New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-08-03
YACHTsMEN NOT SURPRISED.

THEY HAD ENTERTAINED DOUBTS FOR SOME
TIME ABOUT THE STEEL MAST
II certainly was the sensation OF the day. but
wnen New-York yachtsmen caught a second
breath many OF them remembered their private
doubts about Herreshon's new Invention. lhey
then remembered that the accident was not prop
erlv 10 he regarded as A surprise no matter how
startling the news might he. Grave doubts nave
heon nriyotelv held about Herreshofs new ran
cled mast but IN the face Of the fact that such
experienced people the Bristol builders mao
adopted the new invention. most amateurs held
their peace and waited
The new invention in the way Of mast may
now he said with confidence TO have been mis-
,ako from, the first That hollow cylinder OF
steel almost entirely Embraced in its Interior
should he expected successfully 10 sustain the
enormous trains which necessarily horne ny
A single mnsted racer such as the Columhia i
with difficulty understood as emanatins from such
experienced people the Bristol builders.
The idea in the making Of this spar was 10
economic weight and windaGe aloft as mu'h a.
possible II was intended that the lower mast
should remain sufficiently hollow to allow the top
mas, to he housed down into w. As ever! pouH
knows the heel of ordinary topmast IS almost
If not quite as large as the masthead OF the lower
mast and as wooden topmast was peihe uSeu
al the time Of the accident 1t may he presumed
that II was Of about the ordinary size at It's hee|
mast had ~ remain entirely hollow and EMBRACED
In IFS interior II has been said in public prints.
and II seems probably correct that In the "lder
parts Of the lower mast there were some interior
braces and strenRtheners. such as steel angles ana
fanges and disks and that the topmast as II was
housed slid down between guiding uprights "hcA
lay inside the disks.
No doubt the attempt was made 10 utllze every
available inch inside the mast for the purpose
OF gaining strength for the spar. but so much OF
the valuable space inside the spar was necessarily
left unused and vacant for the reception OF the
topmast that the whole structure was unsafe TOT
its intended purpos'
No matter what may have happened IN the aim
past. it is certainly not within the memory OF the
present most active and younger generation Of
yachtsmen that a tOpmast has been housed In an
international race With their enormous halIast-
ing the present racers GSp carry ner iq Sd
the fifteen mile windward mark In 1879 the car
ried her topsai all the way and she united her top
mast on END; even thoush II ~as u.VM ,I's 10 ,rr
enough split her balloons 10 rags on her return
boats will carry "A topsai when running, and II Is
difficult 10 that the regular method OF housing
tonmasts is so detrimental as 10 call FOR the dc-
ceptance OF great risks In order 10 PROVIDE
change. -, 49,.
clever men who have worked the idea have al
WAYS been headed off by the structural difficulties
There cnn be no d9uDt ina' a'hon iH more donnIv
rooted prejudice against steel masts dnd spar
ago for the Defender IL was said In these columns
that sailors did not fancy spar that would either
snap off and try sink the shin or else lie down
from half way up and be thus unremovabe ny axes
or any other process. except that supphed by a
steam derrick The latter Is what happened yester-
dav and odds can Zoe bet that Jack Is not gong 10
like the steel mast Give him good SUCK ot
Oregon nine and ne knows where he Is. He wants
something that will not crumple up and lie down
and try 10 sink him.
one fact about the mast that IS now no more
should be mentioned. and with regret that the in
vention missed fire II was evidently OF great as
distance 70 the speed OF the Columbia Whether
this was chiefly in the saving Of windaee aloft or
in the extreme lghtness Of the spar. or both VIII
shown by the official timing. that the Columbia was
going ahead OF the Defender az rate she hdd
never shown before II the Herreshoff mast proved
10 be so valuable in the short half hour OF its trial
it's thousand pities that II could not be retained
as a permanency