The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-10-19
MARK TWAIN EXPLAINS THE DEFEAT OF THE SHAMROCK

crossing the MOnmoth's bow. the way the
Kanawha did Saturday in the race home.
It was scandalOus. Was he steering2'
Its getting late, let's talk about some
thing else. L was at the wheel myself.
Are you intemperate2 Would you like
sOmcthing2 So would I. Push the but
ton. What were you saying about
Il wasn't saying anything about any
thing, but now that 1 think of it, what
was the reason that the Shamrock per-
formed so indi1ferently in the first race
that one was a failure?"
We'll, know the reason, for L got it
from Clancy at the time. 1t is pretty
technical, but, barring that, It is easy to
understand. 1t was a case OF British
eaSygOing CareleSSness on the part of the
Shamrock plant-gOod enough sailors,
YOU know, but needless. On. beyond inn
ag1naUIon- Not just one case of IL, but
two or three. Clancy explained the whole
thing to me. In the first place. when
they came TO set the anchor watch it was
a Waterbury and they lost two minutes
IN the winding and that took off the
whole time allowance and three seconds
besides-ought TO have been wound up
before, of course.
And then, when they got it set there
right enough, but they found they had
not any anchor. It had been left at the
waldorf by some oversight, and they had
to throw over ballast to make up Tor It.
Also, they had to remeasUre the boat,
and that shortened her by an linen. 4 90
not know why, but Clancy does. An inch
'front.' end that end does not arrive at the
home stake as early as il would if It
were an inch longer. and. of course as
you can see yourself, even that little
could lose a race. 1t didn't in ms g. C..
because there was n lot more inches that
did not arrive In time. but the principle
Is sound you can see il yourself
Yes, it looks so. But they lost the
second race. toO-the first real race. How
does Clancy account for thatF'
difference in seamanshiD, he says.
other things Accidents =
one thing and another"
Did Shamrock have accidentsg'
She had one that lost her the race.
When she turned the stake she broke
out her spinnaker. She might as we'll
have broken her back, Clancy says. The
spinnaker is a sail, you know. i don
know which one it Is, but I think It is
the tail one that bows out like a shirt
front and gives the yacht such a dressy
which connects the cardboard straBe with
futtock shrouds and enables you TO point
high on a wind when you couldn't pos
sioly 90 It any other way, Clancy told
Does Clancy charge you anything for
revealing these mysteries
No, ne does not really charge me, but
I make it up to him in other ways. I let
him charge me s. for telling me how to
bet so as not 20 lose. He told me to bet
a hundred on each boat. That was on
the first race-the one that went to
finish. If i won either bet 1 was to give
him another five, and If won both he
gether, because only won one of the
bets. / lost the other so he did not
Charge anything on that one"
Have you always been as intelligent
Yes. I think so. but sometimes Mr.
Rogers thinks I am failing. He thinks
its on account of age and decrepitude:
others think It Is on account of mental
disturbance: others think IL is on account
of the company 1 keep; but that cannot
be, because was never particular about
the kind OF people went with. yet 1 was
always just as intelligent as 1 am now.
perhaps even more
You lose your way sometimes in a
long sentence. Do you notice? You re-
mem"
yes, I know what you mean: it's when
I'm working up to wind ard on a diff
cult proposition Clancy says himself
that 1 don't point as high as L used to.
But it is no matter; as long as my teeth
remain good 1 don't mind about my in
teliect; don't eat with my intellect. But
go On-I interrupted YOU"
Granting that we now understand why
the Reliance won in the first race. what
specially was t., i'm your judgment, that
secured for her the second One2''
"Oh, reaching"
Reaching
''That is what did it. Reliance IS sub
lime when il comes to reaching. Clancy
says so himself i remember his very
words He said, When it comes TO that,
COmpe tiuon isn't possible; she's got a
reach like a Christian mob with a niger
II am very much Obliged to you for
clarifying the races and making plain
the reasons for the Shamrock's defeats.
There was much confusion in the public
mind before Could you go on now
and"
"Well. no; not now. Tt would take too
much time and you're pretty busy; so
am l. We've done enough for q prelim-
mary; I wiz finish in a magazine pres
emily. How do you like my style?"
I think it admirable. tt is exceedingly
simple and direct and lucid, and II has a
special and unusual feature. which is
gOlden-that is the word. golden.
What is that
you hardly ever use long word
And you've noticed it, Do you guess
the secret of thaty'
NO; but if you would tell me-
I'm paid by the word-do you get the
idea2'-
wei. no, I believe don't"-st. Louis
Republic.