The times., 1899-08-27

NEW YORK, Aug 26.-The Shamrock
looks like yacht now. Her spars are all
on beard, and in few days more she will
be ready to stretch her sails. The crew
worked like beavers all day, and by sunset
had her mast stepped, her topmast set up,
her bowsprit outboard, and her boom
slung. The size of these different spars
made those who were near the basin open
their eyes, and the stock of the Shamrock
went up point or two. The bowsprit is a
wooden spar, and when in place was just
thirty-three feet outboard. This makes
it about six feet longer than the bowsprit
of the Columbia. The steel mast, which
is said 10 be nickel steel, an alloy of
steel and nickel which is very strong and
very light measured from end to end Ill
feet, which is three feet six inches longer
than the spar used in the Columbia.
The mast buries 10 feet in the yacht and
there are % feet in the masthead The
distance from neck to hounds is rs feet.
The mast is feet 8 inches in circumfer-
ence and % inches in diameter. This is
little larger than the mast of the Columbia,
and it is also heavier spar. The spread
ers are very light. They stretch 30 feet
inches from end to end and are strength
ened around the mast by pieces of steel on
the forward side of the mast. The mast
is stayed by six shrouds on each side. The
| topmast is of wood and seems to be very
| light and thin. 1t is 62 feet 4 inches in
length The boom is exactly III feet in
! length, the same length as the mast, and
| the total distance from the tip of the bow
| spirit to the end of the boom is 194 feet.
| The work of rigging the yacht viii be con-
tinued on Monday and it is possible that
! she Will be able to take her first sail in
| American waters during the week If Cap
/ tain Hogarth so desires. The spars greatly
| improve the looks of the yacht and she
appears every inch racer with immense
power and an enormous sail spread TO
I drive her.
Now that the Shamrock has her spars
on board and some of their dimensions are
/ known comparison can be made with
the sailspread of the Columbia. All figures
tend TO show that the Shamrock's sail
spread is larger than that of the Colum-
bia, and if her hull is of lighter construc-
! ton than the defending yacht, theoretically
4 the challenger should win. She should be
a very fast boat in light weather, but the
question is can she carry all this canvas
! in q blow.
Sir Thomas Upton, in an interview in
London on Friday, stated that at the first
attempt at interference on the part of the
excursion steamers he would abandon the
race and lodge a protest. He said Mr.
!
! Iselin, as well as he, would insist on the
excursion steamers being kept clear of the
racing yachts. A member of the New York
Yacht Club was asked today if there bad
been any correspondence on this question
/ and he replied that there had. He said:
Both sides are determined that there
must be no obstructing the yachts during
the race. 1t will have TO be fair race
| Sir Thomas Upton and Mr. Iselin have COR
responded on the subject and both agree
that they Will restart hundred times If
necessary to get a clear course. In addi-
tion 10 this the Treasury Department,
through Collector Bidwell, has decided to
send four revenue cutters over the course
to do patrol duty. Their authority may
be only nominal, but they must be obeyei.
| The pilot who insists upon being refrac-
tory may find he will have trouble when
| he wants his license renewed. This may
as well be said now as few days before
the race"