ve an island to give away,
An island in China, a very nice spot,
I hope you will like it," quoth John Cabot.
Hickety, pickety, bless my heart,
To own an island is very smart.
"To own an island is great indeed,"
The barber he said, "and a title I'll need.
And I'll wear a mantle all trimmed with lace,
And never again will I shave a face."
But alas for the barber, and poor John too,
Their titles and honors and airs fell through.
It was only a corner of Canada, not
The Chinese Empire which John Cabot
Had found in 1497
And unto his barber so freely had given.
So then this poor barber of John Cabot
Back to his shaving went trit-ty-te-trot.
Both of his island and title bereft,
Lucky indeed that his razor was left.
But hickety, pickety, John Cabot
Really discovered a brand-new spot.

THE RACING YACHT OF TO-DAY.

BY L. A. TEREBEL.

When the _America's_ Cup was first contested for, a good many years ago,
the boats that competed for it were out-and-out yachts--pleasure craft
that could be of service to their owners for other purposes besides
cup-hunting and cup-defending. But the craft that we see taking part in
the international races nowadays are nothing more nor less than
racing-machines. These are built solely to take part in the struggle
with the Britisher, just as the Britisher is built solely to sail
against the fastest Yankee: and after the cup contests are over these
$250,000 beauties are of no further use, except, of course, to win other
races. When I say that they are of no further use, I do not mean this
statement to be taken as literally true, because the boats can be
reconstructed and remodelled for cruising purposes, and sometimes are,
but they cannot be used for anything but racing when in the condition
they appear in at the starting-line. Many people not particularly
interested in yachting cannot see why rich men should put a quarter of a
million of dollars into a boat which, after it has sailed against an
English yacht, will only bring about $10,000 in open market. They argue
that the end of sport would be just as well served by the racing of
smaller boats, and Lord Dunraven himself has been reported as saying he
thought it would be advisable to restrict the length of the racers to
seventy-five feet. A few years ago there were no such restrictions, but
when _Puritan_ was built to meet _Genesta_ it was mutually decided by
the Englishmen and the Americans t