ARNST AND HADFIELD

WORLD'S CHAMPIONSHIP RACE

ON THE HISTORIC WANGANUI COURSE.

£ll meOIMPH.) (UOKOOK BPKML HlPOUri*,) ' WANGANUI, This Day. The time has come oilce again to decide who shall hold'the title.of world's champion sculler, and this time it is a far more formidable challenger the present holder, "Dick" Arnst,-has to meet than the "Paddy" Hannan he defeated some six months ago on the Wairau River at Blenheim. D'Arcy Hadfield, o£ Wanganui, impresses a critic more favourably than did Hannah. He is something of a, pocket .Arnst in hi* rugged countenance and muscular limbs. All Ilia life he has been a toiler with the labour of brawn and sinew, and that makes a big difference in a race of three miles and a-quarter. under what promises to be a boiling sun. Only those who have rowed in walled-in rivers like the* Wangsnui, and on the championship couVse about tea miles up from the town, when the mid-summer gun is pouring down from a cloudless sky, know how hot it is on the water. These are the occasions when one wants to float down on the current or be gently propelled in a motor launch. Hadfield looks like a man who will not easily give in. He has the .pugnacity and tenacity of a battler, and even if Arnst gets the lead at the start, which is quite likely, Hadfield will run him close. CHALLENGER CONFIDENT. Yesterday afternoon, in conversation with your representative, he expressed sanguine confidence in his capacity to beat Arnst, given a continuance of existing conditions in calm water and weather. For such conditions the.trim pf his racing skiff has been adjusted, and under such conditions the lighter man will undoubtedly have the advantage, and Hadfield scales nearly a stone and s-half less than Arnst'g lijst 81b. Should, however, the breeze blow strong from the south it will strike on the long reach of two ' miles from the starting point—a clear stretch of river running due north and south—and with the current down stream meetingl the ■wind up stream there are all the elements of a nasty patch of choppy water and a - rough passage for the oarsmen, which will' favour Arnst. Hadfield admits his boat is not suitable for such conditions. The challenger has finished his work on the river; yesterday morning he spent motoring about the country, and the afternoon in company with his family, which" includes a delightful young baby girl. It mieht be thought from what has been said that Hadfield is a much younger man than Arnst, but as a matter of fact he is 32 as against Arrist's 38, so that there is not so much difference >after all. AT ARNST'S CAMP. •So 'much for the challenger, who will only take the water again on the afternoon of the race. The champion, pursuing his constant struggle against his old enemy, tho encroachment of the flesh, had a long spin on the water yesterday morning, and will probably-have a paddle up and down the course.on the very morning of-the race,- ac hf did on tho Wairau before meeting Hannan. Arnst is a man who must be continually active to avoid gaining weight and losing sleep. His camp is on the banks of. the river about a quarter of a mile above the finishing poet and ihree-quarters from the little picturesque township of Upokongarc with ■ its old tin-steepled little church and the hotel which is a favourite resort of a week-ender from Wanganui! It would be hard to find a more beautiful spot than Arnst has chosen for his training headquarters. Just between ihe' road and the river, under the shade of high willow trees, are two living tents and a cookhouse. It is just a typical bush outfit, with most of the. gear made on the spot. Under" the trees on high trestles are boats —two of Arnst's and one of his mate and pacemaker, Dick NorthoveT. In the river is a little jetty they have made for embarking and disembarking before and after their spins on the water. It is an ideal i spot, and Arnst, with . his cook and trainer and general helper, old Arthur Cooper, has profited immensely by his sojourn of some three months in. the wilderness.- He has reduced his avoirdupois to workable proportions by' the same kind of general hard training work as he practised at Blenheim, except that he misses his favourite eport of shooting. Around him tlw game is all preserved, but there are hills to' climb and long walks, and the result has been satisfactory. IDEAL QHAMPIONSHIP COURSE. Arnst is the same character ho always was—full of jokes and barrack, and not likely to be taken seriously. He will gravely admit the rumours that he has broken down—with a twinkle in. his eye and when he strips for a turn on. the river you know how much truth there is in it. His only complaint '* about the'pestering of Paddon. and his backers for a-race in Australia before Hannon ha* his turn. Arnst sees no earthly reason why the championship should be rowed in Australia, unless the champion himself chooses "that venue for the race. "Let them come to New Zealand if they want to race me," save Arnet. He considers the Kawhaiki championship course on the Wanganui River, the scene of the race, as the.best proposition for a professional sculler* rowing for the championship, in the world. "Half a million, people could witness a race on the Parramatta, but how many would pay!" asks Arnst. "Only those who followvin the boat« behind/ Everybody must p»y on the Wanganui, both on water and on land, and the proceeds of previous championship races were considerable when Webb beat Tresidder and was beaten by Arnst in 1908, and again was defeated bj the present champion in the following year. In the present case Arnet has made good businesslike terms for himself —a good whack out of the net proceeds', win or lose. The stakes—£2so a-side, £500 in all—of course, go to the winner. WHICH HAN WILL WIN T. Even if one were allowed to pick winners ;t would be an unusually difficult job in this case. Both men express confidence in themselves, and at the same time agree that the winner will be the better man. Critics are -arguing about Arnst's staying powers for a- gruelling race after such excessive weight reduction, but he har done it before. It is not likely that he is quite the great Arnst of' his' victories over Webb and Barry in the region of ten years ago. Ho may be a trifle slower, but then is Hadfield of.the class of great scullers? He has, true1,, a fine record as an amateur, and many, including the man himself, think he has the making of a world's champion. He has never met a man like Arnst before —a sculler who knows every trick of the trade in watercraft and race tactics. of the local Herald, who has witnessed tho great races of the past on the Wanganui, after an exhaustive examination of the two men's chances, turns his

balance in favour of the present h'cldof of the title. One would hardly like to go even a* far a* that; in any case it* will be a great race. Owing to th« late start—3.3o p.m. at the earliest, and probably later—the race will- not be over ip time to announce the result in today's Post. . Special arrangement* have, however, been madt for expeditious transmission from til 6 finishing post, and probably the result will be known ia Wellington shortly after i o'clock.