The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1883-08-30
FLOATING PALACES.
Millionaires Creating Monopoly in Yachts
The Latest Ordered.

Some people say that Jay Gould's
failure to secure an election to one OF
more of the leading yacht clubs-not-
withstanding the fact that he will own
perhaps the finest and fastest steam
yacht yet built-will result in his eleva-
ton to the proud position of Commo-
dore, or possibly Admiral. of club COM
posed exclusively of millionaires who
are able to buy or build steam yachts
regardless of expense, writes a New
York correspondent of the Hartford
Times. Since Gould's Atalanta was
launched, James Gordon Bennett and
two or three more have ordered new
vessels, stipulating that they shall be
''as good as Gould's,'' if not better and
every Cr9sus is in lively competition
with the rest of the Cresus family
For, after all, it is mere matter of mon
ey. The model has been found in the
Atalanta, which will do, il is claimed,
twenty knots an hour, though the Alta
lanta is yet to do it. But somewhere
from fifteen to twenty knots will be at
tanned by these new vessels, and there
is no limit to the amount that can be
invested in the way of gorgeous interior
fittings and decorations. The Atalanta
is a marvel in the way of wood work
and upholstery, and it will have electric
lights, patent machinery for making
ice, and every conceivable convenience
and comfort. The simple sailing yachts
have heretofore been considered, by
those most interested, rich owners,
costly enough. 1t is not the mere build
ing or fitting up that tells the story 1t
is not, according to the too readily ac-
cepted proverb, the first step that costs
After investing anywhere from $50, 900
to $150,000 in a sailing yacht, the game
has not begun. The literally running"
expenses are what pull on the most
plethoric pocket-book A while ago a
quiet bank cashier in Wall street, who
for many years had owned and in Sum-
mer ran on the sound and round to
Newport a comparatively modest yacht
was asked what the amusement and
pleasure cost him, 'Oh,' he replied, 81
don't pretend to go into the thing like
those fellows Jim Bennett and the rest,
and give swell parties aboard and go
to the Mediterranean, and all that. OF
course have to keep my Captain and
crew the year round, but. while keep
ing them, | keep my own expenses
down, and l manage to run my yacht
very we'll for $4,000 a year" And
this sum is small in comparison with
what Bennett and his competing crowd
spend in yachting every year, simply
because they must compete, and are
able to do it. These ''yOung fellers," {"
as the old yachtmen call them, think
they are doing big things in the pleas
ure steam yacht line; but thirty-five
years ago, as far back rs 1858 old Com
modore Vanderbilt beat the best of
them, Gould with his Atalanta and all,
when he built the magnificent North
Star and took his family, friends, cook
and chaplain across the Atlantic and
on a general tour to all the seaports of
Europe. The Atalanta is an oyster boat
to the North Star, and the old Commo-
dore knew something about the sea and
ships and sailors. Another thing: This
modern display of mere money in yachts
and yachting knocks all the poetry out
of the pastime. A paragraph in the
Sun says:
''Our millionaire yachtmen do not
understand the romance of yachting.
Their practical business training fol-
lows them into aQuatics. They build
steam yachts 1Or speed ana cOmmOdl-
BUSINESS. They will never know the de-
light of bringing trim sailing craft up
into stiff breeze, watching her white
sails fill, and feeling her bound over
the waves while the spray sparkles
around her bow. That is the poetry of
yachting"
That is it, exactly. There is no ro-
nance or poetry in steam yacht
any more than there is in a locomotive.
You cannot put a steam yacht into
picture or poem-for either it is too
practical, too matter-of-fact. But
yachting is an excellent medium for
the display of millionaire's money
1t will give greater security and safety
to the landsmen who own them; enable
them to run sooner for shelter when
storms on the sound threaten, and will
be Il convenience to brokers who wish
speedily TO get back to business every
day, or two or three times a-week, from
the nearby resorts. But these costly
Iuxuries will be the monopoly of the mil
lionaires. There is no danger that the
sailing yacht will go out of existence.