New-York tribune., 1885-09-17

available rag Of sail tugging its utmost A cloud
of steam issuing from the whistle of the Luckcu-
bach gave the expected warning and sloDp aud
cutter were soon tearing down before tne w'nd 10.
ward that imaginary line, the threshold Of defeat
and VIC Org. -
A chorus Of "There they 90 Now they re orr
from the watching mulitudes marked their pass
age over the line. These were merged into admir-,
ing cxclamatiOns as spirnakec bOOns slowly dipped
down and two additional clouds Of canvas seemed
20 drive the sharp bows almost under 'ho water
with their enormous pressure. There was nothing
to draw the attention from the racers themselves,
for their escort Of sloops aud schooneTs
RAPIDLY dropped behind. Some Of them put back
for the Horse hoe, and only fewOf tho larger ones
put after the scudding sloop and cutter. The cap
tuns of the pursuing steamers Hhont down the
speaking tube TO the engineer u y Let her 20
siow!" but they soon find that IL Is no easy job 90
keep mp with the chase. / hc steamers were sight
In b.Lold In them elves. Every available stand
point was occupied The more ycnturcsome climbed
on ,,i,' fioI,,i bn out Of The pilot- -hon-r win
dows and the engineers friends decorated the
walking beam frames.
Sandy Hook Lghtsiip was passed in no time and
the American heart swoed with pride and cXulta-
tion when II became evident that under ue press Of
her immense balloon jlb topsai and spnnakcr tlc
Puritan was overhaning her rival Directly In the
course OF the lay the white bark Catalina OF
barcelona her i've Tiers OF dirty canvas rising one
over the other She was jogging along before the
wind but the Hcet went By ber as though she was
being towed backward. Her captain waved
pocket handkerchief Of doubtful hue In the air !;
then the idle sailcrs sitting on her iOrccastc gazel
stolidIy at the serns OF the biz side wheeers and
thcv were left alone. The big kOckaway Hotel lad
long ago faded IN the distance, aud now tie Long
Beach hOstelry with it, train OF attendant cottages
followed It. The steam tug that had gone ahead to
horizon grew larger aud larger and with glass the
rel buoy could bo seen dancing in itt place
The cutter men on board were deeply disgustod
and thought it hard that they couldn't have any
cutter weather. but the weathrrwse looked at the
clouds coming up IN the west and remarked that
there would be enough wind before long 20 satisfy
the most Tabd cuttcr-maniac. The wind grew
stronger and stronger until tho Gencsta's three
corneied spinna,er swellcd out like q section OF
whit meOn-rInd, and the voice Of tbs man from
Boston grow softer as the English cutter came up
hand over hand with his pc; sOOp after jibing ana
bearing down with the wind on her quarter.
Rgnnd tho buoy they went. and Boston became
dnmh with disiDay hen a COMPARISON of watches
showed the Geuesta nearly two minutes ahead
Az the steamers brought their heads up ir'o the
wind and the people on tbs upper decks clutehed Mt
their Lnt3 they realized that II was blowing half y
gale. There were the racers cutting To windward
u ldcr shortened sail. cloud with leaden Inning
was coming up from the west. The sea was black
except where il broke INTO short splteful littlo
white caps and the row of Outlandish little flags In
the Richmond's rigging stood out as stih and
straight as though tley many hide0us
designs craven stone. The tugs plunged INTO
the waves until tho spray few over their smoke
stacks and their passengers sought safety in the
pilot -bonses Black masses Of water thumpcd mp
under the guards of the steamers aud broke INTO
drenehing showers that swept the lover deck and
often sprinklcd the people on the hurricane deck.
The lrightened carrier pigeons that liberated
went ont TO sea as though shot ont of gnn one
OF them was blown against q smoko-stack guy of
tbs Taurus and went whrling down into the water.
dead
The conduct of the Puritan's skipper in housing
his tOprnast was tho subject OF n lively discussion
among the yachtsmen Oh board the Taurus. lie
must havO sprGug something, | guess" remarked
an apologetic Boston man. " You leave Joe Els
worth alone" said n burly New Yorker I've
sailed with HIM in all sorts of weather That top
sail wouldn't help him at all and the drag on tho
topmast would drag him back" When the Puritan
walked ~ the front again, all carpng criticism was
silenccd.
The notilla went plungng on through the seas.
the Geuesta half decks under and the Puritan
hurng huge masses of foam thirty feet 10 the wind
ward. until the low roof of The Long Reach Hotel
again rose above the horizon. The steam yacht
POlynia stuck to the Puritan closer than brother,
while the larger bOnts kept respectfully IN the
and the Gcuesta struggled on in advance OF all
Still the Puritan far To the windward, and the
excited On.loOkeTs could not tell which would win
CDney Island and the Highlands Of Navesnk
into Wow and still tho question was undecided
The rival yachts were drawing closer and closer to-
gethcr but from the steamers decks it imposs.
ble to tell which was leading. The finish was near,
for the waiting sloOps and schooners could be
living to under close reefs bat the ighship could
not be discovered. Tho suspense became something
where's the ightshipf Where's tho lightshp!
Five dollars 10 the man that cen show t TO me-" ex
claimed an excited yachtslnan as he danced about
the deck.
At last the lIgh ship could be discerned and il
was evident that both sloop and cutter could
weather IL easily. Then az ,ho Puritan ran down
toward the Gencsta and tine latter bore M under