The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-06-06

LONDON. June 5.-(Copyrighted,
1896, by the Associated Press)-An-
other international difficulty mas
arisen. 1t has already thrown an
other wet blanket over yachting, and
is believed to have been the cause OF
Mr. Howard Goulds twenty-rater
Niagara. not starting in the race for
the smaller craft on the programme
of the Royal London Yacht clup re-
gatta yesterday when Meteor, emperor
Williams yacht, won her maiden race
THEY ARE SORE.
In brief, English yachtsmen felt
sore over the repeated victories OF
Niagara last year, and the present
flmning and vaporing is the result.
Several insinuations explaining her
power were given. One aquatic expert
had it that the Niagara was using
shifting water ballast and this was
finally settled upon as being the ex-
PLANTATION of her success. eventually
complaint was made to the yacht
racing association, and the folIoWlng
letter was sent by the secretary OF
| that organization, dated May Il, to
| Mr.. Howard Could
Howard Gould, Esq. Dear Sir:-A
report has been made to the council
of the yacht racing association that
your yacht Niagara is fitted with
water tank under the seat on each
side of the cabin, and that these
| tanks are connected by pipe so as
to make it possible, by merely turning
a. cock. to run water from one tank
| into the other and thus use them as
SHIFTING WATER BALLAST,
which might be advantageous in GER
ftsin eases.
''Three members of the council were
consequently requested to inspect the
tanks which they did Immediately
after the race of the Royal Yacht
club on May %, and in your absence
were afforded every facility by Cap
tain Barr.
4 1.-THE members of the council do not
! wish to convey any idea on their part
| that the tanks were used for the pur-
pose indicated. On the contrary. the
! impression is the other way. But
am. requested to suggest, in order to
place the matter beyond suspicion,
that it desirable to make impractic
able the run of water from one tank
to the other, which could readily be
done by a small alteration of the
pipe.
81 should be glad to hear for the in
formation of the council that this has
been done at once.
DIXON KEMP, Secretary"
BULL HEADS.
The Yachtsman. referring to this
matter, says: 1--WE have seen the
water tanks and there is absolutely
no room under the floor for any pipes.
1t Is true. there is a connecting pine
between the tanks, but we fail to see
that it would have been used for
shifting ballast, as it takes ten min
utes for one tank to empty into the
other and this can only be done when
the yacht is keeled over
The writer in the Yachtsman con-
cludes with remarlling: 1--WE regard
the incident as peculiarly unfortunate
because the suspicion which many
treat as a gross insult attaches to a
foreign gentleman, who has done much
for British yachting, and who is
known to be a thorough sportsman
The fact that Mr. Could is an Ameri-
can
MAKES IT ALL THE WORSE.
for in spite of disclaimers, yactmen in
America will regard it as a national
insult
Under the circumstances nobody
would be astonished if Mr.. Howard
Gould refused to take part in any more
races on these waters. Mr. Could
writes to the Field in regard to the
dispute over the water tanks or
Niagara as follows:
''The tanks were never used for bal.
last Or for any purpose except fol
water for the crew. The yacht was
measured and always raced with the
tanks empty and even if they were
filled the idea that they could be ot
advantage is absurd because it would
take eight or ten minutes for the
water to rum from one to the other.
Had the committee advised me o.
their intended visit I should have
been pleased to aid them in their in
vestigations'
An editors footnote says: sswt
understand that Mr.. Gould has Offered
TO comply with the committees slpg
gestions''