New-York tribune., 1868-04-18
". j. Plnkney, First Trinity (stroke).-
+. ID, Warner, Trinity Hall (cox.l. l....

ING has been copied in America At the right OF the
Umpires steamer were moored three small boats. In
the center boat was the starter on each side an as
sstant. The rudderpost Of each racing boat Is hed
by one of these two assistants, and as their boats are
moored in ne the start must be perfectly even Az
the word ready" the go forward for the stroke
land for some reason the men kept painfully
long in this postion at ego" the assistants looso
| their hold of the sterns, and the boats are oil
great roar announced it half mile away Cail-
| bridge got hold of the water first and went OH
with slight lead rowing so to the minute; Oxford
| a8 In n couple of minutes Cambridge had drawn
| half length in front, an advantage which they
| owed. in great measure, to crab caught at the
start bv the Oxford stroke and which seemed TO as
| turb the rowing of his whole crew for tne n'S'
| eighth of mile The form in neither Doat was
GOOD bn nressntly Oxford settled down to their work,
ranged mn alongside Cambridge increased their pace,
| and gained n lead of a third of a length. Close
work. but viii they keep it upf Nobody can expect
it who watches the rowing or even the mems races
The boats at starting had shot far ahead OF the tree
leading steamers, and when the Umpires boat over
hsued them the force was already beginning to tell
on the Cambridge men. They were rowing OUT OF
the boat. out of time and putting vain squirt In
hone to retain their lead. They got it for moment
lost it in moment more, and never after regained
il. Oxford, once In 'front.' began to row with more
power as well as steadiness though in neither was
there ANYTHING to boast of in form. Two-thirds Oh
the way to Hammersmith Bridge, Oxford was good
length ahead and at the bridge had increased this 70
two lengths Cambridge steering was, as usual, in
fault and Marsden, the Oxford coxswain taking his
boat close up to the Surrey shore and through the
narrow arch, In the thick Of crowd OF boats that
looked as If they would swamp him. gained at least
length more The defeat of the Cambridge stroke
became every minute more apparent, as fatigue and
the hopeessness of their two spirits to overtake Ok
ford told upon them. On the stroke side, scarcely
two oars went together into the water The legs
were idle the doing the work OF legs and ions
| the boat hanging at every stroke, and there was
neither catch at tho beginning nor the pulling
! of the stroke clean through. The best thing about
the crew was its pluck. With two exceptions,
they answered calamity the call Of their untiriDg
stroke, but no amount of pluck could avail mep
whose rowing was radically bad. Oxford was pull
ing as a crew does pull when ahead. and conscious
that they can keep there; well within their form,
quite steady and In very good. though not quite hrst
| rate time. The race was not in doubt for moment
| after passing Hammersmith Bridge. The time to
that point was min 80 The strokes per minute
in the Oxford boat went up to 40. and were
| afterward as low as SO, the last half of the
| race being pulled at tho slower rate. 10
| Barnes Bridge the time was 10 min. 40 Sec,
and Oxford at that point was leading by le seconds
1t was here that Cambridge made its final effort and
nothing could be more determined; but it was toe
plain there was nothing left in the crew when Pinck
ney once more called on them Watching their faces
with powerful glass, at a hundred yards astern'
could not but see that they were done and one or
two men in the boat looked barely able to sit upright
and scarcely pulled the weight of their boots. Yet
these same men, with five minutes rest after the race
1 were quite able to pull down again to Putney.
Never was a shorter 20 minutes than during this
race. Keenly as we all watched the boats, 1t was
impossible not to glance and then OF the shores
and bridges Writing at speed TO catch this evenings
post, cannot put landscape paper-not If l had
the pen of Charles Reade who in Hard Cash." OF
of Tom Hughes who in Tom Brown" have told
the story of boat races with wonderful pic
turesqueness Hughes was there today.
hope he will describe it. For the four miles and a
half there was not gap in the line of faces,
and often they were packed in deep ranks and in
terraces one above another. The river was crowded
with row-boats as well as with the forty steamers,
emitting black smoke into the haze which overhung
water and land just thick enough to soften without
obscuring the view. Hammersmith is a suspension
bridge and you could not Of the chains which
sway down from its massy towers they were fes-
toons of human beings
Yet this we scarcely saw till we came back. AL
eyes followed Oxford as she swept by the fag-boat
with even, powerful stroke three lengths ahead OF
Cambridge, which che might have made twenty had
she chosen. The time is varously reported at 2OS7
| 81, and 2l:55 I do not know which is right, and
have no time to inquire. Iappend record of the
matches from their commencement, with sundry
other matters of interest, to fill the gaps in this
account. G. w. s.
UNIVERSITY MATCHES PROM THEIR COMMENCEMENT.
| Ytar Place Winner ~
1929 Henley I'm Oxford tn sec. leths
1885, WesHihstef Puney Cambridge a6mn. .lmin
Westminster Poney eau bridge 5lmD. Dn 45see
Westminster 10 Puney Cambridge z9n Osee. h oeIg 9Th
lS Westminster 10 PuneJ 2mn 3ose mn isee
1872 3n t5ec, .l3sec
1885 Putnsy MOake Cambridge 2Jmn 30ec. .3see
Moake Putney Cambridge 2mn 5sec lengths
l89 Pppey Molaks Cambridge 221 eths
Puney M0rtlake. Oxford. .tFou
pcnsy ~ Moti.ke 2lmin