that a Mr. J. C. Babcock, of the Nassau Boat Club, constructed a sliding seat as long ago as 1857. Also that W. Brown, the American sculler, tried one in 1861, but abandoned it. In 1869 Mr. Babcock once more devoted himself to the study and construction of sliding seats, and brought out a six-oared crew rowing on slides, But the invention did not ohtain much recognition, although Mr. Babcock was of opinion that his crew gained in power of stroke through the new apparatus,
How the seat came to be at length adopted arose thus, In 1871 two Tyne crews went to America to compete in regattas, One of these was Renforth’s crew, and, as detailed elsewhere, Renforth died during a race against the St. John crew, Robert Chambers (not the ex-champion) took his place later on for sundry regattas. The Tyne crews rowed with a good average of success in America. Taylor, who commanded the other ‘Lyne four, raced a States four, called the Biglin-Coulter crew, rowing with sliding seats. These Biglin-Coulter men did not prove themselves, as a whole, any better than, if so fast as, the British crew ; consequently there was nothing to draw especial attention to their apparatus. Of the two British crews, that stroked by Chambers proved itself on the whole, through yarious regattas, faster than Taylor’s four.
Taylor bided his time. He proposed a match on the ‘Tyne between the two British fours, and the offer was accepted. ‘The match came off in the fall of the same year. Taylor's men had their boat fitted with sliding seats, and kept their appa- ratus ‘dark’ from the world and from their opponents. ‘Vhey used to cease sliding when watched, and kept their apparatus covered up. When the race came off, Taylor's crew decisively reversed the American regatta form, and beat Chambers’s crew easily. ‘This was ascribed to the slide, information as to which leaked out after the race, The next University race was not rowed with slides, but a couple of minor sculling races in the spring were rowed with them. In June of that year a very fine L.R.C. four (Messrs. J. B. Close, F. S. Gulston, A. de L. Long, and W, Stout) rowed a four-oared match on the Thames against
