The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-06-10

- - ~ "OAo tnxOWluS boou uPOu kUckb
and barren places from which no fruit could
come. But his faith assured him, as il
assures every Christian workman, that no seed
OF truth was ever cast in vain, and some day
it will yield an abundant harvest Father
Kearney saw In the parable of the lost sheen
an illustration OF Gods great mercy In spite
Of all our denials and impenitence the Saviour
refuses to be driven away from Ms. and ain
holds out his hands pleading that we might
come to him. May there be q general response
Day-New York Versus London.
At four o'clock this afternoon, London
time, or about noon of ours, the second great
contest between chosen men of England and
America, who row purely for the love of it. is
expected to take place ON the Thames, four
miles above London, over the famous long
distance track from Putney to Mortlake
On the 18th of last April the racing four Of
the Atalanta Boat Club Of this city, composed
Of Dr. Russell withers. Theodore Van Raden,
Alexander Handy and Edward Smith, with
Leander Waterbury as spare man, sailed
for England on the steamer City of Montreal,
and ten days later found themselves the re-
cipients of hearty welcome at the hands Of q
delegation of the London Rowing Club, who
had come up to Liverpool to meet them and
escort them to their new quarters. They went
soon to Hammersmith, small village mile
and half above Putney, and on the 3Oth
of April were out for their first spin on
the Thames, They seem, unlike their pre-
decessors, to have prepossessed the English
public in favor of their rowing almost OF once,
and won early praise from the press for the
uniformity and beauty Of their work, az
well as for their frank and modest bearing.
They had taken with them both practice
and racing boat and though the ocean ride
did both no good. yet they were able to keep
at their work and lose no time, building great
hopes on the beautiful and frail little craft
which they expected out soon, and in which
they hoped to command victory.
They have been especially strong in their
captain, sthe Doctor" o middle-aged man,
of great experience in rowing and apparently
excellent judgment, to whom the rest all look
up; and it was doubtless by his counsel
that they have constantly abstained from row.
ing directly, during their practice, over tho
whole course ct racing pace, and SO indicating
their possibilities to their rivals and the public
generally, and have instead, as their home,
half way, has made easy for them.
rowed from it to one end Of the
track and back one day, and over
the remainder another. And by anchoring at
Hammersmith, instead of Putney, as did the
Harvard men in 1862 they have profted by
the latter's experience; for Hammersmith is
not nearly so accessible to London, and 80 they
have not been annoyed by great and curious
crowd every time they started out for spin.
On the 18th of last month the new boat on
which they had counted SO much arrived out,
and to their keen disappointment proved to
have been so badly damaged by the voyage as
to be utterly unfit for use She is said to have
weighed complete but about eighty pounds.
and if SO was probably at least thirty pounds
lighter than the boat that will be rowed against
them. Indeed, if experience goes for anything,
1t is very questionable whether, had she
reached them in good order, she would have
served their purpose, for, after having tried her
a few times to get used to her, it is ex-
tremely probable that she would have
proved too fragile to have sustained the
severe wrenching they would have given her
in the race. In fact, it has always seemed to
us unfortunate that in this matter of the tools
to be used in q contest of such national
everything could not have been so tested
beforehand thai no serious mishap could
reasonably occur They at once ordered
new boat from Bitten, Of Hammersmith, who
has yet to prove himself one of England's best
boat builders, and of course their chance to
become familiar with her in the short time since
her completion has been extremely limited
Meanwhile the London men, fully alive to
the importance of the contest before them,
have been taking great precautions, not only
in other ways, but also in procuring swift
boat, and both Jewett and Clasper (the former
of whom built the superb outrigger in which tho
Wards defeated England's fastest professional
crew, on the 18th Of last September, on Sara
toga Lake, have been furnishing them their best
specimens of their handiwork. Clasper's
craft in particular seems to have won un-
bounded praise Happily the Atalantas have
been able to row continuously, without chang
ing any of their men, while not until the
middle of last month were their antagonists
sure Of whom to place on their bow thwart.
But while the neatness and regularity Of the
American rowing has won much commenda-
ton, the whole tone Of the British press has
steadily shown that our men are regarded as
of not heavy enough timber to stand the wear
and tear of such very long race as this.