272 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Apkil 7, 1900. 
War CanoelRacing andlthelA/C. A. 
Early last month reports were current in some of the 
Ottawa ta)d other Canadian papers of a threatened break 
from the A. C. A. of the various crews interested in war 
canbc racing. According to some of the reports the 
Canadian crews had been treated most unjustly at the 
;Mst meet, ^'"d were determined to have nothing more to 
'do wjlli' the Association. This part of the story is en- 
tirely false, and the whole matter is probably much lesS; 
serious than represented. The point of the matter lies ' 
ih the requirem.ents of the A. C. A. constitution limiting 
the competition in its races to members of the Associa- 
tion or foreign guests, and charging an initiation fee of 
$1 on joining, an anmial fee of $1 and a camp fee of 
$1 for all attending camp. So far as the average canoeist 
is concerned, there is no contention that any of these 
limitations or charges are tmfair or oppressive, but the 
■ . '' growing popularity of war canoe racing has brought about 
' ■ a new condition ' of affairs. The war canoe races are ' 
very poptilar in Canada, especially along the St. Law- 
rence. River at ■BTOckville, Kingston and Montreal, and 
also at Ottawa, the headquarters of several crews. Some 
of these crews are made up solely for war canoe racing 
and some from boat cltibs, and consequently the members 
'.;if ■. r¥lT--"'3.ti Jriffijia1:ed''.\^th the A. C'-Av; , It is becoming more ' 
• ' and indre the custom to hold one big- race each year, such ; 
. _ - a.s that-of iSg'Qj- inidj^r the auspices qf.the A; C 'Ac. at Hay - 
■" v lsla!nd,".whcrc, 3,evfcn'canpTs-^ All of the crews 
1/ 4'esife to entet- sudr' racles;. and the' management is always 
'\ ,ahxious t(1 .secure the gre'atest number of entries. 
■ ' ■ Uridcr the A. C. A. rules, each member competing in_ a 
race must pay his regular yearly dues and camp fee, and if, 
; jaS; has-happened in severaf cases, the members of a war canoe . 
crew do not belong to the A. C. A., each man must join, 
. .;!>o that the cast. pf a. crew of fifteen nioiints up; to $75. or 
'■ $.3 eaclj; 'The cf^ews made- up^rom the big canoe clubs, 
such; as. the. Toronto, pa}*- the' dues as a' matter of course 
and -do not feel it.' 'b^iit the ctews made up in part or 
■ l"'-^ytrolty of nohrmemberi; of the Association regard it as a 
"' ^sliecial and oppressive tax. Many of these outside men 
'„ '-aiave ho special interest ih the Associ^ition. and do not 
desire to become members and pay the $r dues each j^ear, 
and , in fact they will not continue their membership after 
once joinjng for the sake of a single war canoe race. 
The advantages to all parties are entirely on the side 
of a' continuance of the A. C. A. management of the 
races ; there is little likelihood that if the proposed war 
canoe association were once formed it could exist for any 
length of time, it would be unable to secure as good a 
management of the races as that of the A. C. A. com- 
mittee, nor could it obtain the same advantages as the 
larger body in the Avay of railway fates, free transporta- 
tion of canoes, etc. The races at times would meet serious 
opposition from A. C. A;'camps"in-the same vicinity and 
'the continued absence of those crews which would always 
attend sUch meets. _ ' .' ' . ... 
• It would seem that there should be no serious difficulty 
in amending the rules of the Association so as to meet 
this special case and to admit to the "vvar canoe races those 
crews whose members are for good reasons not con- 
nected with the Association. Com.- Ma<.Kendrick has 
■been in communication with different men interested in 
the war canoe crews with a view to the formulation of 
some plan acceptable to all parties. The question of a 
war canoe race at Kingston or Brockville, the center of 
,the sport, under the auspices of the Association for this 
year, when the meet will be held at Muskoka, and for 
■ similar special races when the meet is away from the St. 
Lawrence, has been under consideration for some time, 
and the A. C. A. officers are prepared to further such 
a plan. 
The real trouble with the sport of war canoe racing 
lies in another direction and is very much more serious, 
though those most interested have thus far paid no atten- 
tion to it. The first war canoes were big, roomy craft of 
the Peterboro canoe type, with the conventional high ends 
and the other ts-pical features of the open Canadian canoe. 
They were built strongly and of such models as to be use- 
ful for general service. The old Unk-ta-hee of the 
Toronto C. C, first seeti at the Stave Island meet of 
1889, was a: good specimen of tile craft. Since the racing 
of these boats has become popular, ,and in the absence of 
all salutary restrictions, the model has rapidly deteoriated 
until in some cases the boats kre but racing machines. 
While the Britannia crew and several others at Hay 
. Island paddled legitimate wa:r canoes, they were com- 
jielled to meet machines specially constructed for this 
"• '^■■' face. One of these Was modeled after a torpedo boat, 
-with a straight stem, low freeboard, a turtle back over the 
•■,r''-.156ws, and with the after body all cut away, so that she 
• -(j^uld be steered only by the use of a -fin- attached to her 
k-cel.- Two or the fouls occurring- irf the- races w^ caused 
- • <• by- the. de'fectiye /models of the -boats; "^-ivhicH co'uld not be 
^ ' Vteei^ed by the big paddle in the Jiahds.oi t3ie steersman, 
■ • " Ij^fi'rari wild across the course.' •*^he cQnstructiori of the 
VV.— lS?t6st 'boats is improved to a sta'ttdard of flimsiness in 
V-''- li^armc^ny -with the ffiodel. A:s the simple regulations of • 
"i ^: ?the" \¥ar canoe now stand,' there is nothing to prevent the 
- 'i'i entity e sort of shell of itiachine, and after what was 
' ' -^^se'eii-kist' year a crew -would be very;fo-qlish to come to a 
= T -jieet w-ith' ail honest boat of reasonable ^weight and good : 
'■"■,.'H*odel.?J ' ' - V...''';:"^/'^' ': 
'•"-Th'e- matter is one which cannot" 'be dealt 'with too 
• .guickly 'if war canoe racing is to escape the fate of canoe 
sailing -'and. canoe, paddling, done; ■ to death by flittisy • ., 
machines.-'':',, , _ *'. .'. '. .. ;■ 
'." ■ /The end of war canoe racing is not' the .improvement 
of model' -and the incfea.se of speed; but a te^t .of the 
"skill and endurance of crews from different localities in -,- 
best and best boats. The nearer alike the boats are, the 
better for the sport, and the continued improvement of 
..the bnats-.;by unlimited competition 111 reducii-|g weight 
.'and, de^i^ad-ing tbe model nmst inevitably kiU' tl-ic sport in 
^'■"• a very few years, The clubs as a rule are hot able to 
afford 'a new racing shell every year, a.s ' they, will be . 
- forced to do if no ijieasures are taken to protect the 
qrieinal type. ' _ - ■ " 
'' '- Theliest plan in our opinion is' to go -fff 'once to the. 
•' TGtQjb of the matter and establish such strict and rigid 
limitations as will bar the machine and preserve the 
original type. The torpedo boat type, a racing machine 
with low freeboard and that cannot be efficiently steered. 
-I 
should be barred before it becomes general. The best 
plan would probably be to place minimum lirnits' on the 
freeboard at the ends and amidships, in addition to the: 
limits on_beam and length, so as to preserve the conven- 
tional Indian form so appropriate to the name. In addi-, 
tion to this, the weight pf construction or the thickness 
of planking should be limited. If the matter is dealt with 
in the procrastinating and half-hearted way that has char- 
acterized all siniiia,r legislation against the sailing and 
paddling. machines, the. war canoe will soon be relegated 
to the graveyards wlTCre repose -together the St. Lawrence 
racing sailing skiff, the sailing, canoe- and the paddling 
canoe, with other craft slain by their friends. r 
The Cost of Canoes i 
The question of the cost of the modern eanbe has lately 
been under discussion in'England, as tlie best built boats 
, of the class certainly cotne to' ^ very high figure. The 
detailed cost of two modern canoes of the cfuisitig class 
.is "given in fhe Field, -vvith' some comm'ehts by Mr. • 
Baden-Powell. Only those -vvho have tried it can realize 
the uumerous items of expense,, and; some of them by no 
'•means' sinallf' implved- -in. '.tfte '/proper., coiistriiction of a 
".small boat^ 'About twenty yea r;s-" ago "the Writer acquired 
';'soine CQsi=ly Gxperience in -tK^^ in. the' effort^to build 
copies of the elaborate and cqmplicated l?earl canoes at 
prices ' whi'ch were very lit'-tle. i'lj excess of those of the 
ordinary stock- 'c'ani>'e'-"of; the da'y . -vvith rough fittings and 
rig. 'V\''heh the. first " requirement is that both workman- 
ship and material .shall be of the very best, and when- 
elaborate working drawings must be prepared and ac- 
curately followeq. with special patterns for the metal 
parts, the work is necessarily very costly. : We can quite 
. understand how the Field's figures may be correct, though 
. it is commonh'^ understood that such work costs less in 
England than in this country. As to the necessity for 
such expensive craft, there Are two sides to the question. 
A big lump of a boat can be had for much less cost than a 
small canoe, but we quite sympathize with those who 
select the smaller craft on the condition that she shall 
be the best of her kind. It may be said for the expensive 
boats that they usually go through a number of hands and 
do good work for long periods, and while the heavy cost 
falls on the first owner, the later ones usually profit by 
getting the high quality of work for a moderate sum. 
The Field says : 
The following particulars as to detail cost of the latest 
canoes have been sent to us for publication a.s an answer 
to .statements which have gained currency that such 
canoes cost an exorbitant price. We have received sev- 
eral, but propose only to exhibit two, which are typical 
of the moderate, cost of plain fitting up to the most ex- 
pensive, that is -of the Slaney and the Nautilus. Both 
are new boats' of best build, with gun metal center plates 
and rudders; in short, no irouAvork. except steel wire 
rigging and halyands. and they are by well-known builders 
on the Severn and the Thame.';. 
Mr, Cooper says of Slaney, R. C. C. cruising class: 
Canoe, including brass center, plate and xudderj . 
C, B. tackle blocks, brass horse fpr sheet, all " 
brass fittings, cleats, rowlocks, brasswoi-k' for' , . 
mast, and bamboQ; .mast. ..... .,. .»-■(*• — ,.-■^ £30 0 0 
Crate and carriage by rail from builder' splace. . 3 17 10 
Sails , 2 15 6 
Spars, boom, battens and^-yar-d, 811 
Brasswork for spars ...... i . ^ 2 2 o 
Blocks, rope, wire, thimbles,, etc.-. i IS 0 
Design and drawings.;.....--. 5 5 o 
Total £46 4 3 
Nautilus, Mr. W. Baden- Powell : 
Canoe, including ribband carvel cedar skin and 
spruce decks, cedar trough well at C. B. case, 
seat locker within the main well, mahogany 
gunwale and nails ; four hatchways; well and 
deck seat of gratings ; brass rudder and fit- 
tings on C. B. hinged and lifting inboard; 
three gun inetal slinging keel bolts, ditto 
angled floors, tie plates, and all other plates, 
cleats, eye bolts, drain pipes with taps to com- 
partments, and center plate case fittings and 
blocks, keel band, stem hawse pipe, etc, 
finished Avith seven coats varnish inside and 
out, gilt beading on topsides, blue ribband 
and gilt stem piece, and on mouldings of 
hatch covers £S9 10 0 
Sails of silk by Jackson ; mainsail, gaff and 
jackyard topsails, ai-id foresail....*.. 4 18 o 
Spars built mast; yar<l,.boom, gaff=i battens and 
fishes ; paddle 215 0 
Boxwood and brass blocks, ropes, steel wire 
rigging, and halyards,' etc ■«••-• 4 0 0 
Stockless anchor and hemp Avarp, . ..v. . . .. . 7 0 
Bull's metal, lead balla-sted,' lifting C. 'firi, 
Avith hangers, rollers, and. all. gear. -14 o 9 
TotaL ...;.•• ;v...-.i85 10 o 
Note. — Nautilu-s~]ia&-al«o been fitted with many more 
thing.s, such as cruising rig, a trysail ajid foresail, a tent 
and gear for camping, pump and bucket. 'cushions, fen- 
der.s, sail and spar eovers, boat coA^'er, kit -bags, lamps,. 
c.o-oking gear, etc. ; but these scareeh'-- c'o_me imder the 
fair question of cost pfrthe boat fit for sailing. "Also in 
the metal work supplied Avith the hull a considerable num- 
.ber. of pieces -were of quite r\0A'-el pattern" -and needecl 
neat fitting, and so had to be specially ma-de-to pattern: 
and in the building eight special moulds of" sections had 
" to be made and Iset lip,- besides teij^lates -for other parts' '; [ 
.-biit 'A: fiill specification .Avould- easily; explain' -t'He dis- 
crepancy between- is 7= "iosVf NaiittljaS* ^uU and- 'f 30 for 
Skineys. r-, -j, - ' ■ ...•.•--•■ ■■ -• 
The co.«!t ;of ...^ iijllV-fiile^ saili.n.g .earn 'of modern pat- 
tcn-i is a m;i.ttc;r, only actually- kn'owti; to the own of 
such craft Aviio are first OAvners. Many of tbose -vVho now 
■oA\^n cruising class canoes have bought them at- second- 
hand, and cannot; therefore, speak actually as to first 
co.-t. It is.- then, not sufjvrising to -he'a'r grosq misstate- 
ments as t-o the prime rCrfst, to hear it called excessiA^e 
and pr ohibitiA'e ;' but these charges appear to originate in 
quarters where an ;Up.-to-date , sailing can'oe -has probablv 
never been seen, certainly never been built, A small 
coast town boat builder usually builds a very service-^ 
able plain boat, good enough for its work, at a bare profit 
price, and plain heavy work and iron fittings are con 
sequently all that . is .expected ; but a yacht, howeve 
small, should be the best that can be put afloat, and ^ 
sailing canoe is a yacht in the strict sense of the word 
meaning a vessel solely used for pleasure. A good plain 
rowing boat to hold four can be built complete at most 
coast towns for about £t8, to £20, the best that the shop can j 
turn out. A Thames ski IT for four, two rowing and two j 
sitting, would be from £40 to £50. Would any Thames] 
man be seen rowing in a painted coast gig ? Not many. 
OVef and aboA^e the cost of the best Avoods and cabinet 
fitting of a ribband carvel canoe, the final cost is greatly 
varied by the amoimt and novelty of the metal work. Old 
plain patterns can be bought ready made, but new ideas 
have to be specially made from templates, drawings or' 
models, alf expensive; and, of course, all the fittings, 
centei' plate and rudder are of brass or gun metal, and the, 
keel bands of copper; The -metal bill alone would turn a' 
coast build-er's hair gray. ■ ■ 
The -cost- of a half-rater -ranged;--aGCording-to fittings, 
from £100 to £160; an occasional boat was turned out 
at £70 or so, but not much seen or heard of; a linear, 
fater of iSft. L.R. from any first-rate builder noAV comes 
to about £120 to £180, or even more. But the cruising 
class canoe,- though— cons-i-derably smaller in- actual size 
and amount of material, is exactly the .same' as the rater 
-to build and to rig and fit. She needs as many-men to 
-build her. and she talces as long a time to build; but the 
finish ha.s to be far neater in the canoe. - Th-e cruising 
canoe rates-as 0.3 of as L.R. 16-, so that a near approach 
in cost betAveen these craft, raters and canoes, AA'ould not 
be surprising. There is, howcA'-er, a very marked differ-- 
cnce. Even a best canoe does not exceed, say £80, ori 
about half the cost of the rater; also some very good 
canoes have been turned out at about £45 ; but, as we will 
show, it is difficult to estimate exact cost Avhere. as in the 
Canoe, the owner frequently Avorks his own rigging and 
much of the metal fittings and the design drawings. Com- 
paring the above-mentioned prices for raters, it must be 
admitted that the canoe price is rather below the fair' 
proportion ; of course, these canoes are carvel build in 
cedar, and all their metal work is brass or gun metal, 
rigging of st.eel Avire, sails of union silk, spars hollow, 
etc. We are Avell aware that the same model- and rig 
could be produced in spruce and paint, with galvanized 
metal work, and iron ctnter plate and rudder, cotton or 
tanned sails, manila halyards instead of steel wire, and 
even clincher build instead of ribband carvel, and a 
yellow paint stripe instead of a gilt band ; probable price, 
£30. But, as a rule, for pleasure a gentleman does not 
drive a m.'^nure cart; he prefers the best he can afford in 
the Avay of a smart carriage, enameled, and silvered metal 
work and lamps. 
As a matter of fact, however, the type of canoe is not in 
all cases expensive, even when fitted for racing, and when 
so-called expensive it is simply paying for best work 
and fittings. A plain sound gun can be got for £20, but a 
best gun will be perhaps £70. They both shoot birds;, 
but their ways, wear and selling price are different. 
Several owners of cruising canoes, indignant at thei 
gross misstatements Avhich have just lately appeared in 
the press, have this week sent in to us details proving 
as nearly as can be the cost of their canoes. A complete 
specification of one of the latest 6f these canoes would 
fairly astonish some of those men whose ideas of per- 
fection seem to revoi\'e round a galvanized shackle and a 
tanned sail; but to assume that it is the "class" that is ex- 
pensive is nonsense. One writer from the east coast who 
makes such a charge and otherwise attempts to belittle 
the class, holds up the example of a Humber yawl as "a 
fast cruiser of i6ft.' by 4ft. 6in. complete for any .sum 
between £35 and £50." No doubt an excellent craft for , 
cruising and estuary sailing could be got at such price., 
cAren of Thames build; but she woixld not be much in it' 
for racing in the Royal Canoe C. C. class, unless the" 
finest Avork and best materials are put in throughout. 
But the actual cost oi Slaney Avill shoAv that the prices 
of these canoes compare favorably Avith the alleged cheap 
prices of the east coast; the hea\der price of the Nautilus 
is mainly caused by her many novel pieces of metal 
Avork, her composite lifting rudder, and her bulb ballasted 
lifting fin; also the Nautilus has ribband carvel decks, 
and all the ribbands both of side and deck are specially' 
laid Avith dressed tape, and. she has many other small 
but none the less expensive items in her construction. i 
In considering cost of building there is one important 
item which must be mentioned. Ih building on the 
Thames at Turk's, the Nautilus Avas con.structed by the' 
foreman boat builder, assisted by one and often two 
others; A'arnishing, spar-making, grating, etc.. were the, 
AVork of other men. Noav all these men draw Avages, and 
it takes about twelve weeks, clear of holidays, to build a 
carefully finished canoe. On the 'other hand. \vc have 
heat-d of a builder of sailing canoes who, with hi.s .son's 
help, -does all the wqrk, and the 'item of Avages is not' 
considered in the cTiarge; hence an apparently cheap 
canoe. But that can only apply to a solitary order, for if 
■ three or .four orders, came in they must either wait turn, 
i. e., OAier nine months first to last, or builders at wages 
must be taken on. Then the price would have to go up 
betAveen £20 and £30. It is the way the cheap bicycle is 
made— the one man business Ayith no wages to pay and 
one machine at a time turned out. 
If, however, it-should appear that a.cheap sailing canoe 
was really AS-aated in fairly large numbers,' it would 
be quite 'an eaSy thing, Avith so well guarded a" class, to 
get out a design -and . specification for a good" model, good 
build and finish: plain, simple fittings and gear; and hav- 
ing it attthorized and printed by the club, 'obtain different 
builders' quotations for building thereof. The intending' 
oAvner would then select his bu,ilder and knoAV-the extent 
of his price v the bnildef would have one set of moulds and 
patterns to work to. and Avould knoAv his costs and profit. 
Probably it AA^buld be bc^t to" leave out of the spccific,-i- 
lion all Tigging; bKcks and .sails, and to merely estim;t 
for hull, snars. plate, rudder and metal work, anythmt 
outside to be charged for' as extra. Some men are satis- 
fied with , ash blacks, other<; haA'e none but boxwood or 
brass, and so on.; but it makes all the difference in price- 
The Tos-EST AND Strsaw is pirt to press each' -week-on-iriJe.stl:i 
Corre^^pondence- intended for publication should reach us at I'l-i: 
latest by Monday and as miich earlier a.s practicable 
