Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1881-05-12
EXPERIENCES IN A CANOE.
Floating 500 Miles Amid snow>torm.
aud HeadwiNd>.

Charles f. Chase, who is making n
/ 3,OOO-mlle voyage in a caroe, arrived
in Cincinnati on Wednesday last, hav-
! ing startled from Clean, \. y, on March
oath. He is the guest of Judge Long
worth, and in conversation with Ca
| sette reporter said:
con the oath of March left Clean
Y. ", the highest railroad point ON the
Allegheny River, on the Erie road.
Ny route embraces the Allegheny Riy-
er, the Mississippi--from CAIRO to Rock
Island, H., the Rock River and the
chain of lakes to Pewaukee, Wis. |
shall cross the lake of Michigan by
steamer. Then | shall cross the state
of Michigan by canoe (by the chain of
lakes, spending some time fishing,
hunting, etc. From Sheboygan on the
Straits of Mackinaw, | shall go down
the lakes to Kingston, Canada. With
my canoe | shall float down the mag
nificent st. Lawrence, through the
Thousand Islands. Next | shall take
the Richelieu and Lake Champlain,
Lake George, the Hudson River and
thus to New York City. On the 18th of
August the American Canoe Associa-
ton, of which Nicholas Longworth is
Nice-Commodore, meets for n four
days annual session at the Canoe Is
lands, formerly the Three Sisters, pur-
chased within the last year by Judge
Longworth, Messrs. Lucien Wulcien
and W. H. Bishop; and | shall attend
that. There will be 5000 miles of ac-
tual canoeing in my voyage Up to
this point of the cruise ! have had an
unbroken succession of snow storms
and head winds from Oleal to Mari
eta, Ohio. | did not travel at night
except once or twice in order to
make point but for rest and shelter |
stopped at farm houses, etc. From
here on | expect to camp out and shall
take the requisites with me- My ca
noe is Mt Racine. It's length is four
teen feet and its beam twenty in
inches 1t is built of veneer--a novelty
by way of boat construction. Il is
made Of three layers of wood, the ex-
terror and the interior being Of birch
and the middle layer of cherry. The
canoe itself weighs about 100 pounds,
twenty-five pounds heavier than the
ordinary Racine canoe. For SO small
n craft carry quite an extensive car
goa tent, two blankets, stove,
something original with mel, camp
utensils, which put inside the stove
when journeying, plenty of clothing lin
an india rubber bag, fishing tackle,
etc"
Don't you carry IA weapon of any
kind?"
NO" laughed Mr.. Chase, except
what nature has provided me with. 1t
is peculiar fact that the toughest men
treat canoeists with chivalry. | am
not afraid to 90 anywhere in canoe,
SO far ~ personal safety is concerned.
| have travelled 5000 miles in canoe
and have never had "A cents worth of
property stolen, nor have been in the
least molested When | began canoe
ing there was hardly II canoe in the
United States. You understand | am
not speaking of the aborignes The
canoe, such as we use, was first intro
duced by William l.. Alden, the funny
man Of the New York Times. He is an
Englishman, and he brought the sport
from his native country. That must
have been in 1870 or 1871. A club was
formed and several regattas we're held.
But the club was not successful and the
regattas were failures, because all the
participants always capsized-they
could not manage their canoes. The
Canoe Club declined into simply din
ing club.
This was the state of affairs in 1877,
when founded shadow canoe In
1873 went up the Hudson River from
Waterford, opposite Troy, n. Y, along
the Champlain Canal to Lake Cham
plain, down the lake to Rouses Point,
down the Richelieu River to the st.
Lawrence to Quebec; from that histor-
ic city / went up Chaudierre Biyer to
the headwaters of the Connecticut ;
down that river and Long Island Sound,
and thus to New York.