[Jan. 5, 1901. 
Our Boston Letter. 
Boston, Dec. 28.— The matter of a skipper for the 
Lawson boat seems to be the paramount issue at the 
present time. All kinds of rumors are afloat as to who 
will be the man or the men. As the matter stands now, 
it looks as though Capt. Hank Haff would be at the wheel 
of the Boston boat next season. It was slated to your 
correspondent Thursday that Capt. Haff and Mr. Lawson 
would hold a consultation the next day, after which the 
matter would be settled. 
It is known that there has been some question in re- 
gard to Capt, Watson being on board the yacht, and it 
is also known that Capt. Haff was sent for by Mr. B. B. 
Crowninshield. Several conferences have been held at 
Mr. Crowninshield's office and at Mr. Lawson's office, and 
from what can be learned at the present time, Capt. Haff 
has been selected to command the new yacht. 
It has been suggested that it might be possible that 
both Capt. Watson and Capt. Haff would be found on 
the Lawson boat, but it does not seem reasonable. If both 
were on the boat, one would have to take a subordinate 
position, and while they are fast friends now, such a 
proceeding would be calculated to bring about a break in 
that friendship. None of the yachtsmen who have been 
spoken to about this matter have favored the idea. They 
are all of the opinion that the boat will make a better 
showing with oiily one captain than she would with two, 
even though those two were the finest in the land. 
The possibility of a second aspirant for Cup defender 
honors does not seem to be as great as when first ex- 
ploited. If Mr. Hanley has a possible sjmdicate in view, he 
should make his assertions good by naming some re- 
sponsible party who has signified his intentions to join it. 
This he has not done, and a diligent search among 
Boston yachtsmen, who might possibly be connected with 
such a scheme, has resulted in finding none who have 
anything to do with it. 
Mr. Hanley said recently that a certain New York 
man, who had plenty of funds, had become interested in 
the matter, and had a,sked for all particulars in regard 
to the plans, construction, cost and minor details. Mr. 
Hanley says that he thinks that this man's interest in the 
boat at this time is a favorable omen. However that 
may be, it is said almost in the same breath that the 
syndicate is taking form. If the syndicate is taking form 
in Massachusetts, there does not seem to be any good rea- 
son why Mr. Hanley should claim that the New York 
man's interest was of vital importance. 
It may be that Mr. Hanley has a syndicate on foot, and 
it might be that such syndicate is taking form, but it 
would be of more advantage to Mr. Hanley and would 
also be more likelj'- to insure further interest in the 
boat, if he would give some definite statement as to what 
his prospects are. When a person says that a syndicate 
is possible for the construction of a Cup defender, it is 
usual to make good in some manner, and Boston people 
are now quite skeptical in regard to Mr. Hanley's pos- 
sible yacht. 
There is not a yachtsman around Boston who would 
not like to see a centerboard Cup defender built. Both 
Mr. Lawson and Mr. Crowninshield are anxious to see 
one, and Mr. Lawson lias signified his willingness to 
subscribe money toward it, Centerboard advocates are 
thick in this district, but those who are most enthusiastic 
are unfortunately the ones who have not sufficient ready 
money to form a syndicate. There are also those who 
would like to see the boat built, who have the ready cash, 
who think there is a chance for a centerboard, but whose 
love for the development of the sport is not great enough 
cause them to put any money in what they think is a 
possibility. 
The Lawson boat will be set up next week at Lawley's. 
The building in which the new mould loft is to be located 
is about finished. The floor of the mould loft is all laid 
and there is nothing to prevent commencement of the 
work. Wilson & Silsby are at work on the sails. The 
light sails will be turned out as soon as possible, and the 
working sails will be started as soon as the perfected sail 
plan is ready. 
Two more additions have been heard from for the 25ft. 
restricted cla.ss of the Massachusetts Yacht Racing Asso- 
ciation. One of these is for Walter Burgess. She will 
be a yawl, 28.6 on the waterline. Mr.- Burgess has 
made several experiments in yawls before, but has never 
attempted to build a boat of this type, which would be an 
out-and-out racer. His Jeannette was the first one turned 
out in 1899. She was a good boat in very heavy weather, 
but she was too much of the brute type to do much under 
ordinary circumstances. 
At the beginning of the past season he brought the 
yawl Clarelte to City Point from Nil! son's Yard, Balti- 
more. She was a likely looking craft, designed for the 
2ift. restricted class. But Mr. Burgess was not evidently 
satisfied with her. and she was early sold to B. D. Aras- 
den and her name changed to Coquette. It was after- 
ward developed that Mr. Burgess was having a schooner 
built for the 25ft. class from designs by Small, 
who turned out Bud and Katydid. This schooner, which 
could be changed to a yawl, did not amount to anything 
as a racer. 
This time Mr. Burgess is going to go to the limit of 
his class to produce speed. The new yacht is designed 
by his nephew, W. Starling Burgess, and will be built at 
Embree's, Quincy Point. She is already partly in frame. 
She will have great overhangs, being nearly 47ft. over all. 
She will be about 9.6 beam, and will draw 6!^ft. of water. 
She will be single planked with mahogany and will carry 
the limit of sail which her class allows. Mr. jBurgess is a 
brother of Edward Burgess, who designed Puritan, May- 
flower and Volunteer. He has spent his life on the water, 
and if there is any go in his new yawl he is sure to get 
it out of her. 
The other 25-footer is from designs of Isaac B. Mills, 
and will be built by Smith, of Quincy Point. Her dimen- 
sions have not been obtained, but it is .said that she will 
be a keel boat. She is for W. D. Turner. Both Mr. 
Burgess and Mr. Turner are members of the Boston Y. C, 
Mr. Burgess being _Vice-Commodore. 
The Corinthian Y. C, of Marblehead. will hold its 
annual meeting at Parker's Jan. 9, The. following ofilcErs 
will be elected for the coming year: Com., J. O. Shaw, 
Jr.; Vice-Corn., D. C. Percival, Jr.; Rear-Com., Butler 
Ames 5 Sec'y, JSverett Paine; Treas,, J. K Rhodes; 
Meas., C: B. Stebbins; Executive Committee, Frank E. 
peabody aH4 '^Yc f^Q^hwell; Regatta Committee, g, W, 
Mansfield, W. W. Keith, D. H. Follett, Frank Brewster 
and G. H. Mayo; Membership Committee, D. W. Lane, 
H. S. Goodwin, F. Estabrook and C. D. Wainwright; 
House Committee, C. W. Foss. 
Frisbee, of Salem, is at work altering the overhangs of 
the side-wheel steam yacht Turtle, owned by Arthur 
Amory, of the Manchester Y. C. 
The recent fire at Fenton's shops, Manchester, totally 
destroyed the Y. R. A. 2S-footer which was nearly com- 
pleted from lines by B. B. Crowninshield for F. G. Ma- 
comber, of the Corinthian Y. C. This boat was an im- 
proved Flirt, and those who have seen her lines have said 
that there was every prospect for her taking honors from 
last year's champion. Khalifa, owned by R. A. Tucker, of 
the Manchester Y. C, was almost totally destroyed. 
Several other yachts were badly damaged, and a lot of 
spars in the shop were destroyed. Fenton says that he is 
going ahead to build a new shop, and that he will at once 
resume the work of building the Macomber boat. 
John B. Killeen. 
International Signals. 
A XEW and enlarged edition of the international code 
ot signals has just been issued under the authority of the 
Board of Trade. The work contains a complete exposi- 
tion of the new code of signals which will come into 
use on Jan. i, 1901. Yacht owners should take note that 
during next year the two codes, the old and the new, will 
be used concurrently, and vessels using the new code will 
signify the same by hoisting the code pennant, red and 
white vertical stripes, with the fly of the flag tied to the 
halyards, and having above it a black ball, or shape re- 
sembling a ball. From Jan. i, 1902, the new code will be 
used exclusively, and its distinguishing sign thencefor- 
ward will be the code pennant, hoisted in the ordinary 
way. It therefore behooves the owners of all vessels ma- 
king use of sea signals, as well as all yacht club com- 
mittees, to become possessed of the additional flags re- 
quired for the new code, and to make themselves ac- 
quainted with the working of the new system of signaling 
as set forth in the International Code of Signals for all 
Nations. 
No new principle has been introduced in revising the 
code, but the signals have been increased in number and 
brought up to date. The international code was first 
published in 1857 by a committee appointed by the Board 
of Trade; it was the outcome of the Marryat code, which 
was then in general use, and included the first eighteen 
consonants of the alphabet as code flags, the distin- 
guishing pennant bringing the number up to nineteen. 
Without the use of the pennant it was possible to make 
no fewer than 78,660 permutations, and this by employing 
n-o individual flag more than once in the same hoist. 
Of this total 73,440 permutations were obtained bj' four- 
flag signals. The old code was adopted by France in 
1864, and subsequently by thirteen other maritime nations. 
Ahcv thirty years' use it was generally admitted that the 
international signal book did not meet the requirements 
of modern times; and in 1887 a committee was appointed 
to bring it up to date. The Board of Trade committee 
which undertook the work consisted of Sir Digby Mur- 
ray, Admiral Sir Leopold M'Clintock, Sir George Nares, 
Admiral Sir Harry Rawson, Colonel Hozier, Capt. C. 
P. Wilson and Capt. Bowden-Smith. The last named 
retired from the committee when he attained the rank 
of Admiral, while Mr. Thomas Gray and Mr. Swanston, 
who were both chairmen of the committee in their time, 
died before the stupendous task was completed. 
The fir.st valuable suggestion appears to have been 
brought forward by the French Government, which 
proposed including two extra flags, X and Z, in the 
code, with a view to increasing the number of two and 
three flag signals and decreasing the four-flag hoists, for 
to reduce the four-flag signals in favor of a smaller 
number of flags in each hoist naturally meant greater 
speed in signaling and less risk of error. The proposal 
of the French Government was adopted, but when it was 
found that it meant practically rewriting the whole of 
the code the committee decided to add not only the flags 
X and 2, but others representing vowels. The net re- 
sult of the negotiations is that, after thirteen years' con- 
tinuous work, the number of flags in the code has been 
increased from eighteen to twenty-six, irrespective of 
the code pennant. Although the addition of eight flags 
may seem a trifling matter in itself, the vast nature of 
the work will be realized when it is said that the increase 
has enabled as many as .375.076 signals to be made, no 
flag being used more than once in the same hoist, while 
the old four-flag signals have practically been superseded 
by three-flag hoists. The old code contained only 306 
two-flag signals. These have been increased to 650 in the 
new book, and the three-flag signals are now iSj6oo, as 
against 4,896 in the old code. 
While Part I. of the new code book contains, primarily, 
the instructions how to signal, including alphabetical 
spelling and numerical signals, two-flag, three-flag, and 
four-flag signals, with a general vocabulary. Part II. is 
devoted to three distinct systems of distance signaling, 
(i) by cones, balls and drums; (2) by balls, square flags, 
pennants and whefts; (3) by the fixed coast semaphore. 
Of these three systems the first is entirely new. and is 
regarded as likely to prove extremely useful in vessels 
of small tonnage. The necessary apparatus, consisting 
as it does of two cones; three balls and one drum, has 
the advantage of being simple, inexpensive and durable. 
The Morse code of signaling by fight and sound, and 
also by flag waving, a system chiefly used at present for 
naval and military purposes, is now included in the in- 
ternational code. The work is carefully compiled, and 
represents the outcome of sound practical experience; 
it will, of course, involve a certain amount of study on 
the part of those for whose use it is intended, but_ it 
is arranged with every regard to simplicity. The earlier 
pages are, as hitherto, devoted to illustrations of British 
and foreign flags, followed by the quarantine and code 
flags. The meanings of the latter, when taken singly, 
are explained, and it is interesting to note that in future 
S, \^en hoisted alone, will be the international signal 
signifying "I require a pilot.'* Formerly the French 
used the blue-peter the pilot flag, but they have now 
agreed to adopt the letter S; henceforth, therefore, the 
blue-ppter when hoisted alone will have the sole n^eaningT 
that we vei^Us about to gaiWField. 
Dtjst on Shipboard. 
Attempts to Solve the Mystery of Its Origtn All Fail. 
A "dusty" ocean highway sounds almost incredible. 
Yet those who are famihar with sailing vessels know that, 
no matter how carefully the decks may be washed down 
in the morning, and how little work of' any kind be done 
during the day, nevertheless if the decks are not swept 
at nightfall an enormous quantity of dust will quickly 
collect. 
Of course on the modern liner the burning of hun- 
dreds of tons of coal every twenty-four hours and 
the myriads of footfalls daily would account for a con- 
siderable accumulation of dust, but on a "wind-jammer," 
manned with a dozeni hands or less, no such dust-pro- 
ducing agencies are at work. And yet the records of 
sailing ships show that they collect more sea dust than 
does a steamer, which is probably accounted for by the 
fact that while the dust-laden smoke blows clear of the 
steamer, the large area of canvas spread by the sailer 
acts as a dust collector. 
To quote an instance in support of this contention, we 
may mention that- no less than twenty-four and a half 
barrels of fine dust were swept from the decks of an 
American sailing ship during a ninety-seven days' voyage 
from New York to San Francisco. The captain of this 
vessel, a man of scientific tastes, made careful observa- 
tions on the mystery of sea dust, but beyond the wear 
and tear of the .sails and rigging, a quite negligible factor, 
he could assign absolutely no perceptible cause for the 
formation of dust on board his ship. 
It has been asserted that the dust which falls cm the 
decks cf vessels emanates from the interstellar spaces. 
This sounds both scientific and plausible, but it is at 
variance with certain known facts. Bits of leather, cork, 
wood and vegetable fiber are almost always present in 
sea dust. — London Shipping World. 
YACHTING NEWS NOTES. 
William M, Tebo, owner of the extensive ship yard, 
yacht depot and steam dredging plant at the foot of 
Twenty-third street, Brooklyn, died on Tuesday from a 
complication of diseases at his home at Crooke avenue 
and St. Paul's place, Flatbush, in his seventy-second year. 
He had never recovered from an attack of paralysis from 
which he suffered seven years ago. He was born in 
Beauharnois, in the Province of Quebec. In early life he 
came to this country and was engaged as an architect 
and dredger in the upper part of New York State. He 
settled in Brooklyn in 1854, and began work as a dredger. 
He secured several big contracts, including the dredging 
work for the abutments of the Brooklyn Bridge. In 1885 
he established his big depot at the foot of Twenty-third 
street. 
To the yacht depot he added coal pockets and had 
powerful tugs for sea and coast towing. This yacht 
depot is known all over the world, and many craft of 
prominence have been built, docked or repaired there. 
For the past five years the active management of Mr. 
Teboe's business has been conducted by former Post- 
master Andrew T. Sullivan. Mr. Tebo contributed to 
numerous Brooklyn charities. — ^N. Y. Sun. 
^ ^ ^ 
J. S. Smith, of Bayonne, N. J., is building an 85ft, over 
all sloop yacht for Mr. J. H. Thompson, of this city, 
Mr. William H. Rightmire has purchased from Mrs. 
C. E. Low, of Bayshore, L. I., the sloop Natalie. 
^ 
The New York Athletic Club has a splendidly equipped 
yachting department at Travers Island. A force of men 
under Superintendent Andrew Larsen are employed the 
year round making repairs on and caring for members' 
yachts. In addition to three large houses, the club has 
just completed a building 75. by 45ft, in which most of 
the club launches are to be stored this winter. Among 
the boats laid up at this yard are the ketch Paladin ; 
auxiliary yawl Kathleen; yawls Caroh, Themis and Sahib; 
knockabouts Dipper, Perchance and Thelga ; cutters lo, 
Mopsa, Xara, Marjorie, Pelican, Kit and Portia; sloops 
Trochilus, Vision, Loafer, Icarus, Venture, Chin-Chin, 
Saria and Santuzza; catboats Onita, Sylvia and Narrioch; 
launches Amorita, Surprise, Dolly, Dixie, Trochilus, EstU 
and Indian. Mayhew Bronson's auxiliary sloop Trochilus 
is being changed to a yawl from plans by Capt. Larsen, 
*l H « 
At a recent meeting of the Knickerbocker Y. C. the 
following officers were elected for the year : Com., S. H. 
Mason; Vice-Com., Louis H. Zocker; Rear-Com., Ed- 
ward F. Glover; Treas., George H. Cooper; Sec'y, J. O. 
Sinkinson; Meas.. John G. Moj^ct: Fleet Surgeon, J. B. 
Palmer; Directors, F. E. Barnesjwi Stephenson, Rodman 
Sands, Charles Schlesinger and Thomas Wilson, Jr. 
^ ^ ^ 
The Entertainment Committee of the Harlem Y. C. 
has been earnestly preparing for the future social func- 
tions of the club. The club house has been renovated, and 
is rea4y for the second monthly reception. The club'.i 
seventfi annual ball will be held on Feb. 7. The com- 
mittee hopes to make it the most successful social affair in 
the history of the organization. 
PUBLISHERS^ DEPARTMENT, 
Stockton, Md,, Jan. 6, 1901.— Thanks to ■ last year's advertise- 
ment, my house was full to Jan, 1, and as I could not accommo- 
date any more, an advertisement at that time was useless. Now 
I wish to fill my spring months, and inclose you an advertisement 
tor that part of ths year. O. D.. Foulks. 
The Forest and Sveeam is put to press each wepk on Tuesday. 
Cosrespojideiice intended for publication should rp^ch u& «t tfe© 
