Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-03-02

is SO poor in quality that somebody at present
entirely unknown to the aquatic world must
be discovered before any great hopes of having
real champion can be entertained.
Plenty of Them.
There are certainly plenty of professional
rowers in England 1t is not difficult to have a
handicap with 50, 80 or 20 entries, and the great
bulk OF them young men. But the quality is
absent, so much so that a man of George Bu-
bears abilities is champion. These facts GER
talnly point to the conclusion that there is not
much prospect, at any rate immediate prospect,
of anything like world-beater being found in
England. But the efforts to try and develop
one are none the less worthy Of encouragement.
and if a national regatta on the Thames could
be promoted and brought anywhere near the
degree of popularity that the former proIes-
sional regattas on that river enjoyed, very
great benefit to aquatics all over the world
would certainly result Dealing with this subject
reminds me of assertions and statements that
are continually being made regarding the com,
parative merits of the old-time scullers and
those of the present day. i have really heard
of persons who wished that Bob Coombes was
back in his prime" to try what he could do with
the best scullers of to-day. Coombes was cham
pion in 1916 and weighed, l think, somewhere
below l30 pounds. Well, to make any compar-
ison at all between Coombes and OConnor.
Teemer or Gaudaur would be very, very stupid
However, there is no doubt that in the sixties
and part of the seventies England was at its
best as far as sculling was concerned and to
compare the best men of that period with
champions of to-day may give us some IDEA as
to the kind of men required In England at
present TO become world beaters.
Old and New Champions.
1t may be set down as fact that Harry
Kelly was the best man ever produced on the
%l,,. 1aff I'm
abilities of such men as Sadler and Higgin.
also know that many people deemed the late j.
H. Sadler the equal of Kelly at least. l have
never thought So Well. Bob Chambers. of the
Tyne, was the equal of Kelly, and SO well were
these two famous old-timers matched that 1t
seemed the man in the better condition won
whenever they rowed against each other.
Kelly's glory survived that of Chambers, but
Kelly's laurels were plucked by Renforth. who,
no doubt was one of the most remarkable
scullers ever reared in England. He was re-
markable because of his method or style, and
yet l venture to say that at his best he was
little, if any, superior to William Elliott when
the latter rowed and was beaten by Hanlan.
This brings US to something like direct COM
parison, and at this point we must take
into consideration all the improvements
between the Chambers Kelly period and that in
augurated by Edward Hanlan. Renforth.
Elliott and Boyd rowed faster than ever
Chambers or Kelly could row. and don't think
improvements in boat and rig. But, at any
rate, Hanlan settled Elliott SO easily that all
attempts to compare the old timers with mod
ern champions mnst fail. Had Hanlan con-
ceded Elliott Is lengths start he might have
won Just as easily as he did. But there are
men rowing now much faster than Hanlan did
then and probably faster than Hanlan could
ever row. This brief outline then gives us an
idea of the gigantic task the Britishers will
have in hand when they start to find a world
beater. They must find man who is as much
Hanlan was to William Elliott. wish them
good luck.
Market for American Trotters.
The visit of John Splan to England has
proven one very important fact: it has shown
Americans that there is good market the
other side of the Atlantic for American-bred
trotters. If Splan's mission had not accom-
plished anything else than this, the American
public ought to thank him for that Judging
from the letters that Splan has been sending
from the other side from time to time it would
seem that American trotting horses of moder-
ate quality go off like hot cakes among the
English people. am not surprised at this, be-
cause when once anything becomes popula- in
England there is always plenty of money to
buy. The trotting horse has become populas
there. 1t was growing in favor some time be-
fore Splan went there, but he caused the wave
of popularity to rise to very great height.
And there need be no surprise that the
in England as in any other country. No
country has roads SO well adapted to show off a
speedy trotter as England and no people
are fondeI r. OF showy horses .n.. There 6e,d are
onto English highways and as far as spec is
concerned put to shame the most valuable pair
of high stepping bays that the richess aristo-
show that it may be good business for breeders
to ship a few well bred youngsters to the other
side? There are many small breeders in and
a. a I1<
task for them to form a syndicate and senG
about Is or 20 good horses to England. About
two good drivers and trainers ought to do well
with string of that kind next fall.
The Turf Season.
We won't be much older before the turf sea-
son is fairly opened for the spring. 1t seems
somewhat out of place to talk about the open
ing of the turf season when horse racing is
going on daily without intermission both East
and South. But what 1 mean is the regular
spring season. The indications are that there
will be more business done on the American
turf this year than there has been done any
previous year. Whether or not there will be
better class of horses, am not in a position to
say, but reports from various places gives us to
understand that there will be some excellent
3year-olds. So far the entries augur well for
good fields. But what wish specially to refer
to is the persistent desire of author
tiles here and there to prosecute the
proprietors of well regulated poolroems. In
selling is a criminal offense. That there will
be more betting on turf events this year than
ever before feel certain. and this means that
the desire to speculate on these events is so
strong that ali the anti-poolselling enthusiasts
in the country cannot stop this speculation.
BY closing well regulated places where fraud
and trlckery dare not be indulged in, recourse
will be had to methods and places of the most
questionable. The evils of the latter will far
exceed those of the former. This has been the
case in the past and most certainly will be SO
in future.
Australia's Big Challenge.
There is no reason to suppose that the pugil-
istic world was startled on Friday by the publi-
cation of the challenge in behalf of Slavin. The
latter has friends and hackers in Australia who
are willing to back him against John L. Sulli-
van for $4,000 a side and Melbourne club will
give So 900 more to the winner. In all SIS 600 or
$4,000 can be won by the American if he will
fight Slavin in presence Of an Australian club.
OF late there have been many offers and chal-
lenges to Sullivan flying round but 1 am in
clined to think that the one in question is the
most bona fde that we have yet seen. The
Australians are not inclined to make idle
boasts; they have the money and they
have the courage. 1t is certain, at least it
seems SO to me that the Australians will put up
every dollar on Slavin that they say they will.
Well, in view of all this, 1 do not hesitate to
say that Sullivan has never had a better offer
In his life. Were he to 60 TO Australia and
defeat Slavin it is certain thar he could amass
a fortune before he returned to America
There are many reasons why Sullivan should
accept the offer without delay. He is living at
a very fast rate and old Mother Nature won't
be abused with impunity. With a reasonable
amount OF training he could be gotten into
good condition; probably not the best, but good
enough to defeat Slavin. Now don't make
the latter remark disparagingly of Slayin.
make it because when Sullivan is at his best
have any chance of defeating Sullivan