Tama County Republican. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1867-1872, 1867-05-03
BOATING LIFE AT OXFOk.D.

vi at i. meant by Z Torpid, il may be as
we'll to begin with ! brief explanation Of that
rather unattrnc,ive term. There are TWO pc.
RODS Of the yea At which races regularly
take place bc'ween the eight cared boats
of the various olleg.s in Oxford, namely
March and May. In May, crews formed OF
| The hest eight men that can be got together
! u. Of each college. and chllal Par exceiienc'
I e Fights. rnce against each oLer for III,
h .,1shir Of the river or strive TO come a.
near I as tley may. In March the racing
ne second best boats takes place: I iese
p,ts are the 'Torpids.'' Why so called none
.an tell the origin of the name is vel ed in
mystery, which il would seem to the present
writer sacrilcge to attempt to penetrate. No
one who has ,owed in his college eight Of the
previous years is allowed TO row in Torpid.
So that the Torpid crews are formed chiefly Of
the fresh blood Of the year, and, as showing
what is the new material in each college, the
To. pd races possess u peculiar interest for
tle rowing community of Oxford. SO much
far explanation, which, however necessary, is
likely to be dull. shall now proceed with
the history Of the ST. An'honys Torpid for the
b.. We had always been proud of our Tor
pid, say I'VE, for, though at the time speak
Of was but a freshman, fell myself heir to
all the tlndi:ions Of The college, and "A good
Torpid was one of the eldest Whatever our
p ck o: men nigh, be, wha;ev J. bad luck we
might havc--and we Ind onr share--we hal
always worked hard and made the hest of it !;
aad we could, and often did say with pride
tha. never since we Iut on a Torpid had we
f,lien so low as TO take ii off. The year b.for,
| came up 10 St. Anthonys our boa. had moved
up from ninth TO tifti. On The river and the
Irowcss Of The c~vw WAS well remembered AZ
every festive gathering of the college This
year, however. our prospects were not Of the
brightest; our best man had been drafted into
the eight, and the freshmen Of the year wer,
not of promising lot; or, acco ding to Bax-
ter wLo, like most big men, incline! to des>
pondins view fittings, III good O. ALL"
"Why, look here. young 'up, hea,d hin
say to the more sangnine Tip Il coached tina,
that big lnhbcr Wilkinson every day la.
tenn 10 ny and make something Of him, and
r | lie does now is to put his oar in deep and
pull il out with ajerk.2 "We.l bur, my deu.
fllow, returned Tip, "al thai bone ana mus
e'e must he rot 20 work somehow. and In
sure the mans willing enough; besides, jus,
think what an awful dutfer yon were yoursel,
when you began to row; by Jove, I shall
never forget your plan,ve old face whcr
Thornhill was pitching into yon for no, keep,
ing your ARMS srghtl"
No more o tliai, Tip. or II scrag you :
replied Baxter, as Tip began an imitation
his first essay il rowing I'll have ano'he
turn Mt the big duffer. hut it's my belief ,hc
boat will be bumped three times with tie
G rw we've got at present Come along; ii is
tine we were down at III barge
From the time when Thornhill resigned.
AMI said COED hyc. the boating sp., had en-
tered deepy into nv s,ll. anl made
strong resolve That. if perseverance and har'
work could 10 il. wonl some day I've coed
ng of an oar on the river near my own home
anil by dim or hard practice anl plenty o.
coaching achieved a, last what was then the
dearest wish Of my heat, pl.c, in the s.:
A"'honys TORPID Wng6rl,l, being by IA
the lighte,i man in the college. and possess.
ing that quickncss and self confidence
which is Indispensable in coxswain. was
learning the art Of steering. and was pretty
sure I" keep his position in the stern Of the
boat. II wantcl now three weeks to the frs,
day of the races. and was seated in the
window Of nv rooms. which were on the
gronhd floor. pegging away At Eurpi,!es 20
the ssmalls that 'oomed in the distance When
| was aware Of IIallet, AMI Baxter talking at
short distance from me-
"lIave y"m considered old man. began
Baxter. THAT it only wants three weeks 10
tho racc and III" Torpid is not made up vet
"Ycs. know replied 1alle,t, "its an
awkward state of things; the men ougl,, to
go into haining TO morrow, lu, its no use
without having the crew settled, and especial
~ stroke
just 80, said Ba xter, rather indis,inctly,
for he had cigar in his mouth. "Wcll, what's
to tie done? We must try somebody there's
Wilkinson will do we'll enough for FIVE; mus,
say he's turned out better than ever expect
ed, and We're is retty good a, six. and Hilton
makes fair two, but none of them would do
for stroke
"Well, there's young Maynard" observed
Hallett. reieciivcly; at that pricked up my
ears, and Euripides and sn,alls vanished in o
thin air. He's not the hest oar in the boa,
continued llallett, "but lie has the most pluck
and go about him of any suppose we try him
70 day Whe eabou,s does he hang out? Hal
lo!' he went on, in lower tone, ..isn't that
his name over the door? If he S in, he must
have heard all we have been saying With
that he knocked, and both entered,
''Gool morning, Maynard; expect YOU
heard what Baxter and were talking about
outside. turne rather red, and confessed
had. Well said lIallctt, you see We want
you to row stroke to-day, and if you get on
all right we Il hegin training Tomorrow. =.
'.You mustn't be surprised, you know" said
Baxter, "if you're sent hack to your old place.
'Oh, Of course not, replied l, meekly, "but
| Il do the best | can 70 keep my place a,
stroke
Gan ri ght," returned Hallett: .tmind Won re-