TIMARU ROWING CLUB.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXXI, Issue 12634, 22 March 1905, Page 4

TIMARU ROWING CLUB.

An occasion of considerable importance to the limarn Eowing Club passed off last night, when the new extension of the Club's boatshed andWthfr added dub-room were formally opened. There was a large attendance of members and—visitors. Mr C. H. Tripp occupied the chair, and was supported by Mr H. Collins, "the Club's captain. A light supper was partaken oL The secretary read telegraphed apologies from Mr C. Healey, one of the Club's excaptains, Mr Gill, of the Oamaru Club, and others; and apologies ..were also received from Mr P. Bradley, the builder of the shed, and Herr Paul 4 both of whom were otherwise engaged. a P°l°gw«d for the absence' of Mr He himself was very pleased to be in the chair, for he was much interested in rowing. He congratulated the Club upon the excellent shed they had, and upon the spirit shown by the energetio members who had themselves laboured to get it into order. ' He believed more in rowing tiian in any other sport. Sports could be divided into two classes—artificial and natural. The latter class included such as would suggest themselves to primeval man, and included rowing and hunting and those kindred pastimes which promised to live for ever. Cricket, baseball, and their kmd were artificial, and would die in tune though they are at- present the national sports, of England and America. One of the points that placed rowing far ahead of other sports was- the necessity for unselfishness and the sinking of personal superiority in order to get the best results mm a crew; for one man rowing better than the test would do no more good to tfie boat if he sacrificed his rowing ability to the uniformity of the crew. Thus rojmg was a good training in unselfishness. Cricket,,on the other hand, struck him as a somewhat selfish game, for it was often the case that a man aimed at a big score, or tiking a lot of wickets, before ne troubled about whether the team won JLS&- g strnck bim M more soaahsfcc. It was also very healthful, developing the body in parts neglected by otter exercises. In years past, when he rtUiJE. «*"• .™«nber of the Club, they bership of 60 or 8 o They had then only i£rti 2 * has lately served for tiie boats, and! it was only after many .meetings and. much, trouble that the dres-

sing shed was added. Now, however, they , had more than 120 members; full of enthusiasm, and had built such rooms as surprised him when he came into them. He wished the Club every success", and asked them to drink the toast of "The Timaru Bowing Club," coupled with the names of its captain and secretary. In response, Mr Collins gave full credit to the members for their energetic support, to which was due the success of the Club's undertakings. Mr Knight, the secretary, in the course of his remarks, read a most interesting passage from a newspaper of 21 years ago to a, day, in which was described the winning of a three mile interprovincial race on the Wahnakariri river, by a crew stroked by P. Bradley, a onetime member of the Timaru Club; the distance" was covered (with a favouring wind) in lomin Mr Mahoney, who proposed the toast of the president, spoke with regret of the absence of the president, Dr Bowe, who is away on a trip to the Old Country. He was an excellent president, who ne J er missed such an occasion as this if possible, and he was sure that though far away the doctor still had the best-interests of the Club at heart. The toast was responded to by Dr Lyon, who is locum tenens for Dr Bowe. He stated that he had heard indirectly that Dr Bowe had landed in England in very good health. ' Mr Collins proposed " The Club's Guarantors and Banker," naming as the guarantors Messrs Tripp, Turnbull 2 and Ferguson (the latter two oj whom,were unable to be present), and Mr Tapper. . He described how, in order to raise the money to pay for the extension of the club-house, the Club had fallen back on those who had helped them before; and how readily Mr Tapper had accommodated them. Mr Tripp responded, and said the fe'.lowfeeling he had for oarsmen would always prompt him to help as he had. done. Mr Tapper, in ahumorous speech, implied that he was rather pleased to let the Club have the money, because their original rooms were right opposite his bedroom window, and he used to lie listening to their singing when he should have been asleep. He was glad to assist sporting bodies in any such way. 1 " Trade and Commerce, proposed by Air W Mcßride, was responded to in hopeful tone by Mr G. S. Cray, who said that he had selected Timaru out of all other places in the colony, to settle in,' because it seemed to have the most substantial reasons for increasing prosperity. "The Press," and "The Ladies" were duly honoured. It was remarked by Mr Douglass that the Club owed a great deal to its female friends, foc-a bazaar some time ago had relieved them of a heavy overdraft ; and there had been other occasions of similar kind. The toast list was liberally interspersed witK music, and a very pleasant evening wjis brought to a c!ose shortly after 10 o'clock.