April 27, 1901.] 
FOREST AND 5 STREAM. 
of the clearing this year, is the earliest in eleven years, 
with one exception. 
A Saturday's Augusta, Me., dispatch also says that 
Lake Cobbosseecontee is clear of ice, with a number of 
the Gardiner and Augusta fishermen trying for salmon 
and trout. Three or four Boston fishermen started for 
that lake this i^aorning. Lake Auburn is well inland, and 
it may be expected that the Rangeleys will follow in 
clearing early, unless the weather should change from 
wet and raining to freezing. Moosehead may also be 
expected to clear early. Late reports say that the Moose- 
head ice is covered with water and becoming very rot- 
ten. A large number of horses were drowned on that 
lake Friday, and Samrday. The teamsters say that the 
water over the ice has dissolved it much sooner than 
they had expected. If the Rangeleys should follow the 
pace set by Lake Auburn, they may be expected to be 
clear of ice by the 5th or 6th of May. A record of the 
clearing of these lakes, from the Forest and Stream, 
will be of interest: In 1882 the ice went 'out May 12; 
1883, May 14; 1884, May 13; 1885, May 15; 1886, May 3; 
1887, May 16; 1888, May 21; 1889, April 30; 1890, May 
9; 1891, May 10; 1892, May 4; 1893, May 20; 1894. May 2; 
1895, May 7; 1896, May 9; 1897, May 12; 1898, May i; 
1899, May 9; 1900, May 12. 
Moosehead Lake usually clears two or three days ear- 
lier than the Rangeleys, though fully as far north. But 
the body of water is much larger. The dates of the ice 
going out are appended: In 1881 the ice went out May 
9; 1882, May 19; 1883, May 13; 1884, May 16; 1885, May 
16; 1886, May 2; 1887, May 12; 1888, May 21; 1889, April 
29; 1890, May 8; 1891, May 14; 1892, May 4; 1893, May 
19; 1894, April 29; 1895, May 8; 1896, May 9; 1897,'May 
ro; 1898, May 3; 1899, May 6; 1900, May 11. 
Maranacook, and the other Winthrop and Belgrade 
lakes are yet to be heard from, though the ice is doubt- 
less about ready to depart. No reports have yet been re- 
ceived of the clearing of Grand Lake, Me., while Sebec 
and the other lakes of Piscataquis County are net yet 
clear. New Hampshire waters are still closed, with the 
exception of Winnipisaukee and Winnfsquam, which are 
mainly open. A dispatch of Saturday evening said that 
the lake was clearing rapidly, and that the advance 
guard of the fishermen are at the lake. New Found and 
Sunapee waters are closed at this writing. A report from 
Winnisquam says that the ice was out early in the week, 
and good catches of trout and salmon have been made. 
Frankhn fishermen have secured two salmon weighing 
35^ and 43^ pounds, and a lake trout of pounds. 
Over thirty trout and salmon of good size have been 
taken since the ice went out. Boston parties intended 
to have been there over Sunday, but the cold storm kept 
them at home. 
"Old Sebago is doing herself proud," says a sportsman 
from that lake Saturday, "though I did not get a fish." 
Portland fishermen seem to be having great luck. Friday 
W. L, Jones, of that city,, brought out seven salmon, 
caught in a single day at Sebago. The two largest 
weighed ten pounds each. The other five run from 4^4 
to yYz pounds weight. He is very proud of his success. 
The fish were all caught on the east side of the lake in 
the vicinity of Kettle Cove. But the biggest salmon of 
the season, if not for several seasons, has come from the 
skill of William H. Babb, of Cumberland Mills. The fish 
was caught Saturday. It measured 32 inches in length, 
and weighed 15 pounds. Mr. Babb, with Henry J. 
Hanscom and Seth C. Morton, all of Cumberland Mills, 
have been camping at the lake since the ice went out. 
The big fish was caught near the gate of the water works, 
and within half a mile of Sebago Lake station. The 
three men were trolling from Mr. Hausconi's steam 
launch, when Mr. Babb got a tremendous strike. The 
salmon was very gamy and kept the angler busy, with 
a 10 ounce rod, for half an hour before he could be landed. 
Trolling from power launches is becoming the popular 
thing with fishermen in Sebago waters. The claim is 
that very much more ground can be covered than by 
means of a guide with a rowboat. It is also claimed 
that instead of frightening the fish away, as might at 
first be supposed, a power launch really stirs up the idle, 
well-fed fish, and causes them to bite, when they might 
pay no attention to a rowboat. SPEcrAi.. 
San Francisco Fly-Castmgf Qub. 
Medal contests, series 1901, Saturday, contest No. 3. 
held at Stow Lake, April 13. Wind, strong west; 
weather, pleasant : 
Event Event Event 
No. 1, No. 2 No. 4, 
Distance, Accuracy, . Event No. 8, , Lure 
Feet. Per cent. Acc. J< Del. ^ Net % Casting^ 
Smvth 81.4 87.8 79.2 83.5 
Battu 89 86 90.8 64.2 77.5 
Edwards 95 89 86 75.10 SO. 11 
Mocker 87 72.4 93.8 77.6 85.7 
Brotherton 1121/^ 94 92.4 76.8 84.6 
Brooks 94 72.4 85.8 70 77.10 
Grant lU4i/i 88 86.4 75 80.8 
MuUer 98 88.4 87.4 74.2 80.9 
Skinner SO 88.4 87.4 75.10 81.7 
Golcher 117 92.4 92 77.6 84.10 
Everett 105 87.8 93.8 75.10 84.9 
Judges, Grant and Battu ; referee, Botherton ; clerk, 
Smyth. 
Sunday, contest No. 3, held at Stow Lake, April 14, 
Wind, light southwest; weather, beautiful: 
Battu 
. , 81 
90.4 
92 
76.8 
84.4 
Blade 
, 78 
73.8 
82. S 
71.8 
77.2 
. 96 
92. S 
90.4 
68.4 
79.4 
113 
88.4 
92 
74.2 
83.1 
.. 74 
SO. 8 
90 
62.6 
76.3 
, 107 
93.4 
93.8 
76.8 
85.2 
Foulks 
90 
86 
87.8 
74.2 
80.11 
Golcher 
., 126 
93.8 
81.4 
71.8 
81.6 
. 108 
92 
88.4 
71.8 
80 
Haight 
75 
90.4 
88.4 
66.8 
77.6 
84 
91.8 
91 
69.2 
80.1 
B Kenniff.... 
.. 76 
78 
85.4 
65.10 
75.7 
R Kenniff ... 
,. 77 
84.8 
84.8 
70.10 
77.9 
W Kierulff 
69 
91.8 
91 
67.6 
79.3 
F Kierulff.... 
62 
35 
47. S 
59.2 
53.5 
Mansfield , . ■ . 
93.8 
93 
79.2 
86.1 
'.' 88 
83.4 
93.4 
72.6 
82.11 
Muller 
. 104 
92.8 
81.8 
77.6 
79.1 
89.4 
88 
74.2 
81.1 
Judges, R. Kenniff and Mocker; referee, Muller; clerk, 
Smyth. 
— ® — 
Notice. 
All communications intended for Forest and Stream should 
always be addressed to the Forest and Stream Publishing Co., and 
not to any individual connected with the paper. 
Shamrock IL, Sir Thomas Lipton's new challenger for 
the America Cup, was successfully launched from the yard 
of Denny Brothers, Dumbarton, Scotland, shortly after 
noon on Saturday, April 20. The yacht was christened 
by the Marchioness of Dufferin. The weather was de- 
lightful and a large and enthusiastic crowd was present. 
Owing to the shallow water that fronts the yard where 
Shamrock II. was built, it was necessary to launch the 
boat on a pontoon. Shamrock II. is said to greatly re- 
semble Columbia, but has longer overhangs, is flatter on 
the floor, with more rounded section forward. The trough 
keel contains about 95 tons of lead. The mast and main 
boom are of steel, and there will be a topmast of pine 
that will telescope into the lower mast. The hull frames 
are of steel, and she is plated with manganese bronze. 
The deck is of steel with a thin layer of yellow pine. 
History of the Development of the 
Racing Yacht. 
(Continued from jf^age 812.) 
When the first challenge for tlie Cup was received in 
1870 from Mr. James Ashbury, ptiblic sentiment ran high. 
It was the first challenge for the trophy, and it was the 
wish of the public that the yacht which had won it so 
gallantly .should have an opportunity of defending it. The 
Government gracefully yielded, and America was fitted 
out as a yacht at the Brooklyn Navy Yard at a cost of 
$25,000, The Navy Department does not pretend to 
know anything about fitting out racing yachts. Handi- 
capped as she was by navy cut sails and navy rigging, it 
is a wonder she sailed as well as she did. The result, 
however, showed that much of the great speed she had 
shown . when, in the glory of her day, she had astonished 
the world, was still hers. She came in fourth in a fleet 
of twenty-five yachts, beating the English challenger Cam- 
bria over the course, and, of course, had she been the 
only defender the Cup would have been saved by her. 
America Ptorchased by Gen. B. F. Butler. 
Shortly after this race the Government offered her at 
public auction, and she was bought by Gen. Benjamin F. 
Butler, of Boston. And here her wanderings cease, for 
she has remained in the family of Gen. Butler ever since, 
and is to-day safely laid up at Chelsea, Mass. She is 
still hale and seaworthy, and at the last Cup race in 1899 
was one of the most observed of all the many craft that 
clustered about the starting line. 
Long may she continue to exist and be an inspiration 
to those interested in the noblest sport ever invented by 
the fertile mind of man. Her influence has been more 
strongly felt than any yacht ever built. Had it not been 
for her adventurous trip to England in 1851 in search of 
cups and glory, those magnificent racers Mayflower, Vol- 
unteer, Thistle, Valkyrie, Vigilant, Defender and Co- 
lumbia would never have been built, and the sport of 
yachting would never have received the fillip it has, and 
would be on a much more restricted basis than it is to- 
day. 
The America Cup, as it has been called since that 
eventful Friday fifty years ago, was presented to the New 
York Y, C. as a perpetual challenge cup by the owners 
in 1857. It was stipulated in the deed of gift that it 
should be kept as a perpetual challenge cup for friendly 
competition between foreign nations, and that any yacht 
owned and built in a foreign country should always have 
the right to sail a match for it, provided proper challenge 
was made, as therein provided. 
Yachting in the United States at this time, notwith- 
standing the remarkable success of America, was in its 
infancy. There were few events of any note in the early 
fifties, and the Civil War succeeding in 1861 prevented 
much further development for many years. The period 
between 1850 and 1870, however, is made notable in this 
country from the development of the use of the center- 
board in American yachts. There is much misconcep- 
tion in the popular mind about this device. Many Amer- 
icans seem to regard the centerboard as a part of the 
Monroe Doctrine. They imagine that it is an old, time- 
honored American invention that should be used in all 
.A.merican yachts, from patriotic motives, if for no better 
reason. This idea is, however, entirely erroneous. The 
centerboard is not an American device at all. It was used 
for a hundred years before it became a factor in the 
American skimming dish. In 1809 Capt. Shuldam, of the 
English Navy, patented a centerboard that is almost a 
counterpart of that used to-day on our centerboard boats. 
He made a working model of this, and it is to-day filed 
in the British Museum in Kensington. 
The centerboard is simply a makeshift. It is used so 
that yachts may enter our shallow harbors. Boats were 
made shallow, and in this condition, of course, did not 
have sufficient lateral place to "hold on," as it is called, 
when beating to windward. To remedy this the center- 
board was adopted. Were American harbors, as a rule, 
of as great depth as those in England, we would never 
have heard of the centerboard. It is true that in very 
small boats a centerboard may be used_ with good ad- 
vantage, as far as speed is concerned, but it is an awkward 
contrivance at best. 
In my opinion a centerboard boat could not be built 
that w^ould compare in^ speed with the great fin-keelers 
that are now being constructed for the challenging and 
defending the America Cup. To place a centerboard in a 
craft as large as Columbia would be a herculean task to 
any builder. It would need be at least 60ft. long and 
20ft. wide, a size that is practically impossible. 
Tbe First Challesge for the America Cup. 
The next event of note in yachting history was the 
^h^llfnge for the America Cup in 1871, by Mr. James 
Ashbury. This was the first challenge received, and 
naturally attrafcted eonsiderable attention among the 
rather lunited nnmber of enthusiasts then in this country. 
This challenge was undoubtedly brought about by the 
trip of the American schooner Sappho to England m 
1868. Sappho was built by Messrs. C. & R. Poillon, of 
Brooklyn, in 1867. Her designer was William Town- 
send, then employed by them as foreman. She was, upi 
to that time, the largest American pleasure vessel ever- 
constructed. She was 134ft. over all, 120ft. on the water- 
line, 24ft. 9in. beam and loft. depth of hold. Her lines 
were very fine — so fine, indeed, that she did not have 
sufiicient stability to carry her rig until she was hipped 
some time later. She was given some tuning up races on 
this side by her builders and owners, and then sent over 
to England to sell. Capt. T. P. Baldwin, a retired ship 
master and merchant, took her over in July, 1868. Her 
crew consisted of two mates and six men before the mast, 
•none of whom were yacht sailers. She made a remarkable 
passage to Falmouth, crossing in fourteen days, and it 
was the opinion of her captain that she could have crossed 
it in thirteen if she had been provided \yith a square sail. 
Capt. Baldwin had been instructed not to race her 
there, but that if in his judgment 3t became necessary to 
test her speed in order to obtain a more remunerative 
price for her, he should notify the owners by cable and a 
racing crew would be sent over. 
Being much elated by the quick passage he had made,, 
however, Capt, Baldwin disregarded these instructions, 
and entered the yacht in a race around the Isle of Wight 
on Aug. 25, 1868. Sappho was beaten by the entire fleet of 
four boats, Cambria beating her one hour and forty min- 
utes and Condor, the nearest boat, by one hour and thirty 
minutes. 
It was unquestionably this defeat of Sappho by Cam- 
bria that induced her owner, Mr. James Ashbury, to 
challenge for the Cup, and thus start that long line of 
unsuccessful efforts to recover that famous trophy, whose 
end is not yet. 
Of course after thus being sharpefully defeated it was 
practically impossible to find a purchaser for the yacht in 
England. The papers ridiculed her and the Cowes boat- 
men laughed at her pretentions to speed. Her owners, 
therefore, ordered her back to America as soon as they 
heard the drubbing to which she had beeen subjected. 
It was their intention to refit her and send her over 
again the following year in charge of a conipetent_ skipper 
and crew and in racing fettle to vvipe out, if possible, the 
stain she had received on her racing honor. 
Before this was done, however, she was sold to Mr. 
William P. Douglas. Her new owner decided to hip her. 
This process consists in building out the sides of the 
vessel to give her greater beam and thus increase her 
stability. Sappho was widened about I4in. amidship 
and this was tapered gradually 30ft. in each direction. 
She was then thoroughly fitted up in the best possible 
racing condition and with a racing skipper and selected 
crew sailed away for England. 
Mr. Douglas arranged a match with Cambria, to be 
decided in three contests. The first was to be sixty miles 
to windward and return; the second to be the same, and 
the third over a triangular course of the same distance. 
After Cambria had gone half over the course in the 
first race she realized that Sappho was too far ahead to 
be overtaken, so she put up her helm and ran back to 
Cowes. 
There was some dispute over the second race and Cam- 
bria did not start. Sappho sailed over the course alone 
and was awarded the race by the committee. 
In the third (triangular) race Sappho won by nearly 
two hours. After this demonstration of her speed, Mr. 
Douglas found it impossible to arrange any more races 
and so returned to the United States with his now vic- 
torious boat. 
Mr. Ashbury was not satisfied with the result of the 
match, and still believed that Cambria \vas the fastest 
yacht afloat, and so he forwarded the first challenge for 
the America Cup. 
I will not weary you with the details of the match, but 
let it suffice to say that, after considerable correspond- 
ence and' parleying, it was decided that the challenger 
should sail a race as near as possible like that in which 
America won the Cup. That is, all the boats of the Amer- 
ican fleet were to be pitted against the English challenger. 
The race was set for the morning of Aug. 8, 1870. All 
the yachts were drawn up in line with anchors down. 
Cambria was given the post of honor, on the windward 
side of the line. Next to her was the now famous 
America, as I have before stated, fitted out by the Gov- 
ernment at an expense of $25,000, to sail against the 
Englishman. In addition to America were twenty-three 
others— six keel schooners and seventeen centerboarders. 
At the sound of the gun all was bustle. It was up anchor 
and hoist sail. Magic, one of the centerboarders, was the 
fir.st to get away. Cambria was next and America last. 
The course was laid from a start off the Narrows out to 
Sandy Hook Lightship and return. Magic secured a 
good lead by very capable handling and America lost any 
favors she might have had by exactly the reverse. The 
immense fleet worked their way down the bay and out to 
the Hook, \vith Magic well in the lead. All eyes were on 
the old favorite, America, and it gladdened many a heart 
to see her gradually forge ahead from the very last boat 
at the start, working her way through the fleet, passing 
boat after boat, till at the flagship she was fourth boat, 
having put no less than twenty yachts behind her. Magic 
was the first to turn at 2:03:16, quickly followed by 
Idler and Dauntless in the order named. America turned 
at 2:15:25, and Cambria, the eighth boat, at 2:27:17. 
America maintained her position as fourth boat to the 
finish. Magic won the 'race and Cambria could do no 
better than tenth. 
The Second Challenge for the America Cup. 
Thus ended the first attempt to capture the Cup. Mr. 
Ashbury took his defeat in good part, and the next year 
forwarded a second challenge. 
His new boat was called Livonia, and she was an im- 
proved Cambria. 
An important modification had been made in the rules 
for the Cup during the year, and the new challenger was 
to be called upon to sail against but one antagonist at a 
time — a much fairer proposition, and one conducing tQ 
