The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-10-21

Columbia to increase tho lead she had acquired
while the green boat was losing time in getting
her boom aft At 1910 the green boat took In
her useless topsaii
Both boats were now under the same canvas.
mninsail. jib and staysail. Columb a had up q
small staysal which was doing wonders and
her lib was keeping her up to the wind in great
style. She pointed nearly half point higher
than the Shamrock and began to foot faster.
Then II was TINT the Shamrock's mninsail was
seen to DO an ill-fttinG affair. There were
rolls In the leech OF 1t and it did not set as fiat
as II should have done Capt Hogarth pnched
up the Shamrock until her lib shivered In the
wind. Then he put her off iull again. but try
as he might the green boat coul d not hold her
rival in check
The Columbia stuck to her course and
plowed straight ahead with tremendous speed
keeping on that way would not do the Sham
rock any good. so at IL 40 she camo about on
the rort tack and stool out to sea as II
ashamed to let people know how far she was
being loft astern.
The Columbia followed her a minute later.
and then 1t could be seen that she was nearly
quarter OF mile ahead. She was pointing
higher as could be observed by the shadow OF
the sun which fell on her sails. Half OF her
mainsail was light. whereas all OF the Sham
rocks was dark
THE RACE OF LIFETIME.
1t was Just tho wind every body had been
praying for and the race so far was tho
race of a lifetime. The Shamrock again tried
to head up. and the sunlight showed on her
mainsail. But 1t was only n fleeing glimpse,
and she soon dropped back. Every time Ho-
garth pinched her she lost her speed. and in
order to do any footing at all no had to keep
her rap full.
Her crew took pull on tho peak halyard to
see IL they could get roll out OF tho sail.
But It was OF no use Every body was enjoying
the racing. including the inhabitants Of Long
Branch The Jersey shore showed up brightly
in the sun. The further ont the rivals got the
heavier they encountered the sea They were
throwing up spray to the height OF fifteen feet.
The Columbia got u favorable slant OF wind
and was able to head II? more than a point
higher than the Shamrock. Tho rival boat
came about on the starboard tack and the. Col
umbia followed within thirty seconds and both
were now heading inshore toward point
little to the north of the Highlands OF Navesink.
The wind was so heavy that tho supporters
ri the Yankee boat wanted her topmast to.
scoped into the mainmast. She had no topsail
above the gnh and those who wanted to see
her win thought it was unwise to leave the
seconds to send 1t down through the steel
mast. But the handlers OF the Colum bia knew
what they were about. The boat was doing
very well. ne 1t was. and their past experiences
with the iickle wind told them IL would be we'll
to have that tcpmast UP so they could whip
out topsail II it was deemed wise to make tho
move.
All this time the Columbia was gaining On
the green boat and shortly after O'Clock had
established n good half milo lead. The wind
was still steady from the north by east The
Shamrock tried to pinch again. but the effort
stopped her. as she had to head off again. The
way the boats were travelling through the
water led many to believe that 1t would be
record race
SHAMROCK CANNOT GET UP
The Yankee was travelling so fast that in
desperation Capt. Hogarth tried his short-tack
game again. He put the Shamrock about at
l:lS and the Columbia prom tly folio we'd
Hardly had the white boat got Strengthened
out when her green rival came about on the
starboard tack heading inshore. She accepted
the challenge ana tackled also. Fifteen
seconds later the challenger put about
again and headed out to sea. Her rival
waited until she got directly to windward
OF the other boat and then came about. Before
again. This time the Columbia waited three
minutes before she headed In tho same direc-
ton. but no sooner had abe como about than
the shamrock went In stays once more. Dur
ing the last ten minutes the wind had fallen
to eighteen or twenty miles nm hour. and the
Columbia at 80 sent her working topsal up In
stops. ready to break out il the breeze should
get much lower.
There was no answering move on tho part
OF the Shamrock She knew her i'll fitting
topSail would do her no earthly good. so she
kept it below the deck. At l 81 the Column bia
put about on the starboard tack and headed
out to sea. Every one expected that the top
sail would be sot. but it remained in its stops
The Shamrock tackled fifteen seconds later
than the Columbia and headed inshore. Four
minutes later the Yankee boat came about Oh
the starboard tack and the cha enge promptly
went on the port tack This was at :35 At
lao they split tacks again. tho Shamrock per-
sisting in keeping her head in tho opposite di-
rection from that OF the Columbia. The breeze
was piping up again and from that time until
the end OF the race it was quite slually.
The Columbia people saw the gusts swee ping
over the water and decided not to break out the
working topsail. She finished the race as she
started her beat under mainsail. staysail and
lib Things began to get desperate on the
Shamrock. Her handlers decided that
heroic measures must he adopted even
/; her spnrs went by the beard. At LA
she luffed sharply into tho wind and at
the same time the excursionists saw a
club topsail rising above the gafr While the
delicate operation OF setting this sail was being
performed the boat was practically at a stand
still. She headed off. then lufred and headed
of again in order not to lose all her headway.
and It was fully Ave minutes Def ore the topsai
was finally adjusted.
LEAD OF A MILE AND HALF
In tho meantime the Columbia was racing
along in fine style. The wind was favoring
her, too. and she was able to head close up to
the LiGhtship. Before the Shamrock got ready
to do business again her rival had secured a
lead OF a mile and n half. Finally the Sham
rock got things fixed and came about on the
port tack. This was at 80. The wind struck
her club topsal and the boat keeled far over.
Everybody ext ected a crash. but none came
Twenty times within the next ten minutes
she bowed low to the force OF tho wind and
twenty times her startled seamen cast an xious