266 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Feb. is, 1908. 
evil, and came near going overboard when the 
Porgie righted with a jerk. 
Getting once more on my center of gravity, I 
saw the tow slipping ahead with my boat-hook 
firmly jammed into the canal and we, or rather, 
the Porgie (she was boss of the job now) skat¬ 
ing off at a wide angle and rapidly widening 
the distance between us. 
My gymnastic exercises had attracted the at¬ 
tention of the entire population of the tow, who 
now stood staring at me. As a last resort, I 
seized the coil of rope and gave it a heave. 
Great Scott! how I did heave that rope! If the 
end had not been secured forward, it would 
have gone clear over into Jersey. As it was, it 
fell about a yard over the canal’s deck, being 
barely long enough to reach, and a young Irish¬ 
man seized it, and snubbed it round a cleat. 
As soon as the rope left my hands, I bolted 
for the stern. I had got caught once, and that 
was enough. My weight up forward had made 
her plough her nose under and had caused all 
the trouble. 
When safely towing in the canal’s wake, the 
young man returned my boat-hook, and I gave 
him a couple of bottles of “amber water” that 
were in our locker in exchange, while Porgie 
vented her spite by jamming her stumpy oak 
bowsprit into the stern timbers of the canal in 
a way to greatly endanger that “triumph of 
marine skill.” 
Buff&lo Launch Club Show. 
On Monday, Feb. 3. Convention Hall was 
opened for the first annual sportsman’s show of 
the Buffalo Launch Club, under the management 
of Dai H. Lewis, and so far has been away 
ahead of the expectations of the promoters, both 
in point of attendance and in the interest shown 
by the people of Buffalo and vicinity. 
The beautiful decorations; the unique light¬ 
ing system, and electrical effect, as well as the 
pleasing manner in which the exhibits are dis¬ 
played, called forth much praise from the spec¬ 
tators, and experts have said that the exhibition 
is not excelled by that given at New York, 
Boston or Chicago. 
The directors were warmly congratulated for 
placing such a fine show before the public, and 
it is their intention to make it an annual event 
in the future. 
The Canadian Pacific and Grand Trunk ex¬ 
hibits carry off the honors in the show, and the 
local exhibitors, among whom are F. A. Ballaw, 
with his Mullins and Racine products; the Iro¬ 
quois Rubber Co., with their fine display of 
shooting accessories must also share in the 
honors. 
The officers of the Buffalo Launch Club are: 
Commodore, L. E. Fisher; Vice-Commodore, 
Fred Feuster; Fleet Captain, G. B. Eggert; 
Treasurer, F. X. Argus; Secretary, Geo. Rix. 
Frank J. Parsons. 
Canoeing. 
Fragments from the ’88 Meet. 
Continued from page 226. 
So the first week went on; it rained one morn¬ 
ing; the morning set down for the competitive 
cruise, a new departure undertaken to satisfy 
the cruising men, and to the unconcealed glee 
of the racing men the event was abandoned; 
but, save that the camp turned out in oilers of 
the most variegated colors, the rain made but 
little difference to the camp, or those who com¬ 
posed it. 
At one time nearly all the clubs indulged in 
uniforms, more or less gorgeous and more or 
less serviceable, but this custom no longer pre¬ 
vails, and corduroy was the material in the 
greatest favor* There was, however, hardly a 
man in camp who wore trousers, as a steady 
thing; for the stockinged leg has things all its 
own way in the world of the canoe. Although 
club uniforms have fallen from favor, the totems 
of the different clubs are still most proudly dis¬ 
played, ancf very original some of them are. The 
sea horse of the Knickerbocker Club was, from 
the first, one of the features of camp, as the 
camp engineer was a sea horse man, during the 
agony of stage building he was in tremendous 
demand, and if he did not succeed in being in 
two places at once, he almost did. Later on “The 
Goat,” the most popular and the biggest craft 
at the meet, was a “sea horse,” and the sea 
horses made more noise during the first week 
than any other two clubs, so that, taken as a 
whole, it was a sea horse meet. The “rat” of 
Newburgh had but few representatives at the 
meet, but the “Turtle” of the Mohicans, and the 
“Frog” of the Rochesters had a good following. 
Two men sported the Circle of Toronto, and the 
Red Ball of the New York, the old and aborigi¬ 
nal, was not badly represented. Of all the 
•totems, however, that of the Jabberwock is the 
most original and awe-inspiring. The Jabber¬ 
wock Canoe Club is the only perfect one that 
exists. It has a name, a totem, and a list of 
members, but it has no officers nor dues, nor 
fixed place of abode. The real Jabber was one 
of the features of the meet.' He is (outside of 
canoeing circles) Mr. Geo. A. Warder, of Spring- 
field, and is not only an enthusiastic canoeist, 
but one of the best story. tellers I ever came 
across, a jolly good fellow in every particular, a 
singularly fresh and charming writer, and an 
amateur photographer whose work is above 
criticism. In fact, the Jabberwock is a genius, 
and, what is more to the point, a genius who 
possesses the gift of making other people enjoy 
themselves. 
The Jabberwock is a hard racer, the winner of 
the western trophy, and a great cruiser, and is 
one type of the canoeist; the Time-killers’ Club, 
who were camped a few tents away from him, 
are of another. The two gentlemen who made 
up this club were, the one, a prominent physician 
in a suburb of New York; the other, a promi 
nent merchant of that city. Both are somewhat 
past the meridian of life, but they enjoyed the 
fresh air, the life of the camp, their long swing¬ 
ing paddles in an open Canadian canoe, and each 
other’s company, as keenly as did any of the 
boys. Their splendid big tent was a center from 
which they dispensed a most _ generous hospi¬ 
tality, and when at the beginning of the “race 
week” they left the camp, they left not only a 
very large vacant platform, but a ver-y large 
vacancy in camp life generally. These gentle¬ 
men loved their canoes well; they had cruised 
in them for long stretches and were well able 
to give points to those who made more fuss about 
their cruising than enough, but they were not 
absorbed in the canoeing whirl by any manner 
of means, and were never guilty of racing. In 
the same row of tents as the Time-killers and 
the Jabber there was a very beautifully propor¬ 
tioned and neatly put-up white tent, chiefly re¬ 
markable for the great number of canoe flags 
and Chinese lanterns that decorated it. This 
was the camp of General Oliver, of Albany, one 
of the original Mohicans, and one who has done 
a great deal to make organized canoeing a suc¬ 
cess. He, too, left just before the racing began, 
and the camp missed him. 
Just one more sample of what canoeists are. 
The last tent in the camp was a very high, 
round one, before which flew the pennon of a 
vice-commodore. This was the camp of Mr. 
W. P.. Stephens, the yachting and canoeing editor 
of Forest and Stream. He is by profession a 
yacht and canoe designer and builder, and his 
interest in aquatics, but particularly canoeing, is 
almost a passion. The whole theory and practice 
of designing, building, rigging and sailing a canoe 
are at his finger ends, and no small number of 
the appliances that make the sailing canoe such 
a perfect craft have been invented by him. Not 
only is he a perfect storehouse of canoe lore, 
but of canoe stories, traditions and legends—in 
all things a most charming companion in camp. 
The great event of that almost eventless first 
week was the great camp-fire which brought it 
to a close. For two or three days before it took 
place two typical and lazy looking Yankee lads, 
with a yoke of oxen, had been at work drawing 
logs and brush wood into the center of a little 
natural amphitheatre somewhat to the north of 
the camp. After gun fire on that Saturday night 
Commodore Gibson gathered a select party of 
fire builders about him, and soon after the sun 
had gone down behind the western mountain a 
long tongue of flame shot up from the great log 
pile, and the bugler blew the assembly until he 
got black in the face. Then the sachems and 
the squaws of the camp came trooping in. The 
seats of the natural theatre were not of the most 
elaborate description, and although ushers were 
unnecessary it took a good deal of time to adapt 
the angles of the rocks to the human anatomy; 
and then, as the flames shot higher and higher, 
the fun began. There were good individual sing¬ 
ing, a splendid quartette, some good stories and 
impersonations; but the choruses were the event 
of the performance. After a song had been 
encored, someone deeply ensconced in a black 
shadow would ask “what’s the matter with ‘Cock 
Robin?’” Instantly the whole circle would take 
up the cry, and “Cock Robin” would be led off 
to sing the song from which he got his name, 
and would sing it well, too. “Cock Robin” was 
certainly the favorite chorus, but the old Black¬ 
ball Shanty of “Roll a Man Down” was also a 
great favorite. So it went on, until it was almost 
Sunday morning; and it had been Sunday morn¬ 
ing for some hours before the back logs were 
rolled apart by the last half dozen, who could 
not escape from the beauty of the night and the 
charm of the fire even to enjoy the delight of 
sleep under canvas. 
[to be continued.] 
Atlantic Division Dinner. 
The officers of the Atlantic Division of the 
A. C. A. have placed the arrangements for the 
annual reunion of canoeists in the hands of the 
Trenton delegation, who have arranged to hold 
it Saturday evening, Feb. IS, from 7 to 12 P. M., 
at the Hotel Windsor, Trenton, N. J. 
No effort will be spared to make this informal 
dinner-smoker a success. Kindly put the date 
down in your little book, and notify the clerk of 
the committee without delay whether or not you 
will be on hand. You cannot afford to miss it, 
so decide at once to join the bunch, and take in 
the fun. 
The cost will be $2 per plate for yourself or 
any of your friends you may wish to invite. 
Accommodations have been arranged for 
those who may wish to stay over night at the 
hotel, at the price of $1 up. Frequent and con¬ 
venient trains to and from Trenton via Pennsyl¬ 
vania Railroad from New York and Philadel¬ 
phia, and other points before and after the 
affair. 
Advise us at once that you will be with us— 
before you forget it—and go out of your way a 
little to interest “the other fellow,” and bring 
him along, too. 
Hoping we may hear from you by early mail, 
we are, 
Fraternally yours, 
Teodore Quasebart, 
Wm. J. Flynn, 
Frederick W. Donnelly, 
Wm. C. Lawrence, 
Wm. B. Maddock, 
David S. Hill, 
Wm. A. Furman, Clerk. 
A. C. A. Membership. 
new members proposed. 
Atlantic Division.—Thomas V. Gaffney, 533 
W. 148th street, New York city, by Harry J. 
, Dietrich. 
Eastern Division.—Wallace Wales, Newton, 
Mass., by J. R. Robertson. 
new members elected. 
Central Division.—5447, Ray Armstrong, 
Rome. N. Y. 
Eastern Division.—5446, Herbert Brice, Man¬ 
chester. N. H. 
