ROWING AND ROWERS.

Evening Star, Issue 9878, 14 December 1895, Page 3 (Supplement)

ROWING AND ROWERS.

?^t^*^: A H?V#! Resrttfc-.Pari i i Kegatta, Rav«nEboatne. ,! ' ;i "'-'■'■ "■'> jtfT.be anoual'liftndSeft_p mile ijun in conneo- • 'Monday tifgh^. J Tti'tf ; fer'.fk trjapliy f%niit prevailing ab;ihe tiraje oflhe race, there,werejiwentiy-one .starters 'Ureen aud l&veridjge, > rtvfco seoor&l ; respectively. last year,-again nap'raip taq6 at their lnorcy, but this- time' BievwWge.,'with 25yds,-suece£jied in 'defeatinglhia Breen flOtfds)/. N6£ve; third;, 'Tbe'bthet fctaiHers ;were ShiaM, ftt'|htyj;ci r : Msimzie,; Oalde*. B&ig, I&mMfh,'.'.Carter,, Higgins, Goodluck, Rice, TOitl, .Mp>dcn,' % Smith, l|lurray + TreBfiiwyPfoWi /Vejtel», '«ndi Churchill! Mr Ai Burk deserves .credit for ;hiß«4pital handi- 1 capping; ; Beveridga - possessesj a fine easy style of running, and should be' heard 6V on tho track before long. ■ Breeds iabilibiesas a: stayer are well knotynj he; having se'cared a place ii the'Cross-cq'ttji.try ris for (the"past; 'two years. :1 ; Stone, the crack,. dross-qountry. runner^'did hob start. , ...; ': a . The-IXA.B.C. boathouse presented a, very animated,, appearance :<m? Wednesday evening, every froom in the building- being utilised. Downstairs the large number of crews in training iori the 61ub;ahd : regatta jraces constantly/going out and coining in' .kept the boatshed and dressing rooms well occupied, .while upstairs the weekly gynv, nastic. class,;in charge of Mx instructor), had possession of the hall. In the reading room the Club Minstrels, under the baton of. Mr Bert Hanlon, were aotively rehearsing'for -their next entertainment, and .the Rowing Association being granted the use of the Committee room for their meet- . ing .gave me as a visitor a very favorable impression of the .vitality and life how. existing in rowing circles. I ■ [•■•■' The' regatta crews in training at this shed, jlike the other clubs in the Upper Harbor, have been,unable to do much boat work of lafcey land work being; all that is permitted ,by the strong nor'-easter which blows every evening and seems as if it had come to stay. The juniors wore out the other evening, but after a short spin were cfocced to return to empty their boat. They are a strong combmation, butrowwith a very faulty catch, the swing being also very irregular at times. Th* maidens are a big powerful crew, and With a little more activity will take a lot of beating. The junior pairs are an excellent couple, and showing good form, though mope.dash into their work might prove beneficial. The seniors are a light quartet, and doubts are expressed as to their ability to last the distance. They are, however, rowing well, and if beaten should not disgrace their club. Mr Binnie, who has been coaching the members in this sheet, has been most assiduous and indefatigable in his efforts, and owing to the excellent example set by him the crews have been .taking great interest in (heir work and attending regularly. M'Grath has been unable to do any skiff work for some time, his training beiog confiued to double scull work with young Davys in the club's clinker, which i 3 certainly not conducive to fast work. He is feeling well, and expects to be all right on Boxing Day. Hogan, who was showing excellent form 'this season, has been forced to abandon work owing to an unfortunate straining of the sinews of one of his legs. The first round of heats in this club's Christmas Fours, for which Messrs Jackson and Goldstnid, tobacconists, present a cup, takes place on Tuesday evening, when R. Isaacs, Philips, aud Bootten's crew meet, J. Isaacs and Hanlon's crew meeting in the second round, the heats being continued during the week, the final taking place on Saturday. The club's 100 Yards Running Handicap will be run off on the overbridge next week, and the entries for the Wednesday Fours—a race specially reserved for mid-weekly half holiday members—close on the 20th. Graham, of the Wellington Rowing Club, who intends taking part in the sculing race at Port Chalmers, will row in a boat specially built for him by Norton, of Wellington. This sculler feels very confident of winning on this occasion, and ascribes his defeat in the late championship to the fact that, having devoted all his time to the fouroarod race,.his sculling suffered. Since then he has rapidly recovered his old form, i and is now doing excellent work. It may be mentioned that Graham is an Australian rower of repute, and was one of the scullers who acted as pacemaker for Beach when that oarsman won the championship of the | world, j

Chapman, another visitor, who hails from Canterbury, rowed second in the championship, and considers that with the increased practice and experience he has improved sufficiently to reverse the positions. Taken altogether a most interesting contest is and M'Grath will undoubtedly have to be at his beßt to undertake the large t>rder in prospect. :,I hear that O'Keefe, of Auckland, has been obliged to give up rowing this season. The Bluff regatta programme is now issued, and the amateur events are as follow:—Senior Four-oared Inriggcd Gig Race, two miles, first prize £ls, second prizo £6,-third £3; Maiden Four-oared Inridged Gig Race, two miles, first prize £lO, second £5 ; and Maiden Pair-oared Inrigged Gig Race, two miles, first prize £5, second £2

The Otago Rowing Association met the other evening and unanimously adopted the resolutions suggested at the meeting of delegates from the Yacht Club and the Association re holding a combined regatta this season. The secretary was instructed to arrange with the secretary of the Yacht Club, and immediately call a general meeting of all those interested, with the view of getting a committee appointed and preliminary arrangements completed. Mr J. G. Moody was appointed delegate for the Otago Rowing Club, vice Mr F. W. Mitchell, who has been transferred to Wellington. The office of treasurer being also vacant by Mr Mitchell's removal, Mr A. D. Ross (of the Port Chalmers Rowing Club) was appointed to the position. The crews for the North End's Christmas Fours have been training most assiduously for the past two or three weeks, and considerable! interest is being shown in the evept. The crews most.fancied are Patterson's, Trescder's, and B. J. Finnegan's. A., Murray, one of the North End's moat promising members, leaves for Wellington on Monday. He has been one of the hardestworking, members in the club, and his loss will he severely felt. Owingto F. Haig being unable to pull, the North End's maiden crew will be stroked by F. Given, who is gcttiug his men into good condition. The crew, as now constituted, consists of Given (stroke), o'Driscoll(3), Stnith (2), and Norden (bow). Rice, .of the North End, will probably compete in the swimming race to be held at the TXA.Ii.C. shed next week. A. and J. Burk are most consistent in their training, aud.in these two brothers the I North End possess a couple of good honest workers, who should give a good account of ! themselves in the junior pair races. j '" During the recent spell of north-easterly weather the Port clubs have had a point the best of it as compared with town, sheltered i water being obtainable in some of the lower reaches. I am very aorry;to have to announce that the Queen's Drive champion four will not ! appear at the, regatta aa the same com- ' bination that rowed Picton. Keenan baa undergone an operation and is now laid up,, and Yeoman cannot get time to go on with the practice. Tb> senior crew to represent 'the ctifb at, the regatta : will .consist of HeirX W.Pwter 3i tod inyaluable,TomWrigh^^koko. : ,-; ' 'ffipQ.s(X mai^nfours, have jjeenoutas me exception of bow.it#ef >do not «eim,to he on, [fhow- ajlfc BenceoT in that race at tbsregflttay *Thefti, : are one or two very promising men—notably Sale—coming forward in this club,

• The annual race for the fbor-oared ohfmpioßtohipof Victoria was held on the Lower Yarra Course oa the 23rd ult;, and resulted Albert FatTeM. JStprHs (boW>ml A. J.Shew ' i y ® JLIB, JB, Fow& „. '■"'"<., 8 VMS, '• €. HovM , ;©te J.i%kejs,<a»fi.6irJ* Bopata (stroke) ' ' „,J£*, A, ATlfeuzifi (c0x),,.. .u^' : . [ 3 ; o :There yawia fteah aotitfaerly breeze behjnd .the boats and: the Thei Mercantile moVedKwa^ -very quickly and the" Albert"Patte ehapWj much better than was who 1 had the the wei'e fancied,' made Argus'Jthe Mercantile ■'wgce/Itwp lengths- ahead ■■■oh (iheT Albert, and had taken the inside running, and the,latter were almost as far ahead of the Wendouree. The leaders when once clear settled down to a long, powerful stroke, at which they could get comfortably over the course. At the ferry they, were three lengths ; ahead rf the Albert Park, who were being biistled by the Vvendojireo. The rowing in all the boats was good, and the pace showed that the men were all in the beat condition., It seemed as if theWendouree! might have' come on even terms with the Albert Park several times, but the coxswain of the latter kept so close in that the others were blocked. When the course was about half completed the steamer Emu came down Btream and threatened to interfere with the boats! The Mercantile coxswain promptly her bows, while the othera kept on her.port side. When they came out clear astern it was seen that the Mercantile had lost some of their advantage, but Davies spurted and quickly recovered it. Powell, of the Albert Park, had made an attempt to benefit by the emergency, but, seeing poor hope, gave his attention again to the Wendouree. The positions were not altered when the Sugarwork's were passed. Coming to the junction of the old river the Albert Park felt that the time for a spurt had arrived if they were to win, and they at once left the Wendouree behind and came up on the Mercantile. To show that they yet had energy to spare, the Mercantile covered the last 200 ' yards as they had started. They won by three lengths, the Albert Park being as far ahead of the Wendouree. The time was 17min 22£ sec. Wind and tide were with the boats.

Of H. B. Cotton, who died in England in October, it is said that for bis weight he was one of the finest oarsmen that ever sat in a boat. , Standing only sft 6in high, and weighing just under ICtat, Mr Cotton had the distinguished honor of rowing on four occasions in the bow seat of the yiotorioas Oxford "boat. His first year in the boat was in 1892, when C. M. Pitman was at stroke. The deceased was only twentyfour years of age. On the 21st October Sam Emmett and EL Cornwall rowed over the Thames champion-., ship course for a stake of £IOO. Emmett is now fast approaching the veteran stage, being close upon thirty-one years of age. He adopted sculling as a profession rather late in life, however, as he took part in his first match only three years ago. That was when he met and defeated Jacob Tyrrell, whose fate was soon afterwards shared by Joe Gibson. Emmett then experienced a. reverse at the hands of Wingate, but he balanced this by his victory over BiH Haines. Then he was thought good enongh to match against George Bubear, but the ex-champion beat him easily enough. Eminett's last contest previous to the one under notice was against Campbell, of Walker, who had his colors lowered Li September of last year. Both in age aha experience Emmett had the advantage of Cornwall, who is barely twenty-two years of age. Most of Cornwall's rowing has-been done on the Lea, where he beat Hanlan in open boats for £lO a side. This is the only money match in which he has previously rowed, but he has competed in numerous minor events, and, on the whole, met with bis fair share of success. He proved, however, to be no match for Emmett, for, after forcing the pace for the first half mile, he lost power, and Emmett not only caught him but soon went clean away, being three lengths to the good when a mile had been covered. Emmett went under Hammersmith Bridge in Bmin 46sec three and a-half lengths to the good, whilst at Chiswick Church (time, 13min 59sec) this advantage had been quite doubled. Along the Duke's Meadows Emmett took things comfortably, but had not the least difficulty in keeping ahead of his opponent, and he passed Barnes Bridge in 19min 19sec, some 4sec to the good. Eventually Emmett completed the full course in 22inin 47sec, Cornwall passing the winning post lOsec later. T. W.