2 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
ing long strings so that we could stand some distance 
off. In this way, by exercising some tact, we managed 
to get all we wanted. Of course if we had had netting 
enough for a seine it would have been very easy. 
Once we had our bait, however, the fishing was all 
that we "could ask, or even think." Leaning over the 
side of the boat (one on each side, and carefully) we 
could see the fish twenty feet below us circle lazily 
around the hook and perhaps move off again, but in 
a minute they would be back, unable, especially if there 
were more than one, to long resist ; then with a quick 
move, one of them would have seized the bait, and up 
he would come, a flapping beauty resplendent in white 
and gold. The number of fish we would pull up in the 
morning was regulated solely by the number we thought 
we could use, and no fisherman need be told that under 
the circumstances we estimated Our capacity rather 
largely. 
And then such splendid fish they were, too, firm and 
sweet and white, and when fried in butter and cornmeal, 
and accompanied by new potatoes borrowed for the 
Along the Beach— Lake Huron. 
occasion, and baked in the ashes, they made a meal the 
very remembrance of which makes my mouth still 
water. Our meals were generally sandy, it is true, and 
sometimes the worse for inexpert cooking, but never 
were meals enjoyed more or digested better, though the 
cook of the hour might occasionally hear a few caustic 
comments if he listened. . For instance, the LL.D., 
when engaged in making cornmeal mush one morning, 
despite my urgent appeals, refused to stir it, stating that 
that was not necessary. Of course he would have been 
pretty weir blistered up, because the fire was hot, but 
that was part of the job, that was all. Well, the mush 
when served had a decidedly burnt taste, and there was 
perhaps half an inch of it stuck in the bottom of the 
pan, but it wasn't burnt. Oh, no ! The stuff in the 
bottom of the pan was not explained, but the peculiar 
taste :was caused by smoke- which ventured over the 
top of the pan, fell in, and became incorporated in the 
mush. That is still the official explanation, because you 
might as well argue with the Washington Monument 
as with the LL.D. He has besides a number of foolish 
tales, which he tells on all occasions, about me, but 
they are untrue, and not worth repeating anyway. 
The days passed like a fairy story, upon that beach. 
We had nothing to do but get our meals and amuse 
ourselves. With our meals we were by this time suc- 
ceeding gorgeously, with wild raspberries in profusion, 
new potatoes very accessible, and fresh perch in unlim- 
iled quantities — besides these we had, of course, our 
staples, and an extra supply of canned goods from Port 
Huron. Amusing ourselves required very little trouble. 
Fishing was, of course, great ftin, but we listed that 
as part of the not very strenuous struggle for existence. 
Aside from that we spent most of our time swimming, 
and then lying flat on our backs in the shade and talk- 
ing, thinking or dozing as we happened to feel like. 
We had been paddling pretty hard and steadily for the 
preceding ten days, and a ittle loafing and good living 
just seemed to suit. 
One afternoon we paddled down to the life-saving 
station and made a very pleasant little call there, looking 
over their apparatus and swapping yarns. In the course 
of our stay a couple of the men wanted to try the 
canoe. The first came out all right, as was expected, 
but the second, a man 'rather given to talking of his 
own achievements, past, present and future, was not 
so fortunate. With a lordly wave of the hand, indicating • 
the way in which it should be done, he got in and 
seated himself on the deck the way he had seen the 
present scribe doing. He had not gone thirty feet before 
the boat gave a spasmodic tip, and the next instant there 
was nothing to be seen of him but a wild flapping of 
arms, legs and paddles in the water, while the "old 
hand" recovered from his surprise enough to cough the 
water out of his lungs and tow the boat ashore. The 
delight of our hosts— our other hosts, that is— positively 
knew no bounds, and to add to the general good feeling 
1 went down and took a picture of the returning hero 
as he crawled disgustedly out on the little dock. I 
happened to know exactly how he felt, but did not 
m.ention the fact. 
On our way back there was not a breath of air stir- 
ring and the lake was as flat as a mirror, so that, the 
light being right, we were able to see the bottom with 
as much distinctness, apparently, as if there were no 
water between us and it. This gave us an almost un- 
canny feeling, as though we were travelling in an 
airship. The ground would rise and fall, now rough, 
now smooth, below us, and we would glide along above 
as if supported by wings. I have a number of times 
traveled over water so clear that the bottom was dis- 
tinctly visible, but never before had an illusion of that 
sort borne upon me so strongly. 
That night we made the acquaintance of the most 
jealous creature I ever knew. It was a whipporwill, 
iWf llr?4 worJd it 414 lis- gOQ^l .to .knpw 
him. He had found his work. I think he repeated his 
vocabulary of one word a hundred thousand times at 
the very least that night, and that without abating one 
jot or tittle of his ardor. Each repetition was just as 
fresh, just as enthusiastic, just as replete with satisfac- 
tion to himself, as the first. We were sorry we couldn't 
feel the same about it as he did. 
After three days of this tranquil camp life our time 
was up and we had to go back. We were anxious to 
finish in style, however, and determined to make the 
sixty-mile run from Port Huron down to Detroit, where 
our cruise would terminate, in one day. That was with 
the understanding, ho^yever, that we would not attempt 
to cross Lake St. Clair if it looked stormy. It is a 
treacherous little lake at best, and to get caught in a 
canoe by a squall when five or ten miles from shore 
would mean simply a question of obituaries. We accord- 
ingly, with some pangs at being obliged to leave, packed 
up and paddled down to Port Huron, where we made 
arrangements for our tent, sail, blankets and heavier 
stuff to go down by steamer, and left our canoe in the 
warehouse on the dock. 
The next day was Sunday (we had figured our time 
pretty close) and we were disappointed to learn that 
we could not get the canoe before seven o'clock; how- 
ever, as matters turned out, we could not get any break- 
fast in time for an earlier start, so that it didn't matter. 
At seven o'clock, accordingly, we started, and- a 
fresher, clearer day I have never seen. We had but 
one grievance, the wind. The day before it had been 
blowing, right down stream, but, as we expected,; it 
veered completely around in the night and blew dead 
against us all day. If the wind did make traveling 
harder, though, it supplied us with fresh, pure ozone 
in unlimited quantities, and the first thirty miles or so, 
from Port Huron down to the Flate, were certainly 
delightful. 
We came down mile after mile, working easily but- 
sleadily, past the familiar spots we had remarked on 
our way up, but tliis time keeping to the middle of the 
river as if we owned it, and allowing the right of way 
to the up-coming barges simply through the courtesy 
that' flowed from our superabundant good humor. We 
readied Algonac, twenty-eight miles down the river, at 
a trifle after eleven o'clock, still as fresh as daisies, for 
we were saving ourselves for our run across the lake. 
Our lunch we brought with us and ate iii the boat, one 
of us paddling while the other ate. The paddling under 
those conditions is something of a bore, but the eating 
lunch is great. We very soon reached the Flats, after 
passing the two or three miles of summer cottages that 
extend up into the St. Clair river. At one of these it 
required a colossal draft upon our resolution to proceed 
without a stop, the attraction being a couple of charming 
girls in swimming who, we imagined, looked lonesome. 
The fact that we were looking frightfully tough was 
another factor in the case, not without weight, in en- 
abling us to adhere to our determination. 
Then came the numerous fine club houses and hotels, 
and after them the famous ship canal. The latter is 
a channel dredged for two miles through the shallows 
of the lake, and protected by embankments thrown up 
on either side from the encroachments of the continually 
changing shoals. 
Once through that and we were ready for our 
eighteen-mile trip across the lake. After a careful and 
dutiful inspection of the weather we decided that it was 
safe, wriggled ourselves into as comfortable positions 
as we could, and started. Far away to our right was 
visible a black line which indicated the American shore, 
but ahead of us, and to our left, there was nothing in 
sight but water, and the smoke of an occasional distant 
steamer. We started off at a good gait and as happy 
as larks, expecting to be in Detroit by four or five 
o'clock. Had we known that we had seven hours more 
of hard paddling ahead of us our spirits might hate 
ebbed a little. ^ ,,' 
The wind, which had not been seriously annoying on 
the river, began to bother us on the lake, and at half- 
past four we Vere still three or four miles farther out 
in the lake than Grosse Pointe. By this time we could 
make very little headway at all against the wind, the 
whiteeaps bunting against the bow of the boat in tireless 
succession, then breaking on the forward deck and 
dumping the overflow into the cockpit. It required three 
hours of the hardest kind of work to make the next five 
miles. iSolid work of that sort came hard, too, for we 
were more tired than we thought, and as far as simple 
bodily comfort went it would have been preferable to 
be blown out into the lake and drowned to forcing our 
aching muscles to any further exertion. We were 
opposed to dying on principle and for other reasons, 
however, and the wind mercifully died down about half- 
past seven, so that we reached Detroit safely an hour 
later, still alive, but very tired indeed. We had not 
stirred from the canoe for thirteen and a half hours, 
and had been paddling all that time, for over three hours 
using the utmost of our strength. 
However, "All's well that ends well," if oui: sixty- 
mile trip did come harder than it should, and after we 
had tipped out the water, of which we had shipped over 
two pailfuls, and got home to bed, we were ready to 
make plans for the next year's outing. 
We were several shades darker than mulattoes when 
we got back, and some of our lady friends stated that 
they" had once considered us good-looking, with emphasis 
on the past tense, but we have hopes of eventually re- 
gaining our Caucasian hue. Physically, the trip gave us a 
new lease of life, and you may be sure that two weeks 
of primitive life next to broad, sweet, simple nature 
left a beneficial impress somewhere on our characters. 
Special Cftiisingf Class Canoe. 
Last year Mr. Daniel B. Goodsell and two members 
of the New York C. C. built speciab cruising class 
canoes. The plans of these boats appeared in Forest 
AND Stream of Feb. 7, 1903, and we give herewith a 
photograph of Mr. Goodsell's boat under sail. 
The A. C. A. made' provisions for this class at a 
meeting held last year. _ ' 
The boats were put together by W. F, Stevens, of 
racing canoes in America. They cost, complete, a bit 
under $125. 
The hull is straight sided with rounded bottom and 
deck. An underbody rudder is used instead of the old 
style hung to the stern post. The boats can be rowed 
or paddled, although distinctly built for racing pur- 
poses. A leg-o'-motton mainsail and small jib are used, 
the latter being rigged to boom out and act as spinnaker. 
The boats are 17ft. over all and 42in. breadth. They 
Special Cruising Class Canoe. — Owned by D. B. Goodsell. 
will draw sin. With the board down the draft is 
3ft. The. hull will weigh 200 pounds. The total dis- 
placement with crew of one aboard is about 510 pounds. 
Hollow spars will be used. They carry about 135ft. of 
sail. 
The canoes are pjainted on the outside, except the 
top strake, which is varnished. Each boat is fitted 
with water-tight compartments, making it non-sinkable. 
The straight features of the sides and the cockpit ar- 
rangements make it almost impossible to fill the craft, 
even though the sail be lying flat in the water. A zinc 
dagger centerboard of the Linton Hope type, weighing 
65 pounds, will be used. A feature of the boat is three 
feet clear cockpit space aft of the centerboard trunk. 
Officers of A. C A., 
Commodore,— C. F. Wolters, 14 Main St. E., Rochester, N. Y. 
Secretary-Treasuier— John Sears Wright, 519 West Ave., Rochester, 
N. Y. 
ATLANTIC DIVISION. 
Vice-Commodore— L. C. Kretzmer, L. C. Schepp Building, New 
York. 
Rear-Commodore— W. A. Furman, 846 Berkeley Ave., Trenton, N.J. 
Purser— M. Ohlmeyer, Jr., 201 Palisade Ave., West Hoboken, N. J. 
Executive Committee— H. L. Pollard, 138 Front St., New York; 
N. S. Hyatt, Ossining, N. Y.; H. C. Allen, 54 Prospect St., 
Trenton, N. J. „ , , 
Board of Governors— R. J. Wilkin, 164 Montague St., Brooklyn, 
N. Y. , 
Racmg Board— H. L. Quick, Yonkers, N. Y. 
CENTRAL DIVISION. 
Vice-Commodore— H. W. Breitenstein, 511 Market St., Pittsburg, 
Pa. 
Rear-Commodore— Frank D. Wood, Buffalo, N. Y. 
I'urser— Frank C. Demmler, 526 Smithfield St., Pittsburg, Pa. 
Evecutive Committee— Jesse J. Armstrong, Rome. N. Y.; 
H. C. Hsyt, 26 S. Goodfean St., Rochester, N. Y. 
Board of Governors— C. P. Forbush, 164 Crescent Ave., Buffalo, 
N. Y. 
Racing Board— Harry M. Stewart, 85 Main St., East, Rochester, 
N. Y. 
EASTERN DIVISION. 
Vice-Commodore— Henri Schaeffer, Manchester, N. H. 
Rear-Commodore— H. M. S. Aiken, 45 Milk St., Boston, Mass. 
Purser, Edw. B. Stearns, Manchester, N. H. 
Executive Committee— B. F. Jacobs, Jr., West Medford, Mass.; 
D. S. Pratt, Jr., Wellesley Hills, Mass.; Marcus Butler, 
Lawrence, Mass. ; William W. Crosby, Woburn, Mass. 
Board of Governor.s— Paul Butler, U. S. Cartridge Co., Lowell, 
Racing Board— Paul Butler, U. S. Cartridge Co., Lowell, Mass.; 
H. D. Murphy, alternate. 
NORTHERN DIVISION. 
Vice-Commodore— Chas. W. McLean, 303 St. James St., Montreal, 
Canada. 
Rear-Commodore— J. W. Sparrow, Toronto. : 
Purser-^J. V. Nutter, Montreal, Canada. \ 
Executive Committee— C. E. Britton, Gananoque, Ont.; Harry 
Page, Toronto. _ 
Board of Governors— J. N. MacKendrick, Gait, Ont. 
Racing Board— E. J, Minet, 125 Vitre St., Montreal, Canada. 
WESTERN DIVISION. 
Vice-Commodore — Burton D. Munhall, care of Brooks Household 
Art Co., Cleveland, O. 
Rear-Commodore— Chas. J. Stedman, National I^fayette Bank, 
Cincinnati, O. 
Purser— Geo. A. Hall, care of Bank of Commeree, Cl&vdand, O. 
Executive Committee— Thos. P. Eckert, 31 West Court St., Cin- 
cinnati, O.; Dr. H. L. Frost, 10 Howard St., Cleveland, O. 
Board of Governors— Henry C. Morse, Peoria, 111. 
: How to Join the A. C. A. 
From Chapter I., Section 1, of the by-laws of the A. C. A.: , 
"Application for membership shall be made to the Division 
Pursers, and shall he accompanied by the recommendation of an 
active member and by the sum of two dollars, one dollar as 
entrance fee and one dollar as dues for the_ current year, to b« 
refunded in case of non-election of the applicant." 
All communications for Forest and Stbeai* MMN (« 
directed to Foresi and Stream Pub, Co., Nev9 T^T^i ^ 
