THE SCULLING RACE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14566, 31 December 1910, Page 5

THE SCULLING RACE.

AN INTERVIEW WITH WEBB,

" ' Every dog has his day,' and this one has had his," said ex-champion Billy Webb, to a Wangonui Herald reporter, as, after lowing down from the course with Joe Green, he stepped wearily from his boat, and carried it into his shed. " I've lost my dash, and my legs have lost their power, somehow. One time, when they felt tired, I could just set my teeth and drive them through, but that day's gone by."

The popular oarsman, as cheerful and friendly in defeat as he had been modest in victory, talked about the race without the least trace of bitterness, find only seemed disappointed for the sake of his friends and his backers, whom he described as the " best sports in the world." He told the story of the race steadily. Peace led from the start, but his lead did not worry Billy, who was able, after about three-quarters of a mile had been traversed, to reverse the positions and obtain a slight advantage. " I was feel ing well and confident when a deadly weariness came over my legs, and after that every drive became a burden. Pearce commenced to draw away, and for a mile and a-half I got no pace out of my boat. I couldn't make my legs work." Questioned a,3 to how Pearce would shape alongside " the big fellow," Webb said: " Dick Amst is a phenomenal man, a stayer, and fast, and when I was half a length ahead of Pearce, Dick would have been two, and he would never have come back. I don't think Dick need worry about Pearce." Will you race again ? "Not I," said Webb, "I can't go on being beaten. A man must win sometimes. I'm awfully sorry to disappoint everybody."