782 FOREST AND STREAM. [Nov. 17, 1906. 
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A LITTLE OF PROGRESSION. 
In those offices about town which devote a 
major- part of their energies to the business side 
of yachting, there are an unusual number of de¬ 
signs that have passed beyond the creative stage 
and are now in the builders’ hands. Still more 
gratifying is the fact that on many of them actual 
construction is progressing. 
The preponderance of engine propelled boats— 
steam or explosive motor—indicates the favor 
with which traveling to or from the city by water 
is looked upon. The boats are a type that is' 
new, or rather—as in many things of this world 
---a new development. The vessels are built of 
steel or wood and in many cases are fast and 
withal good sea boats for all but extraordinary 
weather, which does not often occur during our 
season. In a gale boats of twice their size would 
be most uncomfortable. 
Of a summer afternoon at some of the yacht 
landings the scene presents, but in a different 
setting, the characteristics of the end of a per¬ 
formance at the theater where the street is jam¬ 
med with fast-going automobiles. At evening, 
this fleet of fast tenders, after each dowsing an 
absence pennant, darts away with a . rush and 
hurry, seeming in great haste to reach their an¬ 
chorage in some cove or bay up sound or river, 
away from the dust, heat, worry and noise of 
the city. 
These, however, are net all the craft that are 
holding the offices and yards busy—for there are 
many lesser boats and greater. The less pre¬ 
tentious launch, for cruising, holds its own, and 
rapidly increases in numbers, a true criterion of 
the popularity of these boats for recreation. 
Then there are some large schooners, aux¬ 
iliaries and otherwise, which are being built for 
cruising, but the racers are shrouded in the usual 
mystery. It would seem that the practice of this 
mystery might well be discontinued; for, as sen¬ 
sations go, one cannot be made of a yacht. 
The daily papers are assuring us that Sir 
Thomas Lipton will challenge, and that the race 
for the Blue Ribbon of the sea will be run in 
1908. More than that, we are further assured 
that nothing, would be interposed to obstruct the 
consummation of the match. We pride our¬ 
selves on somewhat of perspicacity, as some of 
our writings bear witness. 
There is reason for nothing except feelings of 
gratification at the outlook developed' during 
this autumn—the worst time of the year from a 
yachting point of view. 
Our friend Winfield Totnpson, of the Boston 
Globe, speaking of our bit of poetry last week, 
gives the circumstances of its aquisition: 
Holman F. Day, Maine’s “homespun poet,” 
wrote the following on a friend’s menu card at 
the Lipton dinner in Boston, and it appears this 
week in a New York yachting periodical. 
#? W » 
It is reported that the auxiliary ship Valhalla, 
which took part in the Kaiser’s ocean race from 
New York to the Needles, will soon arrive here 
as she- has been purchased by an American. Val¬ 
halla has been owned by Mr. Laycock, and till 
recently by the Earl of Crawford. 
Boston Letter. 
It is stated that the terms for the next Ger- 
man-American race have been arranged, save 
for the selection of the dates, and that the rules 
and classes will be the same, as in the recent 
contest at Marblehead. This is at variance with 
earlier information, and it is to be hoped that 
an official statement will be made at an early 
date, so that our yachtsmen may place their 
orders in season for an early delivery of their 
boats. 
The Kaiserlicher Y. C. is anxious to have the 
match occur during Kiel week, the annual flood 
tide of German yachting. But as Kiel week 
falls in June, it is clearly impossible for our 
representatives to be ready at such an early date. 
Our boats should have at least three weeks in 
Kiel waters for a thorough tuning up. Two 
weeks must be allowed for the transportation 
of our boats to Germany. Prior to this the 
Eastern Y. C. would need two weeks for its 
trial races, and these could not well be held 
within a month after the boats are launched. 
So that eleven weeks should elapse between the 
beginring of our season and the time of the 
races for the Kaiser’s cup. 
Our season does not begin, in the sense that 
the great bulk of our boats are participating in 
the racing, until about June 17, although the 
opening regatta is always held by the South 
Boston Y. C. on Memorial Day, the 30th of 
May. While the weather conditions in May are 
generally excellent, business and professional 
cares make it almost impossible for our yacht¬ 
ing men to devote the time necessary to a 
thorough tuning up, so early in the season. In 
any even the race cannot be held before July 21, 
and should not be scheduled for an earlier date 
than Aug. 15, if our representatives are to have 
an opportunity for careful preparation. 
Assuming that the statement that the contest 
will again be waged with sonder class boats is 
authoritative, ihe decision is an unhappy one for 
the prosperity of Massachusetts Bay. If class 
Q could have been designated, we might safely 
have counted on ten new boats for that class 
in local waters which would have provided eight 
good boats, including tire Orestes, to continue 
in hotly fought competition after the best three 
had been sent to Kiel. And this would have 
been a great move in the direction toward 
which the Massachusetts Bay clubs have set their 
faces. 
Continuing the struggle with sonder boats can 
have no permanent benefit for our sport. The 
class has no place in our present movement to 
better conditions by upbuilding a wholesome 
type; it has no future in our waters. Like some 
rare exotic, such as the orchid, it can be nurtured 
here, but only under glass, in expensive hot¬ 
houses and by means of the most delicate at¬ 
tention. We can never make the slightest alter¬ 
ation in the rules and restrictions governing it, 
much as such alterations might be needed to 
make the boats comply w.ith local conditions, 
for the boats would no longer be in accordance 
with the German rule over which we have not 
the slightest control. 
Doubtless our yachtsmen will build new boats 
to the rule and equally without doubt our clubs 
will provide races for them throughout the sea¬ 
son, and it is quite conceivable that the Y. R. A. 
would adopt the class in toto; but, whatever is 
done, the class is not, nor can it be, indigenous 
to our soil; it is, and ever will be, antagonistic 
to the principles which must prevail if our racing 
fleets are to progress along conservative lines 
in the production of wholesome, seaworthy, 
saleable boats with the speed that our talented 
designers can surely weld to those qualities. 
And so we see that our best, our most repre¬ 
sentative men, while honestly engaged in an 
attempt to nurture the spot, to encourage its 
growth by providing new incentives for our 
skill,.our capacity for improvement and our love 
of friendly rivalry upon the sea, because their 
task involves an international match are, in 
effect, exerting a baleful influence upon our local 
interests. The international feature is the worm 
in the fruit. If we are to be fair, to be honest, 
with our antagonists we must equal them in 
generosity, we must yield something of our 
personal wishes, our local aspirations; for the 
good of all we must waive the good of a few. 
But the moment that we do so our own per¬ 
sonal, local interests suffer. 
“Local interests are ever selfish, and the 
Prophet of Selfishness hath no abiding future; 
but he that neglecteth his own fields to gather 
the grain of his neighbor, shall return to find 
his crops laid waste.” 
William Lambert Barnard. 
Society of Naval Architects and Marine 
Engineers. 
The fourteenth general meeting of the Society 
of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers will 
take place in New York city, at 10*A. M., Thurs¬ 
day and Friday, Nov. 22 and 23, 1906. Through 
the courtesy of the President and managers of 
tlie American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 
the meetings will be held in the auditorium of 
No. 12 West Thirty-first street. 
There will be a banquet at Delmonico’s, 7 P. 
M., Friday, Nov. 23, to which members and their 
guests are cordially invited. The customary ar¬ 
rangements as to tickets, will be observed.’ 
Members intending to propose candidates for 
membership, can secure blank forms of applica¬ 
tion by addressing the secretary; the applications 
should be returned to the secretary on or before 
Nov. 20. 
The Council will meet at No. 12 West Thirty- 
first street, New York, on Wednesday, Nov. 21, 
at 3 P. M. 
By the direction of the executive committee, 
Wm. T. Baxter, S"ec’y-Treas. 
LIST OF PAPERS TO BE READ. 
THURSDAY, NOV. 22, IQ06. 
1. “A Fireproof Ferryboat.”—By F. L. DuBosque. 
Member. 
2. “Construction of a Fireproof Excursion Steamer.”— 
By William Gatewood, Member. 
3. “Speed and Power Performance of Albany Day Line 
Steamer New York.”—By Professor J. E. Denton, 
Member of Council. 
4. “Personal Impressions of Model Towing Station 
Abroad.”—By Professor C. Ii. Peabody, Membei 
of Council. 
5. “The Experimental Tank of the University of Michi¬ 
gan.”—By Professor H. C. Sadler, Member. 
6. “Model Basin Gleanings.”—By Naval Constructor 
D. W. Taylor. U. S. N, Vice-President. 
7. “Comparison of. the Durand and Curtis & Plewins 
Papers on Propeller Experiments of 1905.”—By* 
Col. E. A. Stevens, Vice-Prdsfdent. 
FRIDAY, NOV. 23> 1906. 
8. “A Modern Fleet.”—By Capt. E. B. Barry, U.S.N., 
Associate. 
9. “Recent Developments in Armor and Armament.” — 
By John F. Meigs, Associate. 
10. “The Development of War Ship Design.” — By Naval 
Constructor R. IT. Robinson. U S.N., Member. 
11. “Development of Submarines.”—By Lawrence Y. 
Spear, Member 
12. “The Effect of the Universal Rule on Yacht Design.” 
B 3 r Martin C. Erismann, Jr. 
13. “The Gasoline Engine.”—By Arthur T. Chester, As¬ 
sociate. ' 
14. “Two Timber Dry Docks and their Pumping Plant.” 
—By F. P. Palen and G. L. Smith, Members. 
15. “A New Sea Anchor for Coaling at Sea.” — By 
Spencer Miller, Member. 
Mr. James F. Duncan lias been named by the 
Hampton Roads Y. C. as its representative on 
the Jamestown Exposition yacht racing commit¬ 
tee. 
