The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1879-07-04
YANKEE VERSUS BRITON.
Home Truths and Hard slogging.
From the New York SUM-

IRON the New York SUM-
With Weston's triumph, the cup of
bitterness for the patriotic British
sportsman runneth over. Creedmoor
rihemen at the bulls eye, Bogardus at
pigeons, Parole on the turf, Hanlan
with the sculls-these were not draughts
unpalatable enough, and so the Ashley
belt must travel again across the Allan
tic to join the many trophies gathered
here from British athletes and sport
lovers.
What makes the potion worse is that
there is nothing phenomenal about these
victories of the past twelve months.
Had there been no Columbia at Hen
ley last summer, an equal or greater col
lege four could this year be sent. The
Creedmoor rifemen who shot alone
last year, because the English, Scotch,
Irish, and Australian marksmen were
afraid to contend, demonstrably were
equal to the victors at Dollymount.
OLeary, who won Sir John Astley's
belt in London and lost it in New York,
has been quickly replaced by Weston
and there are reserves of Panchots and
Guyons. Though Uncas did not win
the Derby, it is tolerably sure that
Speudthrift could have beaten the win
ner. Fine as Paroles career has been,
he went to England with stable COM
panion, the Duke of Magenta, his SUI
perior. And, considering the big beat
ing that Wallace Ross gave to Emmett,
and the close race that Courtney pulled
with Hanlan, it is clear enough that
the latter is not the only man from this
side of the water who can win the En-
glish championship from any sculler of
the Thames or the Tyne.
In fact, the British sportsmen.. them
selves have furnished the proof that the
triumphs of their transatlantic cousins
are not regarded as exceptional or acct
dental. In the general rush of the
British oarsmen, from Elliott down, to
initiate the swivel row-locks, broad
SOULS, and long slide of Hanlan and the
Americans, they show that they are
beaten not by a man alone, unprece-
denied though he is, but by a system.
In carefully drawing up the rules for
Henley so as to bar out the Shoe-wae-
! cae mettes, they are not going to risk
again a defeat saved last year only by
accident. In withdrawing from Parole,
at Ascot, the weight allowance which
British sense of superiority long
deemed necessary to give foreign horses,
in order that the latter might contend
with some little hope of success, the
British sense of superiority itself plain
ly vanishes.
In fact, almost two months ago, a
long-headed thinker of The London
Sporting Life warned his countrymen
of their impending catastrophes. II
particularly desire to state" he re-
marked, that England, as a sporting
nation, is not what fatterers and belief
in self would make her. Don't let us
disguise the fact, for nothing is to be
gained by it, that in rowing, running,
trotting, shooting, yachting, and racing,
America more than holds her own with
u.s." Then he deepens and broadens
into this reflection:
Yet there are people who say that
England is great nation. Over-edu-
cation, pampering, free trade, and the
defeat of Ridotto are running the coun-
try, and the sooner We come back
to home truths and hard slogging the
better"
Well, by timely heed, England may
yet escape the national fate menaced by
Weston, Bogardus, and Parole.