cd avenue A, 
Bayojine, N. J. 
Division Officets. 
ATLANTIC DIVISION. 
Vice-Com., H. C. Allen, Trenton, N. J. 
jRear-Com., Lewis H. May, New York. 
iPurser, Arthur H. Wood. Trenton, N. J. 
CENTRAL DIVISION. 
Vice-Corn.. John S. Wright, Rochester, N. Y. 
]Rear-Com., Jesse J. Armstrong, Rome, N. Y. ^ 
JPurser, C. Fred VVolters, 14 East Main street, Rochester, N, Y. 
EASTERN DIVISION. 
Vice-Com., Frank A. Smith, Worcester, Mass. 
Rear-Com., Louis A. Hall, Boston, Mass. 
Purser, Frederick Coulson, 405 Main street, Worcester, Mass. 
NORTHERN DIVISION. 
Vice-Com., J. McD. Mowatt, Kingston, Ont., Can. 
Rear-Com., E. C. VVoolsey, Ottawa, Ont., Can. 
Purser, J. £. Cunningham, Kingston, Ont., Can. 
WESTERN DIVISION. 
Vice-Com., Wm. C. Jupp, Detroit, Mich. 
Rear-Com., F. B. Huntmgton, Milwaukee, Wis. 
Purser, Fred T. Barcreft, 40& Ferguson Building, Detroit, Mich. 
•I 
Regatta Committee: R. Easton Burns, Kingston, Ont., Can., 
chairman; Herbert Begg, Toronto; D. B. Goodsell, Yonkers, N. Y. 
Meet of 190O, Muskoka Lake, Aug. 3-17. 
Official organ, Forest and Stream.. 
Fixtures* 
March. 
10. Meeting of Canoeists at Sportsmen's Show, New York. 
May. 
26-31. Atlantic Division meet. Park Island. 
August. 
3-17. A. C, A. meet, Muskoka. 
One of the striking personalities of the war in South 
Africa is Col. Robert S. S. Baden-Powell, who, since 
Oct. 9, has defended the little border town of Mafeking 
against a hard siege by the Boers, his forces numbering 
only about a thousand men, with practically no artillery. 
Up to the present time his record is the best of all the 
British officers in South Africa, as he has made no mis- 
takes and has held the town under most unfavorable^ 
conditions. In another division of the British forces, the 
j\>lief now on the way toward Kimberley and Mafeking, 
is Major B. F. S. Baden-Powell, of the Scots Guards, a 
brother of Col. Baden-Powell. Both of these soldiers are 
brothers of Mr. Warrington Baden-Powell, the canoeist 
and yachtsman, as was the late Sir George Baden-Powell, 
the noted diplomat, scientist and yachtsman, who died 
about a year since. Major Baden-Powell is the inventor 
of a "war cycle," a bicycle fitted so as to be quickly taken 
apart and stowed in small compass, so that a soldier may 
carry the machine on his shoulder. 
Mr. Warrington Baden-Powell has recently invented a 
new form of craft for arctic exploration, a very strongly 
built steel hull of the whaleback type, fitted with a steam 
engine and the ordinary screw propeller aft. In the bows 
are installed powerful electric engines, operating a very 
strong bow shaft, so fitted as to be used as a ram, and 
carrying a series of scre'ws or saws. It is proposed to 
ram the vessel into the ice, the revolving bow saws cutting 
it up and throwing it aside, Whether, as is suggested, the 
Yessel will be capable of breaking a path to the North 
Pole, is a doubtful question, but she will be able to force 
her way where no other ship could make any progress. 
Mr. Warrington Baden-Powell, an Admiralty lawyer by 
profession, is a lieutenant in the Naval Reserve. 
The Revival of Canoe Sailing. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
In response to your cj[uestion. What can be done to 
encourage canoe sading races? I think the solution is 
simple enough and very easily stated. What has been 
the reason for the disappearance of racing among sailing 
canoes? An answer to this question, it a correct one, 
would materially help in a solution of the former question. 
In the first place, I think all will agree that a good 
race may be made between two boats, or vehicles, or 
human beings, or animals, etc., if the two are evenl.v 
matched. The more entries in a race the more interest 
in the race, is equally a well-established fact. 
Has canoe sailing supplied arguments to corroborate 
the above? If it has, the next thing is to determine how 
canoe sailing stands. Have canoeists become tired of 
sailing and therefore gone out of it? Hardly, for now 
they have been trying to get up sailing races with a sail 
in an open canoe, a boat never intended for a sail and 
really not' fit, from its size and shape, to be used effectu- 
ally as a sailing canoe, 1 hope every one will not jump 
on me when I say this and tr}' to prove that open canoes 
are fit for sailing, by telling me it I had ever seen open 
canoes sail it would convince me they were fit and effi- 
cient for this purpose; but let me say to my friends that 
I probably had as good an oportunity to see open canoes 
sail as any one in the country, both in the A, C. A. and 
in our own club, where the idea first took hold. Still, I 
maintain that open canoe sailing is only a makeshift. 
This very resort to this makeshift, however, proves that 
sailing is still popular, if we only had boats to sail in. 
Now, what is the trouble with canoe sailing? I think 
there are two chief troubles and some resultant minor 
faults. 
The one chief trouble, to my mind, is the sliding seat, 
which more than anything has rendered the canoe im- 
possible of handhng in the hands of all but an expert, and 
has encouraged the building oi boats with no possible 
arrangement for the carrying of any duffle, even penaliz- 
ing that most important canoe aid, the paddle, by put- 
ting the sailor to tire necessity of lashing it to the deck. 
Of course, we old hands, who get out and use the seat, 
enjoy it thoroughly, and we will tell the novices that that 
is the only way to sail a boat; but, after all, of what use 
is any craft that depends only on its ability to keep right 
side up and go fast when in the hands of a trained ath- 
lete? 
I think the first rule to be made, if we want to get 
back to canoe sailing, is to get a practical sailing canoe, 
and to do this the first thing is to dispense entirely with 
the sliding seat. 
The other chief trouble is the standing sail, for this 
sends out a man in a frail canoe, on a trip however 
short, so ill prepared for any other weather than what 
he .starts with that should the wind go down a little with 
him he cannot increase sail, and if the wind should in- 
crease in force he has no wa}' of lowering or decreasing 
sail except by going ashore and taking out the mast en- 
tirely, or going over board and doing likewise. How 
ridiculous except for purely racing purposes. What man 
in the whole A. C. A. ever took down his mast and car- 
ried it efTectually in a canoe race, except Mr. Archbald, 
and he, with his standing sail, in the combined race, had 
to capsize his boat every time he changed his sails. No 
wonder many people laugh at canoeists. We deserve it 
when we encourage such performances. No; give us a 
good practical rig, and a long step will be taken in re- 
popularizing the sailing canoe. 
The minor faults are bathtub cockpits and some other 
slight objectionable features, such as large sail area, etc.; 
but do away with the two chief, and 3'ou will take the 
first healthy step toward reviving saihng canoe interest. 
Now, Mr. Editor, some of my friends will probably as- 
sail my position and may endeavor to draw off attention 
by assailing me as a non-racer or non-sliding-seat-stand- 
ing-sail man; and if they do let me say in conclusion that 
I appreciate that I have hit at the appliances introduced 
to us by two of the fathers of canoe racing, and two men 
who have always stood for the best in the A. C. A., 
namely, Messrs. E. H. Barney, of Springfield, and Paul 
Butler, of Lowell, Mass. At the same time I feel that 
either of them would say, "Do away with these appli- 
ances if by so doing you can bring back canoe sailing 
racing as of old." 
In concluding let me say that my argument, if it may be 
called such, is not against appliances as such, but is a 
petition that the canoe may emerge from the museum 
curiosity class and go into the honest, useful and safe 
class of boat — a boat that has and can and will draw the 
best of men to enjoy it, and will enable those who do 
use it to gain all there is best in yachting and rowing with 
a minimum outlay and a maximum degree of safety and 
pleasure. 
Robert J. Wilkin, A. C. A. 47. 
Brooklyk, N Y. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
While not entitled to speak with anything like au- 
thority upon the subject, I have taken a very considerable 
interest in your editorial of Jan. 6 last, upon the present 
condition of canoe sailing in the A. C. A. The agitation 
for a more serviceable type of sailing canoe is by no 
means tiew, nor is this the first time that the necessity 
for some sweeping reform in the style of craft in use has 
been called to the attention of members of the associa- 
tion. After the very full and fair discussion of the sub- 
ject in your paper and elsewhere, there can remain no 
doubt, except perhaps in the minds of some few en- 
thusiasts, that to the use of. the sliding seat and standing 
rig is due mainly the evolution of the present unservice- 
able type of canoe and the existing lack of interest in 
canoe sailing races. 
If any step is to be taken toward .securing a better con- 
dition of things, it should be in the direction of a com- 
plete and final abolition of tliese two objectionable feat- 
tures. Any modification or compromise which shall have 
either of these features in yse will prove oi as little' ad- 
vantage to the permanent improvement of the sailing 
canoe as the half-way measures adopted by the executive 
committee in 1895 limiting sail area, etc. With the causes 
• of the evil removed, there seems to be no good reason 
why the increasing enthusiasm for canoeing observed on 
every hand, both within and without the association, 
should not effect an immediate revival in this branch of 
the sport. 
As to a wider or heavier type of canoe, I do not feel 
competent to express an opinion from the standpoint of 
a racing man, but for cruising purposes and for conven- 
ience in transportation, which are matters of great_ import- 
ance in canoeing, as carried on in this country, it would 
seem that the greatest economy of weight and space con- 
sistent with strength and stabihty is to be aimed at, 
rather than the opposite. 
Henry M. Dater. 
Brooklyn, Jan, 22. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I was interested in reading your article on what class 
of sailing canoe we should encourage to make the sport a 
more healthy one. As an old opponent of the tendency of 
the A. C. A. to foster racing machines from 1886 to 1890, 
a few words may be in order. Some of us fought the 75ft. 
limit race for years, until it was knocked out, as we 
believed it encouraged a light, narrow, dead rise type of 
craft that was not suitable for general purpose work. We 
fought the standing sails, the sliding seats and other 
innovations, and when we could not knock them out we 
turned around and used them, and confessed to finding 
a moderate sliding seat a good thing for both cruiser or 
racer. 
Canoe sailing races have been running along in a rut 
for the last ten years, until in a club like the Toronto, 
where there used to be fifteen sailing canoes, there is now 
and has been for years only one decked sailing craft, and 
that is eight years old. 
Is it not time, then, for us to try to foster a sailing 
class that will be a good general purpose craft for after- 
noon sailing, good for cruising, roomy enough to take a 
lady out for a paddle in and yet withal a canoe that can 
sail around a seven-mile course almost as fast as the 
present machines ; in other words, a good general purpose 
canoe? 
. My idea of the class of canoe for which we should offer 
the sailing trophy for 1901 is a 16 x 30 canoe, fitted with 
bilge boards, a 6ft, cockpit with bulkheads at each end, a 
single suit of lowering sails, with a single sliding seat that 
when closed shall not extend past the sides of the canoe. 
I think the dead rise of the midship section should be 
limited in some way so that we would be sure of getting 
an able-bodied craft and not a cockle shell. I would not 
suggest limiting the sail area for the reason that if a 
man gets a full-bodied canoe it will need and can cari-y 
more sail than a cranky narrow craft that would win 
under a sail limit. If limited to a single pair of lowering 
sails, a man would get a suit that would answer for the 
average wind and in a blow would take in a reef or two. 
We have a number of bilge board canoes in the Associa- 
tion that are good cruising craft, and I would like to see 
them encouraged in Muskoka with a race. I hope the 
members will discuss the advisability of encouraging a 
sailing class that will be good for something besides 
speed. Mac, 
Podgers on Canoeing, 
San Francisco, Jan. 20. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
I was much interested in reading the last Forust and 
Stream (Jan. 13) as to the suggestion of lead bulbs on 
the centerboard plate on canoes. 
I am not a canoe sharp, never having given much at- 
tention to that diminutive craft; but recently I re-read 
Bishop's cruises in the Rob Roy, and noted the necessity 
of his frequent portages, and occasional admission of 
somewhat fatiguing work to his vertebrae involved. Does 
not your suggestion of lead bulbs on centerboard plates 
imply considerable additional fatigue in the frequent 
portages in inland cruises? As for the liabihty of canoes 
to capsize, does it not imply a deficiency of skill in the 
man who does the sailing? The infrequency of capsizing 
in Bishop's cruises would implj' that the question rests 
principally with the man who handles the canoe. We 
all Icnow that canoes are unstable as a woman and require 
handling as gingerly. I have owned ducking boats that 
would stand no nonsense — appropriately named, for, 
when I tried the experiment of standing up in one, par- 
ticularly to fire at a flock of ducks overhead, it resulted 
in a complete somersault in to very cold water. I learned 
that to be able to stand up in such a boat to shoot straight 
overhead with safety, to put less powder in my cartridges, 
to avoid being knocked off my balance, or have more 
boat under me. I have a fine Westley Richards at the 
bottom of the bay, planted in the mud in consequence of 
au' earlier want of this knowledge. I am waiting patiently 
for the crop to be realized, when my gun sprouts. 
I could never see much fun in canoeing, but I do in 
cruising down a river, in a craft that does not require you 
to part your hair in the middle. I have floated and pad- 
dled the length of many rivers in California, solus, and 
enjoyed it, sleeping in my boat — a 15-foot dory, in which 
there was comfort, room to stretch legs and move about. 
There doubtless is much pleasure in canoe cruises, and 
I am not one to question the taste of those who prefer a 
canoe to a less tricky boat; but, on general principles, if 
I was a canoeist, I think I should prefer the risk of a 
capsize to adding 100 pounds or more to the load to be 
dragged cross-lots, when necessary. I have been in the 
business myself, in the way of dragging a light ducking 
boats across marshes, and shall never adopt it as a pro- 
fession. What you think a light boat on the start gets 
dreadful heavy before you get there. 
You refer to the gentleman who built Hostess as being 
enthusiastic on the question of lee boards. Rather obso- 
lete, eh? Althaugh there are two or three scow schooners 
running on our bay that use them, their masters are 
Dutchmen, and are content to follow the fashion of their 
daddies. It is rather awkward when forced to haul up the 
windward board, when you go on the other tack, and 
the chances are good for losing your board, for the It-ver- 
age is liable to pull the pivot bolt out. 
I tr'iti the experiment, once, of lee boards on the out- 
