The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-10-23
MAGNIFICENT, NOT YACHTING.
EngIishmen Lament the Earlier
Days of Cheaper Sport.

Days of Cheaper Sport.
From the London Telegraph.
A true yachtsman watching that eXtraor-
binary scene outside the lower bay of New
York or reading accounts of the stupen-
dous uproar, the wild, popular turmoil of
emotion, the clouds of accompanying craft,
and the passion of International rivalry at
such tull boom. will probably say TO him
self: 1T is magnificent, but it is not yacht
insr' Nor can it be denied that as a mat
ter of pleasure and Of pastime, your real
sailor loves to have the sea to himself.
with no body too much in the way to
windward or to leeward, and all the sweet
fresh freedom of the pillows. Better
thousand times in the ears of the lover OF
ocean than brass bands and screaming
sirens is the matchless music of the waves
themselves as they go laundering and
foaming past his ship i'm squadrons, blue
or green of sea horses or break in white
clouds of dancing water against the pluug-
ing stem and shining bow, TO part behind
the gliding keel in Two divergtng burrows,
which melt away into a path embroidered
with silver sea face, and the mad swirl of
twisting brine and spindriIt and breaking
bubbles. Nor will your true yachtsman, In
his heart of hearts, pretend that he really
regards as meriting the name of yachts"
such highly artificial vessels as these two
marvellous constructions, built of rare ana
costly metals, shaped in a way TO make
Amphitrite swoon and old Neptune swear,
and launched to the strife with huhs pol
ished Ike new dish cover and lead
enough dangled from each keel TO roof a
cathedral. He viii and must admire the
skill and the invention and the expenditure
sffaua Il
will confess that with such astounding
machines every problem of wave line and
water pressure and displacement has been
instinctively met and Srappled with. But
what sort of home upon the deep would
such fantastic beauties make, what cruis-
ing could they do in shallow waters, and
who would build or buy himself vessel
10 love and live upon with the tin bellies
and lead blobs of these graceful monsters?
The old America, which first took the cup
away from our shores was different mat
ter. BUTT of wood, on lines of reason ana
riehtful art, she could and did teach our
Yacht designers something useful; and she
was good and noble craft still when they
altered her at Northfieet into the Camilla
under which name she went down in the
Gulf of Mexico-scuttled, not conquered, by
the elements.
Yet an hour like this, when the two
stately champions are for the second time
to measure against each other their vast
snowy pinions, and two continents are
an tintoe to learn which of them shall be
pleasure Queen of the Sea, it is perhaps
treason to talk about wholesome schooners
and cutters aud that kind OF snip Which
the ocean Itself loves, and will help 70 live,
safely for many happy year. To get ut
most speed out of material and canvas
II is doubtless necessary TO be extrava-
CANT and we suppose that to win or hold
This cup there are those who would. IL
needful build q hull of ivory and ballast
il with ingots of nodded gold. And noble,
after all. is the spirit of such emulation
for such as can afford 1t. We come nearer
probably to the grand Greek temper of
old in this International struggle for
simple silver trophy than ever modern men
aid before 1t is the crown Of olive" over
again it Is the love and cult of manhood
and pure honor. strong once more with
strong races and nothing but good can
come of such anita gonism. The fact that
this eagerly desiderated cup would not in
value pay for a hundredth part of the
null and spars Of either competitor makes
the ardent rivalry of the contest higher
and sweeter and elevates the clamorous
contest into the region of classic grace and
gallantry. The cup has become trans
formed into a symbol, almost sacred and
mystic. of the love and mastery of the
sea it is a sort of maritime Holy Grail
by this date, which we-the sea irt sea-
keeping people-can never cease to covet,
and which we earnestly trust Sir Thomas
with her. In that case the Americans will
certainly never rest until they, in turn,
have conceived and created some witch of
the waters which shall come over here and
wrest the glory of the cup away again.
All which only means that the noble and
innocent and manly pastime Of yachting
will by children of the sea on both sides of
the Atlantic will still and ever be merry
MIA af.g a
Cer."