The Washington herald., 1908-08-30
Yacht Designer Responsible
for American Victories.
HIS BOATS BEAT Upton
Morton Plant, of Philadelphia VIII
Have Veteran Builder Turn Out n
urement Rules Accepted as the
Most Equitable by Irish BarOnet.

OF the Corinthian Yacht Club. OF this
city. is determined TO have turned out
by Herreshon.
Ever since Sir Thomas Upton failed
20 lift the Americas Cup with his Sham
rock III. the Irish baronet has com
planned Of the Unfairness Of the measure
ment rules exacted by the New York
Yacht Club. Mr Plant is abroad He
is a thorough yschtsman, as was shown
when he was the first 10 enter his
schooner Ingomar in the great ocean
race which is now yachting history. He
has listened TO the vaporings of the
Upton crowd. and has smarted under
their pungent allegations and complaints.
de has now called their bluff He asks
Herreshoff 10 design and build a boat
IN strict accordance with the universal
measurement rule accepted as the most
equitable by Sir Thomas LIpton. Mr..
Plant even agrees 20 90 further than
that TO demonstrate the superiority OF
American craft. He viii take his boat
across and throw doEn the gauntlet TO
the best that British designers can pro
duce.
Il known as Wizard.
No one would ever think Of build
ing a yacht il America for an interna-
tionaI race without consulting Nat Heres /
hof. The famous boat builder has kept
the Americas Cup so long that he has
come 10 be a sort Of wizard wherever
yaChtsmen live.
When a man Is called By an abbre-
viation Of his first name. Il is generally
taken Tor granted that he is a good
fellow z mixer" -.hustl.uET dem
ocratic" person. But Nat HerresaCff
IS none q these. lie is a cold. reserved.
thoughtful distant uan-poIite enough.
weu-5red enouEh-bUt one of those per
sons whom one would expect 20 hear
called Nathaniel Greene Eerreshof. ESQ.
rather than Nat Yet as Vat he is
always spoken or Just as his brother
The blind wizard. IS always known as
John B."
The HerresLoffs are a remarkable fam
fly. a family Of geriuses. and the most
remarkable OF them are Nat and John
B These two brothers are the active
men Of the Herresho6 Manufacturing
Company. Of Bristol, r J.. and they are
Technology knows how rich. for the
Herreshotfs are not given 20 a parade Of
wealth. They live quietly, COmf1rta bly,
unostertatiously. and belong 10 the old
families of Bristol They take 10 part
ia the politics of the place. seek no pub
lie Once. ror would they accept one
They build boats and steam engines
which they believe the best lu the world
and are satisfied with that
Won Fame with Catboats.
Nat first established the fame OF the
firm by the wonderful catboats he built
and the wonderful way in which he sailed
them When the 0Iadee came over here
in ISL and beat everything that New
York could Put Up against her. she wen
down East and was beaten By -le
Shadow. a He-reshoH boat Il vas her
only defeat When Burgess died ;-e
American yachting world turned % the
rather "stl1-necked~ Bristol men as is
only hope for a defender for the Amer
icas cup
Nat He-reshoF. who may once more
build defender. is large uz--
over SIX feet. Il he would stand Up
straight. and bulky IN proportion he IS
probably the best liked Of the Eerreslo6
brothers. In spite OF al his peculis~itles.
people have implicit confidence IN him
ask any one in Bristol about Nat and
they viii say Wen. all know is. he is
a man who seldom says much Once a
Gay Nat makes round Of the works.
going through The shipEoUse and the ma
chine shop with his head bowed. as i he
were mediJaJing on sousthing far. far
away Apparently. his eyes glance neither
10 right nor left His arms swing widely
on either side Nobody knows exactly
al what hour this inspection VIII - made
If there IS much work or hand. q may
be twice a day. but once d day always
Novices stop their work 10 look al this
T--r-a he- Er-r-a with short
beard streaked with gray. and the wide
swinging arms But among the wCrkuel
who ere old hands n the Herreslof en-
plov tEe rule Is. Here comes Nat. get
a move on. and they pick Up some sort
OF q tool-a hammer. 3 caIking iron. any
think which VIII make & noise ike work.
and go al il
For. wonderful 10 relate Nat BY
simply walking through the shiphoUse.
without apparently looking either 10 the
right OF left. can tell exactly how many
men are idle. and upon what part OF the
work in hand they ought 20 be busy
'NIr So-and-so.'' he VIII say 20 the fore
man, You have so many men idle here
This won't DO. Set them to work" He
viii designate exactly on what part OF
the business in hand there IS idIeress-
To the v-Orkmen Nat" never speaks
always 70 the foreman. When a piece
OF work is completed. he viii cast his
eye over it-while II is in progress he
holds the foreman responsible for the
carrying out OF orders.
Respected by Employees.
Il cannot be said that Mr.. Herreshon
is popular among his employees. but they
have a respect for him and an awe Of
him-which answers his purpose quite as
well as popularity. The weird manner
in which ne can tell who IS at work
and who Is not by simply walking
through the shiphouse gives a sort OF
among the men. and a couple OF cen
turies ago the manner Of the Herreshoffs
would have been called 10 the attention
Of the pious Dr. Cotton 0ather
OF John B." the blind brother. Il Is
asserted that besides being possessed Of
abnormaIly acute hearing. his -a--e OF
touch is so extraordinary that he can
tell the denomination OF bill by feeling
IL II is certain that - MI sSke from
his pocket a roll OF bis and selecting
one therefroul. VIII eCeud il 10 the at
tendant who leads L'n about. saving
Is not that one dollar biIl2-' or nam
ing some other denomination-and nine
times out Of ten. an ex-attenGsnt OF his
declares, John B." gets it right. And
furthermore. the ex-attendant declares :
that the bills are not arranged in order
for Mr. HerreshoE before he leaves
home-so many ones and so many fives
and so on-but that the blind man VIII
take bill from the center Of the roll"
and tell its denomination. There nav
be some slight exaggeration in this