The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-10-11

gsgns of the Coming Change w eHe ." -"
p..d xyben mProfessional'' and "Wat-
.rmann Became No Longer synonyms
Old oarsmen whose memories can
bark back to the years when BRUSH
supremacy in sculling was undlsPueeu
NAV well have felt twinge OF meiaA-
cbo1ie. at the spectacle of the champion
shin race of Monday last-tWo Coloh-
ia) champions contestIng the title ana
NOT a Britisher to say nay to them lol
+ha bonors It is curious that while
pri+ish amateurs can still more thah
hold their own against the amateurs o.
the Colonies, and of the continents east
and west, the British professionals
eaeros to have lost all class and style as
against the professional OF the Coo
MES. Even where now and then an hils-
fish professional manages to aspire 10
madern champion honors he no longer
has that hold upon the people OF MS
own country which was SO character
istic of the giants of our rivers in the
DAYS of Kelley and Chambers.
Undoubtedly the fifteen years pc
tween 1857 and 1872 were the palmiest
which the Thames and Tyne ever
knew. The calling of the Thames
waterman was even then badly on the
wane. ousted by steamer rivalry; and
while keels still did some business on
fhe TYNE, even there the keelmen were
no LONGER in such force as Of old. But
those later representatives OF the dylhg
calfings eclipsed all predecessors Tor
quality and quantity combined
Coornbes had but one serious rival IN
Cole and the latter had only TO rear
Messenger; but at the time when KEEL
1ey's era began with his conquest OF
Messenger, there seemed to arise sud
fen inspiration of Craftsmanship among
professionals at large. Besides the re-
EQUITABLE Robert Chambers, there was
rooper of the Tyne, second, perhaps
TO none for a mile, though not quite
stayer. There was Joe Sadler coming
on and showing the future of a cham
mon. Among lesser lights were White
and Everson, both of them below
bridge scullers. aspirants, though I'M
successfully, for the champion honors
(which Chambers defended against
them. Kelley has always avowed that
unruly steamers had not given MIN a
fair chance in his race against Cham
bers in 1859, but hackers hesitated to
believe him for years 1t was the adj
vent of Green, the Australian, In 1868,
his lead of Chambers to the Crab Tree
in their match and the private knoWl-
edge of what Kelley could do with
Green in practice. which ct last gave
courage to Kelley's friends to back him
tn restore to the Thames the honors
which Chambers had transferred to the
TYNE Even then so dittident were
tbey that they stood out for odds.
These could not be conceded In cham
MON stakes, but the difficulty was got
over by the fiction of a further bet of
,e3O0 to R200 by Chambers upon the re-
suit; but this bet was staked quite as
formally as the actual stakes of 5000
a. side. This total of 1900 on a match
of this sort has not been exceeded IN
England. How facjle principles British
ers were then at sculling may be In
ferred from the extreme ease with
which Green, the Australian, went
down TAT the close of the race to
Chambers, and Hammill, the American,
TO Kelley a year later Yet these visi-
tors were the pick of their respective
countries. and had there defeated time
honored locals in hickey and Ward.
1t was not in sculling alone that Brit
ain was strong. Thames and Tyne
could in those days man tours and pairs
galore for a Thames national regatta
(and later for the Thames regattas, re-
stored by the late Messrs. J. G.. Cham
hers and G. Morrison). The Taylors
and the Claspers from the north were
full of rowing; and on the Thames be-
sides Kelley and Sadler, there were
stalwart oarsmen in Hammerton,
Hoare, Redgrift, Tagg Biffen, r. Cook,
Kilsby, Harris and others. Even Glas-
gov now and then sent a Clyde crew
which could make the best of the
Thames struggle all the way. The
Macknneys were getting somewhat sere
in the sixties, but they did good work
even then in many a crew, and were
standing dishes In the umpire's eight
at Henley regatta In those days wa
termen could toll all day up and down
the Henley reach, and keep within
hail of Grand Challenge crews for UNI
pire's inspection. There were water
mems crews which then rowed spins
starts and trials with university Fights
in practice for the Putney match. We
wonder what would be the extent of the
fasco If an eight of the best Thames
professionals of this decade were to es-
say the like feat? They We're men OF
the people, and popular favorites, those
old Watermen. On the whole they were
straight No doubt now and then there
was a "cross,'' as in the prize ring OIL
on the turf, but, compared to either OF
the two last-named institutions, the at
mosphere of professional Craftsmanship
was purity. In connection with this
subject we may give the following in
stance: A Thames amateur, known tt
be a pupil and friend of Kelley's, cas-
ual1y asked Chambers If his boat Cir
which the Tyne men were going in less
than two days to row for the 1865 match
against Kelley) would be for sale after
the match Chambers assented. The
amateur asked if Chambers would
leave the boat at Searle's (Simmons's
yard after the match for him to try be
fore deciding on the purchase. Sale
Chambers: "Try her now, if We like
"But suppose 1 damage her?" said the
amateur "Hoot, mon," sair the Tyne
scuIler; ''ye're a gentleman; of course
can trust ye." We wonder how many
modern championship candidates
would he dispoSed from their owl