Oct. 13, 1900,] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
293 
THREE OE A KIND AND ANOTHEU. 
just a splash or two of white on the chest. She sooii 
developed a distinct fondness for chasing grasshoppers 
and crickets, and it was finally decided to christen her 
"Grille," which in German is the word for these little 
chirping insects. After she became the mother of a 
family, she gave up the pastime as being undignified, and 
after famil}^ cares were over, devoted her energies to 
mice and rats. 
Fritz Pretzel-Brown occupies the right hand corner 
of the picture, and anyone observing closely can clearly 
see why his master and mistress have al?ectionately 
dubbed him "tough citizen." Fritz is always in mischief. 
Look at the shadow of a tail. No photographic lens, no 
matter how sensitive the plates, how instantaneous the 
exposure, could catch the tail of Fritz Pretzel-Brown. 
His short stout legs have a dozen crooks in them, yet 
after he has stolen a stick, or a ball, or a bone, or an old 
rat from his parents, it would take a clever greyhound 
to catch him in his devious diversions. His disposition 
is kindly to a degree. He Avill never seek a quarrel nor 
a bath, but for mischievous deviltry he stands easily at 
the head of the class. 
Different from all three is sedate old Rex, the English 
setter. He takes no stock in moles or mice or rats. 
He never notices grasshoooers. crickets or butterflies. 
He won't even chase a rabbit, something that puts the 
Pretzel-Brown family into fits. But put him in the 
buckwheat stubble! There's his forte! 
M. G 
American Ganoc Association, J900-J90t. 
Commodore. C. E. Britten, Gananoque, Can. 
Librarian. W. P. Stephens, Thirty-second street and Avenue A, 
Bayonne, N. J. 
Division Officers. 
ATLANTIC DIVISION 
Vice-Corn., Henrv M. Dater. Brooklyn, N. Y. 
T!ear-Com., H. D. Hewitt, Burlinirton, N. J. 
Purser, Joseph F. Eastmond, 199 Madison street, Brooklyn, N.' Y. 
CENTRAL DIVISION. 
Vice-Corn., C. P. Forbn'^h, Buffalo, N. Y.' 
Rear-Com., Dr. C. R. Henry. Perry, N. Y. 
Purser, Lyman P. Hubbell, Buffalo, N. Y. , 
EASTERN DIVISION. 
Vice-Corn., Louis A. Hall, Newton, Mass. 
Rear-Com,. C. M. Lamprey, Lawrence, Mass. 
Purser, A. E. Kimberly, Lawrence Experirriental Station, 
Lawrence, Mass. 
NORTHERN DIVISION. 
Vice-Com., G. A. Howell. Toronto, Can. 
Rear-Com., R. Easton Burns. Kingston, Ontario, Can. 
Purser, R. Norman Brown, Toronto, Can. 
WESTERN DIVISION. 
Vice-Corn., Wm. C. Jupp. Detroit. Mich. 
Rear-Com.. F. B. Huntington. Milwaukee, Wis. 
Purser, Fred T. Barcroft, 408 Ferguson Building, Detroit, Mich. 
91 
Official organ. Forest and Stream. 
The Amendment of the Racing Rtiles* 
New Yohk, Oct. 5. — Editor Forest and Stream: Among 
the various propositions published in the last issue of 
Forest and Stream, looking to a change in the A. C. 
A. racing regulations with respect to the modification 
cf the present type of sailing canoe, are some which 
merit a brief discussion. Chief among these is the pro- 
posal of Mr. Quick to place an arbitrary minimum limit 
of weight upon the canoe, exclusive of centerboard. 
Such a provision might do no very great harm if canoe- 
ing were to be confined exclusively to open waters, but 
for a canoe designed for all-around cruising purposes 
and capable of freauent and easy transportation, any 
such provision would prove really harmful. The condi- 
tions of canoeing in this country differ widely from those 
existing elsewhere, and with us the minirhum _ weight 
consistent with strength and stability 5s to be aimed at 
rather than the opposite extreme. 
To illustrate what a canoe should be, reference must 
be had to the purposes for which it was designed. Take, 
for example, a cruise that was once extremely popular 
with canoeists, viz., from Lake George, through Lake 
Cbamplain and the Sorel River to the St. Lawrence. 
Here was presented almost every condition that a canoe 
might be expected to encounter, from the broad slack 
waters of the lakes to tlie rapids of the river, with f/e- 
quent carries, where the only lifting and dra\ving power 
was often necessarily the muscles of the canoeist himself. 
An all around cruising canoe should be adapted to all of 
the above conditions. How would a canoeist in a 
hundred pound j:anoe, with the additional weight of 
centerboard, sliding seat, rig and duffle, fare under such 
conditions? 
What we want to get away from in the A. C. A. is 
the idea of the canoe as a small yacht. What we want 
to encourage is that able little boat which the older 
canoeists knew, light and stable, at home almost equally 
on river, harbor, lake or pond, in quiet waters or in 
rapids, the most independent craft that floated. 
It is not the weight of the canoe or the conformity 
of its lines to some single arbitrary standard of construc- 
tion that needs regulation. A hundred pound canoe may 
be built with its weight so placed as to allow of the 
most extreme dead frse. Permit the continued use of 
the sliding seat, and the tendency always will be to 
whittle down the hull to the last point at which a trained 
gymnast at the end of a lever can hold it upright on the 
face of the water. 
Abolish the sliding scat, and add the open cockpit, 
which without the former appliance is a practical neces- 
sity, and the sailor who must then depend upon the 
.^veight of his body and his skill in handling to counter- 
ialanee the wind pressure on his sails w-ill have no 
other resource to aid him in accomplishing that object 
than a more stable hull. Dead-rise construction would 
meet with but little encoragement under such conditions. 
Limiting the sail area without abolishing the sliding 
seat will avail nothing. In 1895 th<; sail area was limited 
to 130 sq, ft, and great expectations of improvement as 
a result were indulged in. The outcome was a less stable 
hull and longer sliding seat to meet changed conditions. 
The canoe with a sliding seat is perhaps dryer when 
sailing in rough waters than one not so equipped, but 
the absence of this purely racing appliance did not ap- 
pear to seriously dampen the enthusiasm of the old 
canoeists, who in spite of their distressing condition 
described in Mr. Wilt's letter in 3'our last issue, de- 
veloped the canoe and canoeing to a high point of 
popularity, which it did not lose until the advent of the 
sliding seat. It has, perhaps, som„e redeeming features, 
but it is a purely artificial and illegitimate addition to 
the breadth of the canoe, and none of its good features 
are sufficient to counterbalance the really great evil it has 
done and is doing canoeing. It is the germ of a disease 
that has nearly killed the sport, and the only remedy is 
its complete and final extirpation. 
Hentiy M. Dater. 
^in. at any point; the deck planking to be not less than 
3-i6in. A suitable table of scantling restrictions should 
be drawn up to insure a wholesome, serviceable type of 
boat. 
In the early nineties canoe sailing was in a flourishing 
condition on Lake St. Louis, but the A. C. A., by placing 
no limit on sliding seat and sail area, tendered it im- 
perative to have a canoe of -rioal draft and light dis- 
placement, if races were to be won. The costlj', freak 
construction thus fostered proved a death blow to sailing 
canoe racing, and at the present time there is not a 
decked sailing canoe to be seen on our lake. 
It is, indeed, deplorable to witness the stagnation of 
such a fine pastime, which so completely furnishes the 
acme of single-handed sailing. 
There are a number of young men here who, while un- 
able to afford the expense of owning a yacht, and too ac- 
tive to take any pleasure out of sailing a one-design dinghy, 
would gladly turn to the decked sailing canoe, providing 
the A. C. A. promoted a healthy type of boat, allowing 
of comparatively cheap construction, and gave them some 
assurance their canoes would not be outclassed for several 
seasons. W. Ernest Bolton. 
Montreal^ Oct. 6. — Editor Forest and Stream: As an 
old canoeist and a farmer member of the American Canoe 
Association, I have been reading with considerable in- 
terest the proposed amendments to the rules governing 
the decked sailing canoe which are to be discus,sed and 
acted upon at the next meeting. 
With the usual temerity which prompts fools to rush in 
where angels fear to tread, I am tempted to offer a few 
suggestions which, I think, would tend to make the sport 
more popular in our locality. 
First. Is it not worth considering whether a little extra 
beam would not be a good thing, making a stiff er, more 
roomy and all-round better craft than the present restric- 
tion allows? Would suggest that the classificatoin rule be 
changed to permit a maximum beam of 36in. 
Second. That the length of sliding sea be limited to 
36in.. or not longer than the beam of the canoe. 
Third. That a hoisting and lowering rig be used in all 
races, with proper reefing gear. 
Fourth. That the cockpit area be at least 30 per cent 
of the area of the deck. 
Fifth. That the sail area be limited to 120 sq. ft. 
Sixth. That the planking of hull shall not he less than 
The Executive Committee Meeting-* 
Com. Britton has announced that the annual meeting 
of the A. C. A. Executive Committee will be held at 
Gananoque, Canada, on Saturday, Oct. 20. As a large 
number of amendments will be presented, it is most 
desirable that each division should be fully represented. 
Ik default of all positive knowledge of the intentions 
of Sir Thomas Lipton, at the present time the only candi- 
date for international honors, the field is clear for all 
sorts of wild and baseless reports and absurd and 
groundless rumors made on one side of the ocean 
are cabled over to the other and then back, until by 
mere reiteration they are made to assume a certain sort 
of plausibility. Two weeks ago it was reported that a 
challenge was certain, because Mr. Hugh Kelly, of the 
Royal Ulster Y. C, had been in New York, having run 
across as the guest of Mr. Howard Gould, on board 
Niagara 11. Last week it was announced that there 
would be no challenge, on account of the elections now 
on in Great Britain. One absurd story recently launched 
states that there will be a challenge, and that "Mr. John 
Eustace Jameson," the great British yachtsman, will 
have entire control of Sir Thomas Lipton's new venture. 
So far as Mr. John Jameson is concerned, he is well 
known as the maker of a fine Irish whisky, the owner 
of many racing yachts, and the cousin, we believe, of 
Mr. W. G. Jameson, the best Corinthian skipper in 
Great Britain. Mr. John Jameson has built and owned 
the famous cutters S'lver Star, Samsena. Irex and Iverna, 
he has been a liberal patron of yachting for many years, 
and he has been noted as a successful racing owner; but 
the actual work of caring for and handling his yachts 
has been done by Mr. W. G. Jameson and the late Capt. 
Billy O'Neil. Mr. W. G. Jameson had charge of Brit- 
annia, the representative of her royal owner, during her 
best racing days. He was on board her in the noted race 
with Vigilant around the Isle of Wight, and he was 
mentioned frequently while Shamrock was building as 
likely to be on board her in her races with Columbia. 
As far as Mr. John Jameson is concerned, there is little 
likelihood that he will ever assume such a responsible 
berth as acting ewner of a cup challenger really owned 
b}' another. 
There is still time for a challenge within the ten 
months required by the late Deed of Gift III., and 
beyond this it. is more than likely that the ten months' 
notice would be waived in case of a late chatlene:e, pro- 
vided that there were still time to build. What Sir 
Thomas Linton's intentions are is known only to himself 
and possibly a few friends ; such statements as he has 
