FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Feb. i, igp8. 
] 86 
Indian Harbor Y. C. Officers. 
At the annual meeting of the Indian Harbor 
Y. C. Commodore Roy A. Rainey was re-elected 
for the ensuing year. Wilmer Hanan was re¬ 
elected Vice-Commodore and Lorenzo D. Arm¬ 
strong Rear-Commodore. Other officers chosen 
were: Secretary, Charles D. Bumes; Treas¬ 
urer, Richard Outwater; Measurer, Morgan 
Barney; President of the Corporation, Charles 
T. Wills; Directors (term expiring 1911), George 
Lauder, Jr., and E. Burton Hart; Chairman of 
Regatta Committee, Frank Bowne Jones. Mem¬ 
bers of the Regatta Committee, Richard A. 
Monks and Herman A. Edson. The reports of 
officers and committees . show that the club “ as 
had a prosperous financial year in 1907, and the 
most successful racing year. in the club’s history. 
Manhattan Island Y. C. Officers. 
The Manhattan Island Y. C. has elected the 
following officers for 1908: 
Commodore, William F. Ridley; Vice-Com¬ 
modore, C. J. Leach; Rear-Commodore, G. O. 
Shaughnessy; Measurer, Robert Harrison; Fleet 
Captain, P. J. Instone; Treasurer, Howard Me- 
Avoy; Corresponding Secretary, Richard A. 
Arns; Financial Secretary, James Crowley; Re¬ 
cording Secretary, George Caniff; Delegates to 
the Corinthian Yacht Racing Union, William F. 
Ridley, Richard A. Arns, Gerald O. Shaugh¬ 
nessy. 
The Hudson River Y. C. has elected G. C. 
Conley as commodore, and R. Entwisle chair¬ 
man of the regatta committee. 
it >t « 
The Colonial Y. C. gave an entertainment 
and dance to its members and their friends at 
the Harlem Casino on the evening of Jan. 23 
that was well attended and much enjoyed by all. 
■t * * 
The steam yacht Orient, built in 1882 by the 
Herreshoffs, has been sold to the Uruguayan 
government for use as a gunboat. Lieutenant 
E. M. Saez is in charge of her on the way 
south. 
K It It 
The Atlantic Coast conference is to meet this 
week and consider several changes in the racing 
rules, such as a reduction in the time allowance 
from 70 per cent, as figured now to 60 per cent., 
so that the small boat will receive less time 
from the larger than formerly, and in the rules 
of the road several changes are contemplated. 
Canoeinp. 
Fragments from the ’88 Meet. 
[Written originally for the Montreal Witness after the 
American Canoe Association meet and camp on -Cong 
Island in Lake George, and later reprinted in pamphlet 
form for distribution among members. Republished by 
request of old members of the Association.] 
It was on regatta morning, the fair day that 
issued in the week of solid racing that forms 
such an important part of an American Canoe 
Association meet, and I was hard at work in the 
headquarters’ tent, classifying entries, answer¬ 
ing the questions of anxious racers, and settling 
disputes about ‘’totems,” when from the landing 
stage came “’Rah, ’rah, A. C. A., Tiger, in 
full chorus—a sure sign that something import¬ 
ant had occurred. A moment after I was called 
out of my place of servitude, and formally pre- 
sented to Mr. N. H. Bishop, the founder of the 
American Canoe Association. Now it so hap¬ 
pens that, although a canoeist from my youth 
up, I had only become a member of the Associa¬ 
tion that morning, and so the eldest and the 
youngest member of the Association shook each 
other’s hands most cordially. Naturally enough, 
the incident recalled the founding of what has 
become the most flourishing amateur sporting 
. organization—with its thousand active and .en¬ 
thusiastic canoe owning members—that exists, 
and Mr. Bishop graphically and briefly told us 
how it all came to pass. Mr. Bishop was one 
of the first and one of the most enthusiastic of 
American canoeists, and it was in i 879> a R^r a 
regatta, in which canoes played a part, which 
was held at Crosbyside, Lake George, just below 
his own beautiful house, that he conceived the 
idea of an organization which would unite all 
the canoeists on this continent. He entered 
into communication with all the canoeists he 
knew, and with all that he could ascertain the 
address of; he wrote to the English canoeists 
broaching his ideas and asking their advice and 
assistance, and he set up a printing office in the 
highest story of his home and printed what is 
now known to canoeing fame as “The First 
Call.” The Englishmen told him that if he could 
get half a dozen men to go in for the thing he 
would be fortunate, but the Americans gave him 
more encouragement, and when, on the 3d of 
August, 1880, the first meeting of American 
canoeists was called to order at Crosbyside, Lake 
George, there were thirteen men present. They 
camped, raced, had a good time, organized the 
American Canoe Association, and went home en- 
thusiastic. Had they been ordinary men, this 
original thirteen, there would have been no more 
canoe association, but they were all extraordi¬ 
nary men. There was, besides Mr. Bishop, 
among this original thirteen, Mr. W. P. Stephens, 
canoe designer, builder and user; “Shadow AL 
den, Judge Longworth, of Cincinnati; Dr. Neide 
and’ Lucian Wulsin. These were not the' man¬ 
ner of men to let such an idea as a canoe asso¬ 
ciation drop, and all did their part in assist¬ 
ing Mr. Bishop. In November, 1880, the “Sec¬ 
ond Call,” a copy of which Mr. Bishop distri¬ 
buted to enforce his words, was issued. This 
call contains the constitution of the new asso¬ 
ciation, and the care with which the first thirteen 
did their work can be judged from the fact that 
the constitution to-day. is only an enlargement, of 
the original draft. This call invited all canoeists 
to meet on the “Canoe Islands,* three, small 
islands lying between Long Island and Diamond 
Point, about four miles to the north of Crosby¬ 
side, which had been purchased for the use of 
the Association by Messrs. Bishop, Longworth 
and Wulsin. At' the Crosbyside meet, Tom 
Wallise, of Gore’s Island, the most marvelous 
wielder of the single blade I ever saw in a 
canoe, had put in an appearance as the repre- 
sentative of Canada. Wallise was a professional 
in that, whenever he could, he made a dollar or 
two by paddling fishermen or gunners about 
Rice Lake, but the amateurs of the Association 
let-*him paddle and beat them, and they sent a 
goodly number of the “Second Call to Cana¬ 
dians. One feature of that “Second Call” is 
worth reproducing, as it shows the spirit of the 
founders of the Association. It announces that 
“all persons of respectable character, of any age, 
who possess a true, love of nature, and are in 
earnest sympathy with the brotherhood of cruis¬ 
ing canoeists, whether owners of canoes or not,” 
were eligible for membership. The second meet 
of the Association was a great success. Five 
Canadians, headed by Col. Rogers and Mr. Ed¬ 
wards, were among those present, and the Asso¬ 
ciation therefore became “American” in the 
broadest sense of that term. 
The subsequent history of the Association has 
been one unbroken series of successful meets. 
In 1882 the meet was again held at the . Canoe 
Islands,” Mr. Longworth, of Cincinnati being 
commodore. In 1883 the meet was held m Can¬ 
ada, Stony Lake being the locality selected, Mr. 
E. B. Edwards being commodore. In 1884 it 
was decided to hold the meet on the St. Law¬ 
rence ifi order that both. Canadian and American 
canoeists might reach it easily, and Grindstone 
Island was selected as the camping ground, be¬ 
cause of the unrivalled sailing course that could 
be laid out in Eel Bay, and the good camping 
ground to be found in the north end of the 
island. The meet was a very large and sue- 
ccssful one, and so well adapted was the locality 
to all the needs of the canoeists that in 1885 and 
1886 the Association came back to its old love. 
The ’86 meet was especially interesting, because 
Baden-Powell in Nautilus, and Stewart, in Tred- 
win’s canoe, Pearl, came over from England to 
sail for the International trophy. This trophy 
is a fine silver cup, the ownership of which is 
vested in the Association, but which is sailed for 
yearly by the challengers and the best sailors at 
the meet, and goes for the year to the winner. 
The first race for this cup was particularly in¬ 
teresting, because for the first time the heavy bal¬ 
lasted English canoe, with its crew inside was 
pitted against the light American canoe with its 
crew well out to windward. The result was a 
complete victory for the light canoe and the wind¬ 
ward position, by which the canoe’s crew of 
one acts, not only as steersman, sail trimmer 
and captain, but as ballast. In 1887 the meet 
was held at Bow Arrow Point, Lake. Champlain, 
where the canoeists got their fill of big seas, and 
the great 1888 meet was at Long Island, Lake 
George, within a few miles of the place where 
the Association was conceived. In 1885, a rival 
organization, the Western Canoe Association, 
was formed, and to prevent any more secessions 
the constitution of the Association was remodeled 
on a Federal basis. It now consists of a Cen¬ 
tral, Eastern, Atlantic and Northern Division, 
which are each self-governing bodies, appoint¬ 
ing their own officers and holding their own 
meets. The executive committee of the Asso¬ 
ciation is composed of the officers of the divis¬ 
ions, and the commodore and secretary of the 
Association. By the constitution, the Association 
meet goes in rotation to the different divisions, 
and the division in which the meet is held has 
the right to nominate the commodore for that 
year. . , , . . 
This is, in brief, the history of the American 
Canoe Association, as far as externals, go; the 
internal history thereof, that is, the history Ot 
the effect of the Association upon canoeing and 
the true nature of the Association at the present 
time, is a more difficult matter to deal with 
That famous “First Call” says that “member¬ 
ship will carry with it the right to use the club 
signals, will secure the temporary use of boal 
houses belonging to enrolled clubs, and wil 
entitle the member to one copy of the club publi¬ 
cations.” The original constitution proclaims thf 
object of the Association to be the “promotior 
of canoeing.” To do this it provided for th< 
publication annually of a year book and thi 
“Canoe Pilot,” which was to be composed 0 
itineraries of cruises made by members, maps 
information as to camping places, rigs and gen 
erally of matter interesting to cruising canoeists 
In order to make this publication a success mem 
bers were required, prior to .the 15th of Octobei 
to furnish the secretary with detailed descrip 
tions of their cruises for the year. The “meet 
was not especially insisted upon as a part 0 
the Association’s work. In the “Second Call 
it is called a “regatta,”. and it is particular! 
stated that the races will be only for prize 
given by friends of the Association, and tha 
betting on the races .will not be permitted. Th 
object of the founders of the Association was, 1 
is clear enough, to encourage canoeing, by whic 
they meant what is now called cruising, and t 
do this the canoeists were to meet, discuss thei 
work in the past, their plan's for the future, com 
pare rigs, boats, outfits and race a little for th 
fun of the thing. What the Association has don 
has been to make canoe racing the end all, an 
be all, of a great number of canoeists, and t 
specialize the canoe, in adapting it to thes 
changed conditions. 1 
[to be continued.] 
A. C. A. Membership. 
NEW members proposed. 
Central Division.—Ray Armstrong, Rome, 1 
Y., by C. S. Cooper. . 
Eastern Division.—Herbert Brice, Mancheste 
N. H., by Edw. B. Stearns. 
new members elected. 
Atlantic Division.—5420, J. Chauncey V: 
Horn. Trenton, N. J. . 
Western Division—5421, Walter Weingartne 
Chicago, Ill.; 5422, Frank Haines, Chicago, I 
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