624 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[April 16, 1910. 
New House at Whitestone. 
The Whitestone Y. C., whose house was re¬ 
cently destroyed by fire, has already started to 
rebuild. Plans have been drawn for a modern 
attractive house, which will be ready for oc¬ 
cupancy by Decoration Day. The club saved 
nothing from the fire, and several'members who 
were sleeping in the house were rescued with 
great difficulty. The new house will contain a 
large reception room, dining and billard rooms, 
work-ship, shower baths and about twenty bed¬ 
rooms. It will be equipped with an electric 
lighting and a heating plant, and have a garage 
in the rear of the grounds. This club was or¬ 
ganized in 1907, and has now more than 100 
members. Capt. I. J. Merritt was commodore 
in 1909. The present officers are: Commodore. 
Grant S. Kelley; Vice-Commodore, James S. 
Maher; Rear-Commodore, R. A. Freeman; 
Secretary, Joseph C. Ramsay; Treasurer, C. H. 
Nutter. 
Portland Y. C. Schedule. 
Percy A. Mills, chairman of the regatta com¬ 
mittee of the Portland Y. C., has announced 
the schedule of the coming season, which is as 
follows: June 23. 24, 25 and 26, annual cruise; 
July 2, 20. 27 and 30, Aug. 3 and 17, club dory 
races; July 13. joint regatta of Boston and 
Portland yacht clubs; Aug. 8, interstate dory 
races at Marblehead; July 9. Aug. 20 and 27. 
races of second, third and catboat classes; Sept. 
3, 4 and 5, fall cruise. 
Branford Y. C. 
At the annual meeting of Branford \. C. 
the officers elected were: Commodore Herbert 
Smith, of New Haven; Vice-Commodore Wil¬ 
liam M. Hudson, of Branford; Fleet Captain, 
T. Parker Lewis; Secretary, Norman Gillette; 
Treasurer, Claus Johnson. The club has an 
option on the Robinson Cottage at Brocket’s 
Point, and will in all probability make that the 
club house this year. 
Foster Sells Yachts. 
C. H. W. Foster has sold his three-masted 
schooner Lillian Woodruff, which he has used 
as a houseboat, and the vessel will be made a 
trader again. Mr. Foster has also sold his 
Sonder class yacht Caramba to George Atkin¬ 
son, Jr. Caramba was one of the American 
representatives in the first race against the 
German yachts. She was designed by Board- 
man. 
Commodore Towen’s Appointments. 
Commodore W. C. Towen, of the Brooklyn Y. 
C.. announces these appointments: Fleet Cap¬ 
tain. Alexander C. Eustace; Flee Surgeon, 
John A. Voorhees, M.D.; Fleet Chaplain, Rev. 
John A. Lane. The Rev. John Gresser, of 
Hollis, L. I., has been appointed a club chaplain. 
Motor 'Boating . 
New Motor Boat Bill. 
There is every indication that the troubles 
that have followed owners of small motor boats 
because of the equipment they were required to 
carry by Government regulations are to be ended. 
Two weeks ago Forest and Stream gave a sum¬ 
mary of a bill that had been introduced in the 
Senate and House of Representatives which had 
been inspired by the American Power Boat As¬ 
sociation, the Western Association, the Manu¬ 
facturers’ Association and some individual clubs. 
The bill has the endorsement of the Department 
of Labor and Commerce and of the Bureau of 
Navigation. This, however, does not mean that 
it will become law. In the Senate the bill has 
been referred to the committee on commerce and 
in the House it has been referred to the com¬ 
mittee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries. Those 
owners of motor boats who wish to have these 
bills passed should interest themselves enough to 
write to their representatives in Congress urging'' 
them to advocate their adoption. 
L'he bill known as Senate Bill 7359 an d House 
Bill 23,373 was introduced in the Senate by Mr. 
Nelson for Mr. Frye, and in the House by Mr. 
Greene, of Massachusetts. These two bills are 
identical. The full text follows: 
A bill to amend laws for preventing collisions 
of vessels, and to regulate equipment of certain 
motor boats on the navigable waters of the 
United States. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Rep¬ 
resentatives of the United States of America in 
Congress assembled, that the words “motor 
boat,” when used in this act, shall include any 
vessel as defined in Section 3 of the Revised 
Statutes, if propelled by machinery other than 
by steam and less than 65 feet in length. The 
length shall be measured from end to end over 
the deck, excluding sheer. 
Sec. 2. That motor boats subject to the pro¬ 
visions of this act shall be divided into classes 
as follows: 
Class one. Less than 25 feet in length. 
Class two. Twenty-five feet or over and less 
than 40 feet in length. 
Class three. Forty feet or over and less than 
65 feet in length. 
Sec. 3. That motor boats subject to the pro¬ 
visions of this act, in lieu of the lights pre¬ 
scribed, respectively, by Article II. of the act 
approved June 7, 1897, entitled “An Act to adopt 
regulations for preventing collisions upon cer¬ 
tain harbors, rivers and inland water of the 
United States”; rule three of the act approved 
Feb. 8, 1895, entitled “An Act to regulate navi¬ 
gation on -the Great Lakes and their connecting 
and tributary waters”; rules three, five, six 
and seven or Section 4233 of the Revised 
Statutes, shall carry, subject to the penalties pre¬ 
scribed in said acts, respectively, and to a penalty 
of $50, on motor boats on rivers flowing into the 
Gulf of Mexico and their tributaries, the fol¬ 
lowing lights, and no other lights which may 
be mistaken for the prescribed lights shall be 
exhibited : 
(a) Every motor boat of Class one shall 
carry the following lights: 
First. A white light aft to show all around 
the horizon. 
Second. A combined lantern in the forepart 
of the vessel and lower than the white light aft 
showing green to starboard and red to port, so 
fixed as to throw the light from right ahead to 
two points abaft the beam on their respective 
sides. 
(b) Every motor boat of classes two and 
three shall carry the following lights: 
First. A bright white light in the forepart of 
the vessel, as near the stem as practicable, so 
constructed as to show an unbroken light over 
an arc of the horizon of twenty points of the 
compass, so fixed as to throw the light ten points 
on each side of the vessel, namely, from right 
ahead to two points abaft the beam on either 
side. The glass or lens shall be of not less than 
the following dimensions: 
Class two. Nineteen square inches. 
Class-three. Thirty-one square inches. 
Second. A white light aft to show all around 
the horizon. 
Third. On the starboard side a green light so 
constructed as to show an unbroken light over 
an arc of the horizon of ten points of the com¬ 
pass, so fixed as to throw the light from right 
ahead to two points abaft the beam on the star¬ 
board side. On the port side a red light so 
constructed as to show an unbroken light over 
an arc of the horizon of ten points of the com¬ 
pass, so fixed as to throw the light from right 
ahead to two points abaft the beam on the port 
side. The glasses or lenses in the said side 
lights shall be of not less than the following 
dimensions on motor boats of— 
Class two. Sixteen square inches. 
Class three. Twenty-five square inches. 
On and after July 1. 1911. all glasses or lenses 
prescribed by paragraph fb) shad be fresnel or 
fluted. The said side liehts shall be fitted with 
inboard screens of sufficient height and so set 
as to prevent these lights from being seen across 
the bow, and shall be of not less than the fol¬ 
lowing dimensions on motor boats of— 
Class two. Eighteen inches long. 
Class three. Twenty-four inches long. 
WHISTLE, FOG HORN AND BELL. 
Sec. 4. That motor boats subject to the pro¬ 
visions of this act shall not be required to carry 
the whistle or siren, fog horn and bell prescribed 
by the.acts of June J, 1897, of Feb. 8, 1895, of 
Sections 4233, 4412 and 4413 of the Revised 
Statutes and regulations pursuant thereto, but in 
lieu thereof, shall carry and use in the manner 
and subject to the penalties prescribed in said 
laws, respectively, the following: 
(a) Every motor boat under the provisions 
of this act shall be provided with a whistle or 
other sound-producing mechanical appliance cap¬ 
able of producing a blast of two seconds or more 
in duration, and in the case of such boats so pro¬ 
vided, a blast of at least two seconds shall be 
deemed a prolonged blast within the meaning of 
the laws hereinbefore mentioned. 
(b) Every motor boat of class two or three 
shall carry an efficient fog horn. 
(c) Every motor boat of class two or three 
shall be provided with an efficient bell which 
shall be not less than eight inches across the 
mouth on board of vessels of class three. 
LIFE PRESERVERS. 
Sec. 5. That every motor boat subject tQ any 
of the provisions of this act, and also all ves¬ 
sels propelled by machinery other than by steam 
65 feet or more in length, shall carry life pre¬ 
servers, life belts, buoyant cushions or ring 
buoys sufficient to sustain afloat every person on 
board and so placed as to be readily accessible. 
For failure so to carry such life-saving appli¬ 
ances, the owner shall be liable to a penalty of 
$10 for each person for whom such appliances 
have not been provided. This section shall not 
be construed to amend or repeal any existing 
law requiring life preservers. 
FIRE EXTINGUISHERS. 
Sec. 6. That every motor boat of class two 
or three, and also every vessel propelled by 
machinery other than by steam 65 feet or more 
in length, shall carry ready for immediate use 
the means of promptly and effectually extin¬ 
guishing burning gasolene. For any failure to 
carry such means, so ready for immediate use, 
the owner shall be liable to a penalty of $25, and 
this penalty shall not be mitigated. 
Sec. 7. That the Secretary of Commerce and 
Labor shall make such regulations as may be 
necessary to secure the proper execution of this 
act by collectors of customs and other officers of 
the Government. 
Sec. 8. That this act shall take effect on and 
after sixty days after its approval. 
Mufflers on Motor Boats. 
Senator Edgar T. Brackett has introduced a 
bill in the Senate at Albany which will compel 
all owners of motor boats to provide each with 
an underwater exhaust or muffler. There are 
some owners who think that this is a hardship, 
while others—and they are those who have cot¬ 
tages near the water—think that the noise some 
motor boats make is very annoying, and that it 
is proper that they should be muffled.- 
The Brackett bill is as follows: 
“It shall be unlawful to use a boat propelled, 
in whole or in part, by gas, gasolene or naphtha 
unless the same is provided with an underwater 
exhaust or muffler, so constructed and used as 
to muffle in a reasonable manner the noise of 
the explosion. Except that this act shall not 
affect motor boats which are actually competing 
in a race held under the direction of a duly_ in¬ 
corporated yacht club or racing association. 
Any person who operates a boat in violation of 
the provisions of this subdivision shall be guilty 
of a misdemeanor.” 
Referring to this, the Sun says editorially: 
“Without attempting to compile statistics of 
the number of motor boats plying on the waters 
of this State, it seems fair to assert that the 
corporation or corporations manufacturing the 
patent ‘mufflers’ might enjoy a considerable 
