

FOREST AND STREAM. 





| YACIAITIING | 






The Motor Boat Show. 
TueE Motor Boat Show, heretofore held in con- 
junction with the Sportsman’s Show in the Madi- 
son Square Garden, is this year a show all by 
itself, held in the Grand Central Palace at 44th 
street and Lexington avenue. 
When the doors opened Saturday night, Dec. 
7, there was an unusually large crowd awaiting 
admission; so large was the attendance it was all 
one could do to make the rounds. 
The hall made a very handsome impression 
with its brilliant illuminations and abundance of 
vari-colored bunting draped artistically about the 
walls and literally covering the ceiling, a back- 
ground of painted scenery representing islands, 
rocky and sandy beaches, clear stretches of blue 
water with various kinds of craft dotted through- 
out gave a realistic impression of the show. 
The main floor, formed like a theatre, with two 
horseshoe-shaped balconies, above, were packed 
with spectators not only interested in the boats 
and engines, but glad of the opportunity to once 
more meet and shake hands with old friends who 
look forward to this annual event as a happy 
time of reunion. 
In the first balcony over the entrance the Em- 
pire Woman’s Orchestra rendered most enchant- 
ing music, receiving great applause at the con- 
clusion of every piece that was led through in 
harmonious time by a very energetic young band 
mistress, Mlle. Rite Maria. 
The floors were well taken up, as there were 
no less than one hundred and eight exhibitors, 
some of which as the Buffalo, Truscott, Gas 
Engine & Power and Chas. L. Seabury Co., 
Electric Launch Co., D. M. Tuttle Co., Racine 
Boat Mfg. Co., and several others took up a 
dozen or more booths each for their exhibits. 
It was a heaven for a motor enthusiast if there 
ever was one. Engines of every size and de- 
sign were here in various makes, boats ranging 
from 16ft. canoes with engines in them to 4oft. 
cabin cruising launches; veritable little ships in 
which one could go most anywhere with room 
enough for half a dozen men to cruise in, open 
launches of all sizes and grade of finish, from a 
handsome all teak model to a.plain cedar and 
oak one. 
There was one noticeable improvement in all 
the exhibitions; the finish was far superior to 
that usually exhibited. The woods used were of 
excellent selection and well matched in color, 
while the varnishing shone like a sheet of glass. 
In model there is a decided flare noticeable in 
the low sections to pick a boat up when she 
dives into a sea and to turn off the water and 
throw it away from the hull, making them go 
dry and easy in rough water. 
TuHose who are interested in the Motor Boat 
Show at the Grand Central Palace are not alone 
the wealthy sportsmen or millionaires, but are 
largely men of moderate means who find that 
they can enjoy motor boating quite as much as 
the wealthy, though on a much more moderate 
scale; in fact, any man who has a substantial 
rowboat or even a canoe and $75 or $100 to spare 
can become the owner of a power boat, as gaso- 
lene engines are, to use the stock phrase, “with- 
in the reach of everybody.” At the Motor Boat 
Show are shown rowboats, small launches and 
even canoes, driven by gasolene power, at prices 
which are really remarkable, especially when the 
quality of the workmanship and the service that 
may be obtained are considered. A type of boat 
that is extremely popular, as is indicated by the 
number of spectators who gather around the ex- 
hibits, is the dory with its seagoing qualities, its 
roominess, its natty appearance, and its .sub- 
stantial construction. These boats are not only 
good to look at, but easy to buy, and are easily 
driven at a good speed by motors of moderate 
power. 




There is always a peculiar charm for the aver- 
age man about anything that has taken part in 
a spectacular performance of any kind, especially 
if it is something of a mechanical nature. For 
this reason a great deal of interest is taken in 
the many racing motors shown at the Motor 
Boat Show. Among these is the 80 horsepower 
4-cylinder motor of the high speed auto boat 
Den, which holds the American one mile cham- 
pionship. This motor is mounted on an aluminum 
crank case of unusually fine construction. A 
peculiarity of this motor is that attached to the 
after extension bed are the steering wheel, start- 
ing crank, the latter operating through sprockets 
and chain, and the spark and throttle controlled 
mechanism. The operator sits just back of his 
motor and is able not only to stop, but to control 
his engine at all times, and is within easy reach 
of the steering crank in case it should stop. 
Advocates of the two-cycle type of engine are 
interested in the motor taken from the racing 
boat White Fox. This is a 4-cylinder 75 horse- 
power machine, built by the Stamford Motor 
Company, and is of the two-cycle type, with 
separate cylinders. There is nothing about the 
motor to indicate excessive lightness or frailty, 
nevertheless it is remarkably light for the power 
developed. 
Perhaps the lightest appearing motor of the 
marine type in the show is the 6-cylinder, 60 
horsepower racing engine shown by the Jencick 
Motor Manufacturing Company. This beautiful 
piece of mechanism is mounted on steel sills 
forming a rigid bed and saving the engine from 
twisting stresses occasioned by the springing of 
the light hull. 
While not coming under the classification of 
motors built solely for racing purposes, the 
Craig engine has proved itself capable of driv- 
ing boats at enormous speeds. The engine of the 
Ailsa Craig is the feature of the Craig exhibit. 





i 
4 
7 a ~! 
This is the engine that propelled the boat that 
won the Bermuda race last spring, and was 
brought to the Palace Motor Boat Show before 
replaced in Ailsa Craig after overhauling. The 
Craig motors are peculiar, in that they are used 
not only for high speed racing boats, but for 
heavy cruisers and even working boats, and 
answer the purpose equally as well in either case. 
ALMOST any man, however moderate his finan- 
cial circumstances may be, can own a motor boat 
in these days, and for this reason motor boat 
shows have taken a strong grip on the interest 
of the public generally. For every man who can 
spend thousands of dollars for pleasure there are 
thousands of men who can spend a few hundreds 
of dollars, and tens of thousands who can spend 
a hundred or less. And the sport of motor boat- 
ing appeals to all of them, for motor boats can 
be bought, complete, for prices that range from 
considerably below a hundred dollars to as: many 
thousands as a millionaire would care to give up: 
At the motor boat show, which will be held at 
the Grand Central Palace, New York, during 
the week beginning Dec. 7 to 14, there will be 
representatives of the most moderate priced craft 
and of the high priced, luxurious vessels in 
which expense is not considered, and of the in- 
termediate types—the average boats at average 
prices—there will be an enormous variety. There 
will be boats of the high speed types, crowded 
with powerful machinery capable of driving them 
by almost railroad speed, and there will be broad, 
comfortable seaworthy, family boats and cabin 
cruisers capable of weathering ocean gales and 
waging successful warfare with Father Neptune 
himself. For those whose mechanical inclina- 
tions or whose analytical minds evoke the desire 
to see more of the details of the modern power 
craft there will be on view the separate parts of 
motors of all kinds, of hulls, and all sorts of 
accessories. Huge racing motors will be: shown 


MODEL OF VOLUNTEER IN THE NEW YORK Y. C. 

