The San Francisco call., 1910-07-17
By ARTHUR MORGAN LANGwoRTHY

land not long ago. The sport be-
came so popular that within the last
two years it has been taken up in the
United states, and particularly by the
boys, who are as quick to catch on
TO its fine points as they were when
the craze for Juvenile aeroplane con-
structon swept over the country
However, model motor boat making
is still only in Its infancy. even with
the grown ups, and it is the purpose Of
this article to tell you about one of the
first boys motor boat clubs of Amer
ica. and also to show you how to make
simple motor boat that will go by
electricity.
The clubs proper title is the Seventh
Grade motor boat club of the Horace
Mann school of New York city. and it
is under the direction of Mr.. Howard
ID. Brundage, the supervisor OF man
ual training. to whom it's existence is
due.
Mr.. Brundage. who is a graduate of
the teachers college Columbia univer-
sity. conceived the idea of model motor
boat building as new course for the
boys in manual training two years ago.
and his choice was more than justified
by results obtained. First of ALL it
gave the boys an insight into a new
Industrial field while bringing out their
mechanical ability. Their interest in
this novel constructive course increased
and the ambitious young boat builders
began to gather fleet, which naturally
paved the way for the formation OF the
club. The club gave them a new idea
Of parliamentary procedure, as nu-
merous strict rules were devised to
govern the contests, which in turn cre-
ated a new sense of sportsmanship.
Last spring a great impetus was
given their efforts by the donation of
fine silver cup prize for the fastest
boat The club worked at its boats all
through the term. and finally the time
came for the great regatta that was to
decide who had the best boat. The re-
gatta was held in the schools 60 foot
swimming pool. and when the first race
started the galleries were packed with
spectators to take their first look at the
new sport.
And those boats were certainly sur
prise. You can get an idea how real
istic they were by the group set around
the prize which was the beautiful sill
yer cup shown.
The boats were divided into four
classes: Glass A, of boats "a inches or
under in length; Gloss B. "a to 80
inches; class C, 80 to SO inches; class d.
SO to 40 inches.
Five regular races were to be run.
The first four OF these were the try
outs of the four classes, each race for
zach class. The fifth race. or the final,
was run by the winners Of each of the
four races.
Eight contestants entered the first
race. or rather Topped" for it. as they
were compelled to lie down at full
length on the edge OF the pool in order
to start their craft. These were all
electric boats. except the Suffragette,
which depended on clockwork for its
power.
The electric boats were propelled by
small dry cell batteries, which operated
tiny motors. and this seemed to be the
favorite system. as out OF score of
boats only one or two used other power.
1t was against the rules to start the
motor until the boat was actually in
the water. and there. must be no push
ing. Disobedience meant disqualified
tion. Some other minor rules were also
strictly observed. However. the most
important are mentioned here.
Finally. after much squirming and
twisting on the marble basin edge, the
contestants were ready. The referee
gave the signal. and away whirled the
proud racers for the other end of the
tank, Torpedo finally pulling away from