AQUATICS.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 253, 24 October 1919, Page 7

AQUATICS.

i ROWING. i i AUCKLA : XD OLiTJ-B'- JUBILEE. •Members of the Auckland Rowing Clnb yesterday evening, celebrated the club's jubilee by a dinner and entertainment held at the boathouse, Mr. A. I. Farmer presiding. A selected toast list, and musical numbers supplied by the club's orchestra, and members and visitors made the occasion a most joyous one. In responding to the 1 toast of "The Club," Mr. Tom Henderson, ! the veteran oarsman, gave an interesting history of the club's activities, speaking from a personal knowledge dating back nearly tbe full fifty years. The first boathouse, he said, was on the then foreshore in Shortland Street, near the site of R. and "W. Hellagy's Buildings. "It was shifted to what was then i known as Official Bay, now Judge's Bay, i was moved afterwards to Breakwater Road, • and still later was put up at the Auckland - dock. The boathouse, In the early days, was a poor shed, but the enthusiasm and energy of members kept the club going and the plant and the style of the Doathouse Improving, until now they -had the fine plant and splendid building In which the jubilee was celebrated. In the early _ays the racing course was between the King's wharf ana Mechanic's Bay on the one side, nnd Freeman's Bay on the other, and th-e boats were of the class known as gunwale gigs,, so that to cover the Stat-mile course was a real test of stamina. Later rbe fiveoared whaleboa-t became the popular racing boat, till It -was -displaced -by the string test gig, and subsequently the light ekiff. Mr. Henderson save the guests a vivid sketch of the strenuous training that oarsmen undertook In the old days from sheer enthusiasm and love of the game, and he wished members continued prosperity, expressing the hope that they won!d carry on the traditions which had brought the club through its pioneer days.