Nov. 23, 1901. 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
41S 
down out of a little- chasm-Uke ravine in the mountains 
at our left, out of whose depths a little stream came 
brawling and foaming down into the river. The road, 
like the'brook, seemed glad to join the river, and glided 
smoothly along the left bank in company with the stream 
down the gorge. 
A familiar scream saluted our ears as we entered this 
reach— the first of the kind we had heard for some days— 
and a passenger train came spinning up the incline, and, 
with much beil-ringing, whistling of air brakes and hiss- 
ing of steam, came to a stand at the little station opposite.. 
Our graceful, little fleet, floating idly in the placid river 
off the station, and in full view of the train, attracted 
considerable attention and much waving of handkerchiefs 
from the passengers, one of whom was seen to rush out 
on the rear platform and energetically wave his hand- 
kerchief at Its until, with a few sharp coughs and con- 
siderable slipping of drivers on the steep, up-hill track, the 
train got under way again and disappeared up the ravme. 
"Some Staunton man who recognizes us, probably," 
^id Lacy, replacing his helmet on his head, after vigor- 
ously returning the friendly demonstrations. 
""fes, or possibly some traveling canoeist, who recog- 
nizes the kindred spirits in us," I answered. 
The broad, still reach ended in a heavy rapid, or fall, so 
full of reefs that it looked from above, as we approached 
it, as though the river ended then and there. There is a 
good boat channel, clear, but very rough and swift, lead- 
ing down, close along the railroad, down which \ye 
swiftly shot, and we were soon below the rapid, and in 
the short, smooth stretch just above Bull's Falls. 
"I think we'd better all go ashore here and examine 
the falls," said George, beaching his boat on a broad, flat 
rock as he spoke. 
"Yes," I replied, as I landed and stepped out on the 
rock alongside of him. "We'd better all take a good look 
at this place, and the rapids below as well, for they are 
fully as bad as the falls and in some respects worse." 
We accordingly climbed the high, perpendicular stone 
wall upon which the railroad is sustained, and walked 
down the river on a tour of investigation. 
Bull's Falls consists of a massive stone ledge, some 
6 or 8ft. high, extending diagonally across and down the 
river, from the right bank to the left, upon which we 
now stood. The water pours in foaming masses through 
gaps and crevices in its surface, rounded and worn 
smooth by the floods and storms of ages, while for a 
quarter of a mile below the river rolls and tumbles in a 
furious rapid, almost as rough as_ the falls. Close up 
under the railroad wall, a narrow, little canal, some 30 or 
40ft, long, leads around the end of the falls, from which 
it is separated by a long, narrow, tree-clothed island. 
The descent, of course, is equal to that of the more per- 
pendicular falls outside, and the water rolls and pitches 
down this narrow, little incline with irresistible violence, 
Avhile the foam-crested surges pitch and toss from side to 
side in a manner very threatening to the equilibrium of 
such delicate 1 craft as ours. 
The mountains closed in on either side, rearing their 
ahnost perpendicular, rock-ribbed sides sheer from the 
water, far up toward the light, fleecy clouds overhead, 
until the caiaon became a mere defile, along the bottom 
of which the river chafed and fretted its way, while far 
away, at the end of the long, down-bill vista, the per- 
pendicular cliffs and ledges of Maryland Heights, on the 
other sitie of the Potomac, closed squarely across the 
prospect, and the houses and spires of Harper's Ferry 
were faintly visible, looking like little, white, pasteboard 
boxes, scattered around here and there over the giant 
mountain flanks. 
At the bottom of the defile the river turned and twisted 
and rolled and tumbled, as it worked its way, far down at 
the rock-ribbed bases of the mountains, on its way down 
to the level of the Potomac. 
"The shoot's all right," said George, as we reached the 
foot of the rapid below the falls and turned to retrace our 
steps, "and the rapids are all right." 
"Yes, but both are horribly rough," replied Lacy, "par- 
ticularly the shoot." 
"We -can run it safely enough," I answered, "and the 
rapids also." 
"Oh ! yes," he replied, "there's no question of our 
making the run safely enough." 
"Now," said L as we paused a little, to take a final 
look about us, "I move that we run the shoot and then 
the rapid, and then pause here, in this little basin above 
tliat fish dam, just below there, and then take another 
survey, and see what's ahead of us before going on." 
"I think that will be best," said George, as we walked 
back up along the railroad toward our canoes. "This 
gorge is not to be run carelessly without investigation." 
"That it is not," I responded. 
"Now you fellows wait a little," said George, as we 
again stood on the wall above the foaming boat shoot 
around the falls, "and let me go up and get my canoe and 
drop down to that still water just above the falls. I'll 
land there and work down along the rocks at the water's 
edge, and get a position on that broad, flat rock, there, 
just below the head of the shoot, and take you with the 
kodak as you go down." 
No one objecting to this reasonable and thoughtful 
proposition, George departed, and was soon in position on 
the rock indicated. 
"I tell j'OU it's rough," he shouted up at us, as we still 
stood on the wall above, looking down at him, "but it's 
clear of rocks, and can be safely run. Come ahead, one 
at a time, and close your hatches tightly." 
Lacy and I returned to our canoes and clambered 
down the wall and re-embarked, and pushed out into the 
still water, setting strongly down toward the falls. He 
went first, while I, after reaching a good position where 
I could see him go down the shoot, held my canoe sta- 
tionary by back paddling, to see him go. 
With a friendly shout to George he entered the canal 
and dropped over the verge of the fall. As I watched I 
noted him drop down in a series of little jerks or plunges; 
first his canoe disappeared : next only his head and shoul- 
ders were visible; finally, with a lunge, in which I got a 
fleeting glimpse of the uplifted stern of his canoe, ha 
disappeared entirely from view. 
[to be continued.] 
All communications intended for Forest and Stream should 
always be addressed to the Forest and Streanx f vibH^J^ipg Co,,, a^cj 
Xo any individual connected with the paper^ 
— • — 
Designing Competition. 
In view of the continued and increasing intertest in • 
yachting, a desiging competition will be opened in the 
columns of Forest and Stream. In America the yacht- 
ing season is comparatively' a short one, and such a 
competition as has been determined upon will serve to 
stimulatei the interest in the subject during the winter 
months. The compeitition is open to both amateur and 
professional designersi. Three prizes will be given for the 
best designs of a yacht conforming to the following 
conditions: 
I. A pole mast sloop. \ 
II. 2Sft.. load waterHine. 
HI. Not. over 4ft. draft (with centerboard ttioisted). 
IV. At least So per cant, of ballast outside on keel. 
, .V. sft. headroom under cabin carlins. 
All abnormal features must be studiously avoided in 
the design; and the construction, sail and cabin plans 
should be of the simplest character. It was our idea in 
laying out the conditions of the competititon ~ to make 
them simple as possible, so as not to hamper in any 
way the designer, and yet convey to all tlrat we wished 
to produce a safe, comfortable cruiser on which two or 
three amateurs could live with comfort for a period of 
two or three months and cruise along our eastern sea- 
board from New York to Halifax with safe iy. A center- 
board boat of moderate draft was decided upon, as so 
many more harbors would be accessible to a boat of that 
type. 
DRAWINGS JiEQUIRED. 
I. Sheer plan, scale iin. = ift. — showing center of 
buoyancy and lateral resistance. 
II. Half breadth, scale iin. =.ift. 
III. Body plan, scale lin. =ift. 
IV. Cabin plan, scale lin. = ift. 
V. Sail plan, ^in. = ift., showing center of effort. 
The sails should consist of a jib, mainsail, spin- 
naker and balloon jib. No topasil will be carried. 
A table of offsets and an outline specification must 
accompany each design. The .drawings should be care- 
fully drawn and lettered. All drawings should be made 
on white paper or tracing cloth in black ink (no colored 
inks or pigments should be used). The designs must 
bear a nom-de>-plume only and no indication must be 
given of the author. In a sealed envelope, however, the 
designer should inclose his own name and address, to- 
gether with his nom-de-plume. All designs must be 
received at the' office of the Forest and Stream Publish- - 
ing Company, 346 Broadway, New York City, not later 
than February 28; 1902. All drawings will be returned, 
but postage should accompany each. 
The Forest and Stream reserves the right to publish 
any or all the designs. 
The prizes offered are as follows: ist prize, $25.00; 
2d prize, $15.00 ; 3d prize, $10.00. Mr. Theodore C. Zerega 
offers an additional prize of $10.00 for the best cabin plan. 
Honorable mention will also be made of meritorious de- 
signs. 
Mr. Clinton H. Crane, of the firm of Messrs. Tams, 
Lemoine & Crane, has kindly consented to judge the 
designs and make the awards. Mr. Crane's professional 
standing is so high that he needs no introduction, and 
every confidence will be put in his ability and fairness. 
Y* R. A. of Longf Island Sound* 
An adjourned meeting of the Yacht Racing Association 
of Long Island Sound was held on Friday, Nov. 15, at the 
Hotel Manhattan, New York c!ty._ A committee which 
had been appointed by the Association to confer with the 
Larchmont and Seawanhaka Corinthian yacht clubs re- 
garding some modifications that might be made in the new 
measurement rule that was under consideration for adop- 
tion by the Association, reported at this meeting. It was 
found that the rule was perfectly satisfactory to both the 
Larchmont and Seawanhaka Corinthian yacht clubs, and 
they did not see their way clear to make any modifica- 
tions. 
After some discussion the rule was unanimously 
adopted by the different clubs belonging to the Associa- 
tion. The rule we reprint for the benefit of those who are 
not familiar with it : 
1/2 L.W.L. + % V S.A. -I- L. 
— = R.L. 
1.1 
The quantity L is to be obtained in the following way : 
B is breadth of load waterline plane at }i of its length 
from forward end. 
B' is breadth of load waterline plane at of its length 
after end. 
B" is breadth (greatest) of LW plane. 
C is any excess of (B + B') over B". 
D is draft at MS + 2-5 of any greater draft aft, and all 
of any greater draft forward. 
E is any excess of (B" + D) over 3 1-3 V MS sub- 
merged. 
C+ E = L. 
The rest of the rule as modified reads: 
Any yacht launched before Jan. i, 1902, whose meas- 
urements are made under the rule of the previous year, 
brought her within the limits of a class, shall continue 
tQ eU|ible to T^ge in itiqh dfjss, although whe^ ?^^eas- 
iured under the rule of 1902 she may exceed' the limits 
■of such class, or may fall below it, and all such yachts 
shall be rated for time allowance at their actual measure- 
ments under the rule of 1902. All such yachts may be 
entered and raced during the season of 1902 under their 
measurements made itnder the rules in force in 1901, or 
under the rules of 1902, at the option of the owners. 
Yachts launched after Jan. i, 1902, shall not be entitled 
to time allowance except from yachts launched prior to 
that date whose measurements may exceed the class limit. 
Yachts launched after Jan. i, 1902, shall allow time to 
smaller vessels launched before the date named. 
Western Yachts. 
(" 
u, 
Both Vant the Fotirth. 
Chicago, III., Nov. 15. — The Columbia Yacht Club and 
Chicago Yacht Club have rather fallen afoul of each other 
in the matter of the date of July 4. This is the date whictj 
was formerly accepted as the annual regatta day of the 
Lake Michigan Yachting Association. It has been held 
by the Columbia Yacht Club for its annual regatta for the 
last two years, and the latter claims that since it has in- 
vited Sir Thomas Lipton to be present at the regatta 
July 4, 1902, it cannot now surrender this date. Chicago 
Yacht Club asked for this date at the annual meeting of 
the Lake Michigan Yachting Association at the Briggs 
House this week. No conclusion was reached, but it is 
to be hoped that the matter will be amicably settled be- 
tween now and the date of the next meeting, Dec. 9. 
Chicago Yacht Club is in a highly flourishing condi- 
tion and thinks of increasing its membership to 500 in- 
stead of 400. The dissolution of the injunction which so 
long forbade the building of the club house has had a 
very salutary effect upon the club's affairs. Several new 
boats are planned for next year, and all in all the club 
seems to be on the best footing it has ever known since 
its beginning. It is probable that the anchorage for the 
boats of the Chicago Yacht Club will be moved to the 
southward next spring, and that the present anchorage 
will fall to the use of Columbia Yacht Club. There were 
something like seventy yachts in Chicago harbor last 
summer, and the number will be largely increased next 
season. The new club house of Chicago Yacht Club is 
now being rushed on in an attempt to finish it before ex- 
tremely cold weather sets in. E. H. 
A. New Matme Tutbine* 
In a recent issue of the Scientific American there ap- 
peared the following interesting account of a steam tur- 
ibine that was designed by Colonel John Jacob Astor. 
It is expected that the new turbine will be an improve- 
ment over the famous Parsons engine with which the 
greatest speeds have been made: 
"The Astor turbine is distinguished broadly from the 
best known existing forms by the fact that it has no 
stationary parts other than the journals and foundation 
frames which carry it, the casing of the turbine revolving 
as well as the shaft, but in an opposite direction. The 
general construction of the motor consists of an interior 
shaft which extends from the forward journal through 
to the rear propeller. Upon this shaft is formed a series 
of spiral blades, which have a steady increase in diameter 
irom the forward or admission end of the turbine to 
the rear or exhaust end. The shaft and blades rotate 
within a flaring, funnel-shaped casing, around the innei- 
surface of which is formed another series of spiral blades, 
also of increasing diameter, whose twist is in the opposite 
■direction to that of the blades on the shaft, the two sets 
of blades or vanes being respectively right and left 
handed. The tubular casing is drawn down at the ex- 
haust end to form a hollow shaft, which incloses the cen- 
tral shaft, and extends through the deadwood and the 
sternpost. The propellers are right and left handed to 
match the direction of the blades of the respective shafts 
to which they are keyed, the two propellers thus rotating 
in opposite directions. 
"The casing increases in diameter at the proper rate 
to secure an eVen rate of expansion of the steam, which 
is conducted from the exhaust through a length of piping 
formed in the keel of the launch, the keel thus being made 
to serve the purpose of a condenser. The condensed steam 
collects in a well from which it is drawn by the boiler 
feed pump. Steam is admitted to the forward end of t^e 
turbine, and, sticking on the two sets of blades, the shaft 
is rotated to the right and the outer movable casing to 
the left, the respective propellers being, of course, driven 
in corresponding directions." 
YACHTING NEWS NOTES* 
Mr. Fred S. Nock, of West Mystic, Conn., has been 
commissioned by Mr. Wilbur C. Fisk, of New York city 
to make plans for the alterations to the sloop yacht 
Annie, changing her from sloop to yawl rig, lengthening 
her eight feet and installing a gasoline motor. Mr. 
Nock has also gotten out plans for a 30ft. half-cabin 
launch for Mr. W. E. Pearson. Mr. Nock has recently 
made the following sales: The sloop j^acht Tally-LIo for 
Mr. Edward G. Anderson, of Providence, R. I., to Mr. 
Ulric Dahlgren, of Princeton, N. J.; the launch Sitka 
for Mr. F. A. Bayer, of Newport. R. I,, to Mr. E. J. 
Mills, of Boston; the 40ft. launch Spray for Mr. E. W. 
Coon, of Westerly, R. I., to Mr. John E. Beebe, of 
Mamaroneck, N. Y. 
^ ^ ^ 
The Electric Launch Company, of Bayonne, N. J., 
have made numerotis improvements in their plant. A 
marine railway has been built and when the new cradle 
is completed boats up to 200 tons and loft. draft can be 
hauled out. This firm is now building a 50ft. launch for 
Mr. J. D. Johnson. The boat will have two pole masts 
and will be schooner rigged. She will have a clipper 
bow and an overhanging stern. A i6 horse-power Globe 
motor will furnish the motive power. The following 
yachts are either hauled out or lying in the basin at the 
Elect?Tfe Launch Company's works: Yawls, Alcatorda. 
Kittie and Jester; sloops, Desiree, Annie and Wahneta; 
raceabouts, Ora and Alice; catboats. Fugitive, Drift, and 
Arab. In addition to this list there are a niuTiber of 
launches in Wi|5<,?r quarters fro^i ^oft, waterUne 4qwn, 
