The Dickinson press., 1895-09-14

Gull, lOT IL ~ were 1OF 1OluluS elSo,
the American heart loves the hard
loser in the fight, and loves him the
more when he loses through no fault
Of his own. 1t was grievous acci-
dent that ruined the Yankee boats
chances, an accident which under the
hair-splitting circumstances of jockey
ing at the starting line, looked to lie
unavoidable. Early in the morning
the racers had leisurely made their
way down to the Hook at Bay Ridge,
white winged and beautiful. They
circled in great rings about the light
ship until the signals went up for the
course, and then the shippers took
tighter grip on the wheel. Capt. Hank
Half had made record in seaman
ship on Saturday, and the English
skipper prepared to regain the fame
which had preceded him. They ma
neuyered swiftly after tie preparatory
gun had been fired, and with Valkyrie
to the windward, Capt. Half made ev-
cry effort to gain that position.
Defender Injured.
Just before reaching the line when
Valkyrie was still to windward and
Defender to leeward, a length astern,
but still overhauling her, the Ameri-
can boat was blanketed so much that
her baby jib topsail and jib shook.
Capt. Half seeing this, luffed Zip
little, evidently intending to let the
other boat go ahead for the purpose of
enabling him to pass under her stern
and to windward. Capt. Sycamore at
Valkyrie's tiller noted this move and
luffed up also. 1t was then that the
thousands of watchers on the sur
rounding boats noticed how danger
ously close to each other the racers
We're. And just at that moment, too,
a snap and Il rending sound was
heard. and it was seen that Defend
er's jib topsail was flying loose in the
wind. Valkyrie's main boom had
swung around and fOuled Defenders
rigging. 10 those who had witnessed
the accident and sprang forward at
the oninOus sound, 1t seemed as
though Defender trembled with the
shock. They saw her topmast bend
and her topsail swung over as though
1T would break away, and groan
Went up as though the brave boat
which had won so noble a victory a
few days before was wholly debarred
from even on effort to secure q second,
Lightning action was necessary to
save the topmast from breaking away
completely. for it was already sprung
from its fastenings, and Capt. Half,
with master stroke, taking his boat
down to leeward, soon maneuvered
her into a safe position and gave
chase. Valkyrie, which had crossed
the line first, had gained q good lead
by
Defenders Disaster
and had probably little more than
half u mile advantage; at the end Of
the first leg i'll the triangular course
over Which they sailed. Her gain was
something less than four minutes in
the beat to windy. ard. From that on.
however, Defender, while not percept-
IDLY closing the gap between them.
lessened the time, and they crossed the
line not much more than two minutes
apart. Valkyrie, however, according
to corrected time. wins from Defender
by just II seconds. Taken altogether.
IL s considered that Valkyrie was
tS.s,ten worse than she was in the first
race. although she came in first.
When the tug Walter Luckenbach.
with the regatta committee of the New
York Yacht club, arrived at the foot
of East Twenty-sixth street, s. Mich
olson Kane, chairman of the commit
tee, when. asked in regard to the al
legged fouling Of Defender by Valkyrie.
said that protest had been enter.
tanned. and that the regatta committee
had held conference in regard to
the matter while the tug was on her
way to the dock, but that no definite
conclusion had been arrived at. After
the race Commodore Kane said the
Luckenbach had gone into the Horse
shoe, where G. Oliver Iselin went on
board and spoke to the members Of
the committee. Lord Dunraven sent
a note to Commodore Kane at the
same time. Commodore Kane did not
think that any conclusion in the mat
ter could be reached by the commit
tee before tomorrow morning.
The captain Of the Defender Is II. @.
Half, who commanded the vigilant
last season, and who had been sue.
cessful in many famous races. He Is
native of Long Island. and was born
at 1slfp in 1887. In Islip he is the one
big man of the place. When he ia
ashore he is looked up to us the lead
er in local politics. in the school
board, fire department and other local
organizations.