GREAT FOUR OARED RACE FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP OF ENGLAND AND £400.

Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 634, 10 February 1870, Page 4

GREAT FOUR OARED RACE FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP OF ENGLAND AND £400.

i : The fitst of the' great races the nicked nien of London and ■Newcastle", -the representative crews of -the Thames and the Tyne, came. off on- Friday^ sfch Nov., <iver the champion' course" from Putney to Mortlafee^ and ; was • witfless:edr:by ;a : large assemblage of spectators,) although a pduring.rain, which set in about noon^niitst have kept 1 some hiradWdis a way^ The: f6tlow^ng are; the names' aiid weights of- the' . respebtive sidei :^ - ' ; : ' v ~- t . ■'*> ■ Tece : TjeriiiKS ? CfeEw;^Ji !: Joe i: Sadle^ Putney, list. ; S^.Henry; KeHey, Falh^m; JOst. 121 b.; $ Messenger, Tidduigt^ni ; list.: 71b.; i Hanimerton, Ted: dington (stroke), lOst. 71b. ; G. Haininerton; jtin:: (c«tx;;)j : 3it; $lb. : -.:.:;;.,, "?-•• ; "The Tkne LCkew.— l,- James Taylor, Ouseburriy 10it; .2, ThomOß Winshipj lOst. 111 b/ ;: 3, John I^lartiu, -'Newdastle^" l&t. : f 9lb^l; James Bferifbrth, : Gateshead (stroke); list. 111 b .; M^Him : (c«.s:)i 3stil2lbV ; -• • _Th^ home crew.-vo-ithe toss; .■ Notwithstanding the drenching rain; the" pßrhap's : hardier,; and certaiuly wiser, norlKuieti removed their jerseys, the Thames men pii-. ferrmg;:::to,v.remain • within ; theirs. ' Oie would have preferred Kelly minus a siguificjuiti iplaster tr oift -:jhis ..eheek, ; and th^ younger, Messpn^oji- -plus- an air of robi ainess hef.pert^inly did not pjssess. HammsrfcoUi lookled'. weli— f<r a veteran, we ha# almost, sajd^and Sadler a^eardd quite, upjL.to'.^jyjpyk. Eenforth- parliciilady exhLbiteu'bicfcps and muscle that | caused a commotion aboard one of the Citizen bPats,^^Vandr as >7 fo : : which the anxietiesypf the |Qccnpsrits^ of: other steamers^ who feared • there was ' a -dis turbatt^e,! were turned into aniusement by finding that it- was only a welMknovra prize-figHter expressing m'sadfriimtioh. by ;Bwearing:;Uke;a company of troopers. Just as tliensoiiad of a trumpet is said to awake the war-horse, the sight of RanfortYs ; brawny : development \ caused; , the ■ celebrated bruiser togive-venttto his ©motions in his own peculiar way. What little

betting there was favored the Tyne crew from the moment of their appearance at the start, although it had been whispered that two of the number were ill, The signal was given before a quarter*past two. In four- strokes the Tyne boat was leading, and it continued leading to the end. That is about as much description as the pace deserves. It was an extremely i tame affair. The unhappy little tioy who held the ropes on board the Thamesboat was all abroad from the start, and the steering was simply ludicrous, Add to thia ihe fuct that the stroke-aide of the boat was too ' strong, for . the bow*side^that, in point of fact, Jrlamm.ertoh and Kelley Were too many for Messenger and Sadler, and we need seek no farther for an explanation of the manner in which Thames proceeded in thoir zigzag pursuit of Tyne ; for it was a stern chase from first to last, and the northerners eventually won as they pleased by about eight lengths. Time, from Putney to Hammersmith, 7min. 58sec. ; tlie" entire course; 21min. 53ec. Kelley was really the only member of the crew who rowed from end to end without faltering, There was . ," devil" and vigor in him to the last. The same cannot be said of the other-3. Hammerton rowed a famous; oar for a long way, but he was don-3 wit'i, before JMortlake waa reached. Sadler and Messenger did neither .fetter nor worse than might have been anticipated, having in view the former's well-known 1 lack of staying power and the latter's youth. The second race, also for L4OO, took place oh the iStH November on the Tyne, at Newcastle. Tbe Tyne crew held the same positions in the boat as on the occasion of the first race — James Taylor, T. Winsiiip, ' "J: Martiu, James Renforth (stroke) and T. Wilson (coxawain). A change, however, was made in the Thames crew, their position being as follows :— George Hammerton, William Messenger, Joseph H. Sadler, Henry Kelley (stroke) and H. Ilashbrbke (coxswain). In the race on Thames, G. flammerton was Stroke, and a younger Hammerton was cosiswain. The course waa from the High Level-bridge to Seotswood Suspensionbridge^ a distance of four miles. The start was fixed for 2.30, and long before that hour Newcastle had turned out its thousands, every spot along the course presenting one serried mass of spectators, anioug whom iJie great majprity declared, of course, that their own^tpwnsmeri would Mwalk in/ although there ,were npt wanting many who considered that the change the Thames had effected in .their crew would briiig the bbats so fouch iipdri aneqiiality as .to give the' South countryme;n a fairichaince of success; That such, however,. \vas not the feeling of the wellinformed was evidenced .by the fact that betting prior : to the start was as much' as 4 jbol on the Tyne, and even at such tempting- odds- -very little business was

done. The men appeared at their stations shortly after the appointed time, and the few adherents of the South raised a cheer when they found their men had won the tosa for stations, taking the inside, which, giveathe advantage of a great bend just past the Shot Tower, Both oreWs looked exceedingly well, and seemed all eager to finish, the business they had in. hand. From some cause, however, there was. a perceptible flurry in the Tyhe boat, which got off very badly, and Henry Kelley, not klow to avail himself of .his adveraa- ; ries' hesitation, set his. raeh a rapid telling stroke, whiali gave them ,a lead of : half a length at Davidson's mill, and three-quarters at the Skinnersburn, a favorite spot f or sightseers, who- urged on tlieir townsmen. Here the cheers incited Reiiforthto do more work* and by the time the Shot Tower was reached the Thames barely led by half a length, and so went round the bend, Renforth's pulling was now splendid, and as it was answered by Kelley the race was intensely exciting past the quays and keels alongside, all teeming with spectators. At length, when threequarters of a mile had been done, a wild shout arose from the assembled multitude, " They liatve. them noo ;" and sure enough they had. The rapidity of the Tyne waa too much for the Thames, and well below Watersoh's Gates the crews were level. The struggle was a determined one," but brief ;■ the Thames crew tried their utmost to avert the threatened defeat, but were terribly overmatDhed, and it is no disgrace to say s , when they met ofie, of tlie greatest fonr-oared crews ever seen. At the gates indicating the mile the Tyne had taken their rivals' water, leading hy a length, and increased their advantage as they pulled out for the Little Annie, the Chiswick Eyotof the Tyiie, to : two lengths. Through the gut, paat Armstrottg's works and the New Quay, Kelley spurted again arid again, but ill the " go" was out of thft crew, who/ however^ rowed their \©ry utmost ; while RenforthV party had only to be called upon to go ahead as they pleased, and after two miles took matters pretty easily, an;d won by three lengths, the time occupied being 26min. 25seo. over rather rough, waiter.