ROWING.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1210, 19 August 1911, Page 12

ROWING.

RUGGED HONESTT OF ARNST. (Br "Mercubt,") They Want a Mile Dash with Him. The fact that Poarco showed Avnst the way over tho first one mile and a half ot their recent ni-.t promises to bear fruit in the shapo of another race between the two over a "sprint" distance. Of conrso such an event'would hnvo no heariug on tho championship titlo at all—it wor<d bs simply for the satisfaction of tho scullers' backers nn.l for a small stake and the gate money-ind it looks n good business proposition at that. .Commenting on tho pnb.ibilit.ies of such au nffiir the Sydney "Sun" says:— _ There was a great deal of talk during the past weok about bringing Arnst and Pearce together for a mile r, ,! ra, £ ' n!n of from =£200 to .v'oO. As a mattc-r of fact, one enthusiastic admirer of Pearce nt the settling on Tuesday offered to find .£IOO of Pearee's money for a mile sprint, nnj upon Arnst'being asked if he would accept tho rare he bluntly remarked, "No." Sinco then, however ■ the champion's backers fancy tiicv could work him up. to a mile fast enough to make Pcnrco excel even his great row of a week ago, and Arnst expressed himself willing to take on the contract. One of tho conditions nsked by tho challenger's friend was that tho match should, bo rowed within a month, and to this now. Arnst agrees if Pearco and his supporters axe prepared to go on. It would be a clinking tussle, and under, tho samo weather conditions records would probably go by the board. It would require a straight course for the mile such as from Putney to Gladesville, or the other way round. And what a roaring gate the contest would draw. Was Arnsi Bribed with £2500? It is'freely stated by some Sydney papers—ono says that it is "a well-known fact"—thnt Arnst was offered JSSOO to "go down" to Pearce. This is the shadow of the evil that killed professional sculling in its last "boom" days, but it has its plcnsauter side on this ono occasion. It shows that, despite the oft-heard condemnation of tho champion's alleged "money-grabbing" propensities, he" is at least straight in his dealings with his backers and the public. This may seem a strango matter, upon which a man should bo congratulated, but in Arnst's case it hns been so often said that tho money-getting side of the sport is tho only one that weighs.with him, that ono is glad to be able to point to at least one instance in which he let the pecuniary advantage go for the sake of the honour of keeping faith and of retaining- his title. For, if tho few hundred pounds which he acquired by winning his race be weighed against, the £2~M cash offered for losing it, plus the enormous betting gain which he could have lunde, with also the certainty of a return match to regain his lost title and its cash emoluments as well, it will be scon that from the purely pecuniary view Arnst is much the loser by tho victory. That the champion does look ti the commercial side of I.is sculling, he frankly admits—ho looks upon it as his business, and as a. business that has but a short time to run as a paying concernbut, ho has now proved that he is capable of running his business according to the code of strict commercial morality, Thus has it been made manifest that not only is "Dick" Arnst a very king of scullcrs-as no one doubts—but also that ho intends to keep tho sport of sculling clran as far as lies in his power. And for this all honour is duo to liichard Arnst.