Huntsville gazette., 1886-06-12

ailiC lHC DdISeS, WHICH are CTOWQou
with spectators, are reached, great gaps
will have appeared in the line, as most
of the bumps take place below; though
here, too, some times, q most exciting
race is witnessed, when some boat,
almost overlapped by its rival, is seen
struggling to reach the winning post
without being bumped. Nor is this
humping SO easy as it might at first
seem; but good deal of skill is
required on the part of the cock.
swain to effect it. In the first
place, there is always the danger
of making the shot too soon, in which
case the boat, missing the stern of the
one IN front, shoots halfway across
the river, and thereby loses a great deal
OF ground. Again, when one boat is
overlapping another, the cockswain Of
the first. by pulling his rudder towards
the bow of his rival, can cause such q
wave of water to wash against the latter
as to ward off for time the actual
bump; then, by a judicious squirt on
the part of his stroke when the rud-.
der is again Strengthened, he may be
enabled to draw away and steer his
boat in safety past the winning-post
These races conclude the rowing for
THIS term, though sometimes the last
few days are spent in coaching the best
men from the Torpid on '.sliding Seats"
by way of preparation for the next
terms practice for the "eight."
We now come to the summer or May
term, the pleaSantest term of all as far
as boating is concerned. The most i'm
portant races during this term are those.
in which the college eights compete.
They are carried out in exactly the
same manner as the Torpids described
above, the only difference being in the
kind of boat used. The Torpids row
IN what are called clinker-built or gig
boats, which have a small keel and of
which the seats are fixed; whereas the
'.eights' are rowed in smooth, keelless
boats-the bottom somewhat resem-
bling that of small canoe-and fitted
with sliding seats, by which the stroke
can be heightened and more use made
Of the legs. The eXtremities of the boat
are covered with canvas, to prevent
the water washing in over the side. The
crew of college eight is composed of
the best men the college can muster,
all of course being members of the col
lege.
The races. as we mentioned before
are arranged in the same way as those
in which the Torpids compete, though
perhaps more interest is shown in the
eights; and as they come off at
pleasanter time of the year, and are
undoubtedly one of the sights of the
university. the spectators include many
more strangers. The varsity ''sculls''
and the varsity pairs the former
open to any member, and the latter to
any two members of the varsity boat
club-conclude the rowing at Oxford
for this term; though it should here be
mentioned that two or three of the
boats that have shown themselves
above the average in the eight-oared
races, often keep in practice for Henley
regatta, which takes place soon after
the close of this term.
tion Of years college rowing at Ok
ford, that is, rowing in which college
completes with members of its own or
other colleges. Starting again with
the October term, we propose saying
something about rowing for the var
sity, the chief event in which is the
annual race with Cambridge. There
is, however, one college race not yet
mentioned, which takes place in the
October term-namely, the varsity
"Fours.' open to all the colleges.
~
orally more than from six to eight
boats entered, as considerably more
skill and workmanship are re-
quired than for the college eight. The
boats used, though of much the same
construction as the latter, are of course
smaller, and therefore more difficult to
sit; moreover, they do not carry
cockswain, the steering being done by
one of the crew with his feet, by means
of wires connecting the rudder with
lever attached to his stretcher, so that,
by moving this lever with his foot to
one side or the other, corresponding
motion is given to the rudder. This
race takes place in the first half of the
term, and Immediately afterwards the
work of selecting crew for the inter-
university boat-race is commenced.
By the middle of the term the crew
is generally settled upon, and on Ash
Wednesday they 60 into strict train
ing. The old theories of training on
raw meat, etc., have quite died out;
plentiful supply of plain. well-cooked
food is allowed, but only a very mod
crate amount of liquor, and smoking
must be entirely knocked off. For
breakfast and dinner the crew meet
together in each others rooms, each
man entertaining the rest for one day
in turn while they are still at Oxford.
Lunch is only light meal. The row.
ing is almost entirely done during the
afternoon. Ten days or a fortnight
before the time fixed for the race, the
crew go up to Putney to complete their
practice on the tidal water and the
course over which the race is to be
rowed. Their doings here and the
race itself need no description in this
paper. Their daily practice on the
London water, the time they occupy in
rowing over the course, even their
very movements are watched and re-
corded by the daily press. Suffice it
to say that this notoriety is not at all