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could take at a time. He accordingly took in Mr. and Mrs. Albee and directed the others to hold on and he would be hack as soon as possible. He soon came back for the second load. By that time the capsized boat was drifting direct for Dixon's Beach and would evidently be ashore before a third trip could be made. After the first scare was over the party had no particular trouble in hanging to the boat or rigging. They all reached solid ground in safety with no more serious results than a thorough wetting, some hysterics and a good scare. It is reported that Mr. Arnold has never been out in a sailboat since. The only wonder is that the whole party were not drowned.

Indeed, any intelligent person watching and noting the reckless carelessness manifested by many summer tourists in some of their wild pranks with sailboats, can only wonder that accidents are not far more frequent than they are. It's the old story, "fools for luck." If they knew more about boating they would not dare take the chances they do.

A second race on practically the same lines as the first was arranged to come off over the same course on Saturday, the sixteenth of September. The same boats were on hand for the race, except the Old Tub and the Queen. The Old Tub was on Spirit Lake, and it was too much work to get her over the isthmus, and the Queen had had enough of it. This time Mr. Waugh handled the Martha Washington. The wind was blowing a perfect gale, accompanied with some rain, but the boys started in for their race all the same. All of the boats were soon blown ashore or disabled, except the Martha Washington, which under the careful handling of Mr. Waugh made the race and pocketed the prize.

Other and larger crafts were added to the sailboat fleet the next season, the most noted of which were the "Foam," by T. J. Francis, of Spirit Lake, and the "Swan," by James F. Hall, of Okoboji. The "Petrel," by the Henderson boys, was put on

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a little later. During the next summer it was proposed to have a three days regatta, commencing on the fourth day of July. As before Mr. Van Steenburg put up a twenty-five dollar purse in addition to which each of the boat owners put up an entrance fee. As before there were six entries. The Foam and the Swan were new boats, while the Martha Washington and the Okoboji Star were not entered. The Foam was handled by L. W. Waugh, and the Swan by Owen Gowan, both skillful sailors. A writer in the Beacon (who was an eye witness) describes the outcome of the first day's race as follows:

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"The Foam turned the buoy just one minute and thirty seconds in advance of the Swan, and when they crossed the score on the downward passage the distance between them was so short that betting was considered decidedly unsafe. course the interest in the race centered in these two crafts and the outcome was eagerly awaited, and nobody was much surprised when they came in just two minutes and thirty seconds apart, the Foam leading."

Baxter's Lady of the Lake got away with third money, beating all competitors of last year. The second day the wind was so light that the race was decidedly uninteresting. The entries were the Foam, Spook, Swan, Old Tub and Lady of the Lake. The Foam, by reason of her enormous spread of canvas, soon distanced all competitors, easily winning first place. The Swan, Spook, Old Tub and Lady of the Lake came in in the order named.

On the third and last day but three of the boats contested, the Foam, the Swan and the Spook. Soon after starting the Swan was disabled, and the Foam had things her own way.

A yacht club was formed at this time. Rules for measuring boats, for figuring time allowances and for governing races generally were adopted and published in pamphlet form. The first officers of the yacht club were Commodore, L. W. Waugh; Vice

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THE YACHTING FLEET

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Commodore, Charles G. Chesebro; Rear Commodore, Henry Baxter; Secretary, A. A. Mosher; Treasurer, Henry F. Rice; Measurer, L. W. Waugh. Several other races were had first and last under the management of the yacht club in many of which a good degree of interest was taken, but after a time it became an old story. The interest died out and the yacht club went to pieces.

In the meantime the Henderson brothers bought the Foam and made regular trips with her from Spirit Lake to Arnold's Park. She was the first craft of any kind on the lake to run for passengers, and did a fair stroke of business. A somewhat singular incident occurred in connection with these trips that is worth preserving. One day A. A. Henderson started from town on his return trip, accompanied by Morgan and E. V. Osborn. The weather was unsettled and threatening, but for all that the boys had no apprehension of any trouble. They started from the dock, made the run through the narrows and past Stony Point all right when they noticed a rapidly moving cloud, more threatening in appearance than anything they had before seen. It proved to be a regular twister. Henderson proposed dropping under the lee of one of the sheltering points and wait until the storm had passed, but the others were very anxious to get home and urged him to keep on his course, claiming that with their present rate of speed they would make it in twenty minutes more and that it would probably be that time before the storm would reach them. Henderson yielded and kept his course. When pretty well across the lower lake the squall struck them. They had just before lowered and furled their main sail and were running with the jib alone. As the squall struck it caught the boat up almost out of the water and turned it bottom upwards and hurled it down with such force as to drive the mast some twelve feet into the mud in the bottom of the lake, and there she stuck fast.

Henderson was the first to extricate himself from the rigging and climb to the top of the overturned boat. For a moment he thought his companions must be drowned, as they were nowhere to be seen. Soon, however, they swam out from under the capsized boat and succeeded in climbing up by the side of their companion. Fred Roff was watching the boat from the shore when the flaw struck. At first the cloud between him and the boat was so dense that he could see nothing, but as soon as it passed he saw the predicament they were in, and as soon as possible procured a rowboat and started for their relief and brought them off in safety.

It will be impossible to follow this history of the early yachts and yachting farther as more space has already been given it than was at first intended. Interest in the sport has been kent up since that time in varying degrees of intensity. New boats have from time to time been added to the yachting fleet and much good natured rivalry indulged in. In the later days many summer tourists have acquired interests in the neighborhood of the lakes, and it is not probable they will allow the invigorating

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