THE GREAT INTERNATIONAL BOAT RACE.

Grey River Argus, Volume X, Issue 763, 8 December 1870, Page 2

THE GREAT INTERNATIONAL BOAT RACE.

' '[; '■ T,Be, great four-oared boat race, England v; 'America,' came off on: the St. Lawrence ■•' i;i Eiv£rT ! 'bri the loth' September, between a ■ ' l " -Si. ° John's crew and a Tyne (Newcastle) crew, distance four miles, resultiug in an .-■easy, victory for the latter. There were over fifty thousand spectators present. For days .< .'EMoiMeal presented a spectacle. of pleasing animation. On Wednesday, the 14th, some 1 :' thousands of additional; visitors came into = :. -fche- city from all parts of America, and >; ?! trooped into the streets in crowds. Many .of the strangers came from California, Min- •^ Jnessotay rtnd the Far West of America. This enormous influx of visitors could not find! accommodation, and beds were at a ■ high -premium. Hundreds were glad, as a favor, to be permitted to rest in the cor'ri- ' dors, porches, and approaches leading to the hotels, and numbers passed the mghtin the streets. The following is the account of the ' race :^- At about five o'clock the Tyne men ' ": launched their beautiful craft, and were followed iti a lew minutes by the St. John crew, - . aniidst cheering. The excitement was tre- : niendous. Precisely at seventeen minutes past five o'clock, the crews struck the water with the blades of their oars, and. the long- , lopked-for. contest . for aquatic supremacy between the picked crew of Great Britain '.and 'the choicest oarsmen of Canada at length began. For the first half-mile from the" starting point the land runs in almost a straight line by the side of the river, and for that distance the course is perfectly clear of all obstacles- .-the depth of the river here running from four to six feet. ■" Aloiig tbis sheet of water the men bent their arduous task, and every muscle and . . tendon of each oarsmen was stretched to the ' utmost in endeavoring to secure the pride of place. The competitors were urged!: on to almost superhuman exertions by the tremen- ■ : itous cheers that greeted their efforts, ivnm the surging and excited throng who eagerly : : watched every stroke of the oai-3 as they rapidly cleft the water, and caused the iv - 'boats- 'to glide along at a speed -which such craft- had never before displayed on the St. Lawrence. Before fifty 3'arda had been covered, the St. John, amidst terrific ap- ■' plause, begaii to show in front, and strikiu^ with great rapidity increased their, lead by a length. The! Tyne crew stuck cooly and deliberately to their work, and -the St. John -oarsmen slackening their efforts a little, Renforth put on the steam, came up hand over hand and was soon level. When a quarter of a mile had been gone the Tyne crew had a lead of fully i ft length, and notwithstai:ding,;the ; efforts of the St. Jobnsmenj the Tyne crew turned the . buoy 40 seconds ahead, of, their Canadian competitors. Tlie Tyue kept its lead the tetum journey, and the Sfc. : John rowed gal- ': lantly on, but without hope of retrieving •; their lost ground. Thus tbe race ended, the Tyne representatives keeping quite ■ 300--yards ahead until near the finish, when Renforth put on a spurt, the Dunstah rushed through tho waters like a thing of : Jife,! and the contest ended in an easy victory for the representatives of "the Mother Country. Betting even. The St. John crew refused to row in Ensrkn/l, but nnder» took to pay the English four L2OO to row in ■" America.'