New-York tribune., 1921-10-01
The America
Letter from One Who Has Explored the Glorious Old Yacht
from Stem 10 Stern
To the Editor of The Tribune.

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: 1t is gratifying as we'll as sur
prising to see a column of editorial
space in a modern New York paper
devoted to such subjects as the yacht
America and the glories of that old
time ship building which once made
our city the great center Of naval
architecture in America. There are,
however, two errors concerning the
America which call for correction She
was most emphatically not racing
machine, and the trophy which has
borne her name for sixty-four years
was not "Queen's Cup
The America was essentially a rep
resentative New York pilot boat a type
widely renowned in its day, in model,
construction, rig and equipment. In
the extraordinary departure in model
from the older yachts and pilot boats
Of George Steers she merely followed
the Mary Taylor, built by Steers in
1849 for "Old Dick Brown" the New
York pilot, who was in command of the
America on her expedition to England
and who was later skipper for James
Gordon Bennett on his early yachts.
AS the yacht of syndicate of
wealthy men, she was presumably moro
elaborately fitted below than the work
ing pilot boat, but externally she had
all the distinctive characteristics of
the type-a break in the deck lust
forward Of the mainmast, the short
counter with raking V transom, the
small circular skylignt just abaft the
foremast, and the heavy bits with the
old log windlass. All the physical
characteristics of the vessel, together
with the fact that the racing machine
as type was not known for more than
a quarter century later, place her out
side the category Of Vigilant, Defender,
Reliance, Resolute and the numerous
Shamrocks.
The tradition of the "Queen's Cup"
found its way into the history of the
Americas Cup at very early date;
one OF several myths closely associated
with the famous old yacht. The cup
Which she won was a special trophy
presented by the Royal Yacht Squad
ron as prize for one race open to the
yachts of all nations; practically in
connection with the first great worlds
fair, the international Exhibition of
1851 in the then new Crystal Palace in
London. The inspiration for the build
ing nnd racing of the America came
originally from this same exhibition.
On that last trip down the East
River, alluded to in The Tribune. had
the pleasure of exploring the old craft
thoroughly, starting with an electric
torch at her knightheads and ending
in the dusty, musty and rusty lazarette
In all this distance there was no single
item which could be positively identi-
tied as part Of the original structure;
the first rebuilding, Mt Northheet, Eng
land, about 1858; the second, at East
Boston in 1881, and the unfortunate
modernization by Mr.. Burgess in 1886
have obliterated all traces Of the
Steers's handiwork
There are none of the lodging. bosom
and hanging knees which formed an
integral part of wooden construction,
but few diagonal knees. single and in
pairs on each side. There are, how
ever, forged iron straps in each beam
space, extending along the shelf with
long arms on each beam, and it would
seem that these may have been a part