The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-08 00:00:00

OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE BOAT RACE.

The aquatic celebrities of Oxford and Cambridge met
again this morning on their well-known battle-ground,
between Putney and Mortlake ; and the Oxford men,
following up their former triumphs, succeeded in once
more vanquishing their rivals. It was almost physically
impossible, however, that it could have been otherwise,
for the Cambridge crew, though equal, perhaps, in skill
and dexterity, were decidedly inferior in weight and
strength to their opponents, and there was absolutely
nothing in the match to justify its being called a
race. Indeed, long beforehand both sides seemed
to view the struggle in the light of a foregone
conclusion, and from the very onset the odds were in
favour of Oxford, being, in fact, something like 6 to 4
"on" from the first announcement of the race. The

following were the crews selected for the occasion :
OXFORD. st. lb. CAMBRIDGE. st. lb.
1 Short, New Col 10 8 1 Galton, Trinity Col. 9 10
2 Hooke, Worcester 10 8 2 Nairne, Emmanual 10 4
3 Pinckney, Exeter 11 8 3 Stephenson, Caius... 10 10
4 Blundell, Christ Ch 11 11 4 Agnew, Trinity lO 13
5 Hooper, Pembroke 11 6 5 Davis, Trinity it 5
6 Nind, Christ Church 11 5 6 Johnson, Trinity ll 1
7 Mellish, Exeter 11 7 7 Blake, Corpus Chris. 11 2
King, Peinb., stroke 11 12 Wright, St John's, stroke
Marshall, Ex., steerer 10 2 Smith, Camas, steerer.. 9 12
Both crews had been in careful training for some time
past, and had there not been so great a disproportion in
the physique of the two sets of men, it is probable the
race would have been a very exciting instead of, as it
turned out to be, an exceedingly hollow affair. The
event drew together a tremendous muster of collegians,
and, while the Cambridge party occasionally in-
dulged in faint hopes of success, the Oxonians never
doubted the race would end in the result which we
shall presently record. The boats were launched a
few minutes before eleven o'clock, the Oxford crew
taking water first. Their style of pulling was ge-
nerally admired, but some of the old judges i❑
such matters pronounced it to be inferior to that which
they had displayed in former years. The Cambridge
crew coming out immediately after the Oxford boat,
looked extremely light and slim, and though the few
strokes they took on approaching the starting point gave
forcible promise for the future, the ascendancy of the
other side remained unshaken. Some ten minutes after
11 o'clock, the tide being then about the flood, the start-
ing gun was fired, and the two crews dropped their oars,
and jumped off together. The Oxford boat, however,
immediately went ahead, and maintained the
lead from end to end. The Cambridge men
succeeded in getting up to the stern of their com-
petitor just before approaching Hammersmith• bridge;
but it was only a brief triumph, for the Oxford men at
once made play, and shot beneath the bridge two or
three lengths ahead. Rounding the bend of the river
beyond Hammersmith-bridge, it became evident that
the Cambridge crew had not the shadow of a chance,
while a little further on one of their men fainted, and
of course the game was all up with them now.
Still they manfully struggled on, but they never
got near the Oxford boat again ; and, finally,
they were beaten with ease, the distance between the
conquering and defeated boats being allowed in suffer-
ance to be taken at between three and four lengths,
but there is no doubt whatever that the Oxford crew
could have made it ten if they had put their strength
to the full stretch. The time occupied in getting
over the ground, which is little over four miles, say four
miles and a quarter, was some twenty minutes. The
winning crew, of course, came in for a few rounds of
applause, but the "pluck" which the Cambridge men
had manifested throughout the struggle was rewarded at
the finish with an enthusiastic burst of cheering, in
which the members of both Universities joined. The
boats, which were built by Messrs. Searle and Son, o
Lambeth, were masterly pieces of workmanship.