Waterbury evening Democrat., 1895-06-29


 Racing at Once-A Great Crowd at the Launching. BRISTOL, R. l., June 29.-A beautiful creation in white and gold, the yacht De fender, is held by props in the HcrrcShoffs' shop practically ready for her initial plunge into the water this afternoon. Tho machinery at the shops was run, ming all last night, and several gangs of workmcn were busy putting the finishing touches on the Defender The work is still unfinished, and the hammer of the rivctcr was busy last night long after the old town was wrapped in slumber.
 But there will be no delay. The Defend or will be launched today. The top sides of the Defender were painted Thursday coat of white from the rail to the water line, taking in the aluminium strcaks and the ends of the manganese plates that project above the water line. Another coat of paint will probably be put on over this after the boat is launched and while she iS being riggcd in the slip.
 The boat was measured, but the figures have been closely guarded. The water line was marked out along the manganese and aluminium plates.
 It was simply scratched and the coat of white paint brought down along the whole
 
 than ever since the white paint has been put on, as it blends to perfection with tho polished undcrbody, which resembles shin ing gold.
 \ number of Brist,L people inspected the boat Friday 1y invitatiu of the build CTS, and all came away speaking in great praise of the white and gold cup dcfcndcr, which, they said, OutrivalCd anything in the boat line that was ever dreamed of.
 Will Be Launched In a Cradle.
 The Defender will he launched in a era. dr. This cradle will not extend quite the whole length of the boat, but will be con. structtd as solid as a rock, to stand the great strain before tho yacht strikes the water.
 The cradle will insure a safe launching, which is very necessary at this time Painters have been giving the interior of the boat a second coat during the past few days, and the work of putting up the wooden hulkhcatS l4cgnn Thursday after noon. They are now all in place and fas- tened. The finishing of the interior while not intended to be elaborate, is yet far from heinz completed. This can easily be donr after the launching.
 The army of newspaper men and art ists has been %rcatly added to- Last Thurs day night it was rImnrrd that the boat
 
 hrr of newspaper men stood on watch all night Their vigilance was uncallcd for however, as the announcement was made officially that Nlr launching was to be a public affair, and there was Il" good req son to believe that the builders had any intention of drcriving the public.
 Bristol has been filling up with visitors for the past few days, and today it prob ably holds tn" largest crowd in its history, \ special train will be run from Provi- drucC. and various excursion steamers arc advertising that they will give patrons go"d view of the launching. Every mem hrr of the Defender syndicate k expected to hy present, and a large delegation of New York Yacht club members is looked for. Colonel Samuel F. Colt is to keep open house to the New York yachtsmCn, and several other uf the townspCoplc are preparing tn entertain the visitors during their stay
 1 Rigging to Tie Begun mt Once. So well satisfied iS John B. HcrrcShoff | that everything is going to go off smooth 1 ly that he has ceased worrying, and Fri ] day together with his wife and party of l friends, he attended the college boat race 1 at New London. The party went on the i steam yacht Eugcnia. Mir. and Mrs Isc l lin, on the Colonia, also attended tho ! New London races. There iS much spec ulation here as to who is to break the bot l tie of champagne over the bow of the boat | as she slides down the ways. The most i prominent pcrSlN mentioned is Mrs Ise- lin. It would not be surprising, however, if one of the lsrlin children should chris ten the boat
 The Drfrndrr's mast k to bc stepped immediately after launching, and the i rigging will be at once begun. Every thing iS all ready for this work. The mast has been finished for several weeks and is now at the dock beneath tho big shears which will lift it into the Defender.
 IL is Quiir likely that before the sun sets tonight the yacht will he well along in the matter of rigging. and it will not be surprising if her sails are bent by the early part of next week Those who have inspected the boat in the shops and who are able to judge her from Il technical l standpoint unite in saving that she is a | powerful craft.
 \, an indication that the money spcnt thus far has not been wasted, the boat stands in evidence aS nrarly perfect from n mechanical standpoint as she can be. Tho W"rkmrn say that no details, how ever small, have been overlooked. There has been no attempt to gloss over imma- terial things. There is one item of ex- pcnsc that cannot be classcd as necessary. There were 30 mon at work furnishing the boat last week and tho early part z: this week. They finished their labors on Tuesday and were practically ready to gt when Mir. Iselin dropped into the shop He looked the boat over from tho bow down, and it was evident that the shine did not quite suit him.
 How long will it take you to polish her with pomacc:' he asked tho foreman Upon being told that the work would , require another day at least. he gave tho order to go ahead and polish her. The jol cost somewhere about S200. hut after tho workmcn had finished the bronze under F body glistcned like the inside of chalice