ROWING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2810, 22 January 1908, Page 66

ROWING.

Ravensbourne Regattar-^February 1., OhristchurcK Regatta— February 15. Invercargill Regatta-7-Februairy 19. "Wellington" Regwtta— February 29. - Qtago Regatter- March 23. * - • Championship Regatt* , (Nfapier) — March 21& s BT STBOKP; The crew chosen by Messrs Galbraith. Hogan, and Keenan- to represent. Otago against Southland next month is very different from the ctews" which. have hitherto re« presented the province, and which have been unable, during the last five years,. 10 bring back the Edmond Shield; which. the Southlanderß had won from us.' -' TB&- patfc" crews have always " been compoised^qT.chiefly composed— of men who "have- had a fairly long, rowing career^ and- who "havea long list of victories to their credit. Tina year the crew is composed ,of young men who, although they have had a few years* rowing, have not had a great many wing, bu£ Jhave come rapidly, to the front, and ,it ;will be- - interesting to watch, how fche new blood will shape" against their more experienced .opponents. ' ' From 'all accounts the Southland ,crew -will stfll contain., some of the' old crew which -has' done _such -g<Sd& service »- for s their .club-- and . province^ bufc'i the. exact inames are not yet' to hand.^-' The following" re the Olago - crew may prove of -interest:— -. , . --- - ,'-t' . S."* Whittaker3"(e"iroke) Is only 23/yey» of ' *ge", and x .weighs .' in ordinary, clothe* 10 ' stone 61b. , Started rowing in 190*"05. bo that £his ie only 'his'. fourth season, and it. has not taken long for him' to jjyove his -workr by- getting so quickly .to the top of the tree. He won the Junior Pairs with his club mate (H. Paton) at Port Chalmers in 1906, and has just rowed level with the Port crew for first place in the^ Senior Fours at the last regatta on Boxing 1 Day. He 1 has also won several club races. Whittaker is -rather on the 1 light side for stroke, and has not got {he long reach . which the writer likes to see, but he is very wiry, ana his stroke has plenty of devil in it, «nd he rows hard from start to .finish." ,„ H. Paton (No. 3)' is -well known as one of New Zealand's best forwards at footbal?. .He is 2? years of age and weighs 13st 51b.. He started rowinjr about 1901,- and after* aJ ctmple o£ years with the D.A.BC, he joined 1 the Otago 'club. -In 1905 at Port Chalmers he won -both. Maiden Fours, and Maiden Pairs, '.and in the-same season at- .WaihoTa .'again won the- Maiden "Jfairsl .In 1906 ;he rowed second in -the Junior Fours, and with* -Whittaker .won, the Junior Pairs y in good! style, and this year v. he rowed 'No. 3 in, the Otago crew which t tied, for.-firsi.. place in the- Senior Fours.' PatcV is a big, strong fellow, and is considered the beet man _£<tr the^ position 'in a the.,.harboi^f.. '' >: "~ '• E."'Hutehisoh'(N6."q istthe.youngestrmaTi .in ,lhe- crew, •," being, only 21" years , of "age. "He- is a well-built Tad, and turns the. soatea at"l2st 31b." -Started rowing in jl9o4,^*nd in ihat vearfwon' > 3rouih6'.and" Maiden, Fours 'at and .in 1905 _' again won •Youths'- Fours' at .Port Chalmers,' 'and; thfs year" formed "one of the""Otego: crew \ri. Senior Fours at the Port. '- ; ' ' * S*. Sandes (bow), aged 24-, weight lost 101b ■' joined the,. Otago. crew inf 1900-01, • And has ■ heen/an enthusiastio member -from the start. Iri**! o^ the rowed - bow in the winning crew, of the Junior Fours at Port Chalmers, and in the' same season at the- championship meeting at Waihola his crew were leadingfor first, place in the Juniors, when * f6]u with thfe Christchurch crew -threw*! them put of the race. "In 1905 Sandes won the Maiden Double Sculls at Dunedin, and* won his senior- status in the "big race on Boxing Day in this year.. JETe also has been- a. consistent winner . in '%lub races, and his promotion" to "rep." honours is well earned.' " As will be seen from the men's weights the crew will not be a Jieayy one, but will be a and when sitting in-- the boat. should average about list, which, is a nice weight.' The good wishes of all rowing men are with the crew, who have started work in good* heart,' attd intend doing their, best for the honour, of their province'- and club. , ,'>.■ The Por*- O'ub started 1 their next, club -ace (President's Fours) for medals 'presented by iolin Mil., JJteq., Masi week, but owing- to a grea*, number of the members having gone into camp with the < Navala the race has 'been .postponed until about .the -end of- thie week,' when ~a fresh start will be made.-- I hear- the veteran .Keenan is getting together' another cre^r, who intend hav,ing~ a t try for ~^the "big race"' next" , regatta; but have not-'heard^ Who are in the crewTfyefi- '!,";" r > '"hbpe to, see-Frapk^ori'-one, -of the'eeW^hiniselfj-^as' with «ome ixaining ; (and -there *is- plenty .of tinae) -he could "get ' back' into. spmetKinglKke his old form.' ■ ■"/TKe ,Q"u'^eii!s--DViye;;Plub has been'prac* tically' shut, up" owing-to tlie-Navals' encamp."ment. -,:"';- " - ' ~ The iNorthlend^Shed' are busy with their club racing, -having just'"*niShed -their Trial '-Fours, "which resulted in the * cantain's crew .beating, M'Kenzie's in the final after a good honest race,,, the former winning on their tuperior combination. Thje» week theWyatt Fours, will, be rowed off,' for which -there are- big entries. .1 heaV if is* i:nl;kely that this clubs Senior Four will "be the same for next regatta as at Port Chalmers. Nos. 3 and 2 will most likely be in the new crew, with two other members. The Otago Club ,mv tend sending their youths' crew-(whp^rQwe» so well on Boxing DayK with- BeimeC,;-in place ot Queloh (who has srone out.oi town), for the Maiden race at Ravensbourne on February 1. and they should be a very, "hard crew to beat.j England has one member of Parliament for every 10.890 electors, Ireland one fop every 7177, Scotland one for every 8974, and Wales one for every 9613. • When 'explaining the 'conditions of tha ' terms of the lease in connection -with tho sale of the Trocadero . (cays the Hastings Standard), tiie .auctioneer made -it clearly, understood' that .'any Chinese purchasingthe lease would have to gay an' additional - rent of 10s per week.- . '

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race. Entries can be made with Mr Cr. Nelson, Otago Sports Depot. ' — — Dr Stanley Batchelor' has purchaseda 9 h.p. Stuart car, which he intends to drive while following his professional praotice. / .\ < -Mr Dorman, with hie 20 h.p. Rov.er, the winner of the recent petrol-consump-tion test, was in Dunedin last week._ This is the third Christ church-Dune din. trip 'this oar has had within the month. By the way, that test showed the perfection of the modern' automatic carburretur. Thirty-nine ton miles' per gallon works out at 50 miles per gallon for an ordinary .two-seater - car, giving two passen- , gere 50 miles' .luxurious travelling for Is 6d -=-about id per mile. , ' - ' - — In consequence of protests having been lodged b^ some competitors in connection with the motor cycle reliability trial jeofltttlv held. by. tha C&ristehurch Cycling

and' Motor Club, on the, ground, that com« of the -riders incorrectly- Entered on theie. time sheets mechanical troubles as tyra^ troubles,' and some. took a wrong course, th'eV referee, Mr" E. H. James, held an inquiry., - into the matter lastf Thursday. - He foundl that, none.\ of, the competitors adhered ton, . .the; proper routed and ."decided to^diß^ qualify , all* the. competitors -on 'the groundthat _they -failed^ to comply with one of tha primary conditions governing the, trial. "^ -r" —^.The T balance" shfeet for tne reeenjr Chrietehurch"'to >j 'Duhedin motor car felia•bilitjr trials showed -receipts £34-2- ss, expenditure £253 11s 3d, -credit balance £88 ,3s 9d. „ . % • '"- - •= — At a meeting of the Canterbury Automobile Association, held on January 7, Mr P. Soanea, a member of the' association, - wrote etating that he recently" collided with a horse and trap at night on the North road, sustaining damage to his par to tha extent, of - £35. The , 'trap , sustained no damage, but the driver was suing" the writer) for £4-5 damages. He .thought the association should instruct its solicitor 'to defend the action. It was decided to accede to the request. <-*'„ ~ The following paragraph, from, an Adelaide paper, bears out my contention contained in a paragraph in last week's notes, in replying to statements by' northern papers re an alleged falling off in the use oE the bicycle: — "Those people" who not long ; ago forecasted' the doom of the bicycle on account of the advent of the motor can and the motor cycle 'knew little or ho thing of what' they were, talking "about. Instead of the demand for bicycles falling off, it has gradually increased to enormous' •propor-i tions, and to-day the humble 'safety' is more popular in Australia than ever. The 1 cheap machines find a fairly ready sate, but thl demand for high-grade .Australian, as wel( as British-built cycles, continues apace. On* ] proof of this is to be found in the fact thai ! the Dunlop Rubber Company's mills ay ■Melbourne 1 are turning out 30,000 tyres a month." 1 '— — The ' Nelson Amateur Athletic anif • Cycling Club has decided to hold a sports meeting on Anniversary Day, February 1. An attractive' programme of athletic and 1 cycling events, including a £30 Wheel Race, has been arranged. * An idea of the tremendous export' trade done in cycles by Great Britain »ma.y , be gathered from the fact that during the! first 10 months of 1907 over £1,000,000 worth,' of cyoles were exported to different parts of the world. The motor -assisted pedal bicjcle has" arrived, .and has -conquered the prejudices (says Cycling, England) of those who declared they would always be content to be propelled by* their • own muscular energies. At the Stanley Cycle Show, recently held in London, there were several machines of this class, and they were thoroughly well made, without a semblance, of freakishness, and can be depended upon to do all thaft the manufacturers claim. ;,,Pride of place" must be given to the Motosachoche, because it has demonstrated its practicability under one of the severest tests ever devised for such a machine — namely, the six days*j 1000 miles trial of the' Auto-Cycle Club la's* summer, when it secured a first-class oertifiJ^ cate, a gold medal, and a special prize fortthe best performance of a- light-weighd, machine. """■ — - j — — Glass screens on cars are undoubtedly.' dangerous. Mr Lloyd George, the English'; Cabinet Minister, while driving in his car' last month, 1 was badly cut about the fae«£ through being thrown on the glass spreen, on the car stopping suddenly' as it struck i bad piece of road. T-^The death of Sir HenW Oolville waa recently -cabled out. Sir Henry /was an. ardent motor cyoliatj as well as>ca.r owner. ; It appeares that , he -was' taking a cornea on his machine at about 30 miles an hour, ■ and the high hedge obstructing from, viewi i a oar whioh jras coming alongpSir Henry \ collided wjeh it and was killed. The car was ' driven by a great friend of the deceased. An ardent' motorist presided at the Jnquest, and the jury left y on record the sensible euseetioa thai, efforts should, be made &

]nduce property owners to cut down the nigh hedges at dangerous corners. — — The ruling body -in the Isle of Man, the Tynwald Court, has ,given ite consent to the big international races, which are to be held there by the Royal Automobile Qlub. this -year. A -batch of serious automobile "weekend accidents were reported from New York la3t month. At Escahaba, Michigan, & powerful car which vras travelling at a high rate of epeed overturned, .and Captain Bent, of -the Wisconsin Militia,. was killed, .Whilst his nephew, Senator Stephensbn, and three other jjentlemen \yho' were in the l»r with him, were badly injurd. At ReadIng, Pennsylvania} Mr Harry Schaeffer, the son of a banker, was killed in a motor car Occident, and two others were fatally injured in an accident at Cleveland,^ Ohio, whilst In- New York * a wealthy! lady Jiamed Anna Ray, aged 50, was run over by A -motor' car and seriously injured. — — A good many motor <jycliste if -asked for fcsi opinion as to which part' of the machine P*ve ,them most trouble would probably the leather belt by which the power ff transmitted from the engine to the back Rb*ei. One expert motor cyclist, who states Ki&t he has never had trouble from the Sole? puling out in the driving belt, gives top bib opinion that it is due largely to his of drilling out and hardening the

-leather around the- holes, instead of simply punching them. In the first place, the holes are invariably drilled with 'an ordinary twist drill, which secures the opening of the desired sizes without disturbing the grain of the leather, and also permits of locating fhe holes . exactly as desired. -Afterwards the holes are reamed out with a hot wire of slightly greater diameter, the effect being to cauterise the* leather immediately surrounding the hole and render it hard and refractory. On the Brooklands motor track at Weybridge, England, recently MrF. Newton created class records for the half-mile and 10' laps (nearly 27 miles) for motors of 60 hoise-power. He drov^^a 60 h.p. sixneylinder Napier, and was timea for a' standing start. The hitf -mile,. .record was established' at a speed.' of 952 miles an hour. Some wonderfully^ fast laps were done, while the 10-lap Teoord was feeing made,. the -sneed in two or three cases "exceeding .94 _;miles an ' hour. The officiM speed, however, for, the whole 10 laps was just over 86 miles an houtr. j OTAGO CENTRE- OF LEAGUE OF. j WHEELMEN. A meeting of the Otago Centre of the League of New Zealand Wheelmen -waa held in the Dunedin Sports Club's rooms , on Wednesday, and attended by Messrs H. B. [ Courtis (in the chair), E. Faick. D. Wall, S.

D. Minn, and G. 'Nelson (hbn. secretary}: A- co>wmTiTii oatfcicra' -writs received from Hi& league stating that the council intended to readjust th» existing centre boundaries, ,» and the matter of whether the Oamaru Caledonian Society would be rep-resented . on. the Otago Centre or the South Csaaiterbury Centre would then be decided. — The secretary was instructed *to write to the league pointing out thai as the Oamaru Society was in the Otago provincial district the society should be affiliated to the Otago Centre. The league also wrote stating that it was . itd ' intention -to » -take more drastic measures in regard to disqualifications on -unregistered -*riaexs- riding at unregistered meetings,, and asking the ' of the local centre.— lt was. decided to circu- - lari&e the different unregistered sports bodies^ placing oycl« -races on " their programmes and informf them of the advantages fif securing .permits, to hold their annual sports meetings, and also that in future fidera 'Tieglecting to take" out riding licenses would be disqualified. A report received from the secretary of the evening cycle race iiel<l in conjunction with the Otago Centre, 3ST.Z.A.U., last month, and, seeing -€ke race had proved so euccesrful both in the matter of compeiition and entries, it> waa decided to put on another mile race -at the evening sports to be held on Wednesday fortnight, this meeting to be also held in conjunction' with' the Otago Centre, N.Z.A.TJ. The prizes were fixed at £2 and £1. MOTORING HARDSHIPS IN THE' ABYSSINIAN DESERT. A telegram has been received by a Jjont don journal announcing the safe arrival at Adieababa of Messrs Bently and Wells, two English motorists who were making an ■ adventurous journey on a Siddeley autoJ car across Abyssinia and. Somaliland to I Khartoum. In 20 miles the motorists climbed'' over 6000 ft above 6ea level. They ran 'out of petrol on 'flic way, and were without food for 50 hours. Having' to send on their 'bbye to -obtain the petrol which should have been awaiting them, the travellers were left alone for five, days anct nights. They had to take it in turns mounting guard over the car during , the night, being . fearful that .hyenas might demolish the tyres. They were -a leo at one j time reduced by thirst to drinking the I water out ot the radia~tor. Their journey | lay off the usual caravan route,' and through a waterless -area. THE CIGARETTE DANGER. The habit of smoking cigarettes in close proximity to petrol has .alwaye been looked . upon as a perfectly safe proceeding-. The cigarette and the average chauffeur seem to be inseparable. According to the Motor, owners of automobiles should prevent their drivers from indulging in the habit whiletanks are being replenished. -Last month at San Francisco a lighted cigarette was dropped into a petiol tank at the Howard .Automobile Garage in the Golden Gate Avenue, with the result that the petrol j ig-nited and seven buildings were destroyed, causing- damage estimated at £12,000. j 1 GROWTH OF THE BRITISH MOTOR- ! OAR TRADE. Mr S. F* Edge, in a recent issue of the Xiondon Weekly Dispatch, gave an interesting account of- "How Briton captured the ■world's motor-car 'trade," from which I have culled the following extracts: — "The Olympia show should be popular not only to the enthusiastic motorist, but to the man in the street, because it represents a national triumph^ — the triumph of the British motor-car over its ' foreign rival. The extent of- this' triumph/ and its importance, .is perhaps not quit© -realised outside motoring circles. France and Germany have been, and are, 'our most serious rivals — Germany, whence the -motor-car 'sprang, and France, winch first recognised its enormous possibilities. But the battle did noi start fair. , France and German/ had a" long ■start over Great Britain, and when in. „ 1895 we did wake up_ to the fact that- we j were being left out in. the cold — and that j bj ar> industry peculiarly adapted to our genius— little could be done owing to the Parliamentary Act that forbade any selfdrivon vehicle from travelliflg^at a higher , speed than 12 mi lee an hour. That act (of course, throttled the motor-car trade.

Nobody wanted to buy a vehicle that travelled slower than a horse, and was more expensive. Engineers sought out other fieldo for their skill.- -Meanwhile* France and Germany had taken up a posi•tion in the their cars, were, be;ginning to uf inownj and. recognised air over the worl<}. France quickly, .outpaced its Continental rivals^ - -Excellent roads v 'and lenient regulations gave motorists all the scope they required. Soon clever brains and skilled hands were at work devising machinery, and building, wonderful gleaming cars **hat sped at marvellous Speeds -over the country. "France reaped the deserved harvest , of : , : the pioneer..- - .That country's manufacturers' gleaned " a handsome profit from the new industry. They •worked well for their reward, however, and in their hands the motor-car became a thing of grace and beauty endowed with speed— the, wonder of a closing century. "Of course there were- British cars at that time, but they -were not" mentioned m the same breath, as their foreign rivals. People spoke of them with a shrug of the j shoulders. They were unreliable (unre- j liability is the motorist's bete noire). You could count them in tens. The brains that designed them were lacking either -in knowledge or experience. The dictum went forth. "The British cannot build motorcars. Let us buy from- the French." That was _in the late nineties. ,'At that time -the British motor-car industry might be compared "to a babe (and a very unruly one) wrapped in swaddling clothes. In France, keeping up the metaphor, the industry had grown to man's estate, and, j what is more, was striding on with .no uncertain footstep to perfection. So we had a good deal of leeway to- make up' befor© we could ever hope to come into serious competition with our rivals. The, year 1902 was the turning point in "the history of Britain's motor trade. In that year--we won the Gordon-Bennett Cup with an English car. That gave a tremendous fillip to the industry, besides helping to , popularise motoring in this country. -People began to understand .that we had taken oiir place m the lists, ready to compete, -with foreign-built oars. Also, by this time motor-cars could travel over English roads at 20 miles an hour, which made: the industry worth very serious attention from engineers. At this time on.c rarely saw . a British-built car on the Continent.- Now "our cars .find purchasers all "over, .Europe. In this comparatively short space of time we have caught -up ou**.f<we*g»-eom'pefeitorß > • and passed them. The year 1907 finds the- J&dt^^^il^.xufic^sdiißOwiedged-Kaii^be's "Wpri<i'-crver»as^fcrWßtTTOJ^yr**'S s «B^ and speedy. We have not been content with cars for . ourselves. -« W^d, have -engaged our rival*, on their 1 , own ground- and beaten , them. ..^ • -•-'--.? "I think it is safe to- say our output realises quite £8,000,000 per annum. - The rearon of this .wonderful boom in British cars is due to the,ir all-round excellence. The six-cylinder, principle, certainly, has been copied extensively * throughout Europe,.' "although at the time of ita introduction foreign motorists were inclined to be sceptical. as to' its value. Then there is Sheffield and Sheffield's steel, which is the best the v world produces. -Foreign manu-_ facturers, I am told, send many orders to Sheffield .for" steel .parts, which they us© in their, own cars. A few years ago English motorists went abroad for their steel. Our supremacy ' 'owes a " lot to Sheffield. We hay© engineers, too, whose brains are every .bit. as fertile as, those of foreign firms .and considerably more practical. ., " Our workmen also are much better than the French. They do not think "so much about their work, but this is no drawback to a man solely engaged in reproduction. In .-my opinion, French jmotor-cars ; suffer *a good deal frcm the fact that the engineers ,and are too finicking. They tinker about with machinery on a small scale, pro--<Jucing no gTeat beneficial change, bnt Tather inviting unreliability. "As regards the future,. I think our supremacy will -n6t only.be maintained but strengthened. Everything is in our favour, especially the cheapening^ of -the car and the 'consequent increase- in the number of 'purchasers. Of course, if figures were obiained of- the {imported -foreign ears it would be found , that more t were imported .last year ..than 1902. But -compared .■ with the total" number of cars bought, in this country, the percentage woul3 be* -found ■ -inucb. smaller I should not be surprised, however, .to find that in 1908 the actual number of oars imported begins to fall off. 1 have noticed signs of this approaching decrease during the present year. -Had we only protection in this country the Britishbuilt motor-car would -sweep its- foreign rivals off the earth, so to speak. There would be no standing up against our cheap, reliable, fast cars. . Those countries which desired to save- their motor-car jndusfry from being drowned toy the flood of_ imported cars from the country would do so . in one way only — by putting a prohibitive price on trie importation of all" British, motor-cars and accessories." AN UNACHIEVED FEAT: MELBOURNE TO SYDNEY. SYDNEY, January 17. Kellow and James left Melbourne on a 15 h.p. motor at 2.30 on Thursday •morning, with the object of making the journey to Sydney in 24' hours, and. failed in the attempt, arriving at Sydney about 3.30 this -morning. The overland motorists failed to make the record journey through taking the wrong road when near ing Sydney.'