On April 3d Mr. Royal Phelps Carroll's racing yacht Navahoe, which is going over to England to compete against the crack craft of the year, including Lord Dunraven's Valkyrie and the Prince of Wales' Britannia, took a preliminary spin in the waters off Bristol, R. I.

There was a stiff breeze blowing when the big craft, under jib and mainsail only, filled away on the port tack, with lee rail awash, and stood over to Hog Island. On board of her was her designer, Nat Herreshoff (at the wheel); her owner, Mr. Royal Phelps Carroll, and his guests, Mr. Ralph N. Ellis and Mr. Woodbury Kane, who are going to cross the ocean in the yacht. Skipper Charles Barr was there and his picked crew of smart sailor men, agile as lascars, and without a lazy bone in their bodies.

The yacht presented a pretty marine picture as, careening to the puffs, she glided gracefully through the gray water, cleaving it cleanly and leaving comparatively little wave in her wake. Some of the critics who were keenly watching her movements came to the conclusion that she was rather "tender" and heeled a little too much under lower sail only. They asked each other what she would do when she had her racing chip-topsail set, and shook their wise old heads rather ominously.

They forgot to take into consideration that she was sailing without her centerboard, which was lying in the shipyard. This board weighs pretty nearly four tons, and had it been in position the boat would have been as stiff as a church steeple.

Others hazarded the opinion that she was rather slow in stays, but this is probably a mis take, as all the Herreshoff craft are quick in spinning round, and no sooner is the helm a-lee than the craft is filling away on the other tack with the sailors just hustling to haul the head

sheets aft.

The result of the trip was quite satisfactory. On the reach home from Gould Island the staysail and jib-topsail were set and she moved pretty rapidly. She may require a little more lead, but she can stand it well.

The Navahoe will sail early in May and will be entered in every race of consequence that British rules will permit. Her owner hopes to meet all the big English cutters in the Royal Thames Yacht Club race on June 10th.

The Navahoe is handsomely but not luxuriously fitted up. Her accommodations are ample for the owner, four guests and a crew of sixteen. She is 124 feet over all, 84 feet on the load-water line, with 23 feet beam and 12 feet 6 inches depth of hold. Her gross tonnage is 113.20. Her mast is 95 feet, of Oregon pine 19 inches in diameter. Her boom is a trifle over

90 feet, and the foot of the mainsail is made fast with a slide to a T-shaped track of Tobin bronze which will enable it to be hauled out flat as a board. The boom is more than six feet longer than that of the Volunteer when she was sloop-rigged. The gaff is 52 feet long and the bowsprit outboard 40 feet. The centerboard is of steel plate 1 inch thick, 16 feet 5 inches long and 9 feet deep. As said before, it weighs close upon four tons. Her sail area is nearly 12,000 square feet.

With this yacht Mr. Carroll may have a great deal of sport in British waters. His most formidable opponent, perhaps, will be Mr. A. D. Clarke's cutter, designed by Mr. J. M. Soper, of Southampton, a graduate from the yard of Fay & Sons. He is a member of the Institute of Naval Architects and has designed many speedy yachts, among them being the 25-footer Daisy, the 40-rater Castanet and the successful 10-rater Dis. This cutter, which I believe is to be called Sea Swallow, was constructed with a special view of sailing against the Navahoe. She is 130 feet over all, 90 feet on the water-line, and is of wooden construction, with a beam of 24.6 feet and a draught of over 14 feet. Her type is said to resemble the "ballast fin," but the fin will be built round and will form part of the hull proper, and not be merely a plate like the ordinary fin.

Her spar plan will not be quite so large as that of the Navahoe; her mast being of yellow Oregon pine and 87 feet in length. Her main boom measures 90 feet and the hoist of her mainsail is 60 feet. Capt. Tom Jay, a wellknown racing skipper, will have command of her and he will do his best to "wipe out" the Yankec.

The Britannia, the Prince of Wales' yacht, is being built by the Hendersons on the Clyde. She is from the board of George L. Watson. The utmost secrecy is maintained as to her dimensions, but she will be about 84 feet on the load-water line, with a beam of about 21 feet.

At this time of writing little new has been heard of the Valkyrie, except that she is being pushed and will soon be launched.

Mr. Beavor Webb, the yacht designer, has got even with Lord Dunraven, whom he has never forgiven for declaring that the cutter Galatea was not a truly representative British boat. The story goes that he wrote a letter to a friend across the water telling how, in his opinion, the Valkyrie would be most ignominiously vanquished. He gave a sly and

humorous hint or two about a certain fin-keel boat that would, in all probability, be able to circle round the Dunraven craft like a kite round his feathered prey. Somehow, the gist of this letter got into print, and caused much annoyance. Mr. Webb was cabled to and asked to deny the yarn, but his subtle and most ingenious defense was loss of memory.

The boat hinted at is doubtless the Paine craft now building at Lawley's yard, South Boston. This is probably one of the most remarkable racing "freaks" ever designed. She will be 124 feet over all, and about 84 feet on the load-water line, with a beam of 22.6 feet, and a draught, with the centerboard down, of 20 feet, and 14 feet with it up. Like the old Maria, she will be fitted with two centerboards -one working in the fin proper and the other -a small one-being well forward, the theo

retical object being to prevent her from falling off to leeward in light airs. Generally, she much resembles a racing canoe so far as her appearance above the water-line is concerned. She will carry an extremely large sail-spread, and under certain conditions of wind and sea will doubtless sail like a witch.

What a fin keel would do in a gale of wind and a heavy sea is problematical. There would naturally be a tremendous strain on the hull on account of the weight of the ballast fin being so low down, and if the system of construction should happen to be faulty, and the whole structure weak, the results would of course be disastrous. But for racing in our waters, where comparatively smooth seas prevail in the summer time, and gales of wind are seldom met with, the "ballast fins" will, in all probability, beat the other types of boat. Of course, when navigating in a fog, when you are not quite sure of your dead reckoning, the lead must be hove every few minutes, because if the fin struck a rock, or even a sand-bar, the consequences might be quite unpleasant. What they would be in a yacht like that of General Paine is hard to tell, for she is quite unique.

The Stewart and Binney fin boat will not indulge in the luxury of a centerboard. She will be a fin, pure and simple, like the Drusilla of last year. She is owned by a syndicate of Boston yachtsmen celebrated for their sportsmanlike patriotism. The designers are the successors of the talented Mr. Burgess, whose sad and untimely death all yachtsmen deplore. If skill, science, pluck and discretion have any sway in this world, the firm is bound to make its mark.

The dimensions of this Boston syndicate craft are not accurately known, but approximately they are: length over all, 122 feet; length on the load-water line, 85 feet beam. The draught of the hull proper is not known as yet, but with her deep fin, with a cigar-shaped bulb of lead on the bottom, she cannot draw less than 21 feet. There will be some 'freak" novelties in the rig of this craft that will almost paralyze old fogies when they look upon them for the first time. She is being built under Mr. Stewart's careful supervision, at the yard of Pusey & Jones, Wilmington, Del. She may be called Pilgrim.

The Morgan Syndicate craft is being hurried along by the Herreshoffs. She is of the keel type, but quite a remarkable ship withal. The firm is always striking out with some rich and rare original idea. Thus the hull of this craft is constructed, below the load-water line, of Tobin bronze-a metal which, for its anti-fouling qualities, has long been in favor for screw propellers, large and small, and the rudders of steam launches. It is only its great expense that has prevented its use in the construction of yachts. The surface is so smooth that it offers little resistance to the water. No weeds and no barnacles can exist on it, and there is never any necessity to go over it with a lawn mower to shave off any tropical growth of foliage or grass. It is said to have more tensile strength than steel, and to be infinitely better adapted for ship-building purposes than that metal.

We shall be better able to judge later on whether its introduction by the Herreshoffs will cause it to become popular. There is no

doubt of its fitness for the purpose, but the fact that the price of the Morgan craft will be increased to the tune of $5,000 through its use for the underbody, may militate against its use, except in the case of millionaires whose only object in life is to get the very best, regardless of expense.

The Morgan yacht will not be so long over all as her rivals-somewhere near 123 feet, I am told-and nearly 85 feet on the load-water line. Her beam will be in the neighborhood of 26 feet, and her draught 13 feet 6 inches. She is a centerboard craft.

The Rogers keel boat, which the admirers of the cutter type are confident will win the honor of defending the America's Cup, is well advanced at the Herreshoff yard. She is of steel, and measures 124 feet over all, and about 84 feet on the load-water line, with a beam of 24 feet and a draught of 14 feet. Mechanics are at work on her until nine o'clock every night.

When all these cup-defenders get afloat there will be some lively tussles. The Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club has offered a $1,000 cup for them, and other clubs are arranging for big prizes. In fact, no regatta will be regarded with favor that hasn't at least two of these big crafts as drawing cards.

The enthusiasm is spreading to the smaller clubs. Yachts of the Mosquito class that have been hauled out on the beach for years, swathed in canvas bandages, are now being scraped, puttied, painted and varnished with a view to valiant exploits this summer. Rarely in the history of yachting have shipyards been so busy. It is going to be a great season and no mistake.

The Seawanhaka Yacht Club has admitted lady yacht owners to membership. Very gallant, no doubt, but where are they going to find the lady yacht owners? I believe there are only six in the United States. But still it was the right thing to do, and I hope the club will accept the assurances of my most distinguished consideration in the same spirit as offered.

Ex-Commodore Elbridge T. Gerry sailed for Europe on April 6th. His steam yacht Electra will not go into commission until his return in July. At the last meeting of the New York Yacht Club it was voted to present him with a handsome service of plate in recognition of his pre-eminent work in behalf of the club. The motion was gracefully and eloquently made by his successor, Commodore E. D. Morgan, and was of course carried with unanimity and applause.

The club is looking for a site in New York on which to build a house. The present quarters on Madison avenue are rather cramped. The membership is fast reaching the high-water mark of one thousand, and there isn't really room enough for them. There is talk also of a summer home and anchorage at Bay Ridge, but this scheme may not be carried out for years. The city home plan is, I understand, to be carried out as soon as possible.

On April 6th Mr. Lloyd Phoenix's auxiliary steam yacht Intrepid made a trial trip down the Delaware. Lloyd Phoenix as a yachtsman is well known in many countries. His trips in foreign waters in his stout old cruising schooner Intrepid have made his name quite famous. A. J. KENEALY.

ROWING. THE time of the victorious Oxford crew in the recent English inter-university race was most remarkable-four miles and a quarter in 18m. and 47s! It is equivalent to a mile in about 4m. 25s., and four miles in 17m. 40s. Taking Yale's fastest time for four miles in a race, 20m. and Ios., the difference between it and Oxford's time for the four miles would be 2m. and 30s., which, allowing 3s. to the length, would be equal to fifty lengths, or about one thousand yards-considerably over half a mile. Making all possible allowance for wind and tide, undoubtedly favorable to fast time on the day of the race between Oxford and Cambridge, and the faster tide of the Putney course, this margin is a considerable one to be overcome.

The Oxford crew of 1893 was a heavy oneheavy for an English crew-averaging about 171 pounds. From its first appearance on the Thames, at Putney, March 1st, it became the favorite. The men were a powerful lot, and impressed onlookers with a sense of their strength. A criticism in the Field of March 4th sounds laughable now-namely, that the crew seemed to lack speed. Both Oxford and Cambridge departed from their long-established custom of breaking the journeys from the Isis and Cam at intermediate points, Oxford having heretofore usually gone to Mapledurham and Cambridge to Ely. The race was started at 4:34 P. M. on Wednesday, March 22d. Cambridge took a slight lead at first and held it as far as Hammersmith Bridge.

Here Oxford drew up and stood off several desperate spurts by their opponents, assuming the lead, and were never afterward in danger, crossing the line one length and four feet to the good in the time before stated. It was feared at one time that, because of repairs to the London and Southwestern Railway Bridge at Barnes, the usual course from Putney to Mortlake would have to be abandoned, but it was finally decided to stick to the old course, and, fortunately, no trouble was encountered in negotiating the dreaded arch. It was the first occasion in many years upon which the race was rowed on a day other than Saturday; but the selection of Wednesday had apparently no effect upon the attendance, the crowds of spectators being enormous - as large as, if not larger than, usual. The names and weights of the crews follow :

It is with extreme pleasure that I am able to announce authoritatively that committees from the Harvard and Yale Boat Clubs met at Springfield in February last and formulated a challenge or invitation to Oxford and Cambridge jointly for the winners of the respective races to row an eight-oared race at New London two weeks after the Harvard-Yale race. Complete details as to climatic conditions were sent with the invitation in order that the English crews might judge of the differences of temperature between Putney and New London. The use of the quarters of the defeated American crew, as well as a coaching launch, were placed at the disposal of the accepting English

crew.

Last month a cable dispatch was received from Oxford, with whom now rests the acceptance or refusal of the challenge, stating that the Harvard-Yale letter was received. By the time this appears in print the details of the correspondence will probably have been made public. Although Mr. Fletcher, the Oxford president, expressed himself last year as being opposed to having his crew come here for the first international race, and although I believe it to be proper that Oxford should first be defeated in England before coming here, yet there are special reasons for waiving these opinions in both cases this year. The World's Fair at Chicago is the chief reason. It is natural to suppose that the Oxford men, individually, would be glad to see the wonderful exhibition that is to take place at Chicago. If, therefore, they can combine a visit to the Fair with a race with one of the American universities, surely inducement enough is offered for them to waive their very proper contention that the first race should be rowed in England. Then, too, several international contests are to take place here this summer, and the interest and convenience of spectators would be consulted if all such contests should be confined to one country. It is needless to say that the visiting crew would be treated royally and will have everything done for its comfort and enjoyment. If the rumored declination of the challenge by Oxford turns out to be true, I hope Mr. Fletcher and his associates may be induced to reconsider the matter, and that the members of the Harvard-Yale Committee will prove themselves successful diplomats.

The following men have been in training at New Haven for the 'varsity crew: Bow, Johnson, '94, S.

2, Messler, '94, S.

3, Van Huyck '93, and Rogers, '93, S. 4, Folger, '94.

5, Beard, '95.

6, Paine, '94.

7, Ives, '93 (captain).

Stroke, Gallaudet, '93.

Substitutes, Chatfield and Goetchius. Van Huyck, while indulging in the dignified senior occupation of spinning a top, was unfortunate enough to injure his eyes by breaking his glasses. It is hoped, however, that he will eventually be able to fill a position in the crew. At present there are five former 'varsity men in training. The crew has been rowing in the harbor and is getting into splendid shape. Stevenson, '88, and Cowles, '86, have been coaching, and it is probable that they will continue so doing until Mr. Cook takes hold. The

material is good, and there is little reason to doubt that the Yale '93 crew will be a most formidable one.

The freshman crew candidates at present consist of the following men: W. D. Smith, '96; J. H. Knapp, '96 (captain); F. Coonley, '96; R. B. Treadway, '96; A. W. Dater, '95, S.; J. M. Brown, '96; H. C. Holcomb, '95. S.; W. M. Beard, '96; Hart, '95, S.; Raymond, '95, S., and Hopkins, 96. They were taken to the training table on March 23d. They appear to be a promising lot, but are at present rather raw material. Waters is building two paper shells, one for the 'varsity and one for the freshmen. The candidates for the Harvard University crew have been reduced to the following: Bow, M. Newell, '94.

2, D. O. Earle, '93.

3, L. Davis, '94.

4, H. G. Johnson, '94. 5, W. B. Stearns, '93. 6, S. F. Eddy, '95.

7, G. R. Fearing, '93. Stroke, J. W. Glidden, '94, and J. Purden, '95. The following have also been training, and some of them will probably displace some of the above: D. R. Vail, '93 (captain); R. P. Blake, '94; C. K. Cummings, 93; D. B. Duffield, '93. and R. Acton. Mr. Perkins has been coaching the crew part of the time, and will probably do most of it. I am sure that a silly report in one of the papers not long ago, to the effect that he was considered a "mascot," will not blind the authorities to the fact that, in order to win a boat race, they must depend upon hard and systematic work rather than luck.

The possibility of a race between the winner at New London and Oxford should cause the Harvard men to do about the hardest work they have done for some time. The material is, on the whole, good, and can be turned into a good crew if only some sort of definite system of coaching is adopted. Too great stress cannot be laid on getting the men "together." I would sacrifice "form "for unison and leg-work. A new shell is to be built for the crew by Davy. The freshmen have been rowing in the following order:

decidedly light, but this is of itself not a criterion of their powers.

The challenge from the Harvard University Boat Club to the Yale and Columbia freshmen has been accepted. It was in the following words-one being sent to Yale and one to Columbia:

"The Harvard University Boat Club, in behalf of the Harvard Freshman Crew, hereby challenges the Yale University Freshman Crew to a two-mile straightaway race in eight-oared shells, at New London, on one of the three days preceding the day set for the Yale-Harvard University race, the precise date to be determined hereafter, it being understood that Columbia accepts a similar challenge to be sent. Said race shall be with coxswains, and shall be a triangular race between the Yale, Harvard and Columbia Freshman crews."

Cornell's request to be allowed to enter her freshman crew was refused on the ground that the course is not wide enough to permit four crews to row abreast.

The Cornell-University of Pennsylvania race this year is to be four miles long, instead of three as heretofore. Cornell has not yet decided whether or not to send crews to the socalled World's Fair regatta, her eventual decision depending on the entries of other crews. CHASE MELLEN.

CANOEING.

A FEW years ago canoe racing news meant a record of the doings of a few men--the members of less than half a dozen clubs-and any cruise of one hundred miles or more was an event worth publishing in detail. Times have changed. Now a canoe cruise is not worth mentioning unless taken in a foreign land or in some remote region of our own country. noes may now be found in summer all along the coast, on many rivers and lakes, and they attract little attention, as they are so frequently met with.

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The American Canoe Association meets have developed a widespread interest in racing, and now the fast boats and clever sailors do not come from one quarter as of old, but hail from north, east and west-the south as yet has not been heard from.

Local news, therefore, has lost its interest as the canoe idea has spread, and many club races and doings no longer find a place in the publications devoted to the sport; only the larger events are of general interest. New ideas about sails, hulls and rigging are always of interest, and it is really surprising that so little that is new has come to the surface the past year. The development of the sailing canoe very rapid for several years. A limit seems to have been reached beyond which further progress in the line of increased speed will be very slow. No radical changes are likely to develop, but a continual improvement in the details keeps going on all the time.

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The latest novelty is aluminum canoe “jewelry," blocks, mast rings, jaws, etc., etc. the matter of weight they are a great improvement over brass and galvanized iron, and in all probability are quite as strong. The prices quoted seem to be very reasonable.

Very few canoes were built the past winter for purely racing purposes-fewer than for many years. C. BOWYER Vaux.

PERHAPS the only event worthy of special notice that has occurred since last writing is the introduction by Mr. Carbutt of what he calls the "Columbian plate," a plate backed -that is, coated on the back with a hitherto unused material as a preventive of halation.

It is just possible that some of my amateur readers may not know what is really meant by halation, and it is quite certain that many of them do not know it when they see it; so that for them a few words of explanation may not be out of place.

As far back as the fifties it was noticed that under certain circumstances a peculiar kind of blurring occurred on such parts of a negative as included, say, what should have been clean-cut branches against a clear sky, the edges and astragals of a window, and indeed wherever darks came against lights. Sometimes this blurring extended only to the thickening of what should have been fine lines, a giving of fuzziness to what should have been delicate detail, or a blending of dark and light where there should have been well-defined lines of demarcation; while in other cases the effect was so great as to produce large patches of dense fog.

Efforts to trace these effects to their cause showed clearly that it was light that had passed through the sensitive film and its glass support, and was then reflected back by either the back of the plate or the layer of atmospheric air in immediate connection therewith, or perhaps both; and the remedy was found in a coating of non-actinic matter applied to, and in optical contact with, the back of the plate, so that the light, or the actinic portion thereof that passed through, should be absorbed rather than returned.

Various substances were employed for this backing, but probably the most convenient and efficient was a thinnish paste or thickish paint made of burnt sienna, dextrine and water, with sufficient glycerine to prevent the dried coating from being brittle, and applied either by means of a broad camel-hair brush or sponge. From the time of this discovery till now, the more careful workers have employed this, or some equally suitable backing, especially on such plates as were to be exposed on subjects known to be favorable to the production of halation; but the method was attended with considerable trouble both in its application and in its removal before development, and consequently never became general.

From time to time many of those who, while recognizing the evil of halation, were unwilling to take the trouble necessary to its prevention, have urged plate-makers to undertake it for them, but with very little success, until some time during last year, when a London firm introduced the "Sandell plate," a plate coated with two or more layers of emulsion of varying degrees of sensitiveness, which was said,

amongst other good qualities, to be free from halation under the most trying conditions.

This multi-coated plate has been introduced into this country by at least two of our platemakers, and while, so far as my experiments go, they seem to deserve the name of "nonhalation," they, as is asserted by some writers of considerable authority, have some qualities that somewhat militate against their usefulness. for general work. Be this as it may, Mr. Carbutt, to whom the whole photographic fraternity is indebted for his labors in the perfecting of gelatino-bromide plates, has satisfied himself that the desired object may be better attained in the good old way, and introduced a plate backed by a new material in every way suitable for the purpose. It is in perfect optical contact with the plate; unabradable, and consequently nothing in the shape of dust from it can injure the sensitive surface; easily removed, and being insoluble in water, stains neither fingers nor developing solution.

Of course such backing costs something, and the "Columbian plate" is necessarily a little more expensive than an unbacked one. To adopt one or other of those courses I would strongly urge every amateur who has passed the button-pressing stage, and really wants to see his name engraved on the pillar of photographic fame; as, although there are some subjects that, from their nature, are more prone to halation than others, there are few indeed, if any, in which it is not present in some degree, or which would not be truer in tonality, and otherwise much and markedly better, on a backed than on an unbacked plate.

I am quite aware that, pipe how I may on this matter, there are some who will not dance some of the "let well alone" persuasion, that for ordinary purposes will neither buy nor back; and even to them I have something to say. There are few amateurs of ability and ambition who do not attempt interior work, and few interiors that would not be improved by the inclusion of a window in the representation. But on an unbacked plate that is hardly possible, even by the usual method of covering the window during all but a fraction of the exposure. With a properly backed plate, however, the difficulty disappears, and gives, instead of what on an unbacked one is simply an irregularly shaped mass of fog, a well-defined window with ample detail in such flowers or other ornaments as may be in or near it.

But I don't want my readers to take my word for this, or indeed any other question that they may easily settle for themselves; as a single experiment properly made, while always pleasant and giving a keener interest in the question, will be far more convincing than a whole column of reasoning from recorded facts. Let them expose a dozen plates on half a dozen different subjects, selected from those both most and least likely to promote halation, one plate on each subject to be backed and the other unbacked. If exposure and development be carried on with care so as to insure the best results, and those results be carefully compared, the superiority of the negatives on the backed plates will be such as to render it unlikely that unbacked plates will ever be employed on subjects having even but a slight tendency to halation, and especially on interiors and landscapes with trees against a clear sky. JAY SEE.