Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-10-04

yachts opposed the American craft, and all
were most disastrously defeated and the
cup prize was in time handed over to Com
modore Stevens That prize was the cup
for which the Valkyrie has crossed the
ocean. and which English yachtsmen have
50 long and earnestly fought to reclaim.
Talk of the Time.
Regarding the race. an English authority
said at the time: "A large portion of the
peerage and gentry OF the united kingdom
LETT their residences and forsook the sports
Of the moor to witness the struggle of the
yachtsmen of England hitherto unmatched
and unchallenged and the Americans who
had crossed the Atlantic to meet them. All
the feelings of that vast population which
swarms in our southern ports and firmly
believe in Rule Britannia an article of
national faith-all the prejudices of the
wealthy aristocracy and gentry who re-
garded the beautiful vessels in which they
cruised about the Mediterranean every sum-
mer as the perfection of naval architecture
were reused to the highest degree. and
even the Queen of England did not deem
the occasion unworthy of her presence.
From the Royal Cork Club. which was
founded In ITO. to the Royal London, es-
tablisned in 1s49 there are seventeen yacht
clubs in various parts of the united king
dom-ten English. four Irish, two Scotch
and one Welsh. and not one of them has
ever seen a foreigner enter the lists in the
annual matches. IL was just known that
there was an Imperial Yacht Club of st.
Petersburg. maintained. II was affirmed.
by the imperial treasury, to encourage
nautical spirit among the nobility and that
some ten or eleven owners of yachts at
Rotterdam had enrolled themselves as the
Royal Netherland Yacht Club but till
the America came over the few who were
aware OF the fact that there was a flourish
ing club at New York did not regard IL
as OF the slightest Consequence or al all like
~ to interfere with their monopoly of the
manifest and most useful of all sports"
The America sailed from Cowes to o.
borne. IL the record Of the time. ION the
intimation that the queen wished to inspect
her. On her arrival there, her majesty
with Prince Albert and suite went on board
and spent half an hour In a close inspection
Of the famous boat"
Commodore Stevens soon after sold the
America to an English gentleman. who
altered her rig and used her for cruising
until 1861. when her name was changed to
Camilla She was sold. and. being furnished
with heavy gun. was dispatched from
England as A confederate cruiser, her name
then being Memphis. 1t was soon ascer-
tanned that she was failure for this bust
ness. as In light winds the slowest vessel
in the blochading fleet was a match for
her. She was run up the st. Johns river
Florida. and sunk In the mud for safety
The officers of the American frigate Wa
bash had her dug out. and in time she was
sent to Annapolis and for a while used as
& training schooner by the cadets. Being
sent to New York the United States gov
ernment refitted her In 1871, when she met
the British schooner Livonia, that had been
defeated In her mission for the cup, and was
beaten. the trouble being that she was rig
Fed like a man-of-war and sailed by an
officer little acquainted with yacht racing
The same year the government disposed
Of the America at auction. and she was
purchased by Gen. Benjamin F. Butler and
Col. Jonas H. French. who had her refitted
In a sensible yachting way. Since then she
has sailed many creditable races and been
a winner on memorable occasions. A new
stern has been given her. making her eight
feet longer on deck. her interior fittings
completely changed. the rake taken from