The New York herald., 1879-10-15
The Great Sculling Race on Chautaqqua
Lake for a Purse of 5000.
HANLAN IN HIS SHELL.
Arranging for Clear Course
and No Interference.
[pY TELEGRAPH TO THE urnA1p.1


front; Jersey and rowing drawers. He padded
lesurely off from his boathouse and. crcllng grad
ualiy around. headed down the course toward the
start. His boathouse Is close by Mayvile, just bo-
hind the icehouscs. and not far from the turning
buoy. The flag at the turn had been already set.
and SO were those along the first mile and u
half from the starting line up tho blue above
white marking the quarters, red above white the
half mile and solid red the miles, The line is itself
not only, to all appearances. absolutely straight
but the flags at the halves and quarters have been
set with great accuracy and by Mr.. Robinson.
the City Surveyor of Oil City. Pa. AS Hanlan
Strengthened down the course he looked to be pull
ing very leisurey scarcely more than padding. but
the watch showed that he was making good 80
to the minute. slow the work seemed. Somehow
the launch needed full steam to keep along with
him. at least for half mile. The boat rode notice
ably WELL her stern never over an inch out OF the
water. and shearng steadily upward all the way to
her bow, which cleared the little choppy
nicely as you could wish. He never gives you the
impression Of straining for indeed his reach
is il anything. and then noticeably short. but
where he atones for this is in the great distance he
slides when he is forward for his stroke
1t is hard to believe his legs from his feet
to his knees are not actually vertical nearly do
they seem always just before he grips tho water.
There is perceptble pause. as il he balancing
to be sure Of a steady and sure grip, and then he
sinks his blades and gets his weight on very heavily
but not so markedly at first. In other words, his
catch ut the beginning is not by any means SO
clearly defined in that of almost any
member OF well coached university crew.
After his blades have travelled about a foot
through the water then seems to come the heaviest
Of the tug. Everything in him is telling now.
remarkable mans rowing. is exceedingly firm aud
strong. There is not much dash and snap as
there is of terribly hard. steady pushing all the way
from the time his knees under his armpit until
they down almost fiat. for even when lowest
you still his thighs above the flare boards of
the main hole of his serviceable little eleven-inch
boat. His knees are never open. especially wide
sideways. does he row with them parallel, as do
some well known scullcrs. but preserves rather
happy medium.
CANADIANS PEcULIARrr1Es.
While the lower half of nanlan's back slides away
at the beginning if anything FAST you can easily
see that that good willing back buckling down to
it most vigorously at every stroke. Such position
hold ones back in clashes with all the rules Of
good rowingt least of the sort of rowing which has
paid most and certainly looked best in the past At
every stroke just when the heaviest work is being
reminded of a well known irregularity on the back
Of the patient camel. Nor does he keep his
arms straight nearly long enough or far
enough in the pull. but his elbows begin to
crook almost before he has pulled the first six
inches of his stroke, and of course the nat
ural result of this crooked arm and crooked back
work. He meets what is toward the end of the
stroke. and draws his shoulders and upper body
down perceptibly toward his sculls instead OF hold
ing his body strongly and firmly erect. sloped
slightly back. and pulls his hand clean up to his
waist Nor do his blades enter the water
tically. or with the lower edge slanted
trife back of vertical. he unquestonably,
most Of the time turns the lower edge of his blades
little. and thus strikes the water Courtney spoke
of this and it seems strange that oarsman
should continue in such bad habit. But he gets
the blade itself through WELL especially for the first
two-thrds of the way. barely covering it under the
water: The rest of tho stroke is peculiar in this
up that he almost every time lifts quite
e +. SHEET ns ,sots oesn shus
but to silver il out little and not pull it thor
oughly THROUGH. These. with putting his port scull
in little roughly, and 40 constantly tossing up q
little water were the defects in his work this after
noon. though the strcaks Of bobby water now and
then in part accounted for the rough work as the
blade entered. Hanan rides his boat uniformly on
keel but a lurch is occasionally visible
with him. Hamill. the Pttsburg champion of dozen
wears ago who was beaten almost badly on the Tyne
Hanlan beat Elliott last June. rowed a far more
even keel. but his wondrously quick stroke helped
him in this particular These defects in Hanlan's
man can do even with patent defects. Sam Merritt
and George Hazael fairly glowed with awkwardness.
but they awkward lot somehow to pass on
q mile down in the fifth or sixth hundred.
HANLAN READY AND WILLING.
Hanan, 1t is said, has not gone through all his
cent blaze of glory without being somewhat affected
by IL. and while they who know him best fatty deny
the stories that he has since his return been given to
any cxcesses. they not quick to question that
he believes his work ON the water about perfect
This self confidence is Of no light value ut such
times as these when the glories of your rival are
hera ted all around the land and serves to keep him
buoyant and free. where his antagonist feels tho
strain far more Hanan's eyes. to be sure. often
have a far look. introverted. as though he
studying out some problem. but in your running
chat with him you fnd he is ready for you.
pick him how you WILL Speaking OF this hop Bit
ters prize of 5000, he said the other day that no
"wouldnt like to get the bitter end of it,. May be
he WILL who knows? And now as the race draws
near, whatever there in the conduct of him and
his party which for timo seemed to make 1t doubt
ful whether he would come up day. an
nouncing that he decidedly sick and unfit for
his work. 1T appears at present to be disspatcd.
He tells you freely that he is well and
all right; that shcre is nothing the matter with him.
at least nothing of any account. and that he pur-
poses to be ut the start promptly at the hour. and
to his utmost. IL that proves necessary. to win
the The real situation his friends say il that
he had to train this time on too small a margin of
capital. That the voyages and the stay abroad
took deal out OF him. and ho certainly did look
very thin the day he landed in New York, and
that instead of starting with six eight pounds to
take oil he had to begin with nothing at ALL IL this
scarcely tales with the word that from Barrie
when Riley led him such dance, namely that he.
at 1856 lbs, was fat as bullock, yet now, but
lbs lighter is too fne-still his face and mo vements
show that he is at least plenty fine enough. His
cheeks look a trife thin, ana. though seemingly
tho picture of health, he certainly would not
be called sturdy looking man. Indeed.
isn't it singular, or rather, Is 1t that these
two foremost masters OF the art OF rowing
neither of them remarkably powerful? Courtneys
forearm at IL inches is certainly very unusually
large, but his upper arm doubled at Ia inches and
his calves at 1874 inches are. for man six feet and
half inch high and weighing 10 pounds trained.
nothing much. Both of them are more after tho
order OF fast trottcrs or PAGERS than the fiery
binations of speed and power which dash through
the streets of New York at brcakneck speed.
with ton two of steam fire engine
behind them and. seemingly. enjoying their se-
we're work. One of these days some of all their
skill for thorough business coaching would secure
oil their best points and weed out their bad ones.
and OF far more native strength. better trained
strength. too, than theirs. will come up and beat
them both. Hanlan, the day he whipped Elliott so
h weighed naked just 15l pounds. So