Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1885-07-25
ONE OF THE LEADtNQ BOATING oRGANTzA-
TIoNs IN THE DfsrRrcT-soNE OF TKE EARLY
RACES AND THE PARTICIPANT

pate IN aquatic pleasures with any comfort.
foot Of 9Th street, SD that they might be within
rowing distance Of the other clubs.
in Georgetown, in June, 1860. by eight George.
tonians, who decided to band together to enjoy
rowing in systematic manner. Among the
Sones whs SS Fak
and W. Mcleod, several of whom are still prom
inent members of the club. A rough boat house
shortly after the organization of the club. The
year following more commodious building
was erected, which answered until the present
1857 1asssf and handsome building took Its place in
THE FIRST PoToMAc-ANALosTAN RACE.
The two new organizations were anxious to
measure blades With each other, and but a few
months after they sprang into existence . chal.
lenge was sent TO the Potomacs by the Anacos-
her, 1869, and was the nrst real boat race on
the river. It was over o three-mile course with
. turn, from the Aqueduct bridge down, In lap.
Meteor and the AnacOstias in the Mtnnehaha.
The former crew were the victurs. The next
year, 1870. the Anaeostias. who had changed
their name to WashingtOns, rOwed the Anaios-
tans three-lnile race, with q turn, and beat
them.
The Anacostias had secured new gig which
they named the Ariel, and they roWed on sta
tionary seats with oars without buttons. Their
crew consisted Of F. Beall, stroke: 8 Emery, s,
Buck snd bsai ln I; Tom upperman, g. Dodge.
-
coxswatn. the Analostians rowed In the Light
foot, and their crew consisted Of Roach, stroke;
Lsws baw With sWs fha
Ariers time was Fl minutes "a seconds, and
the Li&htfoot's time was p minutes SO sec
the Washingtons aud the Potomacs raced for
the second time, and the latter crew were VIC
torious. They rowed In their first boat the
Derrick, 5; Fox. 4; WheatIcy. ,; Croplcy, 2, and
Miller bow, with ]. II: Gordon coxswain.
Washington again rowed in the Ariel with the
Same crew that beat the Analostans. The
judges were Maj. A. :. Nicholson and 8. w.
Owen for the Potomacs, and T. A. Bradley and
VIM. Gurley for the Washingtons. Mr. Orson
Bestor acted as referee The boats got an even
start and kept together until the turning stake
was nearly reached, when the Meteor shot
tanned the lead to the finish, winning in 21
minutes SO seconds; Washingtons, 81 minutes
70 seconds. The race was a desperate one.
the boats, nor could the Washfngtons, WHO
rowed gamely, decrease the lead which their
competitors had secured. The two boats were
miles.
THE PoToMAcs SUFFER A DEFEAT.
The Washingtons gradually dropped out of
existence. Not the Potomacs They In
creased in numbers and soon made their
proves with the oar recognized, bit not until
after they had suffered defeat at the hands OF
the Analostans on October 81, 1871. On this
occasion the POtomacs were represented by
".
and Miller bow, with ]. Fl. Gordon coxswain
The Analostan crew consisted of Gurley stroke
Roach, Bailey. Clark, Prescott and Corson bow.
were trained by John Biyiin and the Potomacs
by Dennis Leary. The Analostans crossed the
line winners OF the citizens cup and race in Is
minutes "a seconds the POtOnacs coming in
one minute and Sd seconds later.
In 1872 the Potomacs sent a crew composed
and $ Il. Wheeier to Norfolk where shey DE-.
featcd the crew Of that city. FOur-oared races
by this time had become very popular and were
had very stn9 Inc feur "nd n
1873 sent It TO Saratoga at the great interna-
tional regatta. Coughin, McBlair, Cropley and
Pope Barge, Cincinnati; Duquesne, Allegheny,
Pa; Arganauta, Bergen Point, MI; Beaver.
Wyck, Albany, and Ballston, Ballston Spa, N.
\. The DuqueSne crew won In 2O:05.
The Potomac crew was very strong one,
aud there Is no telling what position 1t would
have had at the flush. but it fouled the turn.
the race only half rowed. The bow was SO
badly damaged as to let in water, and the crew
had to row ashore.
THE PoroMAcs AT SARATOGA
The club was not In the least DISCOURAGED and
the following year, 1874, it was again repre-
sented at Saratoga. The crew was the same,
except that Jones occupied seat No. 2 instead
OF CroPley There was very large list of entries,
including the beaverWyeks OF Albany; Arga.
Wah Sum, saginaw, Mich: Seawanhaka,
Greenpoint, L. l.; Arganaut, Toronto, Canada;
Ga; Duquesne, Allegheny, Pa; Atlantic, Hobo.
ken; Palmetto, Charleston; and Atlanta, New
York. The course was three miles with turn.
Beaverwycks, much to the surprise Of every
body, came in winners in 1884, the best time
on record. The Potomacs came I'm third.
No more crews were sent abroad, and racing
on the Potomac between the clubs was at q
standstill for several years. Club regattas were
frequent, and there were some very spirited
nlgrl In "a
memorable citizens regatta, in which the
newly organized Columbias participated to-
Tue crews were as follows: AnaiostanSW hite.
stroke; Douglass, 3; Maunder. 9 and Page
bow. Potomac.Cropley, stroke; Morgan, 3,
stroke; Brace, 3; Zeiyfer, 2, and Moore, bow.
The course was two miles, with turn,
The Columbus were beaten from the
gradually crept up on the Analostans, who were
leading. A foul attributed to the Anaiostans
was the result: b, Both boats continued on their
make an angle to finish and the AnalOstans
crossed the line first in 1927, the Potomacs
lett decided that the race should be roWed over
but subsequently awarded it to the Coiumbias.
In July, 1881, the PotOmacs sent a crew to
Of the Virginia association. The crew consisted
ney, and had as competitors the Undines and
Washington. The course was mile and a-half,
straight away. The Potomacs won in s:55la,
Ss rs saISsd s5s They badly
THE REGATTA OF AMATEUR OARsMEN.
The ninth annual regatta Of amateur oarsmen
was held on the Potomac in September, 1881.
The only crew entered by the Potomaes was In
the eight-oared race. The other contestants
were the Narragansetts. of Providence, II. l.,
and the Metropoiitans, of New York. The
Earragansetts won, with the Potomaes q bad
third.
In November OF the same year the Potomacs
and Columbus met In q fOuroared race. The
Potomac crew consisted Of Mckinney, stroke:
Morgan, Bailey and Wheeler. The race was
one of the hardest-fOught contests ever seen on
any water. The course was two miles, with q
turn. The Columbus won by u desperate
squirt at the finish. in 1870, the Poto-
macs finishing only three seconds later.
The Potomac club was represented at
the Fredericksburg regatta by Junior four
Fredericksburg crew easily, but entered In the
senior race with the Columbias and Analostans
and came in last. In the fail regatta on the PO-
tomac October 4th, 1882, the Potomac junior
crew, composed Of Johnston, Appleton, Jones
and Wilmington, was beaten by the Columbia
juniors, the AnalOstan crew being last. The
fotomac senior four in this regatta, sisting Of
Barbarin. Wheat!ey, Zappone and Wheeler,
was badly beaten by the Columbia senior four.