March 9, 1912 
FOREST AND STREAM 
311 
practically certain the poison when freed will 
not affect it. After a long period at sea, too, 
the perished varnish affords a better hold for 
the growths and we hence come to the con¬ 
clusion that exfoliation, to some extent, is 
necessary. Such a composition losing its sur¬ 
face film allows the growths to be swept away 
and this, as hinted above, introduces further 
practical difficulties. It is understood that the 
mottion of the vessel is necessary for this to 
take place, and so one that spends most of her 
time at anchor would benefit but little from a 
composition which wastes but slowly, _ and a 
rapidly wasting composition is expensive. A 
ship continually under way requires a uniformly 
and slowly-wearing coating, suited to her gen¬ 
eral speed, and hence with liners the anti-foul¬ 
ing question is not so difficult to solve as it is 
with naval ships and ships that only run at odd 
periods and in a variety of waters. 
In general, the most important part is the 
protective or anti-corrosive coat, since fouling 
does not affect the plating—only the speed. The 
fouling may be bad, but with a good protective 
coat the plating is not likely to suffer. To 
large ships it is usual to apply two or three 
coats of protective and then a coat—rarely two 
—of anti-fouling compositions. If it is antici¬ 
pated that the ship is to be at sea for a long 
period—say nine months or longer—a second 
coat of anti-fouling is usually applied. It is es¬ 
sential to clear all rust and scale away in the 
first place by clipping, scraping, and sound wire- 
brushing. The first protective coat is generally 
of a faster drying nature than the second, and 
succeeding coats. 
The above few notes will tend to give some 
idea of the difficulties and vicissitudes en¬ 
countered by the persons interested in a ship’s 
life and behavior at sea and the questions and 
details which they have to solve and study. The 
most important thing is to insure a clean sur¬ 
face to coat and next to select compositions 
suited to the particular service and speed of the 
ship.—Yachting Monthly. 
Things that Color the Seas. 
It has been proved that the blueness of sea 
water is in constant ratio to its saltness. In 
the tropics the tremendous evaporation induced 
by the blazing sun causes the water to be much 
more salt than it is in higher latitudes. For 
about 30 degrees both north and south of the 
Equator the waters of the world’s oceans are 
of an exquisite azure. Beyond these latitudes 
the blue fades and changes to green, and in the 
Arctic and Antartic oceans the greens are al¬ 
most as vivid as the tropical blues. 
The extraordinary blueness of the Mediter¬ 
ranean has two causes. One is that very few 
large rivers of fresh water run into this sea, 
the second that the Mediterranean is practically 
land locked, and being exposed to a powerful 
sun, evaporation is great. By actual test the 
waters of the Mediterranean are heavier and 
more salt than those of the Atlantic. 
But blue and green are not the only colors 
observed in the world’s seas and oceans. In 
January, 1909, a river of yellow water three 
miles wide and of enormous length was ob¬ 
served running parallel with the Gulf Stream. 
It stretched from Cape Florida to Cape Hat- 
teras and was undoubtedly caused by some tre¬ 
mendous submarine upheaval, probably of a vol¬ 
canic nature. 
Again, about nine years ago, the sea turned 
almost black off a large portion of the Cali¬ 
fornia coast. The whole of Santa Cruz Bay as¬ 
sumed this extraordinary inky hue. and fish¬ 
ing came abruptly to an end. In this case the 
darkness seems to have been caused by millions 
of tiny animalcules known as whale food. The 
dull reddish tint which is occasionally seen in 
the Red Sea and which has given that sea its 
name has a similar cause. The water becomes 
full of microscopic algse—tiny weeds. 
China’s Yellow Sea is usually supposed to 
owe its origin to the flood of muddy water 
which its great river pours into it. But here 
again living organisms are responsible for its 
peculiar tint. Occasionally and for some cause 
as yet undiscovered great areas of the ocean 
turn milk white. In March, 1904, the passengers 
and crew of a Japanese merchant vessel steam¬ 
ing at night between Hongkong and Yokohama 
ran into a snow white sea. It was not an 
opaque phosphorescent surface, but an expanse 
of pure snow white, having a dazzling effect 
upon the eyes. The phenomenon lasted for six 
hours.—Marine Journal. 
Motor Boat Race Course. 
Shall it be Huntington, Larchmont, lower 
Hudson, upper Hudson, Gravesend Bay, Sea Gate 
or—well or what—that is the question to be set¬ 
tled by the Motor Boat Club of America within 
the next two weeks. Some of the above indi¬ 
cated courses offer possibilities for the inte.r- 
national motor boat races this year, while most 
of them are impossible, though each has the 
right of consideration. The lower Hudson, 
though the most popular from the spectator’s 
viewpoint, is decidedly unpopular with the racers 
because of the debris afloat, which is dangerous 
to the shell-like crafts built for international 
event. The upper Hudson is not entirely free 
from driftwood, but the Tappan Zee course is 
sheltered from all but the north and is not par¬ 
ticularly hazardous in the matter of floating ob¬ 
stacles. Sea Gate is clear, but too much exposed, 
while Gravesend Bay course would require the 
racers to cross the channel. Larchmont course 
is clear and sheltered, but part of the course is 
over very shoal water which feature has been 
objected to by racing men. The defect could be 
remedied by laying the course further to the 
northeast. 
The Huntington course, over which last year’s 
races were held, gave perfect satisfaction to 
challenger and defender, and from present indi¬ 
cations will again be selected for the interna¬ 
tional event. The conditions governing the 
British international trophy say that the races 
must be held over “a suitable course in sheltered 
waters, not less than 25 nor more than 35 nauti¬ 
cal miles, so arranged as to avoid any angle of 
less than 120 degrees, and there shall be a dis¬ 
tance of at least 100 yards between any two 
■ marks. The length of each round shall be not 
less than five nor more than eight nautical miles.” 
Motor Boat Regulations. 
In the motor boat regulations for the year 
just issued by the Department of Commerce and 
Labor through the bureau of navigation, the 
rules of 1911 have been only slightly changed. 
There are no changes regarding lights, whistles, 
bells and sound signals from those enacted in 
1910. 
Where passengers are taken for hire, life pre¬ 
servers stamped by the steamboat inspectors 
must be carried. The department recommends 
it in other cases, though it is not obligatory. In 
other cases life preservers or buoyant cushions 
capable of sustaining afloat for twenty-four 
hours a downward pull of twenty pounds will 
be accepted. No life preservers or cushions 
filled with granulated cork or other loose granu¬ 
lated material and no pneumatic life preservers 
or cushions will be approved. 
Planks, gratings, floorings, oars, small boats 
in tow, etc., are not approved as substitutes for 
life preservers, but wooden life boats may be 
used not less than 4 feet in length, 14 inches in 
breadth. 2 inches in thickness and made of well 
seasoned white pine or of any other wood not 
exceeding white pine in weight a cubic foot. 
Samples of other substitutes for the articles 
mentioned must first be submitted to the super¬ 
visor-general of the steamboat inspection service. 
The regulations for the extinguishing of burn¬ 
ing gasolene remain unchanged, though a num¬ 
ber of tested anpliances are specified. Besides 
these extinguishers and suitable chemicals salt 
or sand in sufficient quantities, or preferably the 
two mixed, kept in available pails or boxes will 
serve the purpose. 
Since the law of 1910 was passed, the loss of 
life from fires or explosions on motor boats has. 
almost ceased, and the number of drownings- 
which could be prevented by life preservers, has 
diminished fatalities now resulting usually from 
capsizing. 
There are about 150,000 motor boats in the 
United States. Last season 1,657 violations of 
the motor boat law were reported by collectors 
of customs. Motor boat clubs, the magazines 
interested in motor boating, and the daily press 
have greatly aided in enforcing the law the last 
two seasons, and the requirement that every 
motor boat shall carry two copies of the pilot 
rules has created a general school in the ele¬ 
ments of navigation attended by probably 300000 
pupils. 
There is a bill now before Congress which, if 
it becomes a law, will require licenses from the 
pilots and engineers of motor boats documented 
in custom houses to carry passengers for hire 
and motor boats more than 40 feet in length 
carrying freight for hire. This bill also requires 
fishing motor boats and fishing tugs more than 
40 feet long to carry licensed engineers. This 
bill will apply to about 4,000 motor boats and 
small steamers. 
New Motor Boat Record. 
The Oregon Wolf, a 9-cylinder hydroplane, in 
a sanctioned race against time here on Feb. 25, 
broke the world’s motor boat records on a five- 
mile course for all distances up to thirty miles. 
The Oregon Wolf’s time for the thirty miles 
was 42m. 14 2-5S. ; the best previous record over 
a six-lap course was 44m. 33 1-5S., made by the 
Dixie IV., of St. Louis, in 1911. 
The Oregon Wolf was driven by John E, 
Wolff, of Portland, Ore., her owner and builder. 
The best lap was the last one, the time being 
6m. 56 4-5S., or an average of a mile in im. 
23 3-5S. 
Motor Boats in Smyrna. 
Motor boats are becoming more familiar 
sights at Smyrna. Three motor boats have 
been imported from England this year, all built 
to order by Thornycroft. This firm has now 
appointed an agent at Smyrna, and a fresh order 
for a 55-foot boat, to cost $9,300, has been 
placed with them, for delivery next spring. It 
is probable that several of these convenient 
craft will be ordered by private owners before 
long. 
A. C. A. Membership. 
NEW MEMBERS PROPOSED. 
Atlantic Division.—Charles Edouard Stecher, 
452 West 149th street. New York city, by Francis 
C. Buchenberger. 
Western Division.—Paul R. Sussman, 332 
Twenty-second street, Toledo, Ohio, by F. B. 
Huntington. 
NEW MEMBERS ELECTED. 
Atlantic Division.—6344, James W. F. Watson, 
210 Dilwyn street, Burlington, N. J.; 6345, Fred¬ 
erick Von Dohln, 880 Cauldwell avenue, Bronx, 
New York city. 
MEMBERS REINSTATED. 
Atlantic Division.—3616, Theodore W. Cook, 
263 South Fifty-fifth street, Philadelphia, Pa. 
RESIGNATIONS. 
Central Division.—1015, J. Lowell V'illiams, 
Rome, N. Y. 
MEMBER TRANSFERRED. 
Atlant’c Division to Western Division.—464, 
James K. Hand, Kenilworth, Ill. 
