3°4 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Aug. 25, 1906. 
.704; Bonidrei, .703; Auk, .686; Chewink VI., 
.664; Sumatra .636; Vim, .633; New Orleans, 
.600; Windrim Kid. .596; Spokane, .590; Hay¬ 
seed III., .563; Cod, .507; Manchester II., .492; 
Sally VIII, .490; Ellen, .425; Skiddoo, .421; 
Alecto, .184, and Lorelei, .103. 
On either the comparative point system or on 
the percentage basis, Bonidrei, Caramba and 
Auk were clearly entitled to go into the finals. 
Chewink VI. stood fourth, but she was- very 
plainly going out of shape, her bow had a cork¬ 
screw twist, and she was wisely eliminated. Next 
came Sumatra and Vim. The question as to 
the sixth best boat then lay between New Or¬ 
leans and Windrim Kid, which were very even, 
and Spokane which was close on their heels. As 
against Spokane’s two wins, neither New Or¬ 
leans or Windrim Kid had scored a firsthand 
as a result Spokane seemed most clearly entitled 
to the honor of going into the finish. I and 
three other men, all far better informed than 
myself, made our own independent tests of the 
six best on the way in from the Rock Friday 
afternoon. We all picked five of the six boats 
selected by the committee, and two of the four 
chose the exact six that were later nominated by 
the committee. Personally, I rejected Vim in 
the endeavor to get a known heavy weather per¬ 
former, thinking the committee would give some 
weight to previous performances. But in that 
I was mistaken. It remains an unquestionable 
fact that the committee exercised great care, 
gave great thought to their task and acted ab¬ 
solutely without bias or prejudice. And by go¬ 
ing into the comparative times of each boat oh 
every leg of all the races, they were able to form 
a far closer, estimate of the comparative merits 
of the boats than is afforded by any percentage 
table. 
Auk, Bonidrei, Caramba, Spokane, Sumatra 
and Vim sailed three short races Saturday, again 
in light airs and smooth seas. Caramba was 
still further improved by Mr. Foster resigning 
the helm to E. A. Boardman, and shipping 
Reginald Boardman as light sailsman. This trio 
pulled their boat through for two firsts and one 
second, while Vim scored a first, second and 
fifth, and Auk a second, third and sixth. 
Based solely on these three races the Caramba, 
Vim and Auk were clearly the best three and 
entitled to their selection. The facts remain 
that there is not a heavy weather boat in the list 
of defenders, and that September breezes have 
more weight than those of August. The Ger¬ 
man method of selecting their best heavy 
weather, their best medium weather and their 
best light weather aspirants has much to com¬ 
mend it, especially as the cup is to go to the 
best boat and not the best team. Vim should 
be our mainstay in a breeze and sea, although 
she seems rather lightly powered. 
The proposition that the Massachusetts and 
New York champions in Class Q meet for a 
post-season series to settle the championship 
question is meeting favor here, and promises 
to be actually adopted. The races should nat¬ 
urally be held in New York waters, where the 
class is strongest. Orestes will undoubtedly 
represent Massachusetts in such a contest, as 
she is unbeatable here and the only genuine 
"Q” boat, her rivals having been altered to fit 
the rule rather than built especially for it. She 
is, however, undoubtedly a very fast performer 
and wins converts to the new rule. 
William Lambert Barnard. 
The Shelter Island Tide Gauge. 
Manhanset Manor, Shelter Island, August 11. 
•—A clever device which enables yachtsmen to 
tell at a glance (he height of the tide has been 
installed at the New York Yacht Club’s station 
at Shelter Island. It was devised by Prof. 
Charles Lane Poor of the department of astron¬ 
omy at Columbia University. He was assisted in 
working out the details by Prof. Hallock of 
Columbia. 
The tide gauge, as it is called, at a distance 
looks like a big white clock. It surmounts the 
roof of the club station and can be plainly seen 
by any yachtsman dropping anchor off the station. 
The dial is inscribed with two letters, “H” and 
"L,” meaning high and low water. The space 
between these letters is subdivided like the face 
of a clock with the numerals running from zero 
to six. A long hand traverses the face of the 
dial as the tide rises and falls; and as it passes 
over these numerals it indicates the height in 
feet and inches of the water above an arbitrary 
zero mark. The average height of the water, or 
mean tide, is indicated by the numeral at the top 
of the dial. Yachtsmen anchoring off the station 
are enabled by a glance at the dial to judge 
accurately how near shore they can approach 
with their craft. 
The indicator of the dial is attached to a 
wire which leads from a tank under the station. 
This wire is fastened to an ordinary can buoy 
in the tank. The water in the tank rises and 
falls according to the fluctuations of the tide. 
There is a small intake pipe leading some dis¬ 
tance from the tank and containing several el¬ 
bows. The end of the intake is twenty feet 
from the tank and five or six feet below the 
level of the water. By this devise the water in 
the tank is always at the same level as the water 
in the harbor, and is never affected by the waves 
on the surface. The indicator of the tide gauge 
is therefore not disturbed by rough water out¬ 
side. 
An automatic recording device of special design 
is now being made in the physical laboratory 
of Columbia University. This was designed by 
Prof. Hallock and will soon be installed at the 
NEAR VIEW OF TIDE GAUGE. 
station here. It will he controlled by clock work 
and will delineate on a paper chart a continuous 
record of the fluctuations of the tide. Such a 
record will be of permanent value and will be 
analyzed in a study of the tides and currents, 
and from these records tables will be compiled 
giving the time of high and low water. 
There is decided need of such a device. The 
study of the tides and currents along this section 
of the coast has been sadly neglected. Through 
Long Island Sound, Vineyard Sound and arouriH 
Cape Cod, pass vessels and cargoes valued at 
millions of dollars. In fogs and bad weather 
the knowledge of currents is essential; every 
year millions of property and many lives are 
lost through lack of this knowledge. 
Realizing this need, several prominent New 
Yorkers have organized the New York Observa¬ 
tory and Nautical Museum. Prof. Poor, who 
devised the tide gauge, is a member of the com¬ 
mittee on preliminary organization of the pro¬ 
posed observatory and museum. It is proposed 
to establish in New York an institution devoted 
to the interests of the navigator; to the investi¬ 
gation of new methods and new discoveries in 
ship building and in ship sailing; a museum 
where can be studied the development of the 
modern vessel and where can be found charts 
and other aids to the navigator. The members 
of the preliminary organization committee are 
Mr. Frederick G. Bourne, Mr. Cornelius Vander¬ 
bilt, Mr. Edward S. Isham, Mr. George A. Cor- 
mack, Mr. J. D. Jerrold Kelley and Prof. Charles 
Lane Poor. 
The third boat of the German team for the 
Sonder Class races arrived in Marblehead on 
Saturday night last. The boat is named Tilli VI. 
and is owned by Mr. August Kutschkowiski. 
The yacht arrived in Boston on the deck of the 
Hamburg line steamer Silvia, and was towed to 
the yard of Messrs. Stearns & McKay, Marble¬ 
head. 
Table of Comparative Results. 
Showing Relative Merits of Each Boat With Each Competitor 
Alecto .. 
* 
Bonidrei 
Auk .... 
Caramba 
Chewink 
Cod .... 
Ellen ... 
w 
P 
to 
n> 
cl 
Lorelei 
g 
P 
3 
O 
to 
£ 
n 
O 
in 
w 
vf 
< 
1 
Skiddoo 
Spokane 
Sumatra 
Vim .... 
S' 
Cl 
*-t 
3 
hH 
HH 
1—1 
n 
0 
P 
5 
HH 
HH 
W 
CL 
Total 
Wins 
Alecto . 
1 
0 
1 
n 
3 
1 
1 
4 
1 
0 
1 
0 
1 
0 
0 
0 
14 
Auk . 
. 6 
4 
4 
5 
5 
7 
4 ■ 
8 
6 
5 
7 
G 
G 
3 
3 
6 
85 
Bonidrei . 
j 
5 
4 
6 
6 
6 
8 
5 
6 
6 
5 
4 
5 
6 
4 
87 
. 6 
4 
3 
6 
6 
G 
6 
8 
5 
6 
7 
6 
4 
5 
5 
4 
87 
Chewink VI. 
. 7 
3 
4 
‘2 
4 
6 
5 
8 
5 
5 
7 
6 
4 
4 
4 
5 
79 
Cod . 
. 4 
2 
2 
4 
4 
5 
•7 
4 
4 
5 
5 
3 
4 
3 
2 
61 
Ellen . 
. 6 
1 
2 
2 
2 
4 
2 
7 
4 
2 
4 
5 
3 
3 
1 
2 
49 
Hayseed III. 
4 
2 
2 
3 
3 
6 
8 
5 
3 
4 
6 
3 
4 
4 
5 
68 
Lorelei . 
. 
1 
0 
0 
0 
1 
1 
6 
0 
0 
1 
1 
0 
0 
0 
0 
6 
. G 
9 
3 
3 
3 
4 
4 
3 
8 
2 
3 
5 
5 
2 
3 
2 
57 
New Orleans . 
3 
2 
2 
3 
4 
6 
5 
8 
6 
5 
5 
4 
5 
4 
4 
73 
Sally VIII . 
. 6 
t 
'2 
1 
1 
3 
4 
4 
7 
5 
3 
5 
3 
2 
2 
4 
53 
Skiddoo . 
. 7 
2 
3 
2 
2 
3 
3 
2 
7 
3 
3 
3 
2 
2 
2 
3 
50 
Spokane . 
. 6 ’ 
2 
4 
4 
4 
5 
5 
5 
8 
3 
4 
5 
6 
4 
4 
3 
72 
Sumatra . 
5 
3 
3 
4 
4 
5 
4 
8 
6 
3 
G 
6 
4 
5 
5 
78 
. 7 
5 
2 
3 
4 
5 
7 
4 
8 
5 
4 
6 
6 
4 
3 
5 
78 
Wiridrim Kid. 
. 7 
2 
4 
4 
3 
6 
6 
3 
8 
G 
4 
4 
5 
5 
3 
3 
73 
