Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1893-12-17

frozen ~surfaca OF a river or lake at the
rate of a mile o minute or at almost
double that speed the propelllng force
m ust at least be a young hurricane.
This is just the time OF year when the
Ice yachtsmen Of the Hudson and North
Shrewsbury rivers, Lakes Champlaln,
Erie, Minnetonka and others are getting
their Yachts In trim for the seasons
races, and when the western devOtees OF
similar sport on land are beginning to
think Of speeding their toboggan yachts
over the snow covered prairies. In the
east the ice yachting enthusiasts are In
force on the Hudson river near POugh-
keepsie, on the North Shrewsbury river
at Red Bank, n. j., and on the glass
like surface of Lake Champlaln. The
Hudson river aud North Shrewsbury
yachtsmen have sailed worlds champi-
onship races since 1881, and contests for
the Hudson championship have been of
annual occurrence since 1869.
What the Americas cup is to inter-
national yachting on the sea the New
Hamburg challenge pennant OF Amer
lea is to yachting on the ice. The PEN
nant is only q faded strip OF red and
white silk inscribed with letters OF gold,
and while its intrinsic value Is mimi
tesimal its sentimental value cannot be
estimated in dollars to al Ice yachts
man who has built a swift yacht and
who is ambitious to see 1t flying the
emblem that represents the champion
ship.
The pennant was first offered by the
New Hamburg IN. " Ice Yacht Club
in 1881, and its yacht Phantom defend
ed the trophy against the challenging
yachts Of the P~oughkeepsie Ice Yacht
Club. Since then the trophy has
changed hands frequently, and some OF
the swiftest fee yachts the world has
ever seen, including the Haze, Ava
lanche, Northern Light, Jack Frost and
Icicle, have won the trophy, In con-
tests for the championship the yachts
sail over q 2O-mile course, q the
usual average speed, according TO
the winning time Of the different vic
tors, is about 81 miles an hour, but
as the yachts lose considerable time In
making the turn and by repeated tack
ing from one side Of the river to the
other this estimate Of their speed Is
hardly a fair one. Experienced yachts
men declare that q speed Of a mile a
minute Is not at all unusual. and that
it has been demonstrated that yachts
have attained the terrific velocity OF 10
miles an hour. The Scud, owned by
James b. Weaver. one of Red Banks
most celebrated fee yachtsmen, has
covered half a mile IN Is seconds, or at
the rate of two miles q minute.
From these figures It is evident that
in the matter Of speed no vehicle yet
invented carries man. through the. air
more swiftly than the modern ice
Yacht. II is even asserted by the lead
Ing devotees OF this sport that the
yachts move rel faster than the wind
that carries them along. At FIRST
thought this statement seems absurd,
but it has the support Of no less an
authority than Professor Park Bepia-
min, who declares that while an ice
yacht cannot run before the wind faster
than the wind itself, the same yacht
with the wind abeam and the sail cleav-
ing the air in such q manner that IL pre-
sents no resistance surface may attain
q speed far greater than that OF the
wind propelling IL. The theoretical
statement has been confirmed In prac-
tice by Hudson river yachtsmen, who
| aIlege that their white winged ice
skimmers, when speeding with q 30
mile wind abeam, have repeatedly pass
ed railroad trains moving along the
Hudson's banks at the rate Of 45 miles
an hour.
To the uniformed observed the skel-
eton frame OF an ice yacht suggests
that the sport cannot be q very expen-
siYe one, and yet such crack yachts as
the IcIcle. Lady Of the Lake and Ava
Ianche each costs their owners fully ST.
600. The bill for the iron work alone on
the IcicIe was $50. This yacht. before
she was remodeled, was probably the
largest ever constructed. She Ws'ftear-