The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1885-06-22
CHAMPION OF THE HUDSON.
A Little Lead-penciI Shaped Craft
Beats the Mary Powell.

When the big steamboat Mary Powell shot
up to the foot of West Twenty-third street,
New York, Wednesday afternoon, her stok-
ers and engineers were laughing A big
crowd which had gathered on the wharf
seemed much amused also, and so did all the
passengers, because a little boat which was
darting around out in the river had
challenged the Powell to a race. and had
vowed to beat her. In the midst of all this
derision, the small boatkept dashing around,
gallantly putting out of its small smokestack
arrogantly, and exhibiting to the four points
of the compass, its name, "Stiletto," painted
in white letters ON black background. She
was only 80 feet long, with II feet of beam,
and was shaped like double pointed wedge
Her general appearance was like that of
lead pencil sharpened at both ends, and old
sailors who never saw a boat shaped like
that said she would roll over, if she tried to
go fast, and other ancient mariners remarked
that she would blow up if she tried to show
anything like the unheard of speed of 26
miles an hour, which her owners claimed
she could make.
When the Mary Powell padded away from
her landing, she found her diminutive chal-
lenger waiting for her to come along and be
downed. The two boats kept side by side
for short distance and, seeing that the
Stiletto would not be distanced at that rate
little more, and advised the pilot to steer
clear of the little boat, as she would certainly
explode If she tried to keep up. But the
StIletto did not explode and did keep up.
Mr.. Heresehoff, the boat builder of Provi-
denee, who made the Stiletto, was on deck
with party of friends. They had remained
modestly silent in the face of the insults
from the Powell, but when they saw that
big boat jumping through the water as fast
as she was able they let loose their exulta-
finn Qr1A chn hot fbAx
all. One said something to the man who
ran the engines, and the others all took off
their hats, bowed politely and yelled good
by" Then the smoke poured thicker out of
the little funnel, and the water jumped up
from under the stern until it wet the flag
that tioated aft, and the little boat rocked
like an old fashioned cradle. Gradually she
stole away from the fast flying Powell, and
before the friends of that boat hadirecovered
from their astonishment they were enjoying
a stern chase and listening to lhe taunts of
the Stiletto people, blown back to them on
the wind. The engineer piled on more steam
until the big boat began to jump, and the
men who knew something about boilers got
as far aft as they could. This lasted until
the Powell was flying along at the rate of
five miles an hour faster than she had ever
gone before, but even that gait was not fast
enough to catch the Stiletto, and that small
yacht was still steadily gaining. At Yonkers
the little boat shot past Jay Gould's swift
yacnt, winch was going at full speed, to en-
Joy as much of the race as possible. Mr..
Gould's yacht has been beaten by the Pow
ell, and 1t evidently did that financier much
good to see the boat which had beat him
Struggling in the wake. he took off his
high white hat, waved it wildly to the peo-
pie on the Stiletto, and had canon fired in
honor af the flyer. At Hastings the little
boat spurted just for fun to see what she
eoulddo. She flew over the ten miles between
f0nkers and Tarrytown in less than % min
utes, and got there while the Powell spurted
along more than mile behind At Sing
Sing the race ended, as that was the destina-
tion of the little boat. The distance of 2S
miles had been made by the Stiletto in III.
II nj. The Mary Powell arrived there seven
minutes later, whistled courteously three
times to the Stiletto, and proceeded on her
may, no longer the fastest boat on the river.
The modelof the Stilette is entirely new,
and her maker says that there is no danger
in sending her at any possible speed, because
she simply can't blow up. The engines, he
said, were not particularly large, and a big
ger boat built in the same way would do
something stunning