THE SPORT OF ROWING when he found that Hanlan meant to pull the race ‘on his merits,’ he sawed his boats to sneak out of the contest.”556 But to many, that seemed to make no sense at all. As the Chautauqua area’s local paper, the Jamestown Journal, pointed out: “Courtney had no motive to destroy his boats. If he thought Hanlan could beat him, he could have sold out, rowed a close or losing race in quick time and saved his honor. www.monarchyfreecanada.org Ned Hanlan race] promising $2,000, win or lose. . . . At that point, Hanlan produced a letter from Courtney, offering the Canadian champion $3,000 if he allowed the American to win. There seemed no end to the web of uncertainties.”555 The Globe of Toronto, a Hanlan backer, proffered one version: “They met at Chautauqua Lake, and before Courtney would go out upon the water he wanted a promise from Hanlan in writing that he (Courtney) would be allowed to win, and Liver Regulator, and Life and Health Restoring agent on earth, tonic and stimulating WITHOUT INTOXICATING.” Not mentioned was that its primary ingredient was low-grade, high-powered whisky, per Samuel Hopkins Adams, That Was Rochester, The New Yorker, August 23, 1952, p. 27. 555 Cosentino, op. cit., p. 42 Young, Courtney and Cornell Rowing Charles Courtney “Facts seem to throw the blame on the Hanlan party, who didn’t want defeat. All who saw Courtney were impressed with his sincerity and genuine regret.”557 Nevertheless, Courtney was crushed by the scandal. Sports journalist and author Harry Clay Palmer, writing ten years later: 556 Harding, p. 26 557 Qtd. by Look, p. 93 152
