Power Boat Don'ts [1905]
Don't get excited when some mishap occurs. It only shows everybody that you are an amateur.
Don't look into the gasolene tank with a match. It is not the boat that is to be taken into consideration, but the undertaker's bill.
Don't expect the engine to run if the gasolene cock is shut off. Gasolene engines don't as a rule run on air.
Don't invite your friends for a trip when the engine has refused to run for a week. You are liable to get disliked.
Don't start out for an all-day's journey with only a gallon of gasolene. The Standard Oil Company will not furnish a tank steamer to follow you. Competition is not great enough.
Don't blame the engine when it is the person running it at fault. Unfortunately there are numerous persons who do not know how to run a lawn mower, harness a horse, or build a fire, and never will learn.
Don't tell everybody that your boat can make 20 miles an hour, and then have some fellow beat you in a boat only capable of making 10 miles.
Don't build a racing machine and declare she will ride out any weather.
Don't forget that some gasolene engine manufacturers figure horse power by the mule, and others by the pony or underfed goat.
Don't forget that a power boat owner's mile, until the craft is run on a measured course, is only about 3,000 ft. and explains why his boat goes so fast.
(Transcribed from Power Boat News, Sep. 2, 1905, p. 430.)
[Thanks to Greg Calkins for help in preparing this page. --LF]