Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1877-09-11
THE OAR
Baat Race on Yesterday between
Six.Oared Shells-The DeSOt0 Club
Takeg the HOnOrs from the Bluff
City Club.


Beat Race on Yesterday between
Six.Oared Shells-The DeSOt0 Club
Takea n HOnOrs from the Bluff
City Club.
Are you going to the boat racer was
the question Of the hour on yesterday
and the answer was generally afirma.
tive. The race was to be between the
DeSoto boat club, pulling a six-oared
she'll named the DeSoto and renamed
the q. G. Dent, jr., and the Bluff City
club in a like shell named the Katie Po-
desta. The r%ace.course was of of Mound
City in the bend of the river where a
current Of some three miles an hour
swings around the semi.circle. At Eve
o'clock several hundred people we're
taken up to the course on board the
steamer Phil Allin. Tue tugs DeSoto,
Night Hawk and Lulu we're in atten.
dance, the Lulu acting as stAke.boat, and
the DeSeto as Admiral Tracy's flagship.
THE RACE.
At half past five the judges were in
place, they having taken their last drink
and smoked their last cigar. The "Ad.
miral' steamed up toward the stake boat
and waved his soiled white handkerchief
as a signal for the start. This wat not seen,
but the judges at the starting point fred
o pistol, and the shells darted away up
stream. The course was three miles in
length, one and a half miles up aud the
same down stream. The men yelled and
the ladies waved their kerchiefs as the
boats went flying onward toward the
stake boat up in the bend. In a few
minutes the DeSoto club boat forged
ahead beneath a steady sweeping stroke
Of forty to the minute. The Bluff City
crew made thirty-eight to the minute, but
the stroke was not long or steady. 1t
was short, and occasionally a squirt was
observable, a crab was caught a few
times, and it was clear that the race was
already won aud lost. AT the stake boat
the DeSotO crew was over one hundred
yards ahead. The Bluff City boat made
the shortest turn, but on Strengthening
out the boats seemed to preserve thu
same distance. Down the track thu
steady sweep of the DeSoto boys in
creased the distance between them snC
their ad~versaries, who seemed to be la
boring heavily at the oar. As the boat
crossed the line the DeSoto boys were il
advance over one hundred yards,an lou
cheers echoed through the Arkansa
woods. The time Of the winning boa
was fourteen minutes and thirty seconds
THE BOYS n BOATS.
| The DeSoto and the Bluff City boat
! we're built by 6. W. Hunter of this city
' The former was built in 1868, is forty.si.
feet in length, 81 inches in width, an.
weighs 400 pounds. The latter boat wa
: built a few weeks since, is forty.six fee
in length, II inchesin width, and weigh
e but $50 pounds. The latter is niue
: sharper than the former in model. Sh
is wedge shaped and dives 10 the watts
j. too much, and in that respect present
/ quite a contrast to the DeSoto boat
g which sits on the water like a duck. Th
pulling crews were as follows:
j. DeSoto boat: Captain W. W. MAR
gault, coxswain; Ed. Young, stroke; S
S. Llewellyn, fifth waist; B. A. Bore
S fourth waist E. Muzzio, third waist
r John Ennis, second waist; Charlie
i C~hurchman, first waist.
e Bluff City boat: - Creal, coxswain
Bob Lee, stroke; Jules Venturina, fit
waist; VIM. Frazer, fourth waist Mix
Y Fell, third waist; Lee Moore, secon
f waist; John Moran, first waist.
. Both crews pulled well, but the sup,
. rior work of the DeSoto boys settled til
business from the start. They had tn
, advantage ia training, experience and i
boats.
=, Now that the fun has commenced, it j
to he hoped that another race will b
! arranged for 10 com of at an early day