1886, and now reproduced by the courtesy of the proprietors.- It is given ix extenso for the sake of the history and reminis- cences embodied in it.
The Extinction of Smail Rowing Clubs.
We published a fortnight ago a letter of complaint on this subject from a correspondent who signed himself ‘Senior Oars- man. We quite admit the fact that the tendency of the great rowing clubs of the Thames has been to absorb the numerous petty clubs which at one time abounded on the tideway, but we entirely fail to agree with his view that this consummation is to be deprecated, either in the interests of oarsmanship or of regattas. Our awn opinion is, that four or five strong clubs raise the standard of rowing and the prestige of regattas to a fur greater extent than if these same societies were split up into a dozen or more minor associations. We can remember when there were a large number of petty clubs of that description, many of them hailing from Putney. ‘The ground-floor doors of the annexe to the ‘Star and Garter ’ at Putney still commemorate the names of some of them, though the clubs have been extinct for ages. ‘Nautilus? and ‘Star’ are among the titles which are still painted on the doors. Prior to the founding of the London Rowing Club in 1856, the rowing talent of the Thames was split up into many such small sections. None of them, save the ' Argonauts, were fit to man one decent four between them. The L.R.C. consolidated these small societies for the time being; but there are always to be found oarsmen who prefer to pose as leaders of small-fry clubs rather than play second or third fiddle in first-class clubs. Hence, no sooner had the L.R.C. consolidated one batch of small clubs than others sprang into existence. At the date of the founding of the Metropolitan Regatta in 1866 there were once more a host of these minor societics on the Thames, and one of the causes of weakness in the executive of that regatta arose from the recognition of these small clubs by the L.R.C. as factors to be consulted in its organisa- tion, These petty clubs had no chance of winning the open prizcs, hut they were keen to distinguish themselves and have a hand in the gathering, and accordingly the ‘metropolitan’ eights and pairs for local secand-raters had to be established, in order to induce the small clubs to join the undertaking. The result of this policy was, that before long the L.R.C. provided by far the larger pro-
portion of the funds for the regatta, and yet had to defer to the