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OR a country as particularly fortunate as ours in waters that are

ideal for boating, we, as a whole, have made in the past but poor use of them for recreational purposes. And this in spite of the fact that we were originally a seafaring people whose very existence was dependent on the use of the waters that washed our coasts or that wound their way inland and formed the great highways of the Nation before the days of good roads or steam.

With the opening up of the vast country at the back of the original States. along the seaboard, it was perhaps natural that for a time our ancient heritage of the sea should be forced into the background. But with the tremendous industrial development that has taken place here it is surprising that so little has been accomplished along the lines of ship and boat building-a field in which we were once the foremost nation of the world. Up to a very few years ago the adze, the hand saw, and the plane were the tools still in use for wooden-ship building, very much as they had been since Captain Noah built the ark. Here tradition held strong, while in every other industry machine tools were taking the place of primitive methods.

Under these conditions, even when leisure to use the water became possible, yachting was confined to a comparatively few localities and the feeling was

By HERBERT L. STONE

Editor of " Yachting "

One of the popular sailboats, a 15-footer, which is unsinkable. It is used extensively by youngsters, or on small bodies of water, where a larger boat would be out of place

general that boats and boating were I only for the rich and the well-to-do. Then came the automobile to open up the country for recreation as it had never been opened before. The open road drew many, and with the flooding of the country with a cheap means of locomotion, the water, for a time, was still further neglected and its possibilities for pleasure overlooked.

With the nearing of the saturation point in the use of cars, many of the far-sighted men who had been building pleasure boats, and some of the manufacturers of cars, saw the possibilities in the application to the making of boats of the production methods which made low-priced automobiles possible. It had always been cheaper to build several boats of the same design at the same time than separately. With the use of special machinery, the cost could be still further reduced; and now, with the rapidly growing congestion of the roads and more stringent traffic laws taking much of the pleasure out of driving, it was time, these men figured, that we began to wake up to what the lakes, the rivers, and the waters of our long coast-line had to offer, and that we should begin to turn to our long-forgotten heritage, the

pleasure boat has now been brought within the reach of every one who, tiring of the land, longs to get afloat againto feel the thrill that comes from handling a boat, of pushing on beyond the horizon, of exploring strange waters and, when the day is over, of dropping anchor in some quiet cove or landlocked harbor. Here, as night comes on and the riding lights begin to twinkle from the anchored boats near by, with a fire going in the snug cabin and the evening meal on the stove, one reaches the height of contentment that comes with cruising. Some one once made the pertinent remark that a cruise only began when the anchor was down and wellbitten in the bottom.

And right here it may be said that the cruiser afloat always "has it" on the automobile tourist, in that he carries his home with him. No hotels to hunt up, no camp to make, but always a comfortable cabin, with his own bed, his own galley and ice-box, his own belongings around him, and everything that makes life worth while.

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N talking about stock boats, as those that are built in quantity are called, they fall naturally into two classes, viz.: (1) cruisers; (2) runabouts, or those used for day service. The former are usually in greater demand in waters which are not confined and where trips of some length may be taken, while the latter are, of course, in greater use in restricted waters, such as lakes, rivers, or bays, where a fast boat for day use is wanted.

In general, it may be said that a 25footer is about as small a craft as will make a satisfactory cruiser. For there must, first of all, be a cabin large enough

sleep at least two comfortably, and

even three or four at a pinch; to provide cooking and living accommodations; and to have the necessary headroom so that one will not get a crick in the back from stooping over. Then there must be storage space for clothes, and a cockpit large enough to accommodate the "crew," and visitors on occasion. All this can be had in a 25-footer. There is

A 15-foot centerboard stock model designed by J. G. Alden, and which is now made in "knock-down" form, so that the parts may be bought and put together by the purchaser

even a 23-footer on the market that gives most of these requisites. From this size up to 45 feet in length one can find several different types and models from which to choose and to fit one's purse.

In first cost, the price of cruisers has been brought down to reasonable figures by the production methods mentioned above. They can be had at prices comparing favorably with high-grade automobiles-and it must always be remembered that a cruiser gives much more than an automobile in the way of comfort and accommodation. The comparison of price would be much fairer if it were made with a summer cottage or bungalow. From $2,500 to $6,500 would be the range for boats from 25 to 38 feet in length. And in one of the latter size several persons could spend the summer, or several weeks of continuous cruising, with the comfort and privacy of a small cottage ashore.

The tendency lately has been to increase the speed of cruisers as well as of runabouts. But from 10 to 15 miles per hour is what one should look for in a craft of this size. More speed means greater power, greater operating cost, and greater all-around expense. While in miles-per-gallon of fuel the cruiser does not show as well as the automobile, it must be remembered that there are no garage bills to pay, no tire upkeep, and less depreciation, so that in a comparison of the total cost of running a cruiser against an automobile the former shows very favorably. With the wide difference in size and type of engines in cruisers, no exact figures on fuel consumption per mile are possible. Broadly speaking, about three-fourths of a pint per horsepower per hour is a fair basis of estimate. The cost of upkeep on a boat depends largely on where she is laid up

A stock keel knockabout, 16 feet long, which is being used extensively in localities where the waters are exposed. Fast, able; watertight compartments make her unsinkable for the winter and on how much of the yearly painting and overhaul the owner does himself.

HILE there has been a great development in the stock cruiser, it is in the fast runabout that the greatest strides have been made-in the type and quality of the boat itself, in the speed, and in the price. Heretofore anything with a speed of over 30 miles an hour was only for the man who did not have to count the cost. But to-day the price range is not much above the level

of the automobile. Then again, the boats are now designed by naval architects who have made a life study of this type of craft. They are seaworthy in any kind of weather in which one would use a small craft, and in speed per horse-power they exceed any boats of their type heretofore turned out. Stock boats range in speed from 30 to 45, and even 50 miles per hour, though to get the latter speed one must have a higherpowered engine. The range in size is from 18 to 30 feet, with seating capacity for from five to nine or ten persons, and prices run from $1,000 up.

A 22-footer with a 25-mile to 35-mile speed will cost from $2,000 to $2,500. A 26-footer with a 30-mile to 35-mile speed will run from $2,400 to $3,200. Larger boats and higher speeds naturally run into more money, as in the automobile field. As to reliability, motor boats nowadays are just as free from motor troubles as a car, and there are no tire troubles. One can learn to drive and handle a runabout more easily than he can a car, and there is no traffic congestion to worry the beginner, while the pilot rules, or rules of the road, are as simple and as easy to understand as traffic laws ashore. Just try it once in one of the demonstration boats now provided by all of the larger manufacturers of runabouts at any of their distribution points, and find out for yourself.

This reduction in the price of these high-speed runabouts has been made possible only through the production methods of the makers. One manufacturer alone is turning out this year no less than 500 boats, in two models, one 222 feet in length and the other 26 feet. Production on this scale has never been tried before, and it means much in the way of a price that is within reach of the average man who wants to get on the water, and yet have the same range of speed and radius of action as in an automobile.

O-DAY one may also buy a boat in the same way that he would a car. In other words, he can go to an agent or dealer in his home city and see, in a well-equipped showroom, just what he is thinking of buying. Here he can inspect the boats, talk over with the dealer such points as he wants to take up, and, above all, have a demonstration. All of which is a long step ahead of the day when he had to buy from circulars and by correspondence, without once seeing what he was getting for his money.

A type of small runabout that has

For the man who does not have to weigh the cost the fast commuter type, such as this 42-footer, is becoming a stock proposition. Comfort, plus speed of 30 miles, can be had in the daily use of such a boat attained great popularity, due to the improvement in the outboard motor, is one built particularly for this handy, portable little power plant. Boats are now designed especially for these engines, some of which are hung over the stern, while others are dropped in a well built into the hull for this purpose. Some of these little craft, which run from 16 to 25 feet in length, are as well finished as the conventional type of runabout, and

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the speeds made are remarkable, considering the amount of power developed. From 15 to 25 miles an hour have been made, though the higher speed is, so far, practicable only in light hulls built for racing. A complete equipment of hull and engine can be had for as low as $250, and the price range runs from that figure up to $600. Even a small cruiser is now possible with a two-cylinder outboard motor for power. Streams and lakes that have never before heard the exhaust of a motor boat are now echoing to the purr of the outboard, which has opened pathways heretofore closed to most of us with limited time and with out the resources of a Croesus.

While most of the stock-boat development has taken place in the motor-boat field, the lover of sail and tiller has also been benefited by standardization and multiple production. With the soaring of prices for boats built to order it is only by the saving made possible by the building of many boats to the same design that the price has been kept at all within reason. Yet here, unlike the motor-boat field, there are practically no cruisers-probably for the reason that no two sailing men can agree on what is necessary in either design or cabin layout, and the builders have given up as a bad job trying to satisfy them.

an

Speeds of between 30 and 40 miles
hour-and no speed laws to
hold you down-are now common in
stock runabouts that cost no more
than a good grade of motor car

stock. The size of these runs from 15 to 20 feet over all length, and the price from $350 up to $750, including sails. Many of these, designed for use by youngsters or beginners, are built with air tanks or water-tight compartments to make them unsinkable, and they are doing their share towards leading back the youngster of to-day to the ways of the sea which his forebears followed before him.

RAINS are slaves to those mysterious contrivances called timetables (subject to change without notice), and must confine their movements to the route rigidly prescribed by two narrow ribbons of steel representing what is, in effect, the shortest distance between two points. Motor cars move processionally over what their drivers call "good roads," religiously avoiding the bad roads, which always lead through and to the best places; and well-behaved motor cars are not supposed to jump fences, climb trees, or scale cliffs. Even airplanes may not invade the deep woods, and the mountaintops are to them a vaguely promised

land which they are allowed to behold but are not yet permitted to enter upon. But as for my feet,

I only have to steer them and they take me everywheres!

as Gelett Burgess sang quite a few years back. My feet may not be "beautiful upon the mountains," but they are useful there. Until I am reincarnated as a humming-bird, I don't expect to find any conveyances that give as much allround satisfaction as those feet. Mind, I am no bigot. I have traveled extensively by train, motor, bicycle, skates, quadruped, airplane, and water-craft of various types, and hope to do so repeat

edly in the future, but as I look back it appears that all these aids to locomotion were merely the means of bringing me to places from which I could walk. Freedom is the one great desire of all living things; and, among men, the capable walker alone knows true freedom.

To live as free as air, yet never lack The simpler comforts, foot it with a pack.

The conventional traveler is all tangled up with schedules, baggage, and such; he is always considering what clothes to wear, what routes are practicable, and to what hotel he should wire ahead for accommodations. With a