The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-09-30
ABOUT BRITISH SCULLERS,
THE arr or ROUING PRi'TICALLP
IOST 10 GREAT BRITiIN.


hNNu 'hFh ""h Nv
man" Brcame No Longer synonyms
From hc london Firid
old uar>nIcn whose memories can bark bach
To the years when British supremacy IN %-cu'ini
NH, undisputcd may well have felt a tv.ug
nJ me- au,roly at the spectacle Of the cham,
piun-hip rae, or Monday last two ColpriE
champions conte-ting the title, and not a Krib
l-Gri to- ,aN nay to them for the honors. It
cufiou- 'hat while British amateurs can sfl
more Than hold their against the anateuu
of the Colonies, ana of The continents east and
west. the British professional seoms TO have
lost M! ,la~~ and style a. against the profess
,tonaI of the Colonies, Even where now and
then AN English professional manages to aspire
TO modern champion honors he no longer hat
that hold upon the people of his own country
which was 80 characteristic Of the giants e
our rivers IN the days of Kelley and Chambers
[ undoubtedly the fifteen years between 1851
and 1872 were the palmiest which the Thames
and Tvncc over knew. The calling Of The Thames
waterman Wa even then badly on the wane.
ou,ted by steamer rivalry. and while kepli
still did some business on the Tync. even thcra
the keelmen were no longer In such force "a q
old. But those later representative Of TIA
diving callings eclipsed all predecessors for
quality and quantity combined CoDnbes had
hut one serious rival In Cole, and the latter
had only to fear Messenger, but at the tins
when Kelley's era began with hi CONQUEST q
Messenger. there seemed TO arise n sudden in<
-piration Of Craftsmanship among professionals
at. large. Besidc~ the redouhtable Robert
Chambers. there was Cooper of the Tyne. seq
ond, perhaps. to none for n mile. though noi
quite a slayer There vas Joe Sader CONF
inc on aud showing, the ,fqturN of
a rhampiou Among lesser lights vera
White and Evcr~on. both of them helOw-bridgs
%~culirr-. a-uirini~, though unNlCcessiuliy for
the champion hOnOr~ which thambers defended
against them Kelley has Hiways ayowed
that unruly steamers had not given him y
idir chance in his race against Chambers 10
1850, hut hackers heSitaicd TO believe him for
wears II was TN" advent Of Green. the Austria.
Iinn. in 1853. hi- lead of I ha1nb"rs 10 the Crab
Lee III S nSl, IRRsaIIiSai,,' c %,,d 'd DC NIX ItIat Gr HaT"E,
practice. which AZ last gave courage 70 kelleys
friends to aCk HIM to restore to the Thames Tho
honors which chamber, had transferred 10
The Tyne Even then SO difident were they that
they stood ont tor odds These could not 10
conceded i'm champion stakes, but the difficulty
was got over by the fiction Of a further bet
Of E3OO To geo by Chambers upon the result;
but this bet was staked quite ~ formally as
1000 on a match Of this sort ha- not been eH-
ceeded in England. How l1cihC prlHcipcf
ferred from the extreme ease with which Green.
the Australian, went down lat the close Of the
race 70 Chambers, and llalnqilI. the American.
to Kelley a year later. Vet these visitors wers
the pick of their respective countries. and had
there defeated time-honored locals in Hickey
and Ward.
II was not in sculling alone that Britain was
strong. Thames and Tyne could IN those day1
man tours and pairs galore for . Thames ma
tiOnal regatta and later for the Thames regat-
tas, restored by the late Messrs. j. G Chambers
and q. Morrison). The Taylors and the Clasp
ers from IT, the N9 Sst id %eJ ( o, fHil o OF s9GIns' and
were stalwart oarSm"n In Hammerton, HoaTe,
Pedgrift, Tasg, Binen. h. Cook, Kilsby, Harms
and others. Even Glasgow now and then sent
a Clyde crew which could make the best of the
Thames 81 ruggle all the way. The Mackinneys
were getting somewhat sere IN the sixties, but
and were standing dishes in the umptre's eight
at Henley regatta. In those days yatermen
and keep within hail Of Grand Challenge crews
for umplre'S in peCtion, There we're watermen's
crews which then rowed spins, starts and trials
with university Fights IN practice for tho Putney
match. We wonder what would be tho extent
Of the hasco II an eight of the best Thames pro.
fesslonals NJ this decade were to essay the hkS
feat They we're men Of the people, and pop
ular favorites. those old watermen. On the
whole they we're straight No doubt now and
on the turf. hut, compared 10 either of the two
la%st-named institutions. the atmosphere of profes-
-ional Craftsmanship was purity. In connection
with this subject We may give the following in
stance. 4 Thames amateur, known TO be a pu-
pil and friend Of kelley's. casually asked Cham
bers II bis hoat din which the Tyne man was go
ing in less than two days 70 row for the ls65
match against Kelley would be for sale after
asked If Chambers would leave the boat
at Srarle's CSimmons's) yard after the match
for him to try before deciding on The purchase.
Said Chambers Try her now If We like
But suppose damage her. said the amateur.
"Hoot' mon, said the Tyne scullcr; "ye'res
wonder how many modern championship cans
didates would be disposed, from their own lights,
70 trust the boat which, was 4" carry them and
their fortunes In q few hours later to the hand
ling Of one from the hostile camp, however skill
full as an amateur.
The scene on match DAYS when these old
Champion fought their battles was different
from the modern picture Apart from fleets
Of steamers laden to the g%unwale, swaying
control, the banks were maSsed for miles. theirs
was a two hours stream Of vehicles, ranging
londe~borough down 10 co~t"r~ barrowS,
and the Mail At Chiswick and terrace a. Barnes
were, A. tightly packed As on a university
match day There were no telegraph tapes
and few evening editions. but from various
points along the course rose clouds Of carrier
pigeons 10 announce the state Of the race &C
Signs Of the csning change of British for
tunes We're to be real when professional" and
SYNONYMS. Sadler became a waterman bv
apprenticeship later IN his career, but he had
chimney sweep and then A., a Jack in. the
water Higgins was a Goa! HEAVIER, .Elio'i
a collier az We remember right Britain had
feSSionaliSm by enthusiasts from Other
branches Of labor who had developed aquatic
tastes, and who supplemented the dccayinG
tide came when. in 1879. Sadler gray haircdl
yielded the title to Trickett, the Australian.
and since then Britain has played second fiddle.
Yet even this extinction of watermen's trad.
should not account for her decline as against
her Colonies, for the latter start where She
leaves on, with no special calling Of water
men to supply the Champio trade, and yet
they beat the mother country NJ the old camel
the more honor 10 our Colonials. and the
more reason 10 be thankful that, a displayed
in the current rallantry of their lighting con-
tingents. they are one with us in sport, In spirit
and In s%oldiery.
II is curious that in this review Of BritirA
oarsmrn nv a leading sporting journal no mem
is made OF Fngland's very greatest scullst
Renforth.
Old Table and Bench Planned Out slsa
E.o,, u. N.,, OrLco,. Tt,,es- Denon,o,