MARCH 31, 1^.J 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
pretty pass when the Legislature considered bills advetse 
to some manufactories and calculated "to protect some 
fish and suckers/' Senator Brown said that the bill was 
designed as a check, making it obligatory . upon matttl- 
facturers to obtain the consent of the State Board of 
Health to dump refuse, etc. The bill was killed, 
w ^i"^^^^^ ^^^^ Haymarket Forest and Stream Club, of 
Fort Plam, was mcorporated by the Secretary of State. 
It is proposed to stock the streams within a radills df 
twenty miles of Fort Plain with food arid gattle fishes, to 
enforce the fish and game' laws through special protec- 
tors and foresters, and^to maintain a club house. The 
directors are William D. Shults, William Greeley, John 
Parr, F T. Ehle, Emiel. Rebell, Charles I Lumley. C, L 
Fxf7,' 9^°fSe O'Connor, Jr., J. C. Moyef, 
W. M. O'Connor and Charley Scott^ of Fort Plain. 
. — ■ ■ "-• ■ I- i-'i -iii, I it.iii 
Tarpon on the West Coasi 
TMe lifst itel]poil kilown to have been taken on the west 
t:oast bf Flptida this se^soil -^c-is eapt.Ufed. early in March 
by Mrs. Hacamofit,. of ROches.ttf-. N. Y„ iieaf N^jSleg, 
Fla. It was a small orte, vveighiiig less than 50 po^rids,- 
but made a good fight and was successfully brought td 
boat. 
, The eflfly spriflg fishing along the west coast of Florida 
1.S eotHpkratively.little.knowh. but from Homosassa all 
the way to the Teri Thousaiid Islands and the Keys it 
is excellent both in quality and quantity. The fisll efiufht 
&ft m used for food, and there. is a good demand for tiu 
Siii-plus taken by the anglers, who are always Sblfe to giv& 
thdn away oh. the dock wkeh tbey land. 
Oh matiy of the best kriown grouiids of Florida the tar- 
poh fishing is not at its best -Until the weatber gfows 
Warm, so that the temperature of the water has been 
tfOhsiderably raised ^and in many places this does uot take 
]^]ftcfe tilitlriat« .At)i-ll or early May. 
Opening of the Ttoai. Ssi^iJdfl. 
Oa Long Mstsd, Match 2fy ;R^sf bf Aprff :J 6.; 
.U NpER the. fbh, game, and fofeft:iawi©f ■ this -StatW Ghap- 
tet^20 -of -.the ,Law:s of Ygodpihe close'-seaaondtor; trout- is 
frprn Sept. t. to April 15. .both; jnclusiye,- in all parts of 
thfe State, except Lohg Island. -For Long Island the close 
reason 1 s- from Aug: 3 1 to March -28. both inclusive. Sec- 
[ioh 109 of this law provides, hoWevef, that trout taken 
lawfully inay be sold, or possessed iri tile city of Ncw 
York in the open season established for Lohg "island, of 
from March 29 to Aug. 30, both inclusive. 
jtoBERT B. Lawrence, 
Secretary New York Society for the Presefvatiofl of Fish 
and Game. 
hnnel 
Fixtures. 
FIELD TRIALS. 
Nov. 13.— Chatham, Ont.— Twelfth annual field trials of the In- 
ternational Field Trials Club. W. B. Wells, Hon. Sec'y. 
Nov. 18.— Newton, N. C— Eastern FieM Trial Club's twenty- 
second annual field trials. S. C. Bradley, Sec'y, Greenfield Hill, 
Conn, 
> Points and Flushes. 
Mr. C. M. Munhall, Secretary of the Cleveland Kennel 
Club, Cleveland, C, informs' us that the Cleveland 
Kennel Club have secured the dates of May 2, 3, 4 and 5 
for their fifth bench show, following Pittsburg. 
New Factors in Yacht Measure- 
ment.— I. 
/fii.E condition of tbfe ffleasutethetit queslloit:oti both 
sides of the Atlantic 'at the present time is by no means a 
satisfactory one, as none of the rules, now in use in 
America or Great Britain are conducive to the.best in- 
terests of yachting as a whole; It has so happeried at 
times in the past few years that special Circumstances 
have created a new racing class or restored a temporary 
prosperity to an old onej such results, however, have not 
only been of limited duration, but the benefit has been 
limited exclusively to the fuachine type. So far as the 
general interests of yachting are concerned, they have 
suflfered steadily either by the lack of interest in racing or 
by the bad types of yachts produced in the temporary re- 
vivals. Apart from the development of higher and higher 
speeds through the means of costly and fragile construc- 
tion and the sacrifice of useful qualities, the only im- 
provements have been through the restricted classes, one- 
design and otherwise ; but though these have been of 
great benefit in the emergency, and though they may often 
be of service under special conditions, they in no way 
lessen the necessity for a good general measurement rule 
to govern the great body of racing yachts. 
The popular idea of the powers and functions of a 
measurement rule is very far from correct, as the rule 
itself is only one of several important factors in the pros- 
perity of yachting. The good influences of a rule are to a 
great extent negative; no rule, however perfect, will in- 
duce-a man to build and race a yacht if he prefers golf or 
tennis" or horses, or if he has no inclination for sailing, 
The bad tendencies of a rule, on the other hand, like most 
things evil, are always positive and active; they act 
quickly and strongly to kill the interest of good .vachts- 
men, to discourage building and racing, and to p'roduce 
depression in all branches of yachting. This has never 
been more clearly demonstrated than at the present 
time, when the great cost, the limited racing life and the 
low sale value of the modern racing yacht, due to her ex- 
treme_ machine form and light and unsubstantial con- 
struction, have driven out of yachting entirely, or pos- 
sibly into the small one-design classes, the best of the old 
patrons of the sport. It is not to be expected that a new 
rule, however perfect, if adopted to-day, will briflg back 
at ouee, perhaps in-the face of unfavorable external con- 
ditions, • all who 'were formerly prominent as racing 
owners; but at the same time the only hope of a fairly 
prosperous future for the sport of yaebt racing lies in the 
adoption of such rules «s will restore as nearly as possible 
the sonditions existing a dozen years ago, when a yacht 
designed and built specially for racing, smh as Volunteer, 
Titania, Katrina and even Gloriana, could be used to ad- 
vantage for general yachting and also could be sold at » 
reasonable figure after her first few seasons of racing 
were over, it is only through such conditions in yacht- 
ing that any large number of men can be held true to ths 
sport for more than a season or so, or any material in- 
crease be made from the ranks of young mett in search of 
some suitable sport as a diversion and ihobby. 
The present state of the measurement question in this 
<^.ountry may be summed up in very few words. The 
SeaWafthaka rule, adopted in 1882-3 "by the Seawanhaka 
Corinthian Y. C, and in turn by the NeW York C. 
and nearly all the American and Canadian clubs, niet the 
needs of the time very completely, and up to about nin'e 
years ago was strongly influential in producing excellent 
vessels, both eenterboards and keels. With the invention 
of the bulb-fin tn 1891 a new principle was introduced 
which the rule failed to cover — the power of a vessel to 
carry sail dependent on twb l6Vel-s, the horizontal one 
(the half-beam) and the vertical oiit (the draft), In 
the shoal centerboard t3'pe, such as the old saridbagger. 
the power was derived from the former only, the weight 
being the crew and the sandbags on the weather gunwale ; 
in the old leadmine or plank-on-edge cutter, with a beam 
of one-sixth of the lertgth, prafetkailly all the power was 
derived from the healvy keel hu«g oft a long level 
represented by the deep draft c?f the very flarrGiw hull. 
In the medium type of well-proportioned keel or eentet- 
board" yacht such as Minerva and Voluflteef, the two 
levers acted in concert to . give power With moderate 
dimensions. .--In every case, however, the levers were 
represented by the actual hull dimension's. - 
The trlek of separating one of the levers front the hull 
was ifitfodheed ift canoeing as long ago as 1886 iri the 
intrbduotioh of the thwaftship sliding seat, by which in a 
hull of 3oin. beam a maii Was enabled to exert his weight 
oil a lever 6Tt, long (the slide), iii Order to obtain power 
to carry a large sail plan. The fin-keel introduced the 
same tricl? into yachting ; the hull dimensions were cut 
down until the so-called yacht became a mere overgrown 
cahoe, With no stability from form or hull dimensions, 
but the poWef to garry sail was secured by means of a 
deep plate of thin ffletal bolted to the keel and in turn 
carrying oil its loWer edge a heavy bulb of lead. Con- 
sidering the opefl evasion of the spirit of the rules in- 
vplved in both of these tricks, and the serious detriment 
they have worked to both sports, canoeing and yachting, 
it is sad to reflect that they were actually welcomed by 
canoeists and yachtsmen as important advances, and no 
timely means were taken to amend the rules so as at least 
to put a fair price upon the advantage gained by this new 
use, or rather gross misuse, of the levers. 
The form of the evil was the same in both the canoe and 
the yacht— the sliding seat in the former and the fin-keel 
in the latter made it both possible and desirable in the in- 
terests of higher speed to cut down the bulk of the body 
until all internal space was sacrificed and a mere racing 
machine was produced. The hull dimensions of the yacht, 
beam and depth, which in varying proportions were neces- 
sary in all cases to give power, incidentally gave room 
which made the vessel useful for general cruising; but by 
employing a separate lever, the fin, for carrying the weight 
of lead keel formerly attached directly to the hull, it was 
possible to reduce beam, draft of hull and depth of hold to 
such limits that there was no internal space left. 
The free and unrestricted admission of the fin-keel boats 
on an equality of measurement under the Seawanhaka 
rule with the older yachts of full body — ^to the great 
advantage of the former in the matter of prizes — gave a 
temporary stimulus to racing, but at a heavy cost to the 
sport at large. In 1895-6 came another development of 
a mischievous nature, the introduction of the scow type, 
centerboard and fin-keel, with the measured waterline in 
the Upright position cut to the minimum by the use of 
elliptical waterh'ties, elfective length for sading being 
obtained by heeling the boat to a rank angle, while the 
power was obtained in both types by trickery with the un- 
measured levers. The fin-keel principle has invaded al! 
classes, from the 90ft. cutters downward, and the scow 
principle, of blimt waterlines for measurement and sail- 
ing on edge, has made its way up as high as the 43ft, class, 
with a possibility of going still higher with advances in 
engineering. The Seawanhaka rule, still in nominal use, 
has long since ceased to measure in any useful way the 
principal factors of speed, and the only result of the open 
evasion now general is the production of more and more 
useless freaks, from Columbia and Shamrock down to the 
Seawanhaka 20-footers. 
The question of a suitable remedy has been under dis- 
cussion for several years, but all that has thus far been 
accomplished is the attempted adoption of the British 
girth rule by the Yacht Racing Union of North America. 
Under this rule was buUt last year the 3Sft. linear rating 
class on the lakes, to race for the Canada ctip. The re- 
sult of the races, as already told at length in the Forest 
AND Stkeam, was the victory of a semi-fin in the defend- 
ing fleet and an extreme skimming dish in the challenging 
fleet, the latter winning the final races. Judged by these 
two types which it has produced on the lakes, to the ex- 
clusion of the deeper, rooituer and abler yachts heretofore 
used there, the rule has been a failure. After a nominal 
attempt to introduce it on Long Island Sound last year, 
the Sound Y. R. A. has lately gone back to the Seawan- 
haka rule. At the present time no effort is being made to 
further investigate the subject or to study proposals 
for new rules, and matters are likely to drag along as they 
have been for an indefinite time. 
The condition of yachting in Great Britain is somewhat 
different from that in this country, as the rule now in 
use was adopted much later (1896), after some years' ex- 
perience with the fin-keel type, and in answer to a demand 
for something more stringent than the old rating rule, 
then being evaded in the same manner as the Seawanhaka 
rule was here. The main point about the new "linear 
rating" rule, as we often explained, is the introduc- 
tion of a new factor, the girth measured by means of a 
tape applied to the skin of the vessel, from the waterline, 
down under the keel and up to the waterline. As oh a 
given beam and draft a yacht of a full V section and with 
good internal room will naturally have a shorter girth 
than one of the extreme S section (the semi-fin type), and 
especially than the fin-keel, it was assumed that this use 
of girth as a factor would produce a better type of yacht. 
Whether or no the rule has proved a success in ihc 
larger classes is an open question. We have recently dis- 
cussed the matter with some of the makers of the rule 
and others who favor it, and they contend that it is a .suc- 
cess in that it has operated against the extreme fin-typ«; 
and very straggling dimensions and has made it possible 
for yachts of more moderate dimensions and greater in- 
ternal room to compete successfully with the fin-keels,- 
The latter, it may be said, are still in the fight, the existing 
ones, such as Niagara, being reduced in draft to fit the 
girth measurement, while the ones built since the rule 
came into operation are of more moderate beam and draft 
than before. In the smaller classes, of 36ft. linear rating 
down to i8ff., the winning boats are all of the day sailing 
type, with no pretensions to any accommodation, and they 
ars either fin-keels or semi-fins, the effect of the rule being 
merely to limit excessive beam and draft. 
Befoffi ft san be said that the rule is successful or other- 
wise, the intent of its makers must be settled. It is 
contended by some Who were instrumental in its adoptiora 
that the end in view was only to place a moderate re- 
striction upon th% extreme dimensions of the fin type and 
to, make it possible for a yacht of more normal form and 
greater displacement to contend on even terms with tlie; 
fi«s. While this may be so, we can say from a carefuS 
study of the long discussion preceding the change of rule 
— in 1894-5-^tbe opinions of leading yachtsmen as ex- 
pressed in letters to the Field, the Yachtsman and other 
journals, and from personal correspondence, that there 
was then a general demand for a rule which, without toe 
tnneh regard for the fin-keel type, would give every in- 
ducement to a yachtsman to build a yacht of adequate 
internal accommodation, such as the early boats produced 
in 1889-90 under the then new rating rule. The meafis 
then proposed, of placing a premium on displacement, otr 
on the depth of iramersiid body at the quarter girth, with 
other similar ones, were all directed to the one end of 
restoring the fast cruiser type that had been driven out 
by the fin-keel. If this was the real object of the girth 
rule, then it has to a great extent been a failure; if it was 
intended merely to produce in the classes up to 52ft. a day 
boat of the semi-fin type, it has perhaps been successful. 
Taking the result in all classes, it may be said that in 
the largest, such as Meteor II. and Bona, it has produced 
good boats with cruising accommodation; in the 65ft.. 
class it has produced a very good combination of speed! 
and internal space on moderate dimensions; in the 52fL 
class it has produced a variety of boats, the best, Penitent, 
designed by Mr. Arthur E. Payne in 1896, being very 
nearly an ideal of the modern fast cruiser, still in the 
racing after four seasons. It would seem, however, that 
Penitent is really too good for the girth rule, and that 
the winning boat must be much more of a semi-fin. As 
racing is carried on to-day around the British coast, there 
is no circuit from the east coast to the Clyde and back 
to Cowes, such as the old narrow lo-tonners made as a 
matter of course, but the racing is largely localized, the 
centers being the Clyde and the Solent. The yachts of the 
65ft. and larger classes do follow the circuit, and some 
of the 52-footers may accompany them, but there is no 
longer the general racing of all classes at each port of 
the coast. The Qyde has never shown a great partiality 
for the new rule and contents itself largely with special 
local classes, so that the Solent is the center of yacht 
racing under the present rule. There the local condi- 
tions are such that from the 52ft. class downward only 
day boats are required, and it matters little, as a matter 
of fact, whether they are fins or semi-fins ; and there is no 
demand on the part of their owners for living accommo- 
dation. 
As regards the success of the rule in Great Britain, it 
should be noted that as all eenterboards are measured 
as fixed keels, a tax which is prohibitive; and further, 
that the smallest class, the i8ft., is barred to the scows by 
an arbitrary requirement of at least i,6oolbs. of ballast. 
This exclusion of the centerboard, which would not be 
possible in this country, greatly limits the operation of 
the rule. 
At the present time opinion is divided in England as t© 
the merits of the rule. Some uphold it as satisfactory in 
itself and doing all that was expected of it, while others 
condemn it, either as a whole or as applied to the small 
classes, and seek to substitute one or more new formulas. 
The main point of the measurement question to-day is 
the lack of good principles as the foundation of the exist- 
ing rides, secondary to which is the faulty and inadequate 
nature of the principal factors. The "plain and simple" 
length rule, once in almost universal use in this country, 
was based on a thoroughly bad principle, the assumption 
that length was the sole factor or to an extent a fair 
measure of speed in yachts whose other factors, beam, 
draft, displacement and sail area were in every way un- 
equal. This false assumption once generally accepted, 
that length was all important in measurement, served to 
hold back the natural development of yacht designing for 
many years. 
_ One of the few favorable signs of the times in connec- 
tion with the measurement question is the frequent men- 
tion of displacement as a factor in the rule, not in the old . 
way of many years ago. in which it was penalized, but as 
a divisor or in some similar manner which will place a 
premium upon it. While in our opinion the advantages 
of displacement as a factor are so small compared with 
its disadvantages that it is not likely to be adopted on 
either side of the ocean, the mere theoretical recognition 
of the possible value of such a factor is most important 
as denoting a marked change of sentiment. The pro- 
posals to use di.'^placement as a factor are based upon the 
true principle of yacht measurement — that is, a fair esti- 
mation of the effective work performed and a just ap- 
praisement of the contributory factors. When a man once 
awakens to the realization of the fact that if two vessels of 
the same waterline length and sail area, but one having 
double the displacement of the other, can cover a given 
course in the same time, and that the moving of double 
the weight under identical conditions represents an amount 
of useful work which should be compensated for by an al- 
lowance of time, he has advanced just about one gener- 
ation from the assumption on which all length rules were ' 
