THE ROWING CLUBS OF CANADA.

BY CAPTAIN THOMAS BLACKWELL.

william o’connor—the champion of america.

CANADA is rather heavily handi-capped in the matter of boat rac-ing, for, while she has magnifi-cent lakes and noble rivers, King

Frost lays an embargo on them for sucha long period each year that it makesthe rowing season a very short one; yetwith these many disadvantages she has heldher own well against all comers. When wetake into consideration the small numberof active rowing clubs there are in Can-ada it is a matter for nothing short of sur-prise their producing the marvelous oars-men and scullers they have. The namesof Hanlan, O’Connor, Donahue and othersshed quite a lustre on Dominion doingswith the oar.

To the amateur rowing clubs we mustlook as the schools of rowing, and as themeans whereby rowing and its attendant,racing, may be saved from lapsing intothe disrepute with which the actions ofsome of the professionals too surelythreaten it. Men are gregarious crea-tures; therefore it follows that a largernumber will engage in any particularsport or pastime more readily if they cando so in the company of kindred spirits,and, besides, it is so much more econom-

ical and pleasant to become a member ofa club than to practice alone.

There are but nine active clubs en-rolled in the Canadian Association ofAmateur Oarsmen, and one or two ofthese can be styled “active” only bycourtesy; yet what a wonderful showingat the N. A. A. O. regattas against themass of rowing organizations in thiscountry theirs has been! Three timesthey have won the senior fours, thricehave rowed second; in 1885 the Torontosfinished first, but were disqualified forfouling the Columbias. In 1888 theywould certainly have won but for thestrange illness of the stroke of the To-ronto’s crew. Twice the junior fourshas been theirs; the only other time theyentered their crew (the Leander of Ham-ilton) was disqualified on a foul when inthe lead. Twice they have won the se-nior singles, and would have won it yetagain had not William O’Connor beendisqualified prior to the start.

In 1888 the Canadian, Donahue, was

j. j. ryan, toronto r. c.

THE ROWING CLUBS OF CANADA. 1 2 3

oliver morphy. r. mc kay. j. hogg. a. a. g. thompson.

THE TORONTO ARGONAUT’S “HENLEY FOUR.”

so close a second that but for the op-portune “shot” of an amateur photo-graphic crank, standing at the finishline, whose photo showed Psotta tohave been a quarter of a length in thelead, there would have been disputingyet as to who really won the race. Ryan,for three years the Canadian champion,though not the fastest sculler in the Do-minion, came in third in this race, beingsadly handicapped in his boat. Juniorsingles have twice been won by the Can-ucks, and in this race both in 1887 and1888 every heat in which a Canadian rowedwas won by him. They have twice wonthe double-scull race. Pair oars they donot go in for, and there is not an eight-oared racing boat in Canada.

In 1886 both the famous Argonaut andNautilus crews were defeated in thiscountry by the Fairmount crew, of Phil-adelphia; but there was a crew in Canadaat the time that could have beaten every-thing “hands down” had they competedat the N. A. A. O. regatta. This was theLachine crew, of Lachine, near Montreal,probably as fine an amateur four-oaredcrew as ever sat in a boat, and whose rec-ord of 7m. 50 2-5s., when not really hardpressed, speaks for itself.

In 1888 J. F. Corbett, the N. A. A. O.champion of 1887, winner of races almostwithout number. was handily beaten atToronto by J. J. Ryan, beating M. Shea,winner of the junior sculls in this coun-try, by a short quarter length.

It must not be assumed that the man-agers of the Canadian clubs have an un-limited supply of “talent” to draw fromin selecting their representatives, for suchis not the case. “Balcony oarsmen” arelargely in the majority in Canada, as else-where, and after the excitement occa-sioned by the preparation for and rowingoff of the spring “trial fours” the boathouses are, it may be said, deserted, asfar as actual rowing goes, by all but thosein training for the “big events,” namely, inthe East, the Canadian Association re-gatta and that of the National Associa-tion in this country, and in the North-west for the Minnesota and WinnipegRowing Association’s regatta.

The larger number go in for rowingand comparatively few scullers are to beseen. In Toronto, the Toronto and DonAmateur clubs turn out the greatest num-ber, the Argonauts having but two orthree active scullers and the Baysides thesame. The Nautilus, of Hamilton, can

124 OUTING FOR MAY.

boast of a large number of fine scullers,sculling being that club’s specialty; butthe Leanders have none. The Ottawas,of Ottawa, have about the same numberof scullers as the Argonauts and Baysides.The Lachines, of Lachine, have none. TheGrand Trunk Club, of Montreal, hasprobably half a dozen and the Winnipegsa like number or perhaps less. Certainlynot a large field to draw from, this.

At the minor associations’ regattas Ca-nadians have done equally as well as at

with a view to popularizing this style ofrowing.

The regattas are held alternately atToronto, Hamilton, Lachine, eight milesdistant from Montreal, and Ottawa, thecentres of rowing in Canada. The localclub or clubs in these places take themanagement of the regattas, through themeans of regatta committees nominatedby them and approved by the associa-tion, on their shoulders. These regattacommittees have to raise the necessary

funds to meet the ex-penses, w h i c h average

b. knox—bow. jas. wright—stroke.f. thompson—2. e. o. thompson—3.

TORONTO R. C. BIG FOUR.

the N. A. A. O., but it would be profitlessto notice their victories at length.

The formation of the Canadian Asso-ciation of Amateur Oarsmen was the in-auguration of the meritorious plane uponwhich rowing in Canada is at presentbased. It is a “live” organization, ablymanaged and well off financially. Itoffers annually for competition a chal-lenge cup for senior fours, valued at $600,and for the senior singles one valued at$300. Another is offered for doublesculls, and it is proposed that yet anothershall be hung up for pair-oared contests,

about $1,200, and are lia-ble for any debts thatmay accrue.

The regattas have beenheld three times at Ham-ilton, twice at Lachineand Ottawa, and threetimes at Toronto. Lastyear it was Lachine’s turnand the regatta was heldthere under the auspicesof the Lachine RowingClub of that place.

The active r o w i n gclubs of the Dominionare: The Toronto, Ar-gonaut, Bayside and DonAmateur rowing clubs,located at Toronto; theLeander and Nautilusrowing clubs, of Hamil-ton; the Ottawa RowingClub, of Ottawa; theLachine Boating Club,of Lachine; the GrandTrunk Rowing Club, ofMontreal, and the Win-nipeg Rowing Club, ofWinnipeg. The detailedhistories and records ofthese clubs will doubt-less be of interest.

The Toronto Rowing Club may in pointof record claim to be the premier rowingorganization of America. Time aftertime the navy blue has been victoriousover many a watery course, and theirrecord in 1888 of winning both theN. A. A. O. and the C. A. A. O. juniorfours with, necessarily, separate and dis-tinct crews stands unequaled.

Next in seniority to the Atalanta BoatClub of New York, which dates back to1838, and is the oldest aquatic club onthe continent, comes the Toronto Row-ing Club.

THE ROWING CLUBS OF CANADA. 125

In the year 1845 the nucleus of thepresent club was formed, and they at oncebegan holding regattas on Toronto Baywhich soon became a regular institution.

From 1860 to 1862 interest in the clubwas relaxed and it was permitted to be-come inactive, but some time in the yearlast mentioned it was revived, re-enteredthe field, and again held regattas on “thebay.”

Under the presidency of the late Mr.Angus Morrison, the club in 1865 wasregularly organized; but it was not untileighteen years later that it became a bodycorporate, with a membership roll of up-ward of three hundred.

In 1881, after several moves had beenmade, the club finally settled in its pres-ent commodious quarters on the Esplan-ade fronting on Toronto Bay and nextdoor to the Argonaut’s splendid clubhouse. It is a roomy building, but by nomeans handsome in appearance, being40 by 50 feet in size and two stories inheight, with spacious balconies lookingout over the water.

Owing to the encroachments of theCanadian Pacific Railway the presentquarters of the club will have to be va-cated, and when this becomes a necessityit is the intention to build on piles fur-ther from the land. The new buildingwill in all probability outrival that of theArgonauts in beauty of design and com-fort. Regattas, confined to club mem-bers, are held both in the spring and theautumn.

The record of the Toronto RowingClub is a wonderful one, and for moreconvenient reference is tabulated:

Regatta.1881—Single scull, J. C. Graham . . . . . C. A. A. O.1882—Junior four, finished second . . . . . C. A. A. O.1883— Senior four . . . . . . . . . . . C. A. A. O.1883— Junior single, W. O’Connor . . . . C. A. A. O.1884—Senior four . . . . . . . . . . . C. A. A. O.1884—Double scull, O’Connor and Enright . C. A. A. O.1884—Double skiff, O’Connor and Enright . C. A. A. O.1884—Senior four, finished first, ruled out . . N. A. A. O.1884—Double scull, O’Connor and Enright . N. A. A. O.1884—Double scull, O’Connor and Enright . Chatham.1885—Senior single, W. O’Connor . . . . . C. A. A. O.1885—Double scull, O’Connor and Enright . . C A. A. O.1885—Junior four, finished second . . . . .1886—Junior single, A. Grinstead . . . . . C. A. A. O.

C. A. A. O.

1886—Junior four . . . . . . . . . . . N. A. A. O.1887—Senior four . . . . . . . . . . . N. A. A. O.1887—Senior four . . . . . . . . . . . C. A. A. O.1887—Junior single, W. McKay1888—Junior four . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . C. A. A. O.

1888—Senior four, finished second . . . . . N. A. A. O.N. A. A. O.

1888—Senior single, finished third . . . . . N. A. A. O.1888—Junior double, Guinane and Bryce . . N. A. A. O.1888—Senior single, J. J. Ryan . . . . . . C. A. A. O.1888—Senior four, finished second . . . . C. A. A. O.1888—Junior four . . . . . . . . . . . C. A. A. O.1888—Single skiff, E. A. Thompson . . . .1890—Senior single, J. J. Ryan

C. A. A. O.. . . . . C. A. A. O.

The club has a fleet of about sixtyboats, of all descriptions. Ed. Hanlan

was made an honorary member after hisvictory at the Centennial Regatta in ’76.

J. J. Ryan is the representative seniorsculler of the Toronto Rowing Club, andoutside of the Donahue brothers, ofHamilton, Ontario (both of whom beathim at the C. A. A. O. regatta there in1889), he has for several seasons been thefastest man in Canada. Jerry Donahue,*however, is by long odds the fastestamateur in America, the championship ofwhich he won in 1889 at Pullman. Heis five feet ten inches, well built, andweighs about one hundred and fiftypounds, trained.

The Argonaut Rowing Club, of To-ronto, was organized in 1872, and hasnow the finest club house and largestnumber of members of any of the rowingclubs of Canada. It is also the wealthiest,and comprising as it does the best youngblood of Toronto among its members, itis not surprising that it exercises a markedinfluence upon the social life of the city.The growth of the club has been steady,though rapid, and there is every reason tobelieve that it will occupy the premierposition among Canadian rowing organi-zations for many years to come. In 1887the present club house was erected at thefoot of York street, but farther out thanthe site of the former one (which wasburned down), giving an uninterruptedview of the bay and being most advan-tageously placed for viewing all aquaticevents.It is a very fine building, with large,flat roof, which can be used for a grandstand for the regattas on the bay of LakeOntario. On the first floor are racks forthe members’ private boats; at the backthe club’s racing shells are stored, andegress and ingress is obtained by mem-bers by way of a private staircase, whichkeeps them from public view while inthat scant and airy costume affected bythe amateur oarsman.

On the second floor. is the club room,which is handsomely furnished; on thewalls are photographic groups of nearlyall the celebrated Canadian and Ameri-can “fours,” “pairs” and “double-scull”crews, as well as individual celebritiesin rowing circles, photos of groups andtrophies; banners, symbolical of thechampionship of America, Toronto Bay,junior championship of Canada, etc.,adorn the walls also.

At the back of the building is a gym-*J. Donahue has since been disqualified as an amateur.

126 O U T I N G F O R M A Y .

nasium which is fitted up with a goodoutfit and rowing machines. It is usedby members both in the summer andwinter.

During the winter months the membershave an instructor who teaches boxingand fencing. The gymnasium is also usedfor the monthly smoking concerts givenby the club during the compulsory closeseason. In this part of the building aresituated the bathrooms, washrooms andclothes lockers. The club’s record showsthat at Saratoga, in 1873, the Lambebrothers won the pair-oared race in 15m.43s., also the double sculls in 14m. 35s.over a two-mile course. The “senior four,”Messrs. Galt, McKay, Hogg and Gait,won the senior championship of Canadain 1880, and again in 1881 this crew,with the change of A. G. Thompson forT. P. Galt, won the same honor.

In 1880 the “junior four,” Messrs. Har-ris, Ince, Thompson and Tarbutt, wonthe championship in their class, and an-other crew, composed of Messrs. Wallace,Lambe, Morphy and Mosson, repeatedthe victory the following year.

In 1883, at Ottawa, the “junior four,”Messrs. Whittemore, Davison, Langmuirand Wyatt, won the junior championship.In the years 1883 and 1884 the Argonautsat the National Association of AmericanOarsmen, at Lake Seneca, won the proudtitle of champions of America, makingthe fastest amateur time on record onstill water, viz., one and a half miles in8m. 223/4s.

It was this victory which induced theArgonauts to send their crew to measureoars with the Englishmen at Henley re-gatta. The “Henley crew” from thisclub consisted of R. McKay, bow; OliverMorphy, No. 2; A. G. Thompson, No. 3;James W. Hogg, stroke. They left Mon-treal on May 22, 1885, taking with thema new paper shell built by E. Waters &Son, of Troy, N. Y., and arrived at Liv-erpool on June 2. They went to Henleyat once and commenced active training.At first they felt uncomfortably crampedon the Thames River after the fine openlakes, but they soon became accustomedto it.

They had only four weeks to train be-fore the regatta took place, and they en-tered into work with such zest that theyovertrained, as it proved.

On the day of the race for the Steward’sCup—which was the prize they wentacross the Atlantic to compete for—they

rowed in a cedar boat built by Clasper, ofPutney, as the boat they took over withthem from this side was found unsuitableto the waters of the Thames.

In the race they led most of the way,and while still holding a good lead cameto a dead stop when within less than aquarter of a mile from home, owing toNo. 2 (Morphy) having to give up, andan almost certain victory was snatchedfrom them. All of the crew were moreor less affected by the severe training,but Morphy suffered more than theothers, and was really quite unfit for theeffort required on the morning of therace. It was a grave mistake on the partof the club to send a crew upon such animportant mission without at least twospare men, and this oversight doubtlesslost them the brightest laurels a Canadianclub could wear. Morphy, a game, strongman (accidentally drowned in Lake Win-nipeg last season, poor fellow), was veryeasily trained. The others required morework, and in their preparation, having nosubstitute, Morphy rowed himself stale.The crew was also entered for the Metro-politan Regatta, held the following weekat Putney, but being disabled by No.2’s indisposition had reluctantly to giveup the idea and return to Canada with-out the coveted laurels.

The club has also been successful in thefollowing four-oared events: In 1879at Lachine, Hamilton, and Toronto row-ing club regattas, and in 1880 at Barrieand Forest City regattas, held at London,Ontario. At the C. A. A. O. regatta atLachine, in 1890, the junior four-oaredcrew of the Argonauts came to the front,beating Lachine, Toronto, Leander, Otta-wa and Grand Trunk.

Every spring are rowed the “springscratch fours” races, for which all mem-bers are eligible; the modus operandibeing that all wishing to join enter theirnames on the list at the club, and therowing committee select the requisitenumber of “strokes” and “bowmen,” andthen fill up the other places in the boatsfrom the list, with the object of gettingthe crews as evenly matched as possible.The races are rowed in heats—two crewsin each—and as there are sometimes asmany as fourteen or fifteen crews it gen-erally takes two or three days to workthem off—the winners receiving pewtersor silver medals.

After the spring “fours” the junior andsenior crews are chosen and commence

MY WHEEL. 127

active training for the regattas generallyheld about August or September.

In the fall the ‘(scratch fours” arerowed, and the Dufferin medal for singlesculling is competed for.

The club owns a large six-oared gig, inwhich trips are made to various placesalong the shores of Lake Ontario, andwhen the Argonaut is filled with fourteenor fifteen jolly “argonauts” a merrier ormore jovial crew it would be hard to find.The club’s fleet consists of fifteen racingskiffs, “pairs,” “fours” (paper and cedar),and practice “fours.” About seventy-fiveskiffs and thirty-five canoes are in theprivate racks.

The membership of the club is overthree hundred, and the revenue about$4,500. The colors of the club are Ox-ford and Cambridge blue. Sir Alexan-der Campbell, the Lieutenant Governorof the province of Ontario, is patron,Col. G. A. Sweeney president, and Mr.H. F. Wyatt honorary secretary.

The records are as follows:

1875—Pair oar, Lambe brothers . . . . . Saratoga.1879—Four oar . . . . . . . . . . . Lachine.1880—Senior fours . . . . . . . . . . C. A. A. O.1880—Junior fours . . . . . . . . . . C. A. A. O.1881—Senior fours . . . . . . . . . . C. A. A. O.1881—Junior fours . . . . . . . . . . C. A. A. O.1883— Junior fours . . . . . . . . . . C. A. A. O.1884—Senior fours1886—Senior fours, finished second . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . N. A. A. O.C. A. A. O.

1890— Junior single, A. P. Burritt . . . . C. A. A. O.

MY WHEEL.

OH, sing ye the deeds of your favorite steeds,And praise them in rhythmical line,

No matter how free each equine pedigree,I’d not take your best one for mine.

By night or by day, be it work, be it play,My steed stands equipped for the run;

And it skims o’er the lea just as light and as freeAs it did in the days that are gone.

No nostrils stretched wide at the end of a ride,In a spasmodic gasping for breath;

No sides white with foam as we ride swiftly home,No plunging the saddle beneath.

At the touch of the toe, o’er the level we go,Like the flight of the swallow in May,

Like the swift mountain rills we come down the long hillsIn a fearless, exhilarant way.

Oh! rare is a ride down the long mountain side,As the sun slowly sinks to his rest,

And his swift-fading light bids the world a good night,Ere it quenches itself in the west.

And rarer by far, when each bright, blinking starFrom a heaven all gem lit looks out;

And the silvery moon sets the heart in a tuneWith the wonderful silence about.

To you be the gold and the jewels untold,I feel myself wealthy, indeed,

As I glide o’er the leas under high, arching trees,On the back of my untiring steed.

Frederic Bierhoff, M. S.