The Sun.
London, England, 1867-11-30 00:00:00

CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE THAMES.

Yesterday (Friday) Sadler and his principal backers
attended at the office of the stakeholder, and entered a for-
mal protest against his handing over the stakes to Kelley,
but wo have reason to believe that they will be awarded in
accordance with the decision of the referee. With refe-
rence to the latter, Mr. Biffen has sent a letter to the stake-
holder, of which the followieg is a copy :
Dear Sir, —ln reply to your inquiries--firstly, for my
written decision ; secondly, for my answer whetter I
ordered Kelley to row over—l have to say : —My decision
is that Kelley is entitled to the stakes, and that I did order
him to row over.

By way of explanation, and to give the public my rea-
sons for coming to the above decision, I beg to add that
after the accidental foul on the first day, I ordered the race
to bo rowed again at 3 o'clock the next day, and I chose
that hour, because there would then be a good tido and
plenty of daylight. Accordingly, within a few minutes
of the appointed tune, both Kelley and Sadler were at
their stations, and their cutters took up their proper posi-
tions, Kelley als taking his proper position ; not so, how-
ever, Sadler, for he deliberately left the side of his cutter
and drew close on to Kelley, not leaving sufficient room
for a free working of the sculls of both boats without
their coming into contact ; indeed, so near that had they
started so there can be no doubt that a foul would have taken
place almost immediately afterwards. Matters remained
thus for a long time, and then Sadler partly dressed himself,
and thereby showed an unwillingness to start; indeed,
convoying to my mind that ho did not intend to start unless
allowed to do so from the position just mentioned. Kelley
then rowed to the umpires' boat, and appealed to me for
instructions, and, as I considered it Sadler's fault that the
time had been so long wasted and the start delayed, that
the tido was fast reaching its highest point, and that dusk
would shortly - perhaps suddenly —set in, when if a foul
took place I might not be able to distinguish who was in
the wrong, I told him, if Sadler still refused to start, to
row over without him, and this he did.

I have only to add that I have porformed my unpleasant
office to the best of my ability and judgment, and in strict
conformity with the dictates of my conscience.—l am,
dear Sir, your obedient servant,

WILLIAM BIFFEN.

Hammersmith, November 29.
The following is from Sadler, and will speak for itself :

TO THE EDITOR OF TILE SPORTING LIFE.

Sir,—As erroneous reports of the attempted race be-
tween Kelley and myself have been published, I hope you
will allow me to say a few words on the matter. I beg to
deny That I was in any way unwilling to start. Twice at
least I started, the course being quite clear, and Kelley and
I both well placed for a fair start. Kelley, however, would
not go. I was always ready and willing to get away on
anything like fair terms.
When Kelley started to row over it was entirely with-
out my knowledge, and I had received no caution what-
ever from the referee.

My backers, I am authorised to say, areperfectly satisfied
wi: hmy conduct, and have to-day lodged protests with the
stakeholder, and intend to carry the matter to a conclu-
sion.—l remain, yours, &e., J. 11. SADLER.
Putney, S.W., Nor. 29.

REMARKABLE FRRuCITY OF A RAT.—A little
child two years of ago now lies at the Middlesex Hospital
in mortal danger, by reason of having been bitten in all
parts of its body by a rat. A day or two since the mother
of the infant left her baby alone for two hours in a room
of the house in Windmill-street, where she resides. On
her return she found the child marked with blood from
head to foot ; its flesh 1 ad been everywhere gnawed, but
the deepest wounds were on the little boy's arms and
hands. Suspecting tha cause, the mother remained
quiet, watching in the room for some timo after, and
saw a very large rat appJar from a hole in the wall.
There seems to be no doubt that this creature, incited to
ferocity by hunger probably, had attacked the helpless
baby and inflicted all the injuries from which he is now
suffering.

MORNING PERFORMANCE AT. DRURY LANE.—A
grand morning performance is to be given on Wednesday
next for the benefit of Mr. Fitzjames, who is totally inca-
pacitated from following his profession by a severe attack
of paralysis in May last. An unusual number of the leading
actors and actresses will take part in the performance,
which will consist of selections from " Caste," " The
Wreck Ashore," " The First Night," " David Garrick,'
Virginhts," " The Hunchback," " Kind to a Fault,"
"Black 'Eyed Susan," " Tho Long Strike," and "Diary
Turner."

LADY HERBERT AND LORD PE3IBROKE.—ShICC
the receipt of the first intelligence respecting the hurricane
in the West Indies considerable anxiety has been felt as
to the safety of Lady Herbert and the Earl of Pembroke,
who wont out in the Douro, which was known to be due
at St. 'Thomas about the time the storm occurred. We are
happy to be able to announce that both arrived safely at
St. Thomas, where, it is understood, they will remain for
a short time. Lady Herbert will then return home, but the
Earl will go to Australia.—Devizes Gazette.

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REPRESENTATION OF SOUTH LEICESTERSHIRE.—
Yesterday the election for the south division of the county
of Leicester took place. From the commencement of the
polling to the close Mr. Paget, Liberal, was in advance of
his opponent, Mr. Poll. At the close of the poll it was
stated that the number of votes recorded for Mr. Paget
was 2,300, whilst Mr. Pell polled 2,267, there being a ma-
jority for the Liberals of 33.