Evening star., 1903-08-15

steward to open a certain locker and bring
out bottle of the priceless Madeira which
had come to precious maturity In the Gel
lars of Mr. Bingham. oenophilist or
fame and father-in-law of Lord Ashburton,
once British minister to the United States.
1t was the intention of all hands to drink
the health of thenqueen in a glass of this
superb vintage
The steward failed to find the wine, and
the commodore was much perplexed.
Before he returned to America he sold
the schooner to Lord de Blaquire. and it
was not till his return that he found out
the trick his wife had played on him. Then
he wrote to Lord de Blaquire, informing
him of the secret Granny where the wine
was concealed. and making him present
of it. He added that. had he known that
the Madeira was aboard, he would have
made the purchaser pay 10000 for craft
and cargo instead of the paltry $1,000 for
which he sacrificed her And those who
knew the commodore were convinced that
what he wrote he meant.
Colonel Hamilton. to whom the commo-
dore confided the loss of the wine in his
private diary of the doings of the America
(now, alas inaccessible to the curious and
prying eyes of contemporary yachtsmen)
hints that the commodore suspected some
of the members of the crew of broaching
cargo and getting away" with this nectar
of which drop could not have been bought
for dollar. This. too. when grog was
served out every four hours to each of the
crew of thirteen (the commodore was not
wee bit superstitious), who liked to take a
nip. or rather tot. as it was called in
those brave old days.
Crew Drank Priceless Wine.
During the Dauntless-Cornet ocean race
the water tank of the Dauntless sprung
leak and the only mild beverage available
for drinking was an extremely fine claret
of the celebrated Chateau Margaux brand.
the pride of Commodore Colts cellars.
He was man who had a proper discrim-
ination about wines. He told the writer of
calling all hands aft and talking to them
like a Dutch uncle somewhat after this
fashion,
Now, my boys. be of good cheer
For the Irish land is drawing near.
And in an hour we'll see Cape Clear,
And then for jolly glass of beer,
Meanwhile, my harties. you must drink
this,
'Rayther winegary. amt it. commodore?'
answered a hairy, old sea dog, bu- we
would drink kerosene, sir if you was to
be good to tell tor
This story is authentic. Commodore Ben
nett was really angry with his correspond
ent in Ireland who failed to cable over the
fact that the Dauntless sailors had been
compelled to assuage their thirst on claret
that Mr.. Bennett, in spite of his wealth,
couldn't buy-for the simple reason that
the vintage was exhausted.
The famous schooner yacht America cost
$4,000. The condition under which she
was contracted for was that unless she
proved faster than any vessel in the
United States brought to compete with
her" she might be returned on her build
ers' hands.
The designer of modern racing machine
binds himself to nothing. so far as speed is
concerned. He promises in a general way
to do his best. but guarantees nothing. A
yachtsman, a syndicate of yachtsmen
is bound to accept racing craft even if
she should not be fast enough tc get out
of her own way.
The first cost of the America was COCO
The expense incurred in sailing her across
and racing her was So, ,7i0. She was sold
for $4,000 to Lord de Blaquire. AS she