New Britain herald., 1930-09-15
reach for the second marker.
Vanderbilt Mystery

Vanderbilt Mystery
 Newport, R. l., Sept IS (UP)- 1n a greasy. cramped boat tuggipg at anchor in the harbor here lives the enigma of the Americas cup races. Harold Stirling Vanderbilt. skipper of Enterprise and the richest bachelor in the United States.
 All the doors of Newport's most exclusive homes are eager to swing wide for this man who is the lion of the hour because of his masterly sailing that defeated Shamrock in the first race of. the series. Invita- tions to balls and dinner parties are floating on the sea where he con- temptuously tossed them.
 Nearby is his luxurious power yacht on which he could live. if he desired. But Vanderbilt prefers to dwell on tender, sleeping in nar- row bunk and eating hastily pre- pared food because that tender is near Enterprise, a silver silver of craft around which his dreams are wrapped. -.
 Do Not Understand Him
 His intimate associates, and they are few, confess they do not under stand him. At the helm of yacht. with the wind in his teeth, they say, he is a savage, hard-hitting sailor, growing. commands to his crew of lean Norwegians and crowding the sails past the danger point. On the rare occasions when he comes ashore he is a shy. 46-year-old millionaire who likes to play bridge and is will ing to give anyone a lift in his au- tomobile.
 He is the most obscure of the Vanderbilts, except when yachting and contract bridge are mentioned. He is an expert at both.
 Tennis is his only hobby and 1t was Vanderbilt who befriended an unknown youngster out of California named Johnny Deeg and brought him along in the game until two days ago when that same Doeg won Americas most coveted tennis title, the national singles championship. Friends say it is typical of Wander bilt that he should have selected Doeg, for picking men is one of his talents. There is, for instance, the afterguard of Enterprise, as expert a group of navigators as can be found in the western hemisphere.
 Uses Disfeputable Costume
 When Enterprise slides out to sea Vanderbilt is erect at the helm, throwing all his 2oOh pounds of brawn into the task of keeping the course that these men have set for him. His hair is rumpled in the wind, he wears dingy gray trousers and shirt open at the throat. Some times ragged sweater that street urchin would scorn is thrown across his shoulders
 He hates dancing, but likes to go to small, quiet dinner parties where he can find a hand of bridge. His in- inmates say he frequently gets up and leaves in the middle of a party if it becomes too noisy. He refuses to give interviews and confines his statements about the Americas cup races to a couple oft crisp sentences that reveal nothing. His nickname is Mike" but he himself doee not know where it originated.
 For four nQnths he had not touched a cigarette because he be- lieves a person should train as strenuously for yacht racing as for football. So grim is this business to him that he has not even bothered to greet Sir Thomas Lipton.
 The Norwegians in his crew are aroused at all hours of the night for what Vanderbilt calls fire drill" A blast on a whistle tumbles them out of their hunks and in the darkness bulks the figure of their skipper, summoning them to practice for a quick start. He borrowed that idea from King George when he was at Cowes in 1920. There the crew of his majesty's yacht Britannia had frequent unexpected calls to duty, and Vanderbilt saw the value of it. In addition, his Norwegians do a daily dog trot to keep in condition and the food they eat is prepared by expert dieticians.
 Once Interested in Business
 Some who know him say Wander bilt has interest in business, There have been times when he tried to work in his office, going down at 10 a. m. and leaving at 3 p. n1., but even as<he sat. in his swivel chair the, mind of this great grandson of off to the green curl of the surf-line and pale sails bellying to the breeze. So he gave up business.
 Sentiment here is all against Van derbilt in this race. At evening there floats through the narrow street that twist up from the sea the strains of '.'Tipperary" and 'Wearin' of the Green"
 They are played in honor of Sir Thomas Lipton. the matchless sportsman who reared an empire of commerce from Cornwall to Cathay. Almost everyone hopes Shamrock will win. But when bets are made, judgment triumphs over sentiment and people remember the grimlipped | Vanderbilt at the helm of Enter prise. And that is why you can get three to one odds against the green hulled sloop that represents Sir Thomas last attempt to win a cup whose value in actual silver is