The times., 1901-05-23
THE KING IN GRAVE PERIL.
Continued from First Page.)
the companionway, which is his favorit

the companionway, which is his favorite
place when yachting.
Being himself an experienced amateur.
he knew, like the others that the slack
ening OF the bobstay meant a need to
watch for a mishap. and he joined the
others in warning the ladies'. The saliva
tion of his Majesty and the others was
evidently due to the fact that the boom
was not aboard. 1t was fast coming in,
but the men had not gathered in the
sheets, so when the mast fell all went
clear of the deck. The mast snapped two
or three feet from the deck
Regarding the origin of the disaster one
expert says that. both whiskers were on
ball and socket joints. a new arrange
ment. The weather whisker got out of
its socket unobserved and came inboard.
causing the bOwsprit shroud TO slacken
up, with the result that the bowsprit
broke clean off, carrying with it the
forestry and topmast together with the
topmast stay and the mainstay.
The correspondent of the Morning
Post" does not attribute the accident to
the light construction of the challenger
He says it might have occurred to any
boat. He remarks that under the old
fashioned method Of mast-fitting the
damage would have ended with the loss
of the toDmast, but the heel of the tele-
scopic topmast necessarily makes the
strain felt within the fabric of the mast.
1t IS said that the mast split, and this is
quite credible.
DR.. Mackay, the Erin's surgeon, was
delegated by Sir Thomas Upton to re-
ceive a correspondent He confirmed the
statement that a conference would be
held today to decide upon repairing the
damage. He added that it was hopeless
to try to get the boat In condition again
before August 20. Sir Thomas Upton will.
therefore, probably ask the New York
Yacht Club to extend the time for the
races for the Americas Cup.
Another correspondent says that the
damage to the Shamrock / can easily be
repaired and she ought to be able to keep
her engagements on the Clyde, but 1t will
require more than month to repair
Shamrock II, although she has more than
one other mast ready for stepping.
The Standards" correspondent says
that the wind was stronger than on any
previous day of the week, and down both
sides of the Isle of Wight. with the Chan
mel ebb running strong, there was a dis
quieting jump of sea just starting. The
wind went round north of east and grew
III "Ci5iitf IdS iI5 over HluCu SlliItE DOdlS
than the challenger. Nevertheless, it was
fairly steady. and such as yachts axe
the Meteor and Britannia would have re-
veled In.
The newspapers universally rejoice over
the escape of the King and the other
members of the party and express much
sympathy for Sir Tnonfus Upton The
Morning Post" discards all idea that the
accident was due to lack of foresight or
seamanship. 1t hopes that the New York
Yacht Club will accede to a request for
postponement, otherwise, it says, there
viii be no race, which would be deeply
disappointing.
The Standard does not think it GER
tain that the cause of the accident can
be discovered, but says the inference
would seem to be that something was
wrong with the rigging. whether in the
quality of the material or the execution
of the designing remains to be seen. 1t
adds that it trusts, for the credit of Brit
ish yacht builders, that they win not have
to admit that the boat was fitted out on
unsOund principles. If an examination
shows there is a radical defect the chal-
lenger can hardly be taken to America.
The Telegraph" says that according to
present accounts there does not seem to
be any radical structural fault in the
Shamrock ii. 1t adds that the misfortune
in no way affects her chances for the
Americas Cup, except in so far as addi-
tional weight aloft may be necessary to
secure greater strength