THE SCULLING CHAMPIONSHIP.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2126, 27 February 1908, Page 3

THE SCULLING CHAMPIONSHIP.

AFTER THE RACE. (Special to Times.) AA’ANGANUI, Feb. 26. NOTES AND COMMENTS. Everybody in AA’anganui is still talking “boat race,” and it has been the same all the way down in the overcrowded trains to-day. In regard to the race itself, there is practically nothing t-o add to the full description telegraphed you from A\ anganui last night. AVEBB’S STYLE. Looking back now after all the rush and worry in which the pressmen were involved through the faulty arrangements made on their behalf, the thing most impressed on one’s mind is the splendid style of -the champion. He is certainly a master of the craft. One who saw Hanlan row when he was in his prime, remarked that AA’ebb in style reminded him very much of that oarsman. Certainly never before has such a beautiful exhibition of sculling been witnessed in New Zealand. As a wellknown AVellington critic, who was specially engaged by the .“Dominion” to report on the race, says:—“AVebb seems to have taken his old-time system to pieces, and remodelled it entirely, aiul the result makes as finished. an exhibition as the-most confirmed critic could wish for.” In this he is comparing AA'ebb the amateur with AA’ebb the professional, as he I now is. Rowing moil Mill appreciate his detailed criticism of the style or the men. “Most of us.” he says, remember tin* one-time long leach forward over the closed knees, the almost vicious grip of the water, the hard drive, and the somewhat clumsy recovery with tlio hands, which seemed to he pushed out again almost without any drop. AAell, these characteristics seemed to have disappeared. though, of course, the hard grip and drive are still there, hut there is now a continuity about the movements f-hat seems,to wold into one harmoni-,-,3. and anna rent,ly effortless, whole. The reach’is as long, but the body nv comes down between tho knees, which makes the effort of reaching >ut less apparent, and causes the Hide and- leg work to-fit together as >ne easy motion. The hands, too, soon come down and out from a lngh finish, with a wrist action, that brings tho -blatter, out beautifully Snare and clean. Although Webb may now bo written down a,.ai scul « of the polished, as well as oLthe orons order, these remarks A , 'A on his form shown for the fust tuo ,„ile S after which tlie nrettiness altered. to Kivo wav in a degree o the old doggedness. Uerhnps it was tlicn that the hard grind was toll on the style, or perhaps it m a ji't a feeling of security caused a Zfo sA'pfc Jill tion became much more marked, so nrmoneiitv Jhe tioublc, 1 j ,1 * t ?as more apparent than real, and If^rHagesTad 1 departed.' Webb’s exwas one a w - u jje one ot my "pleasantest memories for years to come,”

j TRESIDDER’S STYLE. { On liis arrival at tlio starting- - point, and while tho preliminaries wore being settled, Tresulder reeled j off several pipe-oponors that wore appreciated by those to whom ho was a stranger, and who wished to obtain an idea as to his stylo and methods. The first- characteristic to strike one ! was the extraordinary distanco to which he carried his feather. His blades remained flat almost /to tho actual moment of catching, when they came off the feather so suddenly us to give one the impression of “slicing.” This was particular!v the ease with the right scull, and tho impression was borne out- by the fact ■that tho blade frequently took tho water with a splash. Tlio next peculiarity that was ovidont was the crouch with which tho Australian got his commencement, and the consequent losing of tho slide at this part of the stroke. Local rowing men will recognise this peculiarity bettor, perhaps, when f say that at the moment of getting his hold of the water Tresiflder’s position reminded me to a marked degree of A. T. -Bindall, of the Star Boating Club. At this point, too, the contrast between tlie two competitors was very great, as the challenger’s catch quite lacked the crispness that characterised Webb's, a difference which no doubt was ono result of the lateness of the feathering. Another very noticeable feature was tho distance with winch the stroke was pulled through with tile hands, which were brought-right past the body and dropped almost to the hips, wit'll a peculiar pigeon-wing action, which certainly brought the blades well clear of the. water, though at times again tlie right soun seemed at fault in tailing to come out quite clearly to return to the beginning of the stroke. Once ho blades wore buried, houevei, the driving power became very apparent, and tho leg drive, though u trifle late, owing to the above-mentioned slipping away of the slide, was \eij powerful. The feature oi the Australian’s rowing, however, that took m V fancV most was the splendid idea of balance and control, with lus hotly work, when coming forward, and it is evidentiv this portion ot his work that makes him the waterman he is credited with being. to sum up> Tresiddor impressed one as i’fu'S 11 sculler who could go on with the same steady, powerful sweep i m drive for mile after nule, through rough and smooth, getting just at much pace from lus boat amt "O more, but lacking cri-mnoss a ad d ml and what is generally known as tlie “<du"er” of his younger opponent, ifislo this lack that his failure was due. As an old rowing man, who hul his name engraved on more toan one “pot,” I agree very largely with this criticism. It seemed to me in addition that Webb had been trained on a better system; m other words, that more brains had been .used m connection with his preparation. As he came down to the starting point lie certainly looked a perfect picture; indeed. I have never seen an athlete who showed to be trained to such perfection. Tresklder, on tlie other hand, appeared to have been trained too “line",” and I fancy he would have showed a little more dash and brilliancy at tlie- critical moment, had ho not done quite so much hard slogging work over long distances. THE DELAY AT THE START. The one- feature of the race that seemed the least bit unsportsmanlike was Tresidder’s late arrival at tho starting point, and his tactics just before . the start. It was not fair to keep AA’cbb waiting so long after the appointed hour. Tresklder was also responsible for the delay in starting after liis arrival. 'The incidents in connection with the start aro accurately described by the starter, Air. T. H. James, as.follows: “Webb lined up punctually to time, when lie was asked by Air. Tuck whether they had tossed for positions. AVebb replied that they had not done do. as he did not wish to interfere with any arrangements which Air. Hawkins (Tresidder’s hacker) and Air. Tuck might have made regarding the toss. Air. Tuck and Air. Hawkins then agreed to toss for positions, the former winning and selecting the left (Upokongaro) side. AVebb then waited for some time for Tresiclder to appear, and in the meanwhile Alessrs Barnett, AVebb (the champion’s brother) and others appeared on the opposite bank ready to be taken on to one of the steamers to follow tlio race. Tho steamer went across and took them aboard, and in tlio meantime Webb was still waiting, and complained to the referees (Air. AVray) of having to remain so long at the post, saying that if Tresklder didn’t appear shortly lie (AVebb) would have to go ashore for exercise, as be was getting cold. Tlio steamers then whistled frequently, and ultimately some twenty minutes after the appointed time Tresklder appeared. When lie rowed up to tho boats lie received an ovation as had AVebb previously. Immediately lie appeared, he was informed that the two backers had tossed. Ho appeared annoyed, and said he wished the. matter fixed by Bain (his trainer), and lie then rowed back between the. boats until Ford (his pacer) arid Bain arrived on the bank opposite the boats and they were then taken aboard. By this "time quite another ten minutes had been wasted, and the refe--t-ee, who had previously asked the men to get ready, again warned them that- the twenty minutes (from the" time of Tresidder’s arrival) had nearly expired, and informed them that if there was much more delay it would be necessary for him to call on the official starter to take them in hand to start tlie race. AA’ebb, -,vlio had been all along waiting patiently about tlie starting line, was then joined by Tresiddor, who, when it appeared that ho was just ready to start, indulged in some sprinting dashes, backwards and forwards, between the steamers and over the starting point. After this performance had been .iudulged in for some six or seven minutes, Tresiddor again came back to tlie starting line, and on tlio second or third attempt the iron left the mark mutually to a beautiful start within a few seconds of the time limit, aiul about half an hours after the appointed time. The first few strokes seemed to give Tresidder a slight advantage, but after rowing about- 15 strokes, AA ebb seemed to have taken command. THE MANAGEMENT. THE PRESS. In my previous telegram I have already referred to the want of courtesy to tho press by AVebb’s backer. The arrangements for tho press worejust about as bad as they could bo, and reflected the only discredit on the AVanganuites connected with the great event. If Webb’s backers wish to retain the credit of AVanganui as a championship course, they will have to think a little more about the small band of journalists who suffered 6uch inconvenience and humiliation i)l connection with the AVebb-Tresiddor contest. It was not only pressmen who bad to complain; one heard on all hands complaints even from AA’angapui people, and the wash was frequently expressed, even by AVanganui people, that while they would be ,-ory sorry to see AVebb lose the race, they would have been delighted to see hi, backers “get a bump, as they expressed it True sportsmen in any other part of the world would have acted differently. Personally, 1 may sav that during twenty years ot journalistic experience lor leading jNoiv Zealand, British, American, and Australian newspapers, over a wide range of incidents and territory, I never experienced such poor arrangements as were made for the press on this occasion. In regard to AA ebb himself everv New Zealand pressman, can sneak onlv in terms of the highest praise, and it is unfortunate that he himself should not have had a greater f; ., Y in the arrangements. Our remarks are more than borne out by tlie independent criticism of the special correspondent ot the New Zealand Times, who lias written to Ins journal as follows: “The New Zealand press was severely punished m the arrangements for tho race. Air Tuck AVebb’s backer— apparently feeling some satisfaction in taking up tins remarkable attitude m revenge for

treatment ho received in Australia at the hands ot tho people who hud nothing to do with tho press. It soems that tho Towns conunittco made tho AVobb-Towna match an oxnctingly lucrative matter. It was “run for all it was worth,” and Mr. Tuck, who was practically responsible for providing the race, was so amazed at having to pay his own faro on tho umpire’s boat that ho now considers it a fair thing to act in Now Zealand tho very tactics ho objected to in Australia, and tho tiling has left a very nasty taste in tlio months of tlio press representatives. Tho number of press tickets was limited arbitrarily to twelve, of which three wore allotted in AVanganui, tlireo in AVellington, and two to Australian representatives. It was thus impossible for any paper to have more than one representative. Further, tho umpire’s boat was so lucrative at L‘2 a. ticket, that it was intomlod to accommodate tlio press on another of tlio following boats, and a deputation of infuriated journalists on Monday morning protested against the shabby treatment, but it failed except to the extent of getting breathing space on tho umpire’s be-it, without any special position. Some accredited representatives of leading daily - newspapers were su amarily refused recognition at all. Ur. Tuck’s objection to tlio Parramatta river methods should have been the host protection against the introduction of those methods here. THE RAI LAV AY ARRANGEMENTS The railway arrangements wore ridiculouv'.v inadequate to the demands made hi: <ll them, both on tho Alanawatu line and on tlio Government line, and it- is needless to go into details, but they can bo given if necessary. The journey to and from Wanganui, with so many people, was a perfect- nightmare.:

SMART AVORK BY THE TELEGRAPH DEPARTMENT. In contrast to tho railway arrangements may be mentioned the excellent work done by tho Telgraph Department- at AA’angaimi. The work sent through easily established a record for that town, and the press messages alone totalled no fewer than twenty-live thousand words. The total number of messages sent was one thousand two hundred, which is eight hundred more than the usual number. The officials were exceedingly courteous and handled the work with the utmost possible despatch. CATERING FOR THE CROAVD. AA’anganui was hard put to it in the matter of catering, and. every available corner in the hotels was pressed into service as a bedroom. The restaurants also had a very hard task to supply the requirements, and as early as 9 p.m. on the day of tlio race the principal restaurant in the town had to close its doors, because its supply of bread had run out, and many people had to go hungry after the race. There was, however, no difficulty in nssauging one’s thirst, at all events up to 10 p.m. The hotels were nnturaly noisy for about two hours, but there was little or no occasion for polieo interference, and tlio hotelkeepers as a whole religiously observed the letter and spirit of the law in regard to early closing. AVEBB’S DEMEANOR. “Are you nervous, Dick? I am,” was Webb’s remark to his opponent ns they lined up just before the start of the race. Tresiddor, as far as wo •on the umpire’s boat could hear, made no reply. That AVebb was a little nervous before tho start was evident, but what man with any soul in him would not ho under such circumstances? No doubt all trace of nervousness had vanished before AA’ebb had pulled half a dozen lengths. AVebb’s modesty is proverbial. “AY he re is AA’ebb now,” asked a friend of mine a few hours after tlie race. “Oh, I have no doubt lie’s at- home with liis youngsters,” was the reply, to which was added, "‘he ought to bo at bis work again to-morrow.” The probability is, that AA’ebb would not got to work the next day, but bis brother-in-law’s remark gives a good indication of tlie character of the man.

In the evening tho streets wore thronged with their thousands. AA’ebb and bis wife came up town, and walked quietly and unobtrusively through tho crowd. A’er.v few people noticed him, but at one place he was recognised by a number of AVanganui college boys, who gave him a rousing cheer. THE ARNST CHALLENGE. AVebb’s admirers are not at all dismayed about Artist’s challenge, and personally I am inclined to think it will take a better man than the excyclist to wrest the championship from him. Arnst is no doubt physically a very strong fellow, hut ho is on tlie heavy side, and in the short, feather-weight modern sculling boats every pound above a certain weight must tell adversely, but above all, tho art of sculling developed as it is by AA’ebb to a fine art, cannot he learned in a day or two, or even a year or two, AUSTRALIAN OPINION. United Press Association—Copvright SYDNEY’, Feb.' 26. The Telegraph says: AA’ebb’s victory confirms the form lie showed - in beating Towns. It makes New Zealand a kind of sculling Mecca, whither aspirants for tlie championship must go pilgrim-like. The ambition in this direction must be made of .pretty stern stuff. The New Zealander has stamina as well as pace. Tresidder, perhaps, ranked amongst the best of our estimated first flighters. EXCITEMENT IN CH RISTCHURCH Press Association. CHRISTCHURCH, Feb. 26. Tho sculling championship caused immense excitement at Christchurch. Both local evening papers published large special editions, which were eagerly*bolight up and soon edSome joker in AA’anganui telegraphed a storekeeper here, that Tresiddor had won. The message was displayed in a window, and caused much disappointment to AA’ebb’« admirers, till tbe discovery was made that the message M-.as despatched at 4.20, which gave the hoax away. The same message fouvcl its . way to Lvttelton, where a great crowd gathered. AA’ebb being a Lyttelton boy, the true message av as received with great ingWAIROA NATIVES DELIGHTED. Press Association. AVAIROA, Feb. 20. News of AVebb’s victory was received with considerable demonstration. A large party of Natives on the Marino Parade danced luikas and sent a message to AA’ebb: “AA’airoa (H. 8.) Natives congratulate you on your splendid victory. Kia Ora.” PAYING OVER THE STAKES. Press Association. AVANGANUI, Feb. 26. Tho ceremony of paying over the stakes in connection with tlie sculling championship took place to-night, during the interval of Montgomery’s picture entertainment. Tresklder’,s trainer and pacemaker leave to-morrow, but Tresklder is staying liere for a few days. During the paying-over ceremony, the stake-holder said that he had received £IOO deposit from Arnst, and that- the champion and the challenger would, in the course of a few days, meet and arrange for a match.