The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-04-05 00:00:00

A FKETCH FROM THE BOAT RACE.
rho followine [wool, from the Boat Rice Is from a graphic
,ketch in the Daily Nem .

fly this time we were out on the lawn, for the sun
had finally dispersed the varyieg mists of the morning,
and the banks, and the river, and the cater beds on the
other side, were alike lit up by the warm yellow light.
By this time, too, all the world around us was swarm-
ing with people in every imaginable hue of garment;
and the broad stream was alive with thousands of
craft—heavy barges that were looking about for moor-
ings, smart little steamers that went cutting here and
there, unwieldy boats pulled by raw youths who were
taking "spoonful about," and the nautilus-looking-
water-velocipedes, that seemed to skim along the
searcely.ruftled bosom of the water. There was
an indescribable something in the air produced
by the presence of this great concourse of peoole—an
excitement not altogether begotten of the race and our
pecuniary st:ike in it. When we walked down to the
end of the lawn, the roar of the crowd beeiene more
Perceptible ,• 30u could catch a glimpse of Barnes-
byirign thickly studded with human brings; and the
sides of the river seemed as though they could
hold no more carriages, and as though they would
have to squeeze out something of the 11111.1 of
pedestrians into the stream. Down here, too, all
the humours of the fair were perceptible; and
sometimes these were of a sort to make LW thankful
that the lawn was broad, and that those of our com-
panions who choral could stand back from the throng

and hear of it only as one might bear of waves break-
ing along • distant coast. It was all very well to
listen to the remarks made by a grey-haired cld gentle-
man, who had got himself prinked on the shoulders of
a neudi bigger companion, and who was making some-
what intoxicated comments on the petite; boats that
were received with chants of laughter by et-ety-
ma within h. acing; telt it was not so pleasant
to sees a herd-faced wo•seat wildlf bookies through
tl c crowd for her husliand, and contelkteelly usher
r ehilO's head as a hatteline-rim with which
to open a passage for her. Of course, we had
ad the wandering minstrels and itinerant mer-
chants of a big British crowd—reen bedizened with
rosettes otighttifte end dark Mug, who were very
anxious to sell the itanie ; proprietors af tamed
i-quirrele, Pomeranian terriers, primroses, eoeigh-
lozenges, and ginger-beer ; performers on thi banjo,
std in, not on, the tfghterope ; and onle Punch-
and-Judy show, of which, as it was at some
distance, we could May 'hear oceseionally the
squeak of the call. For tie rest, the crowd
that thronged the towing-path occupying all vacant
spaces and taking up its ground in dangerous
proximity to the water, seemed to be a high-
spirited, good-natured, perspiring crowd, much
given on the part of the men to clay pipes, and, OD
the part if the women, to oranges. It seemed clear,
too, that a kieef Its members were continually going
'astray, these beiug mulateles. of shouts for Tom.
Dick, and l•Arrye which these persona answered
from barge, or tree, or shore, as the case might
be. The day was so bright and ,freeh that we
began to think that !even' the Whltechapel rough
had his good points. Poor wretch. ta many
holidays were his ! If his notion of hnmour was
to link arms with his companions, and make
plunges among the crowd, let it he remembered
in what a school he had been taught manner%
It must be acknowledged, too, that as far as we
have seen the crowd of to-day, there was not very
much horse-play. Now and again there were scrim-
mages among the boa's and barges before the course
was cleared; but there wan no:great damage done; and
there were few signs of intoxication. Perhapa the
fine weather was the cause of that also. Last Boat
Lace-day was a day to make a teetotaller long for a
tumbler of steauliug brandy, water, and sugar ; to-day
less potent beverages we-re reeded. There was, so far
as we could see, a considerable consumption of ginger-
beer. Now ginger-beer cannot be described as "the
drink of Balder bold," but it is at lead • good deal less
harmful, on a warm forenoon, than repeated and al-
ternate doses of gin and stout.
And now, as the time moves on, our anxiety increases.
It seems hard that we .bonia be ordered In for 'enamel
at half-past cite ~harp; but our hostess, who has had
a large experience of races and parties, maintains that
the former are not always panctual, and that
the latter wait with much more equanimity when
they have eaten and drunk something, and when
the men can get to leeward of the lawn to
smoke a cigarette. The theory is sound; but it is
evident that something like haste prevails at this meal.
The mighty crowd outside seems to exercise some
magnetic force upon us. We could not now play the part
of the Lady of Mellott, and be content with contem-
plating the scene outside even in the very clearest of
mirrors. We long to be a part of the great, eager,
throbbing world outside; and there is very little of
the "'Souse me, please," of properly-brought-up
children in our departure from the table.

-big- it-

- .
We have been not a moment too soon. Just as
we get down to our seats on the lawn, here comes
the strainer of the Thames Conservaney, sending
the swarm of boats to this side and that, even as
the policemen do on Epsom Downs when the little
bell has tinkled. A silence seems to fall over the
great multitude, even though the people near us
germ to bo 'shouting and calling more lousily than
ever. That period of attention 4 eoon over, and
the crowd falls to murmuring again, and we fall
to talking, just as if nothing feere about to happen.
But lo ! with something of a cold shiver of expectati,
we see that the great mass of people has tiuned to;
wards the east. The boats, are coming. The river is
clear before us; and which of the two colours is to
come up this great highway, to receive the thunderous
acclamation that is stored within the crowd? There
is a murmur afar off ; and it grcws and still grows.
The boats are coming! The boats are coming !

The itacrearing sound is borne to tither shore
And for their stakes the throwing nations, fear,

as Dryden wrote of a greater occurrence ; and behold !
as the sunlight strikes on the oars of the first boat, the
cry goes round that "Cambridge wine I" " Cambridge "
they cry ; and again, "'Cambridge Cam midge !"
and we see that nut for behind is the other boat,
with the darker blue of the oars striking the sunlit
strewn. On they Lome, leaving behind thew a wild
confusion of craft, which start out for the middle
of the strews as soon as they have passed.
They go by in front of our lawn. Cam-
bridge is weil ahead; but surely Oxford has a
chance? The knowing ones amor no ehak4 their
heads and shrug their shoulders. Could not one ild
effort bring up that secontl boat to the prow of the light
blues ?Alas I there is no more possibility of effort in that
second crew. The sons of Auak in the le tdiug beat
have it all their own way; who knows what they might
not du if they wi re to receive the challenge that
is now impossible? And so we talk, and exclaim,
and suggest, while all eyes are fixed on the two
crews, and a strange anthropomorphic sentiment
seems to be attached to. the brats themselves.
Look at the first boat, and you have a sensation of
ease and strength, of comfort and placid victory;
loiik at the second, and its oars sews to be beating
the water with the frantic wildness of despair. But
they are rapidly taken away from hetes,' us, and
further up the bank we hear the new crowds roar-
ing, and watch the accession of hastily unwoored,
boats to that nondescript flotilla now splashing, about
the hansom of the stream. Part of the crowd beside
us rushee ou, the rest of it moves hither and thither,
there is a roar of voices, and soon:times a shriek as
a passing steamer sends a wash of water along the