S86 
FOREST c AND^^STREAM. 
[Nov. 3, i960. 
The BaUasting of the 70-Footei's. 
The following letter has been made public by the 
Seawanhaka Race Committee: 
New York, Oct. 16.— Gornelius Vanderbilt, , Esq.u 
Knickerbocker Glub, New York:-Dear Mr. Vailderbilt 
—Your letter of Oct. 5, notifying us that -you consider 
that Rainbow should be disqualified in our race of bept. 
18 because of your failure, through misapprehension, to 
inform us that additional ballast had been taken aboard 
since she was measured by the official measurer our 
club, and to procure a new measurement, has been fully 
considered at a meeting of our Race Committee, held 
to-day. . , r 1 -1 • 
Rule IL, section 5, of the racing rules of our club is 
as follows: ' . . ■ , u 
'•If a yacht, aftei- having been ofhcially measured, be 
increased in load water line length, or should an increase 
be made in the sail area, the yacht must be remeasured 
before starting in a race." ' j, u- 
It is the opinion of our committee that, under this 
provision, we have no choice except to disqualify Rain- 
bow. . 
Permit us to express our regret that a different decis- 
ion is not open to us, and our full appreciation of your 
conduct in bringing your mistake to our attention im- 
mediately upon its discovery, and of the sportsmanlike 
spirit in which vou have dealt with this incident. 
With assurances of our .personal regard, we are, very 
sincerely yours, 
Race Committee, 
Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club. 
By C. W. Wetmore, Chairman. 
The following additional correspondence relating to the 
same matter explains itself : 
New York, Oct. 18.— August Belmont, Esq., New 
York:— Dear Mr. Belmont— The Race Committee of 
the Seawanhaka Club have disqualified the Rainbow in 
the race at Oyster Bay, on Sept. 21, and have awarded 
the prize for that race to the Mineola. Very sincerely 
yours, C. W. Wetmore, 
Chairman Race Committee, S. C. Y. C. 
New York, Oct. 19.— My Dear Mr. Wetmore— I beg 
to acknowledge the receipt of your favor of Oct. 18, in- 
forming me of the disqualification of the Rainbow by 
your committee in the race at Oyster Bay, on Sept. 21, 
and that the prize had been awarded to the Mineola. 
I cannot express to you how deeply I deplore the un- 
intentional violation of your rules by Mr. Vanderbilt, 
through which he is deprived of the fruits of a race won 
in so conclusive a manner. T could not keep the trophy, 
feeling, as I do, that I was fairly beaten by one of the 
most honorable and thorough sportsmen I have ever had 
the pleasure of sailing against. 
I request you, therefore, to keep the cup, to do with 
it as your committee may see fit during the next season. 
I shall always hold myself in readiness, should you de- 
termine to-ofifer it in any race in which Mr. Vanderbilt 
and I may chance to meet; but please understand that I 
restrict you in. no way as to its disposition in returning 
it to your club. Believe me, yours very truly, 
August Belmont. 
Mr. Charles W. Wetmore, Chairman Regatta Com- 
mittee, Seawanhaka Yacht Club, New York City. 
New York. Oct. 22. — August Belmont, Esq., New 
York: — My Dear Mr. Belmont — I am in receipt of your 
letter of C3ct. 19, declining to accept the prize awarded 
to the Mineola for our race of Sept. 21, in consequence 
of the disqualification of the Rainbow. 
We fully sympathize with the reasons which have in- 
fluenced your action, and shall have much pleasure in 
offering" this prize next season for competition between 
the two yachts, under such conditions as may be mutually 
satisfactory to you and Mr. Vanderbilt. Very sincerly 
yours, ' C. W. Wetmore, 
Chairman Race Committee, S. C. Y, C. 
James Everson. 
James Everson, the boat and canoe builder, of Green- 
point, Brooklyn, died on Oct. 25, of apoplexy, at the age of 
79 years, havinsr followed his business actively Up to the 
last. Mr. Everson is known throughout the whole United 
States, both from his canoes and his boats, as well as 
for his honesty and the high character of his work. As 
a boy Mr. Everson was much about the water, and he 
grew up in the old Whitehall boat, which was once in 
general use about New York before the days of steam 
ferries and tugboats, both for ferrying and for all harbor 
work between the shore and the shipping. To him is 
due the full credit for the boat now in universal use in 
this country, under the name of Whitehall boat',, derived 
from the old landing of the Battery boatmen at 'the foot 
of Whitehall street. New York. The original boats of 
this class were designed largely for speed, it being often 
a matter of money to board a ship first; and to this, end 
the general model was sacrificed, and the bpats. were 
cranky and unsafe. The present boat originated with 
Mr. Everson over 50 years ago, he filling out the bow 
so that a man could stand up forward without capsizing 
the boat, and making many other improvements in 
mxodel and construction. While other builders have 
imitated him, the Everson boat has long been recognized 
as the best of the class. 
When canoeing first started in a mild way in this 
country, about 1868, through the publication of John 
MacGregor's books, Mr. . Everson was called on to 
build a Rob Roy canoe from the lines and description 
thus given, and when the sport was formally inaugurated 
by Messrs. W. L. Alden. G. L. Morse, Montgomery 
Schuyler, M. Roosevelt Schuyler and a few others in 
• 1870. Mr. Everson built a number of canoes, first from 
the Rob Roy model and then from a design, Nautilus 
No. 3, kindly sent over from London by Mr. Baden 
Powdl. In 1878 he built, to the specifications of Com. 
Alden the famous Shadow canoe, once the popular canoe 
of this country. In the next dozen years he built a large 
number of canoes of different models, which found their 
way everywhere. Though not a canoeist himself, Mr. 
Everson was a clever mechanic, a thorough boat builder, 
and ever ready to work with cSnoeists in improving 
their boats. Working along in the old-fashioned way, 
with a good business in a small .shop, and with few hands 
to help, he never worked to extend his' business, and of 
late years he has done little canoe building, but he had a 
large number of old customers, both among the boat- 
men and among men of wealth, who came to him for the 
thanks of the dub were tendered to Mr. B. B. Growain- 
shield, of Boston, for photos of portraits of old yachts, 
including Cleopatra's Barge, built in 1816. The follow- 
ing announcement was made by Com. Ledyard: 
Gentlemen, it is with the utmost pleasure that I am 
able to assure ycni to-night that you need have no uneasi- 
ness as to whether a yacht will be built to defend the 
WATURUS — DESIGNED BY ALFRED H. BROWN. 
finer class of ro .v boats. He was hked and respected by 
all who came in contact with him, and the news of his 
death will be regretted by a very large number of canoe- 
ists, especially the older ones. 
Wattifus, 
The steam yacht Waturus was designed by Alfred H. 
Brown, designer of Narada, Enterprise and Eugenia I., 
for H. I. H. the Archduke Charles .Stephen of Austria, and 
built this year by Hawthorns & Co., Ltd., Leith. She is 
175ft. l.w.l., 27ft. 6in. breadth, i6ft. 2in, depth and 611 
tons T.M. Her engines are 18, 28 and 49in. by 33in. The 
general style of the yacht is original for this size of vessel; 
and the awning deck forward gives greatly increased ac- 
commodation. She has given great satisfaction to her 
owner, easily making 13]4 knots on continuous runs, being 
economcial in coal and running with very little vibration. 
New York Y. C. 
A gener.'VL meeting of the New Y'ork Y. G. was held 
on Oct. 25, with Com. Ledyard in the chair. By way of 
routine business the following nominating committee 
was elected to nominate a list of new officers, to be voted. 
x\merica Cup. Not only will a yacht be built, but I can 
say with like confidence that no effort of any sort, no 
skill, no devotion will be spared to make the defense a 
successful one. It would be a pleasure to me if ,1 were 
at liberty to mention names, but I am not. I can only 
ask you to rest upon the assurance which I give. 
The Loss of the Yacht Aliris. 
The sloop Aliris, of the Brooklyn Y. C, well known 
about the Lower Bay, owned by William and Frederick 
Langston, of Brooklyn, sailed from the Atlantic High- 
lands, just inside .Sandy Hook, on Tuesday, Oct, 16, for 
her anchorage in GraA'esend ]3ay. She had been lying 
off the Atlantic Highlands for some time, and her owners 
were intending to take her home for laying up. With 
them were Otto Segelcke, of, Brooklyn, and Noah F. 
Ma.son, Jr., of Bath Beach, the four going down from 
New York early in the morning and getting under way 
about noon. The weather was not specially threatening, 
and in view of the short distance, some 15 miles, no 
supply of food or water was taken. Though there was 
plenty of wind at the outset all went well until oS the 
Romer Beacon, when the wind freshened to almost a 
Si£sMs.^^- K. .... 
WATURUS. 
on at the first general meeting of the club for 1901 : G. 
Oliver Iselin, J. Pierpont Morgan, James B. Ford, Charles 
F. Ulrich, F. M. Hoyt, Philip Schuyler, E. M. Brown, 
C. P. Minton, J. Searle Barclay, and W, H. Osgood. 
Thirty-one new members were elected, as follows: 
Robert L. Forest, Charles W. Morgan, Francis B. 
Riggs, Capt. Henry C. Haines, United States Marine 
Corps; Lieut. Com.mander Charles E. Vreeland,. U. S. 
N'.; Paymaster B. P. Du Bois, U. S. N.; Lieut. Marbury 
Johnston, U. S. N.; Paymaster W. T. Gray, U. S. N.; 
Lieut. H. A. Pearson, U. S. N.; Lieut. H. I. Cone, U. 
S. N.; G. Ledyard Blair. Capt. Gjtus S. Radford, United 
States Maiine Corps; Lieut. Commander James C. Cre- 
sap, U. S. N.; Richard T. Wainwright, Capt. Charles S. 
Sperry, U. S. N. ; Henry B, Joy, Lieut. Roscoe Spear, 
U. S. N.; Surgeon Charles A. Riggs, U. S. N-; Henry 
Scholtz, Veryl Preston. Lieut. H. A. Bispham, U. S. N.; 
F. M. Freeman. Capt. James G. Green, U. S. N.; Lieut. 
Luke McNamee. U. S. N.; Surgeon James C. Byrnes, 
U. S. N.; E. V. Douglas, Arthur, S. Fairchild, Dr. 
Francis E. Doughty, Paymaster- Joseph J. Cheatjiarn, U. 
S. N. ; Frank C. Henderson, Charles J. Canfield." 
The chairman of the building committee announced 
that the new club house would be ready for occupancy 
by Dec. i. Sec'y Oddie announced that the subscrip- 
tions to the club house fund amounted to $113,000. The 
gale from N.W. and the yacht was soon disabled, lier 
sails blowing away. She was left helples.s, and the gale 
swept her bv the Hook and out to sea, the dinghy going 
adrift. When nothing was heard of her after a couple 
of days serious fears were felt for the safety of the party, 
especially as the dinghv was picked up by a pilot boat off 
the Hook On Saturday Miss Langston chartered a 
tug and spent two days cruising about the Lower Bay 
and up and down the coast outside, with no news of the 
yacht." On Oct. 22, the British steamer Ethelred arrived 
at Port Antonio, Jamaica, with the four yachtsmen^ safe 
on board, the news being at once cabled to New York. 
It seems that Aliris drifted out to sea in a helpless con- 
dition, the small supply of food and water being soon 
exhausted/ and the crew constantly wet and compelled 
to bail; all Tuesday night they were washed by the heavy 
seas, and all hope of rescue was abandoned. The gale 
continued on Wednesday after a brief lull, but about 10 
A. M. the steamer Ethelred, Capt. Nickerson, owned 
by the United Fruit Co., and just from New York for 
Jamaica, sighted the wreck about 30 miles from the 
lightships and took of¥ the party; the yacht being aban- 
doned in a leaking condition. After being most hospita- 
bly treated by Capt. Nickerson the four wrecked yachts- 
men were safely landed in Port Antonio, and returned by 
steamer to New York. 
