Cruising
canoes are made safer if watertight air chambers are built in the
ends.

Even if a canoe turns over it does not sink. Some experts can right a
capsized canoe and clamber in over the side even while swimming in
deep water. The seaworthiness of a canoe depends largely upon its
lines. Some canoes are very cranky and others can stand a lot of
careless usage without capsizing. One thing is true of all, that
accidents occur far more often in getting in and out of a canoe than
in the act of sailing it. It is always unsafe to stand in a canoe or
to lean far out of it to pick lilies or to reach for floating objects.

Canoes may be propelled by either single or double paddles, but the
former is the sportman's type. It is possible to keep a canoe on a
straight course entirely by paddling on one side and merely shifting
to rest, but the beginner may have some difficulty in acquiring the
knack of doing this, which consists of turning the paddles at the end
of the stroke to make up the amount that the forward stroke deflects
the canoe from a straight course.

[Illustration: In Canoeing Against the Current in Swift Steams a Pole
is Used in Place of the Paddle (Photographs by A.R. Dugmore)]

[Illustration: A type of sailing canoe]

An open canoe for paddling does not require a rudder. A sailing canoe,
however, will require a rudder, a keel, and a centreboard as well.
Canoe sailing is an exciting and dangerous sport. In order to keep the
canoe from capsizing, a sliding seat or outrigger is used, upon which
the sailor shifts his position to keep the boat on an even keel. The
centreboard is so arranged that it can be raised or lowered by means
of a line.

XV

BASEBALL

How to organize a team and to select the players--The various
positions--Curve pitching

Baseball is called the National Game of America just as cricket is
regarded as the national game in England. The game received its wide
popularity directly after the Civil War by the soldiers who returned
to all parts of the country and introduced the game that they had
learned in camp. Almost every village and town has its ball team, in
which the interest is general. It is not a game for middle-aged men to
play, like golf, but if one has been a ball player in youth the
chances are that he will keep his interest in the game through life.
Baseball is largely a game of skill. It does not afford nearly as much
opportunity for physical exercise as tennis or fo