The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-09-10


The America Cup" or, to speak
more accurately, the Hundred Guinea
Cup" is at Tifany's, in New York.
Millions of dollars will be spent dur
ing the autumn in the contest for its
possession, and this fact furnishes
strange anomaly, for the cup is not in
trinsically valuable. If it could tell its
own story, it would have something like
the following to say:
When Sir Thomas Upton, the tea
man, tries to win me away from the
United States, it will be the tenth time
an effort of that kind has been made
in forty-eight years. 1t seems that l
am as desirable to sportsmen as the
Golden Fleece was to the Argonauts.
Eleven times two nations have been
wildly excited over these contests,
which have cost enough to build a de-
cent navy for each one of them.
And what is it all about? I am only
little old misshapen silver mug, of no
particular design and so out of date
and commonplace that a first-class jew
eler in these days would DE ashamed to
confess me as his workmanship. The
bottom is out of me, my carving is in
ferior, and if melted down 1 would be
worth, according to the present quota
lions for silver, just $75. A junk dealer
What in the world am / that you
should make so much fuss over me?
Really, 1 feel quite bored over all this
attention, for, in confidence, l am of no
value at all, and my career has been
quiet. 1 was made by r. & r. Gerard,
on Panton street, London, on a hurry
order when the yacht America came
over in 1851 and beat our English re-
gatta at Cowes. 1t was not a cele-
brated firm. and the workmen only or
binary. One Of them said he thought I
ought to be fashioned in the style of
Henry II, and another thought a Henry
III design more suitable, so l am a sort
OF mixture. ] had no idea that 1 should
become an international prize then, nor
did the men who ordered me dream of
my coming Importance. AS matter
of fact, the firm received Just $525 for
me, and now 1 could be duplicated for
$50.
i weigh 1874 ounces, am 81 inches tall, |
measure SO inches around the waist and
"a at the base. The decorative work
on me is very simple, but 1 pride my
self that my lines have an aristocratic |
appearance, my lip is curved grace
fully, and my neck beautiful. Just one |
thing more. Many call me the queens |
cup, because | was bought by the COM
mittee of the Royal Yacht Squadron,
but this is wrong, for when the gem
tlemen took me off the shelf in Gerard's I
office l distinctly heard them say: |
This is to be known as the Hundred |
Guinea Cup and that's what L used to |
be called on both sides"
Enormous Expenditures.
Nevertheless, thousands of persons |
from all over America will come to
New York shortly, and, standing be- |
fore the Tiffany window on Broadway, |
gaze at this mug long and deferential- |
" for ftpr al iS tho most
trophy of its kind in existence, and has |
cost so much money that it gives your |
ordinary American a thrill to think of !
ii. Such enormous sums have certain |
ly never been spent before on a like |
object.
a member Of the New York Yacht
club. in looking over the inscriptions |
on the cup the other day to refresh his |
"reminiscences of the bygone contests, |
figured roughly that the Englishmen |
had spent in the neighborhood Of |
"a, 600 in behalf of this trophy, and |
the Americans probably a little more, |
owing to the expenses incident to the |
trial races. This, of course, includes
only the money spent in striving for |
and defending the cup. When you fig |
ure on the expenses of the public in |
witnessing and betting on the races, an
approximate estimate is impossible
The challengers find heavy expense
in rigging their vessels for sea travel.
This is essential, owing to the condi- |
tons laid down by George L. Schuyler, |
VINO re-deeded the cup to the New York |
Yacht club in 1882.
Owing to the present and increas-
ing size of ocean steamers said Mr.. |
Schuyler, ''it would be quite feasible |
for an American, English or French |
club to transport on their decks yachts
of large tonnage. This might be
awaited of in such a. way that the
Il. = T., Of rrY1ira
qualities, as well as of speed, which
would essentially detract from the in
terest of a national competition"
Mr.. Schuyler, therefore, inserted this
clause in the deed:
Vessels intending to compete for
their own bottoms to the port where
the contest is to take place"
The English owners have also been
to a considerable expense usually in
bringing along an advisory committee,
as Dunraven, the first time, brought
over Watson designer of the Valkyrie
II. and Lapthorn, sailmaker.
The Cups Inscriptions.
The only things about the cup itself,
however, that tell of these millions
spent on account of it are the inscrip-
tons, carved in different styles and
type. In looking back fifty years these
brief legends inspire awe in the heart
of the veteran yachtsman- They tell
him of one struggle after another when
the country was all in a fiutter over
the approach Of a challenger, and when
1t seemed sure that Yankee supremacy
on the water would be snatched away
by the Britisher. On each occasion
the result of the contests has been the
same The nearest that the game chal-
lengers have ever been to the cup is to
look at it in Tiffany's window, or per-
chance view it on the banquet tables
at the New York Yacht club house.
Tiffany is now concerned as to where
he will carve these inscriptions. There
is only one small panel below the six
large shields about the body Of the cup
that is not filled. On these shields is
told the story of the trophy. And the
narrative has taken all the space avail
able there for inscriptions, also on the
panels underneath, with the exception
of one. leaving just enough room to
contain the account of this years races
should there be more than two. That
number can be crowded in and still
leave space for another contest. More
than that will fill the cup.
At first the silverSmiths were quite
lavish with their space, not conceiving
how valuable it would be in later years.
On each successive race they econo-
mixed. as will be seen by the following
list of Inscriptions which the cup bears:
Hundred Guinea Cup won Aug. %,