"MANY INVENTIONS." AFTER THE RACE.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 49, 27 February 1908, Page 3

"MANY INVENTIONS." AFTER THE RACE.

VARIOUS ODDITIES. ELIMINATION OF WOMEN. Thinking in the train rm-hing southward yesterday, a representative of The Post dimly remembered that there was something supei naturally odd about tho battle between Webb and Tresiddcr, and suddenly tho mystery cleared. It was the elimination of woman. It was man's day. Mrs. Webb was not far from tho river, and Mrs. Tresidder was no further away, but people forgnt that the champion and the challenger were mar-, ried. For once Ihe husbands were the bettor halves. Spectatorial woman also was totally eclipsed. Certainly many ladies were not vanquished by the prospect of mud and damp grass, and went to the course. Blouses made bright specks against grey tussock and emerald bush, hut they were merely pretty spots in groat splodges of black. Visitors, of course, wei-e nearly all men. It waspracti«nlly a day for "men only." There was no afternoon tea, nothing of the "feminine amenities." It was a fight between men for men to watch, and the men had it mostly to themselves, A CROWD IS AN INDIVIDUAL. ■It is often said that a crowd, stirred to good or ill by a mighty impulse, acts like one man. The mass seems to have only one brain — sometimes a light one — only one set of impulse and emotion. That was the way with the multitude at the winning post. Some long seconds before the scullers closed in, it was very plain that the New Zealander was triumphing, but the crowd's heart was in its mouth, and tho tongue had no room to ' work. There was^aimmering, sizzling, but no outburst. It was like the sparking of a fuse on the way to a charge of blasting powder. The detonation did come when the gun made the victory history, and human monster which supervised along both banks found its voice and did not lose it again. A DISAPPOINTED MAM. One man in Wanganui on Tuesday afternoon did not talk about the match. He was very grpy, very old ; his back was bent' with the weight of years and toil on the land. It was raining — the shattering of the drought. "Sheep were down yesterday; they were up today." Apparently ho had como in to spread these glad tidings 'to a group by the General Post Office, and looked sad when nobody cheered. Tho backbone of the country was saved, but his audience cared only for the backbones of two men on the river. For an hour or two it did not matter about sheep or sheep herds. Never wore such divergent types men and women gathered about one river. There were many who had never seen a boat race before, and their preliminary questions were enough to make a pago of comicalitien. "Bushies" from way-back, men whose acquaintance from generation to another is mostly Mr. 'Totra, Mr. Rirnu, Mr. Matai, and a family of bad roads, somehow heard of the *ace and trooped in. It is recorded that' I several of them looked disappointed when they saw the shells. They expected whaleboats or huge dug-outs. The skiffs were too lady-like in their estimation. ' WHO WAS THE FRESHER ? Will it ever be settled? Will it ever be known beyond all , cavil, whether Webb had more, horsepower in him than Tresidder at tho finish? Tho Ausfralinn pulled into towu — aitask of seven miles, after the race. It was 'a Rood performance, but ifc was not done at racing speed. Could not Welib have done sometiling similar ? He probably thinks so. After running a 'last quarter-milo a strong man might tict a' mile or more. This is a point which Wanganui may hope to 'settle before the. next struggle for the championship. -11 will be a hot topic for many a day. TWENTY RACES. There was only ono race officially, but there were at least twenty others'. Scarcely, two men on the umpire's boat agredd .a-bout Webb's leads. Ends on> at | tho distance, even with glasses, it was j difficult! to gauge the positions. It was rather a matter of aquatic instiuct, a task for an ryo trained at many a regal ta. But even the "hard phells" varied. One fact, however, was beyond doubt. Webb was slightly in the' van at tl;e half-mile, and his subsequent advantages were substantial. Probably tho estimates given in The Post w?ro about as near, the reality as it could bo given, under the circumstances. Another very outstanding feature of the aftermath was tho impossibility of i escape from debates or stray words I about the. race. From the time" that he left Wellington on Saturday till he returned yesterday, the writer's ears had 110 rest. A.t midnight, after all the work was done, he hoped lo hear nothing in the silence of his room, but a couple -of men in the next apartment kept him awake with loud opinions about the going at the turn into tho straight. The race filled his dreams, and he awoke at dawn to hear the same old story, with variations. A CONTRAST. Webbites managed to book a quantity of Australian money, but there was at least one ardent believer who found the stranger shy. He says he reached Wanganui on Monday and tried to get bets on Webb but failed. However, others succeeded. There was much open w-ag-cring, even blatant crying of odds, almost oil the public street, and even on the highways the traffic, flourished. While the money-changers were busy, a man sought to improve the morals of the populace by distributing tracts. The good seed fell on stony ground. Tho massss were too busy with thoughts about thisi world's championship to have j, care. for the next. Right up till Tuesday morning men poured into Wanganui. Many came from Wellington, with no prospect of a return till mid-day on Wednesday. The problem was to get a bed for the night. Wanganui was already overflowing-, and the homeless therefore bad to look abroad. A train left for Palmerston at eight o'clock on Tuesday night, but Palmerston space h;id nearly all a prior engagement. The disconsolate ones, droppod off at various stations go^ng south and managed to get a roof qver their heads somehow. It was droll to hear some of them comparing experiences when 'he mail train picked them up yesterday.