Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-29

had less than ten gallons of water in her.
and. despite the straining and humping
that she got, she sound on the
day that she was built. Since then she has
been used exclusively in the open sea,
over courses that lie for ten and more
miles along surf swept beaches, without
single refuge. and she has never either cap
sized or swamped; and only rarely, even
in storm. has she taken water her
side or bow sufficiently TO bother her crew.
OF course. not every canoe is sea boat.
Although all canoes look alike to the mex
perienced eye there are hardly any two
that really are alike And since an essen
tial of it's construction is lightness, 1t fol-
lows that to secure the necessary strength
and stanchness the very best materials and
the very best workmanship are vitality nee
eSSary in any canoe that may be called on
to meet rough weather.
A canoe be knocked together from
cheap scantlfng and so sheathed with We
neering and canvas that 1t will be quite
good looking to any one who is not a
canoeist. The canoeist can de- It 1t i'm
mediately.
The original form. the birch bark canoe,
has practically disappeared except in the
far wilderness, where it is still used, not
because 1t IS the best boat. but be-
cause 1t can be made right in the woods
in few hours by practced men. Some
times rangers who have to cover as much
as thousand miles of Canadian country
on their annual rounds will construct half
dozen birch bark canoes, abandoning each
successive one when they come to the end
of water courses and building a new one
at the beginning of the next system of wa
tiers. This ease of construction and its
hghtness are really the only great virtues
of the birch bark canoe. Despite its light
ness it does not paddle we'll because II
lacks stiffness. The same reason makes II
a poor sailer. 1t is too frail to last
The Modern Canoe.
The modern canoe, built of the best of
-,
and sprung scientifically till 1t is as elastic
as steel. is really little triumph of boat
building and cabinet making. 1t will carry
from six to ten times its own weight with
out losing it's characteristic buoyancy. It's
lines are SO powerful, despite its apparent
daintiness, that wind or sea cannot throw
it off its course readily; yet the steering
of the little beauty is done altogether by
a mere slight half-twist of the paddler's
wrist.
A skillful paddler can move his canoe in
a perfectly true course all day long, never
varying his direction inch, with single
paddle welded on one side of the boat
without changing. At the end of every
stroke a twist of the blade gives it the
action of rudder to keep it on its course.
Given men of equal strength and skill.
men in a light rowboat of correct lines
generally can distance canoe in the be-
ginning of long trip: but by the end of
a day of steady travelling the canoe will
be ahead and Its crew will not be seriously
fatigueG, while the oarsmen will be tired
out. This difference is due mainly, of
course to the superior ease of padding
The canoe is responsive to the lightest dip
OF the blade Then in a trip of any dura-
ton the position of the oarsmen becomes
Wearyfng, while the canoe mans position Is
so easy and comfortable that the only part
that is really work is the dipping of the
featherweight paddle He has not even the
weight of oars to handle.
Lively, Not Cranky.
This craft, that seems so ''tottleish' to
a beginner. is so stanch in reality that the
expert feels supreme glad confidence the
moment he braces his knees against the
-sides and presses his paddle into the wa
ter. The fact is that the canoe of proper
model and construction is not cranky at
all. Only improperly built boats of any
type cranky. The canoe is lively, but
not cranky.
The very fact that it is lively. while more
or less disastrous TO the ineXpert makes
it wonderfully governable for the expert.
If ii responds with lightning swiftness to
mistaken motion, 1t also responds with the
same swiftness to skiIlful motion.
A good canoeman can hold his canoe up
right with his paddle thrust into the sea.
He can spin it around like a top with
turn of his arm. He can stop 1t in the
quickness of thought or set 1t going ahead
If 1t were living animal by applying
touch of rein.
Padding a canoe is the nearest that
man can get to wrestling wind and sea with