THE SPORT OF ROWING Hoffman: “Newspaper columns leading up to the 1894 regatta talked about Gaudaur’s and Peterson’s shells arriving, about the arrival of ‘Rice, the big oarsman from Toronto, Canada,’ an aquatic exhibition next Sunday, etc., Hosmer and Plaisted en route, Fred Plaisted to demonstrate his laughable tricks and gyrations in his shell, Mr. Rice’s shell weighing 20 pounds and being 31 feet 6 inches long . . .”1140 Austin Daily Statesman: “Mr. Geo. Hosmer will give the spectators in front of the grand stand an exhibition of erratic rowing in his tiny shell. Mr. Hosmer is about the only man in the world who can perform those such as aping a dude, a new beginner, a man from the forks of the creek, a bullfrog, a Texas cowboy and other ridiculous and side-splitting manifestations. “Mr. Hosmer must be seen to be Kelley Jake Gaudaur “In the 1890s, these land rowing machines were used by professionals, both for road races and for ‘go as you please’ races in the old Madison Square Garden.” - Kelley Fred Plaisted and Jim Ten Eyck appreciated, and the management assures the public that after Mr. Hosmer kicks up his aquatic capers, any one who may have a fit of the blues will be immediately cured.”1141 There was a vaudeville air to the entire event. Indeed, the Austin regattas were held under the auspices of the American Regatta and Carnival Association. During this era professional oarsmen were such celebrities that several made a living on the actual vaudeville circuit, competing in races on stage in front of a mechanical display that was a fascinating premonition of the annual CRASH-B Ergometer World Champion- ships. 1140 Hoffman, personal correspondence, 2007 1141 Austin Daily Statesman, June 9, 1893 toured the U.S. and Europe together for four years. “‘With mechanical appliances, the pair would row in competition. Revolving sculls of miniature dimensions would indicate the progress of each competitor.’ The audience loved it. And at the end of the act, Plaisted wrote that they didn’t need any hostess to say, ‘Give the boys a great big hand!’”1142 Professionals participated in races on three-wheeled velocipedes, popularly called road-scullers,1143 around the wooden velodrome track installed inside Madison Square Garden in New York City during breaks in their wildly popular Six-Day professional bicycle races. 1142 Plaisted Scrapbooks, Mystic Seaport and www.rowing-history.net 1143 Per Bill Miller, personal correspondence, 2010 302
