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

boxes" to shoot duck at surf-beaten points;
men who bob uncOnCernedly in twelvefoot
dingies in the kissing rollers of the open
ocean, men who so without second thought
in fat-bOttOmed. scOw-ended, leak-loVing
$40 skiffs whose freeboard is mostly imagi-
nary-aH kindly overlook the manifest
weaknesses of their own craft to declaim in
horror about the deadly canoe
Deadly II is to one who doesn't belong
into 1.-THE "greenhOrn.' the rash. the care
less, and that hopeless man, the man who
never learns TO be at home in any boat,
however much ne may go about in them
Other boats may turn turtle more or less
quickly and drop him into the water almost
before he realizes that there Is something
wrong. The canoe dips over with such ce-
lerity that il Cstapults him into the water
like a tennis ball tapped by the racket. and
IL isn't till he is doused that he knows that
the thing has even wobbled.
But for the man who does belong mo
a canoe IL Is the sweetest craft ever
laid together by boatmaker. II Will 40
everything that a boat can be expected 10
do and more different things than any otner
tyne Of boat in the world. 1t will carry its
owner down meadow brook httle larger
than ditch. or over the open ocean. II
viii go down rapids that are more rock
than water, or sail across the widest anu
stO-miest reaches of lake or sea. II can De
carried on mans back or even under his
arm, yet he can pack a half thousand
pounds of freight in 1t and at the same
time live and sleep In 1t. 1t can be poled'
padded or sailed 1t can float In heavy
dew ride a wild sea.
Mans Art in Boats.
In nothing has the art of men so wen
adapted an article to their necess stiles as in
their boats The Eskimo kayak the dory
Of New England. the skin kelley of the Eu-
pirates and the dashed outriggers of Poly
nesia are all perfect for the purposes OF
the people who use them. OF them all, the
most perfect is the canoe of the American
Indian.
So perfect is It for this continent that the
white man. with all his trained ingenuity
and science has not been able to replace
II with any other form OF boat 1t Is the
craft Of the American wilderness today, as
II was in the day OF La Sale and Cham
plain.
For centuries it remained the wilderness
craft-little known except by name to the
majority Of Americans Then II became the
chosen craft OF some thousands of enthu-
siasts. and they improved ii till the canoe
is what IL is today-the most beautiful of all
the worlds craft. and In many respects the
most wonderful.
Now there are signs that the labor of the
North American canoeists through their
American Canoe Association is creating re-
suits In the last years canoe building es-
adjustments have been opened in all parts
OF the country. Every sporting goods store
OF any pretensions carries canoes in stock.
Department stores sell them. The canoe is
becoming The popular boat.
The Canoes Advantage
The canoe is the one craft that need not
cost much to keep beyond its first cost. It
requires no anchorage. no caretaker, no
precautions against storm. When its owner
Is through using it. he lifts it from the wa
ter single-handed. carries it to a rack in
the boat house and locks IL up.
Whenever he wants a paddle or sail the
canoe is ready In less than five minutes
he can have cushions and paddles in It, slide
ii into the water and be of
The owner OF any other kind OF craft can
never be easy about It. whether his vessel
be ,owboat or a schooner yacht Every
storm that comes up makes him anxious
lest II strike where his boat is anchored
II he carries no crew aboard to keep every
thing trim, the owner of sailing vessel
can rarely expect to get under weigh in
less than half an hour after boarding his
boat. All these troubles the canoe owner
escapes.
1t was the writer's fortune to be intro
duced to the canoe in its home in Canadian
waters, by Canadians. for whom the "%noe
had taken the place of the baby carriage in
their infancy. After many experiences with
sail and paddle in big and little waters in
that watercourse-d dotted country these born
canoemen took canoes OF the SAME kind
down to the ocean and there tried them