Evening Star Newspaper, March 23, 1930, Page 90

oat Race Which F BY JOHN CLAGETT PROCTOR. N September 14, less than one year ago, the writer he=:d vividly de- scribed over the radio the speedboat races on. the Potomac River, and, though naturally interested in all the events, which were very exciting, yet he be- came particulggly interested in the ladies’ grand free-for-all five-mile mace. And there was & special reason for this, since this particular -event was being contested every inch of the way by one of our own Washington girls, Miss Elinor Corby, daughter of our well known fellow-citizen, W. S. Corby. It was a thrilling race, and the groaning of the engines and the churning of the water as the boats turned the stakes could be distinctly heard, and one could almost imagine - himself as being an eye- witness to this great aquatic classic. Science and grit and a good, powerful, de- pendable engine are all required to win a race of this kind, and Miss Corby seems to have combined all these, but it was not for her to win this time, and the best she could do, after as plucky a race as woman ever participated in, -was to come in second. Let us hope she will be more fortunate next year, and as they would in, say in racing and gaming parlance, “bring home the bacon.” Riding in a speedboat at a good clip is rather strenuous on all hands aboard. Indeed, the writer knows this from the experience he had in one last Summer on the lakes near Providence, R. I., for when the boat was going at full speed it seemed to him about as com- fortable as it would be to be drawn at high speed in a large wooden scoop over a gravel road. Every ripple.and every wave in the water could be felt; it was anything but pleas- ant riding. However, the race of last September, with all of its intense interest and climaxes, with all of its excitement, pleasures and disappoint- ments, which always go with events of this kind, just somehow or other carried the writer back to a boat race he remembered which took place here on the Potomac River nearly 50 years ago-—irideed, 50 years ago exactly the 19th of next May. It was the Hanlan- Courtney boat race, and the course was prac- .tically the same as the one used for the speed- boat races. FOR months before, and even for months after, this so-called boat race—for it really turned out to be a fizzle—the city, and indeed ‘the whole country, for that matter, was clean Hanlan-Courtney crazy, and no discussion started that did not end with a review of the abilities of these two men—undoubtedly two of the best single -scullers, who ever stepped intc a boat or who ever handled an oar. When this great event took plaec the writer ‘was a youth, even to such an extent that he still enjoyed toys and playthings, and his boy- ish heart was greatly gladdened when one of his uncles made for him two little sailboats which were made to revolve with the wind when placed upon a pole. He recalls he named one “Hanlan” and the other “Courtney,” and ‘that for several years afterward, whenever the wind blew, these two miniature boats raced -around and around in his back yard, much to his childish delight.™ It was an international race, this Hanlan and Courtney affair, and that is the reason why it attracted more than local interest. Edward Hanlan hailed from Toronto, Canada, and Charles E. Courtney’s home was in Union Springs, N. Y. Courtney was a big fellow, almost 6 feet 1 inch in height, and with broad shoulders, produced no doubt from rowing, in which he had indulged since childhood, and in American boating circles he had been a prom- inent character for years. Born in 1849, at 21 ’he was the acknowledgedschampion of America, He was a carpenter and ran a planing mill at his home town, Union Springs, N. Y. He was popular because he was obliging, and espe- cinlly was he admired by the faculty and stu- THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, MARCH 23, 1930. alled Aroused Anger The start of the Hanlan-Courtney contest on the Potomac at Washington. —From a sketch by H. A. Ogden in Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, Hanlan-Courtney Contest on Potomac, Fifty Years Ago, Drew Record Crowd for Its Day, but Gained Historic Importance Through Oarsman’s Unusual Course. dents of Cornell University for the assistance he had given its crews in their intercollegiate races. Hanlan was not so large a man as Courtney, but he was unusually strong and muscular. He was not born until 1855, and was therefore six years younger than his rival. He began to row at so early an age that it is said he was almost born in a boat. Indeed, at the age of 3!, years he rowed across Toronto Bay, said {0 be a good trip for a boy of 13 or 14 years, and before coming to Washington had defeated some of the world's best-single scullers, both amateur and professional, in the 65 or » more races in which he had participated, in- cluding Handon and Elliott, the latter at that time England’s champion sculler. He was a native of Canada, and his occupation in 1880 was the keeping of a public house opposite Toronto, his name alone drawing big business, especially from those interested in boat racing and associated aquatics, Onmmnymthermon!orrlnlry between these two men, one a Canadian, the other an American; one living in New York State and the other just across the bor- Hanlan, the winner. der to the north, and both regarded as phe< nomenal oarsmen. Naturally it was inevitable that these men should be brought together to determine which was the better of the two, and somehow or . other—especially in the great events—something always seemed to happen to throw a cloud over the races in which these men took part, like the one rowed on the Potomac. When they first rowed at Montreal, Canada, over the Lachine course, it was as beautiful a race as any one would care to witness. It was nip and tuck all the way to the very finish, Hanlan winning by less than a boat’s length It was after the Montreal race that Hanlan rowed in England with signal success. Courte ney during the meantime rowed a race for $500 on Silver Lake, New York, with Riley, who was at the Washington race ready to take the part of either of the contestants should one or the other fail to start. He even ap- peared on the course and rowed some distance ahead of the racers. What brought the Washington race about more than anything else was a prize of $6,000 offered for this purpose by the Hop Bitters Co., all to go to the winner. Chautauqua Lake, New York, and not the Potomac was desig- nated as the place for the contest. And right here something happened that no one has been able definitely to explain, and that is that on the morning the race was to take place, and when everything otherwise was in readiness, it was found that some mysterious person had sawed Courtney’s boat, and it was cut to such an extent as to preclude a race. HANLAN performed his part of the contract by rowing over the course, but the Hop Bitters Co. refused to award the six thousand, and in the end the race on the Potomac was agreed upon, not, however, without much effort and dickering. The Star of November 14, 1879, tells of the long-drawn-out conference and the terms decided upon by the two men, as follows; “After upward of nine hours of hard labor, almost every point in each article being obe- jected to over and over again, one man or the other having refused to go one inch further; articles of agreement were signed at 12:10 o'clock this morning, Judge Wheeler, the city attorney of Rochester, being the subscribing witness. Courtney arrived at 2 o'clock and left at 8:30 to meet an engagement at Ithaca. Capt. P. H. Sullivan of the Rochester police, his new right-hand man in place of Brister, signed the articles in Courtney's stead. Court= ney and Hanlan agreed to row a five-mile race, two and a half miles out and return, in best boats, in accordance with the following cone ditions: “‘The race shall be for the sum of $6,000, as previously offered. The race is to be rowed on a course on the Potomac River near Wash= ington, D. C.,, on Tuesday, December 9, be= tween the hours of 2 and 5 o'clock in the afternoon. Smooth water required, subject to the decision of the referee, who is empowered to postpone the race until the next day or the first favorable day thereafter, if the water is not in fit condition for the race to come off, but in case of such postponement it shall be optional with the referee to fix the hours of the race between 10 and 11:30 am. or 2 and 5 pm. ““It is mutually agreed thit each contestant shall deposit with the referee $500 within five days from this date, with written instructions to pay the $1,000 over to the oarsman who does start in the race at the word “Go!” if the other oarsman does not start. But in case both start or both fail to start the $500 is to be returned to each of the depositors. Wile liam Blaikie of New York is to be the referees the decision of the referee shall -be final, the referee to accompany the men over the course if possible. 3 ! “‘Bach oarsman has the right to select & judge to look after his interests, who shall be