The New York herald., 1876-02-01
Our Professional Oarsmen-Wn They
BE Beaten at the Centennial.


Our Professional Oarsmen-Wiu They
BE Beaten at the CentenniaIs
While our amateur oarsmen are unusually
busy preparing for the great races of the
coming summer at Philadelphia there is no
evidence of similar life among the profess
sionals. Indeed, it is nearly five years since
first class professional crew has appeared
on our wasrs. Nor is this altogether owing
to lack of inducement When the four
Wards, on September IL, 1871, on Saratoga
Lake won the championship of the world
beating the fastest rowers Europe could pro-
duce, the surprise was especially great be-
cause of the age Of one or two of these re-
nowned brothers. But the interval has not
mended matters in this respect, and unless
the best four this country can muster is to-
gether very soon and working with ex-
ceeding care and energy, if at least
one English four does not beat them
on the Schuylkill or at Saratoga as surely as
Joseph Sadler, of Putney, or Robert Boyd,
of Gateshead, will beat John Biglin if they
have the chance, it will be because that four
does not come. Josh Ward and John Biglin
working together and dropping all side in
terests could, with Morris, of Pittsburg,
and a fourth like Englehart or ONeill, of
this city, or Coulter, of Pittsburg, or any
other good man they should select, make a
very dangerous team. But they would need
first to learn to row together, and this would
cut out work for the best coach in the coun-
try for at least one month. The simple fact
is that the main difficulty in the way Of a
representative American professional four
to-day is the lack of sufficient money to prop
erly boat them and pay them for the time
they ought to and would gladly give
toward keeping the worlds championship
on this side of the water. Two thousand
five hundred dollars would probably amply
suffice. If some of our amateur clubs on the
that their only outlay for q boat would be
the three hundred dollars for their racing
shell and oars, and would extend them such
other courtesies as they easily could, they
would not need nearly so much. But with
out the direct pecuniary aid they cannot do
tuelt DcoI IL tuoy COuDiho at I'LL, ohu ~ IL
far from certain that Robert Fulton, Samuel
Hutton, Elijah Ross and George Price, of New
Brunswick, or the Longshores, of Portland,
or even the Faulkner Reggu crew, of Boston,
will not come on and beat them, without
calling in the Englishmen at ALL
Nor are we better or even as well off in the
matter of single scullers. John Biglin is
good sometimes, not at others. He can gen.
orally teach Ellis Ward a principle or two
as he did at Nyack or at Springfield. But SC
Robert Fulton showed him something at the
st. John regatta in September, 1873, and il
is not unlikely that Evan Morris or James
Ten Eyck might on reasonable notice do the
same. Since Walter Brown and James Ham.
i'll died no man has established confidence
in himself at the sculls which is at all general
or likely to beget feeling of ease and Sc
curity when we learn that the best men are
coming from abroad to see if we can outscul
them. Nor will any until, as have the
fastest of the student crews, he rids himsel
of the notion that he can get ready in few
weeks, and devotes many months to severe i
not distressing labor with the very parts
brought into play in pulling an oar.