ing. And it is right here that you will recognize its valu- 
able qualities. 
How often have our sportsmen reached the duckipg 
grounds to find the surface of the water coated with 
ice, too treacherous for an ice boat, unsafe to 
cross afoot and too thick to row or sail through, 
and with this condition of affairs seen myriads 
of birds safely huddled in an open "air hole" half a mile 
or so from shore, safe from all intrusion, yet forced to 
return to the city, dollars out of pocket, no ducks, no 
sport, nothing except disappointment, because there was 
no means of reaching the feeding grounds. 
LINED UP. 
Here is where the scooter comes in under the above 
conditions. Instead of returning home, now the hunter 
launches his scooter, puts in his decoys, gun, etc., puts 
on a white canvas suit and hat, hoists his sail and makes 
out for the air hole, sailing over the ice where it is suffi- 
ciently strong and through it where it is weak, but one 
thing he is certain to do, and that is to reach the air hole 
in which he puts out his decoys, covers his scooter with 
thin ice broken from the edges- of the main body, lays 
down in the hatchway of his boat and then have duck 
shooting such as never was dreamed of until scooters 
were devised. 
A DISCUSSION ON RUNNERS. 
The accompanying illustrations will give your readers a 
good idea of how a scooter looks rigged up especially for 
sailing, as many sportsmen down this way have boats 
specially for that purpose, only finished up in the finest 
style, bright decks, brass fittings and all the trimmings 
of a yacht. The regular gunning scooter is painted white 
all over, but has all the other qualities of the finest boats 
as to sailing, rowing, etc. — in fact, all except looks. 
H. V. Watkins. 
English Letter. 
Navahoe, *Herr Watjen, is to fit out for the Medi- 
terranean regattas, and is to have new decks. It was 
rumored some time ago that her owner wished to sell 
her and build a large racing schooner. That does not, 
however, appear to be correct. Lord Crawford's fine 
auxiliary ship, Valhalla, is bound for a cruise in the 
Pacific. Godwit, a Fife-built 4S-tonner, has sailed for 
Bombay, her owner joining her at Gibraltar. She is a 
nice cruising yawl and speedy. The passage is being 
made under her ordinary' spars. There is nothing to 
report about the new challenger, save that the prog- 
ress known to be made with her promises an early 
launch. 
The best news of the week is an order for a new 
52-footer, to be designed by Alfred Mylne, who made 
a hit this year in the Clyde 36-footer class. The new 
boat will go far to establish the 52ft. class on a sound 
basis. The name of the owner, according to the now 
fashionable custom, is not disclosed. One effect of 
this has been, in at least one instance, to cause an in- 
tending builder of a 65-footer to hold back, as he 
would not build without knowing who he would have 
to race against. 
Very little interest seems to be taken on your side 
in the new rule of the New York Y. C. It seems to 
me to be an extremely troublesome one to put into 
execution, and not very good, even then. The ob- 
jection I have to it is that it aims at influencing the 
shape of a vessel's ends, whereas, I hold that these 
should be left to develop into the best shape for speed, 
and that the mid section alone ought to govern their 
length. If a good, deep body is secured by a rule the 
ends will cease to be abnormal. Our own rule could 
easily be altered to produce a splendid type of boat. 
It also suffers a little from a tendency to influence 
shape, but that is confined to the mid-section, and I 
am afraid some designers would disagree with me in 
saying that it acts harmfully in this respect. 
CHAMPION 21-FOOTER LITTLE HASTE DESIGNED BY W. STARLING BURGESS, 1902. 
A launch-racing organization has been established 
oyer here, under the namcof the Marine Motor Asso- 
ciation. Racing is to be adopted as a means of de- 
veloping the marine motor. The classes are arranged 
by over-all length — 25 and 40ft. for open classes, in 
which any power and hull dimensions may be used, 
and the classes for utility boats (yachts, launches, etc.), 
are 30, 25, 20 and 15ft. 0. a._, the last being a clencher- 
built dinghy class. There is to be a minimum beam, 
freeboard and thickness of planking in these classes 
and a maximuni h. p._ Of course, there must be no 
end of trouble in getting a satisfactory engine meas- 
urement, but in time a good result will be obtained. 
Auxiliary racing will also be encouraged, and that 
opens up no end of good sport, for it will often en- 
tail far more judgment than in racing under sail only. 
I hear that in all probability the design of the new 
large Solent one-design class, promoted by the Earl 
of Albemarle, will be supplied by Alfred Mylne. I 
am surprised at this, not because I doubt the ability 
of the designer, but because these classes are usually 
designed by one of the naval architects of the dis- 
trict. • Mr. Mylne designed the Clyde ^o-ton O. D. C. 
They are good boats, and no doubt he will improve 
on them for the Solent. It is stated, with some show 
of probability, that H. R. H., the Prince of Wales, will 
have a boat in this class. Nothing would do more 
good to j'acht racing than the participation of the 
Prince, and one-design racing would probably not 
satisfy him for long. 
E. H. Hamilton. 
The "moorings" of a vessel have a far-fetched deriva- 
tion, but one which I think is reliable. We have the old 
Aryan lost word "mawr." or "maha." meaning great, as 
seen in maha-rajah, in MacCallum More, or in Pen-maen- 
mawr. Next, the idea of superior .^ize, passes to high 
ground ; hence a "moor" is prima facie hill ground: The 
same, being frequently uncultivated, extends the meaning 
of the word in due time to any wa te land, even though 
lowlying. But the "moor" ground, as regards an estuary 
or river channel, continued to mean the elevated bank 
above tide level. Hence when vessels were small, to 
"moor" or to "beach" them was one and the same 
process. Vessels grew in dimensions until their places of 
repose were Floating depths in mid-channel, but the term 
"moorings" has still stuck to their resting places, al- 
though these are no longer aloft and on the h'gh or great 
eround. — London Field. 
Some Sea Terms. 
Many aquatic terms explain themselves,- such as "row- 
lock" and_ "thwart." The latter, conveying the idea of a 
crossbar, is exactly analogous to the Latin equivalent of 
"transtrum" (vide Mncid V.). In naval architecture the 
varieties of "clinker" and "carvel" tell their own tale 
etymologically; in the one build the timbers being 
clinched, overlapping each other, and in the other being 
carved, or sliced to a flush surface. But it requires a 
reference to history of latter day navigation as instructed 
by Venetian mariners to recognize under "larboard" and 
"starboard" phonetic corruptions of "villa borda" and 
"ista borda." A "forecastle" preserves the history of 
shipbuilding from days when both bows and poop were 
constructed with castellations for protection in combat, 
whether against pirates or king's enemies. A cockswain 
is a character of much greater authority at sea than in 
boat racing, and hence his designation. A skipper is but 
a (Dutch) schipper, or shipper; a gunwale, or gunwall, 
speaks for itself. A tliowl, or thole, does not so easily 
explain itself, but we find the old English verb to "thole," 
in Chaucer, equivalent to "bear" or "endure." There is 
also the Gothic "thulan" and Saxon "tolan," of similar 
meaning. This helps us to throw hack to the old Aryan 
root that crops up in Latin "tollo" and in the irregular 
perfect of "tuli," and at once gives us a raison d'etre for 
a thole of a boat as that which bears the strain of the oar 
and carries the leather or metalToop which takes the oar- 
to its "support" 
Little Haste. 
In this issue there appears the outboard profile and sail 
]ilan of Little Haste, champion of the 21ft. class, Massa- 
chu.setts Y. R. A. The principal dimensions of the yacht's 
bull and spars follow: 
Length — 
Over all 40ft. oin. 
L.W.L 21 ft. oin. 
Overhang — 
Forward loft. oin. 
Aft 9ft- oin. 
Breadth- 
Extreme loft. pin. 
L.W.L loft. 3in. 
Freeboard — 
Bow 2ft. oin. 
Stern ift. 6in. 
Sail Area — • 
Mainsail 755 sq. ft. 
Jib 187 sq. ft. 
Total 942 sq. ft. 
Sail measurement : 
Mainsail- 
Boom 28ft. 6in. 
Hoist 26ft. 6in. 
Gaff 2ift. 2in. 
Leech . , 47ft. ©in. 
Jib- 
Hoist 35ft. oin. 
Leech 28ft. oin. 
. Foot , 14ft. oin. 
A new 3'acht club has been organized at Bayonne, to 
be known as the Bergen Point Y. C. The following 
officers have been elected: Commodore, A. W. Booth; 
Vice-Commodore, Midland Borland; Rear Commo- 
dore, T. J. Parker; Secretary and Treasurer, W. R. 
Wilde; Trustees, A. W. Booth. M. S. Borland, T. J. 
Parker, W. R. Wilde, Henry A. Wheeler, W. W. Genet, 
J. D. Boyd, Newton H. Day, and Dr. L. F, Donohue. 
The club starts with 107 members, and they have se- 
cured a club house on West Eighth street, Bayonne. 
