THE SCULLING CAHMPIONSHIP. AN EXTRAORDINARY ROLL.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 315, 10 November 1888, Page 3

THE SCULLING CAHMPIONSHIP. AN EXTRAORDINARY ROLL.

Nkver in the history of sculling has there been such a sensational race as that which took place on Satin- Jay, October 27th, on the Paramatta, Eiver, when Henry Ernest Searle, a young man 22 years of age, a native of the Clarence liiver district, easily defeated Peter Kemp and secured the championship of the world. Ever bince his easy victories* o\ei Wulf, Stansbury, Neils?on and Hughe?, young Seaile ha.s been regarded as the coming man, though but few thought that he would come so soon. All «aye a very few who had taken the lad in hand and iested his powers of speed, coolness and endurance regarded it as a bold act on his pait to throw down the gauntlet to the champion oars-man of the world, a man who \\a« reg.udul try .-.uuli ma-teis ot th« art as. Beach and Han lan a> perhaps the iastest man in the Avoild, at any rate, ior a mile. The friends ot Kemp, Ined men themselves, clung to the idea thar he would row down the young aspirant to championshiphonours before the mile beacon Mas reached, but the race proved that they had reckoned without their host, as the Clarence River youth had hi«? rival in trouble from the very start and had him completely beaten and at his mercy heforo half, or at mobt three-quartet s of a mile had been traversed. After that it was a procession. Beach, it was said, ran away from Hanlan, and the latter had no show with Kemp, but on Satur>ay JSearle after he had put half a mile behind him simply paddled along, &ending his boat through the water with a giand sweeping, telling stroke and wont away just when and as far as he liked Two moie wonderful spurts than those which he indulged in — one just before reaching the mile pest, and the other , when passing his own boatshed, near Gladesville wnarf — have seldom been seen, and the strength and power he put mt > his stroke, as m ell as the speed with which he made his boat travel, fairly electrified the excited onlookers, and cauted an ex-cham-pion to ejaculate, in tones of almo?t breathless admiration, " By heaven?, he's a wonder !"'

THE RACE. Seavle was the first afloat,, and took a shoit&pin down to the stone wharf at the end of tho Point, and then wont up to the bridge. Kemp came out from under Ryde Whaif and went up to the starting point. Kemp, looking cool and undisturbed, was seated in the Brown and Rose, a boat called after his backer's favou lite racehorse. Searle took the Two Brothers, being the tame boat in which both he and Matterson have recently won theii races- The excitement was inten&e, and the betting, after varying a little, settled down at 6 to 4 on Searle, and at even money that he led at the mile. At 27imin. past 4 both men broke away at the first attempt, catching the water beautifully together. No advantage was gaiued by either man, and a better start could not have been wished for. They dashed oft at their top speed, Searle being the first to get his weight on, and they rattled up 41 strokes' to the first minute. As near as could be judged, Searle seemed to have the advantage before they had put in 20 stroke?, and when they had travelled the next 100 yards the excited shouts of those on board" the steamers proclaimed Searle's lead bo be a quarter, of a ' length. As they went past the steamers the excitement knew no bounds. All sortsof absurd odds were offered against Kemp, and in that large assemblage 'of people there seemed to be few who could realise the fact that Searle in the first 300 yards was nearly half a length ahead. On the southern side of the river there is a stump with a charred top, and this is as near as possible a quarter of a mile from the start;. When they shot past this Searle was a good half length ahead, and the watch showed lmin 35sec for the distance. In Searle's trial on the Friday before the race he did 'that distance in lmin 29sec, and on the Thuisday in lmin. 30sec. and in In.in. 31sec. A' good opportunity was now given to view the styles of the men aa they made their way to-Uhr's Point, and the general opinion favoured Kemp, but he lacked the speed and agility of his more youthful opponent. Leaving the quarter mile post Searte went ahead foot by foot, and in the next 100 yards made his lead a full length. Here . one ot Searle's backers offered to lay £200 to £100, and i his was quickly taken up. Hearing Uhis Point Kemp quickened up a bit, and

brought Searlo back half a length. , As this overhaul was perceived great shouts of encouragement were offered to both men,' and the betting was paralysed for a moment, but tihat was all, for Soarlo. seeing Kemps approach, opened oue a little and .shot; the stone wharf at Uhr's Point a good length ahead in 2 mm. '20 sec. Clearing' tho' Point tho t\vo. men met the wind which was rather stiff, and Kemp ' turned ■round and had a look at Searlo, who was going away dt every stroke. Tho genoral opinion expressed was, "It's all over, it's 100 to 1 on Searle," 'and so it appeared, for though Kemp plugged away in beautiful ' style tho Clarence lliver inun continued to t leave him, and half-way ovor to One Mile Beacon thore were two lengths' difference between the boats. Here tho men were pulling in lndiah file, and shortly after Searlo wont over towaids tho northern shore under cover of tho wind, while Kemp kept on some distance hefoiehe changed his course, and he wa& the fhstto make "use of, tho smooth water. Heepurtod up a bit, but Searle secing\this opened out witli ia&purbsuch as has never been seen in a race. At the mile point he quickened up to the rate of , 40 to the minute, and shot the Milo Beacon four lengths ahead in 6min. 37.5ec., Kemp coming along kept too close in, and had. to give way a littlo to cletfr tho beacon. , ,lf> v was 5 jiow j evident that Kemp had "no 'bl^ow. He Atfas pulling splendidlY, but'he was "not' fast 'e'tfough for Searle, who 'could' have spurted away at any moment. Leaving tho Mile, the strokes .scored 32 to tht) minute to each man, andthey were o train in the teoth^ of the wind, and occasionally aiumpy Wave would bounce the scull up, but each man was too skilled a 1 waterman for it to trouble him much. Halt way over to Putney, four lengths still divided them, and Mr Jbeeblc remarked to Beach as they stood in the bows of a steamer following the race, "It's all ovor, he's too fast." " Yes, ' replied Beach, " it's 100' to 1 on Searlo.'' Headline Putney they were still rowing 32, and tho point was passed in lOmin. 25 sec. Kemp could not bring Searle back, do what ho could. The former was not tired nor had he given any signs of distress, apdhisstyleofwork wa&admired, butto u&e Beach's words, "Fcter ain't tast enough by a long w?y." Getting over to Tennyson Kemp spurted, his last try, and made the dilleicnce three lengths, but as soon as Searle perceived this he was off again and made things worse for Kemp than they were befoie, and CabariLa \Vhnrf saw six lengths between them fn l^min, 27sec. The steamers now blew the " cock-a-doodledoo" and the various points, crowded with people, rang out with deafening cheers, while carrier pigeons were sent up all tho way down the river, the majority of them being Grafton birds. Kemp now began to tire, but was pulling well. Searle, on nearing Uladesville,, was greeted with 'cheers by the .crowd, which thronged the 'wharf and lined' the "water's edge, and in ansWer to their repeated cails he spurted away in a wouderful manner and was soon 12 lengths ahead. In obedience to his backer's request Kemp then slowed down to save himself for his race with Mattorson on cho following Monday. At One Man Wharl Searle was 140 yds. ahead, rowing 28, and he passed tho wharf in 20m in. Here the lleet of oj)en boats looked as if they would cause Searle some trouble, but'ho steered safely' through and wound up his race with a pi and spurt as Judge Richards drooped the flag in his favour with a credit win of 150 yds in 22min 44J;sec. As the men drew up and shook hand they were greeted with hearty cheevs, and there was nothing about them to indicate that they had finished a severe struggle, both appearing as fresh as if they had just got into their boats. Kemp looked very much crushed and as soon as he had shaken hands with Searle he went, straight ofl up the river home. Searle came round the bow-, of the C-Josfoid and f-eemed quite unconcerned r.s to the value of the gient title lie had jut = t won. The steamer Invincible name clown on Seorle unobserved, and at soon f-s he saw her he put on a spuit, showing that there was any amount moie woik still in him.