NOTES AND JOTTINGS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 48, 26 February 1908, Page 2

NOTES AND JOTTINGS.

It was amusing to watch the crowd when the scullers were turning the bend for home. Hobta of men swarmed along the bank liko au armvj.ji retreat.. tr^in*

to keep pace with the contestants, and horsemen mingled with tho crowd, which strengthened tho impression of broken cohorts fleeing from a field of battlo. Close in the people wero almost still, but not quite. They gradually pushed upon one another till some were almost thrust over the steep bank. They did not seem to mind a prospective high dive, so long as they gained a glimpse of the winning champion. The Post's representative had a race to himself afterwards. He had a motor car on tho bank, but while he was waiting to get tho ndepssary information, a host of vehicles slipped ahead, and tho umpire's boat, with a legion of rivals, all eager to reach the telegraph office first, swept down the river all steam on for the town. When the car gob on the greasy, narrow, rutty road it had to do a dead march trudge behind cargoes of grinning people in lumbering vehicles. Timo was fleeting. The chauffeur, Tliomas Atkins, has a reputation which all Wanganui reveres and rather fears, but he was helpless in tho melee. At last he got a chanco, and then came a very exciting six miles spin under the noses of horses, gliding past wheels of drags, swishing through mud, jumping, leaping, bounding. The crowds who had lined the river bank past Aramoho, and on to Wanganui, missed the main boat raco, but got another. The car beat the steamer by twenty minutes, after conceding a very heavy handicap. Tho firing of the gun, which announced that Webb had again succeeded in holding the championship for New Zealand and Wanganui, was (saj-s a Press Association message) the signal for an outburst of frenzied enthusiasm, in which pakeha and Maori joined. The white man cheered and yelled frantically, threw his hat and umbrella in the air ; tho brown man in a big waka loaded with Maoris began a haka, led by Takarangi Meto Kingi. The Maori woman, too, took her share in tho festivities. Webb, after shaking hands with Tresidder, was assisted out of his boat. Tresidder, when the race was over, headed his boat for Wanganui— that is, after finishing a hard raco of 3$ miles he rowed, another 7i miles. Every passing; steamer cheered him, and when he finally landed there was a great storm of applause for his splendid performance. As the elated passengers left the Waione one of them was heard to remark, "I'm glad the race was not ten miles !" ARNST'S CHALLENGE. WEBB'S ADMIRERS NOT DISMAYED WANGANUI, This Day. Two or three hundred persons subscribed Tresidder's stake. Thoir representative, Mr. Harkins, considers that tho contributors had a very good run for their money. The Australian declared that he is done with sculling. Tho admirers of Webb are not dismayed about Arnst's prowess. They maintain that tho ex-cyclist is not -in th© same river with Webh as a waterman. Tiie debate is still keen about the relative freshness of the men at tho finish, and the general verdict is that Webb had more in him at the close. Both had slowed down to nineteen strokes, but Webb's stroke was steady. His opponent was inclined to chop the water. According to the judge (Mr. Cummins) Webb won by two and threequarter lengths. The Premier telegraphed to Webb as follows: — "Heartily congratulate you on your splendid victory. It iv a great achievement."