The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1899-10-04
SHAMROCK A SURPRISE.
She Led Columbia in a Race That
Was Postponed,
FAILED no FINISH IN TIME LIMIT

Therefore Thursdays Contest VIII Be
the First For the America's Cup.
Though the First Attempt was a
Failure, Our Yachtsmeu CONFIDENT.
New York. Oct. As the sun set
last evening the biggest crowd of sight
seers and yachtsmen who ever sailed
down to Sandy Hook to witness the
attempt of foreign mug hunter to
wrest from America the yachting su-
premacy Of the world returned to New
York crestfallen and disappointed The
winds had proved too light and shifty,
end the first of the International series
OF 1899 between the two greatest
racing machines ever produced Dy
England and America degenerated into
a drifting match. and had to be de-
clared off because neither could reach
the finish line in the time allotted by
the rules.
To avoid just such winds as occurred
yesterday, in which luck and not the
crew and yachts win, the rules provide
that If one of the boats does not finish
within five and a half hours the race
is declared off, so at the end of the time
last evening, when the yachts were
still four miles from home with the
Shamrock leading by something more
than a quarter of a mile the commit
tee officially declared that there had
been no race. Under the rules the first
race is now postponed until Thursday.
The day promised well at first. The
sky was smirched with a few dirty
clouds, but clear enough to permit the
thousands of spectators who lined the
Jersey shore to see almost every foot
OF the course, which was 10 miles to
leeward and return The waves were
crested with whitecaps here and there,
and a fairly fresh breeze blew out of
the northeast, but after the Columbia
and Shamrock had crossed the line the
wind turned fluky and variable, and
the race was tlzzle almost from the
start. But the fiuke gave the yachting
sharps and the spectators much to
think about, and some surprises.
The Columbia is undoubtedly the
prettier boat. She is tall, stately, with
graceful lines and towering mast. The
Irish boat. with broader beam and
longer base line, looked slower and
heavier. Perhaps her green color
makes her look clumsier. as if she
were forced through the water, while
the slim Columbia pierces it like a
rapier.
Though indecisive in every respect
as to the abilities of the great rival
single stickers, yesterdays race indi-
Gates that the Irish boat, with her
English skipper and her Scotch crew,
is the ablest sloop ever sent across the
Atlantic in the hope of lifting the 100
guinea cup which the America brought
back AS years ago, and which has since
been successfully defended against the
world.
During the five and half hours
sail the Shamrock was thrice ahead,
and twice the Yankee boat showed the
way. For the first ten minutes the
Shamrock led, then for five minutes
the Columbia's graceful bow showed
ahead of the green boat, for 40 minutes
following the Shamrock led, then for
three hours the Columbia, and for the
last hour and a half it was the Sham
rock that led the way. The breeze blew
as high as u knots an hour and as low
as three. ard shifted about through
eight points of the compass. Each in
turn beat the other running before the
wind and was in turn beaten beating
against the wind at various stages of
the race, so that many of the experts
who saw the two boats sail yesterday
are disinclined to believe that there
is a pin to choose between them, but
when the race is closely analyzed it is
absolutely proven that the Columbia
showed her superiority at every point
of sailing whenever the wind fresh
ened, and that it was only in the
lightest air that the Shamrock could
make Roadway agaiUst her. Both had
their share Of good ard bad luck. The
Columbia had the better of the shift
ing wind on the run down to the mark.
and beat the Sharook minutes and A
seconds, while on the beat home, after
increasing her lead to over mile at
one time the Shamrock overhauled the
Yankee and was a quarter of a mile
ahead when the time allowance expired
Taken altogether, there could not
have been a more unsatisfactory race,
and yet as a result of it the friends
of the cup defender seem proud of the
showing she made and confident that
the cup is safe. Sir Thomas Upton,
too, is more pleased with the Shamrock
than ever.
The feature of the race which pleased
everybody most was the perfectly clear
field which was maintained. A flotil-
la Of revenue cutters and swift torpedo
boats, flying red barred white flags
guarded the course, keeping excursion
steamers, yachts and tugs at perfect
ly safe distance from the canvas cloud
ed racers.
On board the Shamrock during the