The Washington bee. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1884-1922, 1895-11-23

as a challenger, the embittered owne,
Of the Valkyrie seems to- have at las'
made up his mind to prevent, II posi-
Bile, any future contests between repre-.
sentative yachts of the two countries
His latest freak has been to issue s
pamphlet over his own signature II
England, in which. as an addltlona
reason given for retiring from the late
cup race, he charges that the ballast OF
the Defender was increased after The
was officially measured SO as to deeper
her in the water by four inches. This
astounding charge is made so as to In
clude not only the owners, officers anc
crew of the American yacht but to i'm.
ply that the Cup Committee and the
New York Yacht Club were cognlzani
Of the fraud.
The strange thing about this remark
able accusation is it's utter incred1Dli'
ity. It would have taken from twelve
to fourteen tons of ballast to have put
the Defender four inches deeper In the
water The Yankee yacht in all mel
races showed herself to be very SUN
boat, and there was no conceivable rea-
son for increasing her ballast. Botf
her races with the Valkyrie were sailed
in light winds, and to have addec
twelve tons to her ballast would SIM
ply have deadened her speed and pun
her out of the race. The charge is MOI
only reckless, but absolutely absurd
Lord Dunraven does not pretend to
have any evidence--he merely suspect
ed that Yankee trick" had beer
played on him, and filings this gratul-
tous insult to American honesty In the
face of the world as balm to his LAGER
ated feelings because George watson
could not build as fast yacht as th'
Herreshoff Brothers.
The New York Yacht CLUB has hith-
erto been very conSiderate of this &C.
centric Britisher It has pitied his
chagrin and disappointment and trustee
that time would still the tempest IL.
his breast. But the time has come &c
deal with these scandalous charges
against American fair play, and thor
ough investigation will be made. Pup-
lie sympathy is very much aroused II
behalf of the Defender syndicate anoI
the Cup Committee. This was very
clearly shown in remarkable demon
stration on the floor of the Stock Elk
change to Chairman James d. Smith,
of the Cup Committee. Mr.. G. O. Ise-
lin, the manager of the Defender, has
demanded an investigation, and he will
get it. Public sentiment even applauds
his designation of Lord Dunraven a.
"a liar and a biackguard," with big
D at that, and it is evident that the
Jingoes in the Yacht Club will have
things all their own way unless some
substantial evidence can be produced
by the Earls friends. Evidence is prac
tically out of the question, however
and the expulsion Of Earl Dunraven a.
an honorary member of the New 1orh
Yacht Club seems probable. This may
end international yacht racing for some
years, but American genius in ship
building is likely to find a larger field
than in the construction Of the white
winged wonders which John Bull has
found it SO impossible to defeat.
Evidently the bicycle has not yet dis
placed the horse in popular favor. The
interest in the Horse Show this fall
was quite as great as usual. The dis
play of beautiful women and beautiful
gowns showed no railing off from pre-
viouS years. In fact, the satirists are
quite as ready as ever to picture the
ever r as a display of well-groomed So
ciety queens, rather than an exhibition