PEARCE VICTOR.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1009, 27 December 1910, Page 5

PEARCE VICTOR.

9 — BY TWO LENGTHS, - TUB Vmm AT THE END WEBB'S GREAT GRIT. 12r HeUgravb.— Special CorresscnaeaU.' Wanganui, December 26. ; / Seen soon after the race, Webb, ivho lest by two lengths after a gruel-. ling pace, had no excuses to offer for his defeat. "I'm not the bit of stuff; to beat Pearce; that's all there is ajjout it," was his brief comment. It, was, he added, his last race, arid ha would now retire permanently from' the game. . . ' . /";■■ ..'■"•.!- The Sculling match . between Harij . .; Pearce, champion of Australi"a, aid Wm. Webb, ex-champion of the world, waf', -~-,'• rowed on the Kaiwhaike. championship course on the Wanganui Rf!ver this arbsr- ■■} noon, tho Australian vinn'ing a gWellinr ' race by two lengths. Though ao title - , I™ mv ? ved ' u alld tho st f 'te vvus. onlv for ■ . A2UO aside, the race nevertheless created a. great amount ov.in&aresfc; and had a '- claim,to impprtajice in thai' it was ex- '-■ pected and is jtfactica'Uy,. a certainty, V «n- t i» e i m 2.°?' of ',f'*ill challenge ;, Dick Arnst to race for the -..-; worlds championship..' -.";■- .Anxious "cast upon the sky this morning, for tr.e weatlier yesterday • an( i xovgb J „nd pro- - raised badly .'for r to-day. The morning, ' ■ i°v ™\, hlo! f°- fine, and brilliant sun- -- shine with a gr.ntle cool breeze lasted all '-':■ day, the ra.-e bcj n g under almost' .:' peiiect oon-J/tions of water, and weather, ; v ; though th< 4 breeze was a triflo on the V strong sir f lt -.-.■ There no t the crowd present that-:;. nas nee n £eeH i n previous contests . for .•; ■:■-■ greater honours on the Wanganui River, .■•■■- out a c tha same, time there- was a. veiv .'- »air. fittendance of'tho public, which took - u.P Various .points of vantage along .the '■■'•: r i lV ii , wW le tlw ' water ' ifecU ns ■ wetted over with numberless small crafts.: ' ■-jarge numbers followed the race. on ■ :■•-. horseback on. each'side of the - river, ;■" V: whuoi the umpire's and press boats were '■ crowded. .... '■' Where.Webb Led. '-.'■'.-■ ,-7'0...^ .Shortly before four .o'clock Pearce got afloat, Webb making his. appearance a -.'■- minute .later. . Mr. Sciffcrt, : Pearc'e's ':■'.' backer, won the tees, and chose theKai- ■.' whaike bant, which was on the inner ■'■.'■ side of the/curve of the course. Mr. C. A. Barton,, the referee, 'then gave the '..'■■'■ men a few injunction, and'they - then took; Tip their positions for■'■ their '. ' three and. a half mile journey. '■'"'■- . After or.e break away, by Pearce, both. ':• caught- tto water to an even start, the . ' Australian striking 3S, and Webb a3(.: ,! BtoX-Mr soon' showed in front, dropping. io '. .'■ 30, .wiile Webb settled down to a long . - sweeping 26. Both men were showing '■•: -- fine form, and there was. every, prospect - of a splendidly-fought .struggle; :' '.."'- At the half-mile Webb had drawn level, '-.: and,.inch by inch, he, began to : forge..""■'.• nhead % . Still rowing a powerful stroke at ' : 2t to the minute, he had put his boat' ".'■ half a length ahead erf his rival's at the ■■■•' tinv.e-quarters of a mile,, and the quid- • • nuncs proclaimed that' the race was hi& . It was.soon seen, however, that some- i ■"..' tiling had gone wrong with the. Wnhga-' .!-. nui man. , His strokes. began to ' lose ; - power, and lacked sting,, and, by. -the'. tirno another half, mile had'gone, Pearce, who ha'd dropped to 26, 'tad -demolished'-'' .-y his opponent's lead, and was in front '' again.' At,the mile and a half the Aus-' tralian was a length to the good, and, : ' at .two miles, had increased this to a couple of lengths. ;■'-, .; .'..■■•, Webb Game to- : the Last. Pearce now appeared to be rowing* well : within himself, wliile Webb appeared to. be a weary man. Rounding the bend into-;-tho straight, Pearce put further-'-. daylight between the boats, and, entering '.-; ■ on the last mile, was a clear four lengths 'in front, sculling easily and confidently^; ' Webb, however, .was- not 'done. with,., and,'.'in spite of the hot pace and evident loss of power, showed -that he still had left in; :h'im- all, his old-time . grit.- : Thougb. his case-looked hopeless,; he put in.effort after effort pulling, himself'. to-'.. gether.iu surprising'manner. .As Uhe- ■'-■ boats sped down, thedast straight,.it" be- . gan to be seen that, the'finish was going' ■ I to be a close'one, and that Pearce wa« -. ; Knot, going'to havei-things all his' own,- - way. The exertion of.stalling.off Webb'a.:,' .; repeated attacks began 1 to tell on him. - too, and,- once or twice, his boat, gave, roll, which betrayed. a certain amount of, unsteadiness.. '.-,-, •'■: -, : • H,alf-a mile from home Webb had reV... diced the Australian's lead to about two. lengths, and this order..was maintained, till, about 200 yards from the finish, '■■ ' when "Webb put all his power, into a ■ last game effort.. Amidst intense ex- ■ : citemeht he crept up, -foot by foot, and, fifty yards from. home, had overlapped : Pearce. •'. ■' - 'f:._.'. Ihen, with both -men. straining inervea ■. and muscles to the utnlbst,'Webb, 'col., •''. lapsed. . He -was rowed'-practicaUy; to, a -''■ ' Standstill, and Struggled over the. line'- •' ■ two lengths behind; the victorious Aus-' . tralian.. The time was 2i.. minutes .5 seconds, which, considering-that. the first'- ;•■ two miles were against .the wind, may be '■ regarded as fairly fast. Pearce-rowed, at 12st. 101b., and Webb at lOst. 131b. ' '■';.. \l : Popularity of Pearce.' .The local ma'n a hot'favourite,., ■ his friends, as always, being very loyal .., to him, though not a great number, were : willing to concede, tho. two to one odds - which Pearce's Supporters asked. As.-it- ~ turned .Out, however, their anticipations" .- ; were astray, for, though Webb was splen- . ; . didly trained, and had "shown! excellent . r form in practice, he failed to, reproduce '■'■>.; ; it when'called upon. ■'■■.■■■■'• .Everyone admitted that the best mar?'•':". had won,.and that Pearce had thoroughly earned his victory. He trained hard and', . consistently, and, in tho race itselfy;-----showed .such form as quite to justify, his'- -.! '.I backers' confidence. Though once or ,he showed "signs of unsteadiness," there"-',- • .was no reason to believe tut that,,if tW-;: raco were rowed over, again, .the. Aus- '■"•' tralian would show himself: the better > : nian. ' During his stay here, he has proved ' himself a good, clem,- straight-goinjr ;- sportsman, and, apart from their natural'.-''-!' .disappOintnlent at their favourite's defeat, ''■■: no one -0f.,: M T ebb's friends begrudge . Pearcehjs win. • .-. ,-.■''..-. ,• .; . Though it is a generally and apparently - well-founded belief that Pearce will chal-!'-'■• lenge Arnst, he will probably not dd so :. immediately. He is very reticent as to' his intentions, but says, that he will'take !'■ a complete rest for six -months before, making another match. Whether he will ■''.:'- prove a match for "big Dick" w-heri" they ..', ; meet remains to be seen, arid, in spite of : /'' the good form which he showed to-day,' there are not a great many who will, admit that he is likely to lower ,the., ! champion's colours.; In any case, how-' , ever, his performance to-day may fairly '-- entitle him to bo considered at least'the, !, next best man, -and to have probablv: i '■. better chance than any other. present-day ~ sculler, in a contest, with the -present •' holder, of the world's championship. ■'-::