Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/478

 458 ROWING Pittsburgh. The Wards won, making time to the turn in 11 m. 20 s., and the four miles in 24 m. 40 s. St. Petersburg, Paris, Vienna, Pesth, Marseilles, Antwerp, Amsterdam, Kot- terdam, Hamburg, and many other European .cities have their regularly organized rowing clubs. Indeed, as a popular amusement, row- ing is now nearly universal. In the matter of training, the course in later years has been uniformly one of improvement. Instead of unnatural sweating, physicking, and living on half -cooked meat and scarcely any vegetables or liquid, the preparation for the race is now much more rational. A generous supply of vegetables, a fair allowance of liquid, and abundance of fresh meats have been found to work so beneficially, notwithstanding the free perspiration which this diet occasions, that it is surprising that stinting is still so common. The first work is easy, and the approach to the severe is careful and gradual. A bath and a short walk (no running) before breakfast, short, slow pulls before dinner, in which great atten- tion is paid to improving and perfecting the style, and a long, careful row in the afternoon, followed by a vigorous rub-down, soon begin both to toughen the men and bring uniformity in their rowing. Then the fast row over a part, and finally over the whole of the dis- tance, takes the place of the long row, and for the last two weeks before the race these fast rows are taken daily. There have been many variations from this regime. To row as the term is now understood, one must sit facing opposite the way he wishes to go, and, bracing his feet against the footboard, and grasping his oar or oars firmly, must reach well out, prompt- ly dip his blade in the water, and then vigor- ously throw the whole weight of his back and all the pushing power of his legs into the stroke, pulling until his hands actually touch his body. No one rows well who does not do substan- tially all these. The number of strokes per minute will vary in different crews from 39 to 45, and some crews have "spurted" to 47. Dr. J. E. Morgan, after a painstaking and ex- haustive inquiry among all the Oxford and Cambridge oarsmen now living, and among the friends of those deceased, reaches a con- clusion most favorable to this exercise, the only serious danger being to him who, with abounding pluck and spirit, has not yet suifi- cient growth or strength to take part in such a race at all. The lightest forms of modern out- rigged racing boats in the United States, built with a single streak or smooth skin, are called "shells." Those for one oarsman are single shells, for two men each using a pair of sculls double sculls or shells, and for four and six men respectively, four- and six-oared shells. Fiu. 1. Six-oared Rowing Shell : Elevation. The covering of the wooden frame, technically known as the skin, is made of pine, cedar, or mahogany, of uniform thickness, from -^ to ^ in. according to the size of the shell; or the skin may be of layers or even a single sheet of the requisite thickness of manila paper, stretched on a pine model, which is taken out when the paper skin is thoroughly dry. The skin is then made water-proof, is finished with hard varnishes, and must have a frame to sup- port and keep it in shape. Other component parts of the shell are the washboards, decks FIG. 2. Six-oared Bowing Shell, showing Seats and Outriggers. or " canvas " of thin wood, oiled linen, or silk, the thwarts or seats for oarsmen, stretchers or footboards against which the rowers press their feet, the rudder connecting with the " travel- ler," which the bow oarsman operates with his feet, and the outrigger. The dimensions are : single shells, 9| to 15$ in. beam, 28 to 31 ft. length ; double shells, 14 to 30 in. beam, 32 to 34 ft. length; four-oared shells, 17J to 30 in. beam, 40 to 42 ft. length; six-oared shells, 19 to 21 in. beam, 48 or 49 ft. length. For the lightest single sculls the draught is from 3 to 3 in., weight of boat 30 Ibs., oars 6 Ibs., rower 125 to 158 Ibs. ; total weight and displacement, 162 to 194 Ibs. For larger single sculls the total weight may be 168 to 242 Ibs., including boat 38 to 40 Ibs., and rower 130 to 200 Ibs. For double shells, draught 3 to 4J in., boat 50 to 90 Ibs., oars 12 to 14 Ibs., crew 262 to 458 Ibs. ; total weight, 324 to 562 Ibs. For four- oared shell, draught 4| to 5$ in., boat 94 to 180 Ibs., oars 26 to 28 Ibs., crew 552 to 800 Ibs. ;