232 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
Our Boston Letter. 
Boston March i6.— There seems to be no end to the 
troubles o\ the Boston cup defender, Independence. The 
latest thing to confront her builders is the prospect of a 
possible lawsuit over the hollow trough keel. It seems 
that James Mclntyre, of Neponset, a prominent builder, 
and the builder of patent skylights for yachts and other 
,esse)s has a patent on a hollow keel cast in one piece, in 
which lead is stowed. John A. Stetson, formerly Commo- 
dore of the Boston Yacht Club, is a part owner m the 
^^When it became known that the keel of Independence 
was certainly to be a hollow one, in wMch the lead was 
to be stowed or poured afterward, Mr. Mclntyre visited 
the T.awlev plant, at City Point, and asked to see the 
pattern of the casting, which was then being made ready 
to be sent to the Victor Metal Works, at East Braiiitree. 
After looking at the pattern he informed Mr. Lawley that 
it was an infringement upon his patent. Notwithstanding 
this claim, the pattern of the bottom of the keel was sent 
to the foundry, and the casting is now on the bottom ot 
From the time of Mr. Mclntyre' s visit to Lawley's 
nothing further was heard of the claims of the keel 
patent, until Friday, when there was a conference between 
Geo F Lawley and Thomas Hibbard, of the Lawley 
corporation, and Tames Mclntyre and John A. Stetson. 
Nothing was settled to the satisfaction of either party at 
that meeting, and there will be another one at Lawley s 
Wednesday, March 20. _ , , , 
Tames Mclntvre and Geo. F. Lawley were both seen 
by' your correspondent in regard to the matter. Mr. 
Mclntyre said that the matter was now in the hands of 
his lawyer, and that he had nothing to say m regard to 
his claims. He did say that he did not want to do any- 
thing that would hurt the chances of Independence, and 
that he hoped she would be successful m the trial races 
and also successfully , defend the cup. This thing, he 
said, was simply a matter of business. , , , 
Geo F Lawley did not seem to be much bothered 
about the prospects of a possible lawsuit. Mr. Lawley 
said that the Volunteer was built with a hollow keel m 
which the lead was stowed, before the patent of Mr. 
Mclntyre was issued. He said that there is no doubt 
that many vesels were built with hollow keels before that 
time. This, it is said, may have a serious effect upon the 
strength of Mr. Mclntyre's claim. 
The claim in question is one of three which were 
issued under one patent to James Mclntyre and John 
A. Stetson, half owner, on Aug. 9, 1888. The application 
for the patent was filed on Feb. 8, 1887. It is claimed 
that every separate clause in a patent is as much pro- 
tected as the whole. The specifications of the mvention. 
which is listed as claim No. 2 in the patent, is for a 
hollow" keel in which lead can be stowed, cast m one 
piece, in which there are cross pieces, cast with the keel 
or in any other manner secured to it. 
It is claimed that the casting on the bottom ot 
Independence is an infringement on this patent, it being 
cast in one piece. It is not likely that there will be any 
delay in the construction of the boat on account of a 
possible lawsuit, but it will be interesting to know what 
the outcome will be, as it will affect all future yachts built 
in this manner. The claim that the idea was old when 
Mr. Mclntyre had it patented may count for something, 
and there is another phase which may affect the issue. 
It distinctly states in the patent that the claim is on a 
hollow keel cast in one piece. Now the casting m ques- 
tion is on the bottom of the keel of Independence, and 
there are many plates above it that are riveted, and mside 
of which the lead is stowed. 
The work of constructing Independence is proceeding 
quite smoothly at the Atlantic Works. There are over 
60 plates now in position, many of which have been all 
riveted. About thirty-five tons of lead have been put 
into the keel up to date. When the boat was first laid 
out it was arranged that the lead would be poured into 
the hollow trough after sufficient plating had been put 
in place. It was afterward thought that there would be 
a strong probability of the molten metal causing the 
plates and frames to become twisted out of shape, if this 
were done. Geo. F. Lawley did not think it was best to 
take any chances in this direction, and it was decided to 
stow the lead instead of running it. 
' It was decided to stow the pigs as closely together as 
possible and then run in fine shot around them, thus 
filling up every crevice. The first attempt at stowing 
proved a failure, the pigs being placed in every position. 
They were all taken out, and the work started over again. 
The pigs are now stowed lengthwise in the trough, while 
many have been cut up to fill up as much of the space as 
possible. Fine shot is poured in around the pigs and 
the upper layers of the lead are hammered to make them 
fit closely together. 
Thirty tons of shot have arrived at the works for the 
purpose of filling in. In the after part of the keel, where 
the plating is on both sides of the boat, shot will be 
used exclusively, it being the only thing that can be got 
in there. The shot will be run through the holes in the 
floor plates. A line has been drawn around the port side 
of the boat, which shows the height to which the lead 
will be stowed. This line, at its highest point, is 50 inches 
from the bottom of the keel, and from it tapers to 44 
inches. 
All of the deck beams have been put in place, and the 
deck stringers are being fitted. The plating of the deck 
will be partly steel and the rest aluminum, the whole 
covered with canvas. The brackets, bracing the frames 
and deck beams, have commenced to go on. These are 
3-16 of an inch thick and are 6 inches wide. There is a 
2-inch flange on the under side. They will be perforated 
for lightness. Several of the steel plates, the stringer 
plates, have been put in position on the deck. 
.A meeting of the Yacht Racing Association of Massa- 
chusetts will be held at Young's hotel, Thursday even- 
nig. March 2T, at 7:30. This will be the annual meeting 
and the dates of the dififerent clubs for races to be held 
under the nules of the Association will be given out. 
There will also be two important amendments acted 
upon. 
The first of these is to add to the rules on scan- 
tlings, that no adjustable or movable truss or other device 
for shortening or changing the measurements of a boat 
will be allowed. This law is sorely needed. It is well 
known that there are many boats which have been 
equipped with trusses, whose waterline length could be 
.shortened or lengthened at will. There has been some 
severe comment upon this condition, whether just or un- 
just, and it seems that the only way to be sure that every- 
thing will be all right is to frame a law which! will bar 
such trusses. This lule will apply to the open classes as 
well as to the restricted classes and on this account there 
rnay be some opposition on the grounds that the asso- 
ciation is putting restrictions upon classes which are 
supposed to be unrestricted. This may be true, but the 
law is needed, nevertheless. 
Tlie other amendment will be in regaixl to protests, in 
tended for day sailing and cruising, and not for racing. 
Her dimensions are as follows; 
Lnegth— 
Over all 38ft. 2 in. 
L.W.L 23ft. 7 in. 
Overhang — ■ 
Bow 6ft. 7 in, 
Stern ' 8ft. 
Beam — 
Extreme loft. 7 in. 
L.W.L 10ft. 
Draft- 
To rabbet ift. Syl'm. 
Extreme 3ft. 6 in. 
Board down 6ft. 6 in. 
Freeboard — 
Bow • 3ft. 4 in- 
Taft'rail 2ft. Si4in. 
Least 2ft. 2^4in. 
Sail Area — 
Mainsail 560 sq. ft. 
CARTOOiS'. Designed by Messrs. Gardner & Cox for Mr. H. L.Parker. Photo by Jackson, Marblehead. 
which it is proposed to raise the sum which a protesting 
yachtsman who contests the length of another yacht de- 
posits with the measurer, from $2 to $4. This is done to 
decrease the number of unnecessary protests. -The As- 
.sociation allows that any man has the right to protest, 
but ofi^ers this law that the dissatisfied one will consider 
well before he enters such a protest. 
John B. Killeen. 
A 23ft. Cruising Yawl. 
The prejudice against yawl rig for both large and 
small boats among yachtsmen in this country a few 
years ago was decidedly strong, but the very general 
adoption of the rig in cruising boats is quite noticeable. 
With a yawl rig. sail can be shortened very readily and 
boats can be handled with greater ease and comfort and 
with a smaller crew without great loss of speed. Racing 
between boats with yawl rig in the large and small classes 
in England has had its efYect in Ame;rica, as is shown by 
the importation of Ailsa and the change in Vigilant's and 
Navahoe's rigs to that of a yawl. It is generally con- 
ceded that the yawl rig is the best for cruising boats up 
to 40 or 50ft. waterline length. The fnany requests that 
the publishers have had from readers of Forest and 
STRE.A.M for designs of small yawls have led them to se- 
cure plans of this type of boat from well-known de- 
signers. Last week we published plans of a 20ft. water- 
line centerboard yawl that was designed by Small 
Brothers. This week we reproduce plans of a 23ft. water- 
line cruising yawl from designs by Mr. William H, Hand, 
Jr. In a short time will appear plans of two 28ft, water- 
line cruising yawls, one a keel boat from designs of Mr, 
W. Starling Burgess, and the other a centerboard boat 
from designs by Small Brothers. 
The plans that appear this week show a very whole- 
som.e little boat of comparatively shoal draft that should 
be fast under ordinary conditions. Her small size and 
large accommodations would recommend her to amateurs 
who do not wish to carry a paid hand. The boat has 
ample room for four persons in the cabin and there is 
5ft. headroom under beams. The boat was designed by 
Mr. William H. Hand, Jr., of New Bedford, Mass.. for 
pr, W, C. Lambert, of Wyandotte. Mich,, and will re- 
place a boat designed by Mr. Hand for Dr, Lambert in 
Mizzen 140 sq. ft. 
Jib 156 sq. ft. 
Total .. ;• 856 sq. ft. 
Di.splacement io,8oolbs. 
Ballast outside ^ 3,5oolbs. 
The entire frame is of white oak and the planking is of 
^in. pine. 
Vanckfbilt Wins a Lawswit. 
Judge Bradford handed down an t)pinion affirming the 
decision of Judge McPherson of the local District Court 
in the admiralty suit brought by William K. Vanderbilt. 
Jr., against Robert L. Forrest. The litigation involved 
the ownership of a naphtha launch. In his libel Mr. 
Vanderbilt said that he was formerly the owner of the 
yacht Carmita, which he sold through his agents, Messrs. 
Gardner & Cox, to Mr. Forrest for $4,000. The yacht 
was at the Newport ship yard, Newport, R. I., and near 
it in the custody of a man named Biven floated the 
launch, also belonging to Mr. Vanderbilt. No mention 
was made of the launch at the time the sale was con- 
summated, but when Mr. Forrest took possession of the 
yacht he claimed that the launch was appurtenant to it. 
Mr. Forrest maintained that he had understood that the 
launch went with the yacht and that it was included in 
the receipt which he gave to Mr. Vanderbilt's agents. 
Judge McFherson decided on June 31 last that Mr. Van- 
derbilt was entitled to the launch, whereupon Mr. For- 
rest appealed. After reviewing the testimon}^ in the 
case, Judge Bradford concurs in the ruling of Judge Mc- 
Pherson. The launch is 21ft. long and is built of cedar. 
It was built in 1899 and is valued at $2,000. 
Cartoon. 
Cartoon wa.s designed for Mr. H. L. Parker by Messrs. 
Gardner & Cox and built at Wood's yard, City Island, 
during the winter of 1897-8. She is 25ft. on the waterline. 
45ft, 3in. over all, loft. extreme beam and 7ft. draft. The 
draft of the hull alone is i2in. Her overhang forward is 
loft. gin. and 9ft. 6in. overhang aft. The least freeboard 
is ift. gin., and she carries 1,065 sq. ft. of sail. 
The Forest and Stream is put to press each week on Tuesday, 
porrespondence intended for publication should reach us a* thn 
latest JiJonday and ^ticb earlier ^ |>raetic8>]f ■ 
