194 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
t March 9, iqoi. 
to a flying start without any time allowance to either 
yacht ? This is the rule upon our side of the water, and 
we find it to work very well ; besides, it makes the result 
of the race more easily understood by the public. 
New York Y. C. Rules to Govern — In the conditions 
for the 1899 races Avere the words "Unless the Shamrock 
be detained by stress of weather or other cause, in which 
case three weeks shall be given her for fitting out after 
her arrival at New York," and we would like those words 
inserted in the second paragraph after the words "follow- 
ing dates. " 
Measurements — We would further suggest that, if prac- 
ticable, the measurement should take place at the Graving 
Dock of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, as was done on the last 
occasion. 
All the other conditions are quite satisfactory, and if 
you agree to our suggestions I can interline the words 
referred to and forward you a copy duly signed. 
Yours faithfully, 
Hugh C. Kelly, Hon. Sec'y. 
(copy.) 
Secretary's Office New York Y. C., 
.37 West Forty-fourth Street, Feb. 18, 1901. 
Dear Sir : I have the honor to acknovidedge the receipt 
of your communication of Jan. 30, 1901, requesting, on 
behalf of the committee of the Royal Ulster Y. C., the 
consideration hy our committee of some slight alterations 
in the conditions to govern the coming races for the 
.'Vmerica Cup, which were forwarded to you on Dec. 10, 
1900. Your letter was submitted to our comnrittee on Feb. 
II. with the result that they cheerfully agree to the fol- 
lowing changes, viz. : 
First — -That the clause entitled "Signals" be changed 
to read as follows : 
"Signals — The preparatory signal shall be given fifteen 
(15) minutes before the starting signal, and a warning 
signal five (5) minutes before the time of starting signal. 
In case of a change in the time of starting the same signals 
shall be used. 
"At the starting signal a yacht may cross the line; the 
exact time at which either yacht first crosses the line after 
the starting signal, during the suceeding two minutes, to 
be taken as her start, and the end of that period as the 
start of the yacht crossing after its expiration. No race 
shall be started after i P. M." 
Second — That there be inserted under the clause "New 
York Y. C. Rules to Govern," a second paragraph, to 
read : 
"The first race shall be sailed on Tuesday. Aug. 20, 1901. 
unless the Shamrock II. should be detained hy sti-ess of 
weather or other cause, in which case three (3) weeks 
.shall be given her for fitting out after her arrival ; but the 
first race shall not be started later than Aug. 27, 1901. 
and the races shall be sailed on Tuesdays, Thur.sdays and 
Saturdays, until completed." 
This clause allows the same period after arrival as Avas 
provided in the agreement for the last match. It was 
einitted from the conditions sent you through inad- 
A-ertence. 
Third — I am instructed by the committee to answer the 
suggestion of your committee that there be a "flying start" 
Avithout any time allo\\^ance to either yacht, by sajang that 
they see no reason for changing, in this respect, the con- 
ditions governing ihe last match. 
Fourth — I am also requested to state in reference to 
the suggestion of your committee that the rules as to 
measurem.ent be modified so as to provide for 
measurement at the Graving Dock of the Brooklyn Navy 
Yard, that our commiitee concurs in your opinion that 
the Graving Dock is the best place to measure the yachts, 
and Avill do all that they can to secure it, but in vicAV of 
the fact that they have no control of it and cannot be 
assured, in advance, of their ability tO' obtain its use, it is 
deemed inexpedient to make this one of the conditions of 
the match. 
Will you kindly insert the changes herein agreed upon 
in the copies of the conditions that you have, and forward 
them to me, duly signed by your committee, that I may 
return one to you signed by us? Yours sincerely. 
(Signed) ' J. V. S. Oddie, Sec'y. 
Hugh C. Kelly, Esq., Hon. Sec'y, R- U. Y. C. 
How t e Commodore Made the 
Run in the Fog. 
PY C. G. DAVIS. 
OR nine long, weary days the yacht 
Pontoon lay fog bound in the har- 
bor of Newport, R. I. Three times 
.she had started out along with many 
other yachts and a fleet of twenty- 
eight Gloucester fishing boats, and 
three times the fog came rolling in 
from the sea, a white wall that sent 
all hands scurrying back for the 
anchorage. 
Most of the yachts were on their 
way to New London to see the 
Yale-Harvard rowing race, and 
sporty crews they carried. They it 
Avas who got up rowing matches between the dories of 
the fishermen and put up money prizes for them to race 
for, thereby relieving the monotony that hung over the 
fleet for one day at least. It Avas a regular gala day, that 
day, and such rowing as those hardy dory fishermen ex- 
hibited was worth going, to see. 
The saloons along Thames street heard that race dis- 
cussed from the standpoint of every individual fisherman 
who could find room at the bar. And on every corner 
where sea boots and oilskins glistened in the lamp light 
we heard the if's and and's being discussed, as we made 
our Avay back to the yacht with supplies that night. 
W^hile it was principally a pleasure cruise, the cutter 
Pontoon was now on, there was a certain amount of 
business at the end of it, and the Avay I happened to be 
one of the party was this: I had not been ashore two 
Aveeks from a West India voyage in a schooner when, as 
I was walking up Broadway one day, I ran across a pom- 
potis youn^ fiifjnd of ipi^? vf^h^Q bore. \\i<^ iproud 4istinctiQ^ 
of having, at one time, been Commodore of a yacht club, 
and Commodore he is to this day. 
"Say! Charlie!" Avas his greeting, "you're just the man 
I want," then he pulled at his small mustache for a 
moment to think, and added : "You knoAv my ya'cht, don't 
you — 'the Pontoon? She used to be the flagship of this 
and that club." 
"Yes," I answered, "I knew her," but I didn't tell him 
I knew her to be a deep, wall-sided tub. 
"Well," continued the Commodore, somewhat puzzled, 
"I've sold her to a chap up in Buzzards Bay, and I can't 
get any one to go with me. Will you go? Say! It'll be 
a bully trip!" 
Having no work at that time, [ told him I would, and 
that is how I came to be spending nine miserable fog- 
bound days in Newport. 
Every day Avhen the fog shut doAvn as it did regularly 
about 8 o'clock, we, the Commodore, the Lieutenant and 
myself, dressed up and were rowed ashore by Olsen, the 
paid man, to spend the day playing pool in a place we 
had found on the way uo to Truro Park. 
The morning of our tenth day at Newport dawned on 
a clear blue sky. and the few yachtsmen that remained — 
for all the Yale-Harvardmen had left their yachts deserted 
at anchor and gone on to Ncav London by train — shouted 
across the harbor to each other, "Thank heaven, the fog's 
gone 
Certainly it looked so, and after eating a hurried break- 
fast, the Commodore, Olsen and I cast ofi: the stops and 
hoisted the Pontoon's soaked sails, Avhile the Lieutenant 
stow"ed things away below. 
On all sides of us sails Avere being hoisted and anchors 
hove up, as the fleet of fishermen, after their prolonged 
spell of idleness, got under Avay for the fishing grounds. 
Being away under the stern of one schooner, luffing past 
the end of another's bowsprit, and then ranging along 
side by side with a fisherman, the Pontoon bore out the 
inlet, past Fort Adams, and all hands were happj'. A fresh 
southerly breeze sent the yacht crushing through the 
head seas off Beavertail, so that sometimes her bowsprit 
end soared dripping heaA'cmvard, then doAvn it AA'ent, the 
seas going clear o\'er the forward deck, but Pontoon 
pushed on, her big tub-like hull boring into the Avater 
so hard that she turned a sea off from either bow big 
enough to swamp a good-sized roAvboat. Having been 
one of the first to get under Avay, Ave Avere noAv given 
the pleasure of seeing boat after boat Avalk past us as 
though we were anchored. It made my blood boil to see 
a little fishing schooner, loaded so deep that our yacht 
should outweathcr her, go storming past us, splitting the 
head seas that worried our old tub. 
Out toward the horizon line, the Brenton Reef light- 
ship was our goal, and Ave were nearly to it Avhen, far out 
to sea, we saw that same gray wall of fog coming rolHng 
in toward the shore that on three previous occasions 
had sent us all back to NcAvport, but this time I was de- 
termined. Go back? "No! Hanged if Ave will!" I got 
out the chart and found the compass course from Brenton 
Reef lightship to the Hen and Chickens was east half 
north, so setting the compass box in place I told the 
C^onnnodore to keep her to that course. I squared aAvay 
Ihe main boom, Avhile Olsen eased out the head sails, and 
when backstays Avere set up, I Avent aft and sat down 
near the Commodore, in the cockpit, while the Swede lit 
his pipe and sat Avith his legs in the forehatch. 
The Commodore wanted to run in for Newport, and 
while I Avas arguing Avith him not to do so the lightship 
astern went out of sight and the fog euA^eloped tis in its 
steamy folds, so our horizon narrowed doAvn to a circle 
not a hundred yards across. 
Now this Avas my first off-shore experience with the 
Commodore, but having often heard him relate thrilling 
experience.s he had gone through on the traing ship St. 
Mary's, I supposed him to be a thoroughly seasoned deep- 
Avater man 
As I sat alongside of him now in the Pontoon's little 
cockpit, with the old Lieutenant saying nothing, but 
looking hard at the streams of vapor pouring through 
our rigging, and the yacht pushing silently along through 
the fog. I noticed he let her yaw about badly, some- 
times two points oft" the compass course, so I remarked: 
"Keep her steady, Commodore; we've got to run twenty 
miles and pick up the Hen and Chickens lightship." 
He made no reply, but got up and motioned me to take 
the tiller. This caused me to look up at his face, and in- 
stantly I realized he was seasick. Flat on the Avet deck 
he threw himself, with his head over the lee rail, and when 
he picked himself up a little later he was white as a 
sheet and had undergone a wonderful transformation. 
He was no longer the rosy-cheeked dandy. His pretty, 
Avhite ducks were a sorry sight, and he looked as limp 
as a wet wash rag. It took all the strength and dignity 
at his command to sit up and explain his situation to me. 
"You see, Charlie," and then the poor fellow gulped, 
"it's queer hoAv I get sick" — another gulp — "every time 
I go on deep Ava,ter. I always fret sick once^ and <;hen— ■ 
rm-^u right" ■ . ; ' ■ " 
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