The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-09-29

today beat the British challenger over windward and lecward course of thirty nautical miles by tho narrow margin of thirty-nine seconds. As Lipton's latest aspirant for cup honor must allow the defender forty-three seconds on account of canvas in her sail area, the official record, under the rules gives her the victory by one minute and twenty-two seconds.
 As a spectacle the contest was superb.
 From the time the two sky-scrapinR
 racers crossed the starting line until they
 finished, four and half hours later, the
 result was in doubt and the excitement
 aboard the excursion fleet increased until
 men became frenzied and women almost
 hysterical. So evenly matched were
 these two scientific racing machines that
 never after they had started were the
 rival shippers out of each others hail
 and more than three-quarters of the time
 they were so close that Charlie Barr, who had the wheel aboard the American
 boat, could have tossed a biscuit to Cap
 tain Sycamore on the Shamrock. For miles as they beat their way to the outer mark, the black shadow of Shamrocks' huge club topsail was painted on the, big mainsail of the Columbia. and for an hour on the run home, with the time yachts flying like scared deer before the " if they had been harnessed together. The memory of the races between the Genesta and the Puritan in 1885 and Lord Dunravens first Valkyrie and the ViRi- lant in 1893. which have been treasured by yachtsmen up to this time, will be forgotten after the magnificent duel of
 today. It will live forever In the mem l years to come yachtsmen of two nations will recount the thrilling story of the eel
 ebrated first race between the Columbia | and the hSamrock II sailed off New York Harbor in the first year of the new cen- tury.
 Shamrock Showed Ability. As a result of today's race, though | faith in the Columbia still remains in the the British boat is the abIest sIoop eyer sent to these waters to lift the 100 guinea | cup, which the old schooner America
 brought across the Atlantic fifty years
 ago; and that the superiority of American seamanship and American naval archi- | lecture as represented by the defender. remains to be established. The quality. of a sailing ship Is measured by her ability t to carve her way into an adverse wind l and in the fifteen mile thresh to wind 1 ward today the golden challenger gained
 sss as este we uS on ad se tSS f eSs crossed the finish line exactly 37 seconds
 before the Shamrock. It must be remem.
 bered, however. that the challenger had
 the weather gauge in the beat in wind ward. no mean advantage and the
 nautical experts said after the race that | during the outward journey she had been sailed to absolute perfection, while before | the wind the American yacht not only | showed fleeter pair of heels, but, In the | opinion of the sharps, was better handled. Dleappoihted by the huke of Thursday, | the crowd which sailed down to Sandy
 Hook light ship today was somewhat smaller than on the opening day. but even so the colony of steamers. steam l yachts. tug boats. sailing vessels and ex, cursion craft of every description formed an angle at the starting line miles long.
 It was an ideal day for race.
 A Thrilling Start.
 The start was thrilling. The yachts
 bounded away across the line ike couple of runaway horses the challenger | half 6 length ahead and to windward. Tn | the manouvering before the start Captain | Sycamore had given the willy Yankee | Roland for the Oliver he received on | Thursday. Just when Barr thought he had him under his lee, the Englishman
 deadened his headway and then luffed weather berth. This victory for the l Shamrock at the very inception of the race, the Columbia could not overcome
 in the long beat to windward. The two
 big yachts were an inspiring sight to the | spectators as they plunged seaward, pounding great fountains of spray from their bows and drenching the crews lined up along the weather rail. They heeled l to the wind until their lee rails were l awash in the swirling, bubbling seas and
 on the windward side they showed yards
 of their bronze underbodies. Neck and and neck tack and tack, they raced like 1 team of horses.
 The vessels in the excursion fleet by this time were rolling badly. Many or the spectators were forced to the seclusion of | their cabins and many others kept sus- | pIciously near the rails.
 | The excursion vessels formed cres- | cent about the stake boat as the yachts | rounded the outef-mark, but 1t was a doleful fleet. As the Shamrock wore
 around with her splnnsiker K ra p3ie tSe S fas S1s steam yacht Erin, with the Bloody hand of Ulster in the Royal Ulster Yacht Club ensign at her taffrail, opened her
 whistle long and loud: It was the frst time Sir Thomas had felt the Joy of vic- tory, and he and his party probably en- joyed 1t to the full The Yankee shippers cords, but the toots were not loud nor long, and the bands did not play Co lumbia, the Gem of the Ocean
 Columbia Ate the Water.
 But when the racers had spread their pinions wing and wing, spinnaker match | ing mainsail and balloon pibs drawing | forward and the white flyer Columbia began to eat up the green water between | her and the challenger. dropping spirits
 began to rise, and when the yachts got | bands began to play and the people raised
 cheer. As they approached the finish | line, the Columbia leading Oy nalI 0Ozen | lengths, all the pent-up enthusiasm burst | forth. About a quarter of a mile before | they reached the line, the golden boat | blanketed the white one, and for mo- ment she ran up alongside. and 1t looked | as if she would be first home Cheers died in the patriotic throats. Suddenly. as the Columbia luffed off and got her
 wind clear, she forged ahead and came tearing down like mad. As she crossed three lengths ahead, the enthusiasm broke out again with redoubled energy.
 Every Yankee skipper grabbed his whis- tie cord and made a terrific noise and
 din Sirens walled and the white steam
 jets made 1t look as If every ship In the
 fleet had broken her steam chest. The
 whole fleet seemed anxious to escort the
 Columbia to her anchorage.
 Meantime the Shamrock had taken tow from her tender and drawn out or the ruck of the steamers. Escorted by the Erin which showed a biE hole that the revenue cutter Gresham. and stove in her port quarter. she headed for the berth behind the Hook. Some or the
 excursion boats dropped back to salute | the popular sportsman who has been game enough to make a second eitort to | lift the cup and then the whole fleet
 moved on in a mad race for home. many | of the shippers keeping their whistles | going until they reached the Narrows, | at the entrance of the upper bay
 Was Fair Race, Says Upton. | n cysv- in