R | the meet of '93.

i Baar ansis

,.,M«u.,- - ,,w .

and jaunty girls, though the Kingston  lassies .

would dare handle- such ‘a’ heavily:dressed - |

craft, and the marvel of it is that one never
qulte realizes Cameron’s grit until in meeting
him one is stunned to notice thaf. the bravo
fellow has only one arm. .

"The Cataraqui also' turns ont some pmu;y

1| with few exceptions cannot vie with their Amer- "

ican cousins as far as paddling goes. Theyare

'| brown as berries, and as bonnie & lot of girls
| asyou could desire to see. They wore outing

.| home.

caps, flanuel dresses, and left their jewelry at
They handle a paddle with skillful ease

'| and one instinctively loves them for the sensi-

ble way in which they take to camp life, leay-

| ing their frills and flowers of fashion far be-

i
i

O

; INNING  THE RECORD. . |

"‘:"Thu ‘flr'at‘ club to entertain were : the .Ves-
pers ‘of Lowell, Mass,  Their merry hosts,
| blazing bonfire and . ‘delicious " claret. cup

b4 ,}gmened the way to: many succeeding. olly,

ts in the varlous clusters of -club, ;‘tbnts‘
;h:the*boya’ camp.’ The Vespers are ‘nearly
"| all 8porting men. They came to the meet for
the object for which it was instituted. Their

| Fpoers and racingmen are of the kind that

~,fi» pise ¢ frills,” but dispense as 'genuine andr
“n hospltality a8 : possible under ea.nva.s.,

: '.E!fimost .distinguished“man’ in‘ camp was 8

Those magic letterd “A. C A.” mean
great deal to any true hy
handl‘«‘rod, gun, sail or paddle.”™

The American Canoe Auoclntion was orgm-
ized in 1880. The father of the association, { |
Mr. N. H. Bishop of Lake George, originated.
the ‘¢ General Meet”’ with the object of * unltb
ing all' amateur canoeists. for: purposes: oft
pleasure, health or explorations, by means ofi
‘meetings for business, = camping, ‘paddling,’
sailing-and racing, and by keeping logs of
voyages, records of watérways and routes, de-
tails, drawings and dimensions of boats, an(t
collections of maps, charts and books.” vl

The*sportlng world ‘reeords no: orgmlzi%—

tlon ‘that  has‘ been‘more phenomenal i
8ToOW th and success uutfil tue A. C. A.
membership enrolls mmes from all por-
tions -of the civilized" world, names that
are synonymous with .honor and integrity
afleld and afloat, names whose owners have
been the means of bringing this healthful and
recreative sport from its obscure little coruer
of 15 years agd, and inaking it one of the
most popular pastimes of today. The geu~

eral atxd divisional meets of the Associatiol

| are the institutions thatkeep the sport abreast

of the times, when man Aneets man in - a -com«"

mon interest, when havds clasp in good fel-
lowship and friendly contest with sail and
paddle prevails for two entire weeks. ~

Seldom has the Aaaociatlon recorded Q
more successful camp than that of this
season on the Bt. Lawrence near King-
ston. On one of its loveliest islands whose
margin was indented with bays, quiet la~
goons, still reaches and bold rocky points,
90 tents lifted their snowy canvas like a huge
field of mushrooms, Thrice 90 gorgeous burgees
flung their vari-colored folds in the stiff, cleat
breeze, and fully a thousand tiny pennan‘rs
played from mast-head to mast-head, from
tent top to wharf, from meadow to shorse.”
The totem burgee. o(g score of different ¢l
proclaimed the identity of those.in . thb
Dbelow,.and shuge: ensigns,:bearing 't
‘and Stripes; British llon:and Union Ja¢® min<
gled in ag friendlv 2 combination of enl . as
adid their nebpectxve alliee in comradeship.

Perhaps the most brilliant bit of color.on the
grounds was the daily signal service at head-
quarters, which comprised the tents of the
commodore, ‘secretary and gemeral registry.
Twenty-one pennants, of various pattern and
color, constituted ' the signal set adopted by
the Association. . AN business notifications,
meetings, weather signals, races and happen-
ings of general interest were announced by a
combination of several flags, the minute de-
tails of such ma‘ters being posted on the bul-
letin board below. .

The camp is always run on a seml-milltery
‘basis. A bugler sonnds reveille at sunrise, at
,mess hour, when races are called, and at set of
sun, at which hourall colors are lowered at
headquarters.

The commodore of the year, Col. W. H.
Cotton of Kingston, was the first to greet all
incoming canoeists. ‘Commodore Cotton and
his Kingston allies may congratulate them-
selves that the meet under their immediate
supervision, proved itself an ideal rendezvous.
to all those who were fortunate enough to
pitch their tents and beach their canoes at

The first week under canvas isa verltable
period of lotus eating. You idle through the
Lng, yellow August days, living a happy-go-

cky, vagabondish life, the very memory of

which brings a certain care-freeness into your |

busy afterdays, when with your réturn to
town and its aitendant shackles of business,
formality, and fashion you would give half

your years to see the broad 8t. Lawrence, is-

land-dotted, sail-sprinkled, stretching calm and
cool at your feet.

108 j

Start’

‘““Vesper ” through and through, a son of Gen.
Butler, and a millionaire. The winner of the
trophy, and above all a straight, honorable
sportsman and : canoeing - enthusiast; young
B\lflar ‘unconsciously. made: . himself ithe
from the da ay. he,p tched: till the hour

ck,mmp ++He isnot a eerpet knlght
$%the ladies would ‘fain have “Seen him more

i frequently at their camp, neither is he even

bordering on a suspicion of a mug hunter, not-

wAndlng Qhe megnlflQent phy nio“

one passion ln llte--enlllng, gnd any day
!u mlght have’ l)een seen pottering about his

y adjusting, oiling, rubbjng down his
wmdortnl little Span-

ceda.r racer, the _—“T—"‘"‘

Wthb and ‘an honr a2 5
later defying ell winds %
and weather ottt in the
open, with 180 feet of
canvas spread to a-
breeze that drove the:
frail cratt across, and .

er, till like a lg,rge but-
terfly it swept” ‘away on |
ita restless though rest-
ful wings. More dain-
ty,(though not as vig-
orous) in his calling iz
George Dougml of the
Ianthe Club, -Newark,
N.J. He ll beyond a
doubt, the most grace-
fin‘unor in America,
youug;- 1ithe,;“a perfect
athlete. Deuglas
seems to impart to his
canvas - something of
his own identity, his
hiking, though not as
daring as Butler’s, who
in heavy weather hikes
four inches free of his
windward gunwale, is
3)10 jauntiest” bit of
.amoema.nshlp ever
idone on anadian wa-
“ters. Under his guid-
ance his slim little ra-
cer 1he Gncket could

L9 d‘uy e no mat"
jwhnt weather Old |
Probsi.was : mnloading | %3
on us, skirt!ng the sur- ‘
face o the Lay, u
poem in wbxt‘e cedar
and mahogany, fragile asa cobweb dainty.
as » flower, but swift and true 88 an arrow,
her positive direct.ness of course and speed
being oommenmd upon by all.

But notwithg;anding such men as Butler,
Goddard and Grey of the Vespers, Howard of
the New-York Canoe Club, Mooreof the Knick-
erbocker, Doaglas of the Ianthe, Archi-
bald of Montreal, Sparrow of Torouto and a
score of other men whose inberests center
mainly in the nport of race week, there was
still a great contlngent of gay moths of
fashion who as.lady-lovers played as import-
ant a part in t}he camp as their‘more faddish
comrades. Most of these gertlemiea were from
Kingston, Ont.l and - floated Cataraqui Club
colors above their luxurious bivouacs. We
might have done without some- “things, but
the Cataraqui Club was not one of them.
It may have been that the meet Was in home
walers, or that-the boys felt certb;ln duties be-
coming hosts devolvnng upon them, or it may
have been theimblg warm souls and deep wide
pockets, but whatever the reason was, they
treated us royaIly, and to their unceasing ef-

| forts the entlre ‘meet owes much of its success.

Their camp fife with its array: of brilliant
bunting, fire works, transparencifis, rollicking
songs and ]ollydances, has no recorded rival
in all the annals of the A. C. A. - "Nor was this
all they could do. They turned outa sailor, and
a paddling tandem that were notto be sneezed
at, the sailor, Kenneth Camerongbeing one of
the most daring and successful men in Eastern
Ontario. He carries the largest rig in Canada,

t 210 feet of canvas, which in heavy weather he
|exchanges for a 170-foot stretch. Few men

L e ——— —

.
i i, ‘

' surround him.

| hind them as more appropriate tg other times.

After the idle- days comes race week. The "4
bngle calls and you snatch up your cap and
'rush down to 'the wharf from~ which the

. judge’s yacht is slowly bearing away. The
_boys are getting out with sail and paddle and

| you see your favorite wearing uptowards you.

‘| You shout and his canoce skims #ip alongside -
'| the float. You'lean far over, shaking his
hand, saying the while, * good luck, old boy.”

'| He "smlles 1up confidently at ' you, and some

way or other you think your life’s happiness
depends on his winning. He slips away 800N,
the minute gun booms, and you hear the
momentous words:

‘¢ Are you ready?—Go.”

For the next. few moments yon go: cruy

“The canoes are' ‘swarming, and you can’scarce -
identify him. Then somehow the wee tip of
a slim nose pulls ahead; you fiy down shore
imploring someone to lend you a marine glass;

an elderly man whose hey-dey of canoeing is
past offers you his; you snateh it - -excited,

and oh! blessed relief the: first-glance shows -

you a well-known canoe half a length ahead.
You drop the ;glasses, and rush madly on.

Your shouts of ** go it, old man, go it, go it!"
are supplemented by applause and cheers
from a score of .men who also favor him, and
at the last, one: briet moment thet seems an
eternity to you sees your boy run between the
flags a full minute ahead of his sécond. Then
you wish you had 10 caps to fling into the air
and 20 handkerchiefs to flourish.; You won-
der why he does not come in instead of dally-

ing about the judge’s launch §' and after what
seems an interiiinabl¢ ‘dge he heads for the .
wharf, and you erowd down with 50 men and
Oddly enough lm sees yours

E “LATE REV. | 'W. TAGGART. SYRACUSE

through the miscellaneous collection of ou*-
stretched hands, and yours gets the first cla: »,
and through all the uproar you hear him ea ,
‘‘you are my mascot.” Then on that l.ct
night of the meet when the beautiful silksva
pennants are awarded to-fortune’s favorit s,
you too feel a strange glow of pride in his su.c-
cess, and you tell yourself it is just becau-e
you are so mad about canoeing—nothing elre.

And after a day or two when the tents ere
growing numerically less, when the b g
steamer wharf is covered with packed canoes,
bales of blankets and ‘‘dead” sails, you look
down the long sweep of the 8t. Lawrence that
will always mean so much to you now. You
say goodbye to the jolly sportsmen who have
been your messmates for two ideal weeks.
From the steamer’s deck you watch the old
camping ground fade into the blue and pur-
ple of distance ; perhaps one face looks out at
you, framed in the moonlight and sunshine of
your holiday; perhaps one set of sails, one
paddle blade, one starry night comes vividls
before you, and you tell yourself that Paul
Butler is not the only one at the A. C. A. wlo
has won a sterling trophy.

E. PAULINE JOHNSON. &~

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