Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1867-09-13
THE INTERNATIONAL BOAT RACE.

THE INTERNATIONAL BOAT RACE.
SPRIEGFIRLD, Sept 1.-THE International
Race, as II Is called. was contested To-day.
and the boats The 81. John crew pull short
stroke, and their normal speed is said TO be
between IS and 4s strokes a minute The
Wards are well known for their long pull
their stroke not rising over 40 to he minute
Other dssimilartties exist. The ST. John crew
weigh nearly twenty pounds to the man more
than the Wards. The former average l74k
POUNDS apiece, and the latter 1856 pounds The
81. John boat is 81 feet inches long and %
inches wide, and weighs $50 pounds. The
Ward boat Is nearly 10 feet longer and inches
narrower. 1t is IS feet long and 20 inches
wide. The ST John boat is higher and shows
more surface above the water line than the
other. and therefore With wind in its favor
would have some advantage. But on the con-
trary, against breeze a long, narrow boat
has the best chance.
All these differences are thoroughly discussed
in tie street. and offer so many points for a dif
ference Of opinion. The burden Of favor goes
with the Wards, and the bets, which have
been at odds on Sc. John until this week, are
anxiety to bet, though it is known they have
brought good deal Of money with them. l. is
certain that they will have to do lively work
to beat their antagonists. The Wards are re-
ported to have made several trials at Cornwall
III their SHE'LL ara according to the state of
wind and tide, made from forty-two down to
thirty nine minutes. But they rowed SIX full
miles at one Of their trials in 81 16, When the
st. John beats that he may challenge any SAINT
in the calender The crews are as follows:
st. John. Ward
Stroke. Thomas McCauley, Henry
2........... John Morris, Charles
3......... John McCafrey, Gilbert
Bow ........ Dennis McCaffrey, Josh.
The bow man steers, and the Wards are for
tunaie in having in their boat one Of the best
boat engineers in tn. United States
The morning before the race is usually spent
in greaslng the boat, and no exercise is taken
beyond q little walking. The Wards, however,
tor the first time In all their races, have given
up grefsing their boat, and have ha IL polished
like a piano. 1t glistens with all that depth OF
rejection which Is seen in the best cabinet
work The st. John boat Is to be creased. as
usual. Polishing the bottom has the advantage
OF not taking up any dirt from the water which
might stuck to creased surface. The Wards
have hnaiiy decided to name their boat the
Sheridan Shook, after one OF the revenue COL
lectors OF New York. Their backer and trainer
is Mr. James Lee, well known as a successful
boating man of few years ago. The boat from
backed by the st. John Club.
MT. Roberts, referee in the Hamill. Brown
races, IL here, and acts as one Of the judges for
the Wards. He Gays that he has recei v ed the
thanks and congratulations OF numbers Of old
hls action.
The ra ce for the championship OF tn e world
was, OF course, the principal attraction Of the
day. The shores were lined with ten thou
sand spectators. The St John crew came up
dressed in white, and were fine full -freshed
men. They were in merino underclothes and
red caps. The Wards were also in white
areheaded, and had blue handkerchiefs,
dotted with white stars. bound around their
heads. The Warn boat is made of Spanish ce-
dar, an tanarac frame. The st. John boat
is made Of peculiar white pine, very light
and rare, and found only at st. Johns and in
Johns, was the builder Of this boat, and acted
As Judge fer the st. John men at the starting
boat, and X. M. Plant at the lower stake boat
Stephen Roberts acted as judge for the Wards
at the starting boat, and William BlackIe at
the lower boat Capt Gardner, Of Boston,
acted as referee. Mr.. W. Blackle, stroke Of
the famous Harvard crew, was stake helder.
As the men come up their superiority to the
common run of roWers is evident Thew
seem to move with deliberation and ease, and
yettheir boats glide through the water with
with some an xiety. for 1t is known that Gilbert
has been under the weather for day But
they appear to be Ill right and there is no de-
cline in The enthusiasm Of their friends They
keep perfs ct silence except to say where they
want to start from. The St. John's men. on
the cont trary, loudly vaunt their determine.
"Ieafy" about the body than their rivals, but
all have slender. m uscuiar arms. They have
drawn the inside position and move to their
pests 1.0 -...".t
The start is made a few minutes after
O'Clock, and is perfection itself. The boats lie
exactly in line, and at the word 60. off thew
ar. without excitement, and apparently taking
things very easy. But the stroke of the Wards
is quicker than that of their rivals, as well as
longer, and Immediately draw ahead. Rapid.
ly they make their distance greater, and when
are full five lengths ahead. As they 20 around
The bend, just before passing out OF sight, the
WARDS are in still better position. =.
At length the beats appeared beyond the
bend on the return, and high rise the shouts
as the Wards come on ahead, and second after
second passes before the St John appears.
The powerful rowing of the Wards is more
apparent as they come in at the end of the
course and show their 1.-the and muscular
backs. As they curve to the stroke and
straighten up the boat responds with rush:
such rowing has not been seen before to .dav
The boat comes on with oars plying as steadIiy
and beautifullNas when they made their first
stroke For an instant the arms of the rowers
rest, but it is on'y to let boat get out of the
way. The shell hardly slacks her course. and
in an instant the oars are plying again and
amid great cheering the Wards are declared
St. John boat followed in 81 min utes 16seconds
At he stake boat the Wards turned about A.
seconds ahead OF their antagonists. :.
ons Inc w winners lns. TOW mp to the Judges boat.
cham pion colors fl iying from the stern
With the termination OF this, the principal
event OF the day, the crowd began 10 depart,
and the six.oared men rowed their race before
rapidly lesseDing multitude. The delight OF
the success of America against EnglandLfor
SO this race is considered, though no EneIIsh
It. .Inhn
has, up to this time, al ways had the victory in
competing with either New Yerk or Boston,
and 1t has been their boast that no crew soutb
Of the St. Lawrence could compete with them.
The time of TO- day g. race is better than ever
m ade before in any of the matches between the
northern and southern crews rs
Whether the Wards will row against the
Paris crew or the Poughkeepsie crew, both of
which races have been proposed. is not de-
cided. 1t is understood that they make bet
ter thing than usual ont Of this affair, as their
backer promised them Sl,O00 extra for q VIC
tory. =, -. s-..E, ~ ,s-.-l-TfIh G.0'1o /.
THE OYSTER SKAsoE:.The steamers order
ed by the Stale Of Virginia, to be in charge OF
the fnspec tors, are nearly completed, and will
be ready for launching about the middle OF
this month. They were contracted for by Mr.
W A. Graves, OF Norfolk, and are being built
at the Tredegar works, in Richmond, Va, ua
der the superintendence Of Mr. John L, Por.
ter. they will be sixty.hv feet in length
and are intended to move in shallow waters
They draw aoout fourteen inches of water
An inspector b been appointed for each of
the three districts by w. F. Taylor, ESQ Au.
di'or Of the State: The headquarters OF the
chief Inspector. Mr., VIM. H. q. Lovitt, will
be in Norfolk city. his Jurisdiction, the coast,
rivers and creeks to Back river. Captain
Charles F, M, SDOttsWOAd haa eharOa ~ tno 4