THE DEATH OF SEARLE.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume III, Issue 397, 31 December 1889, Page 2

THE DEATH OF SEARLE.

OPINION IN AUSTRALIA. (FBOM OCB OWX COBBUTONDimN.) Stdhcy, Dee. 11. Tsz death of Searle, the champion oarsman, has caused considerable sensation among the sporting community and a sincere expression of sympathy and regret from most people whose sympathy is worth having. That a young fellow in the prime of lite and of giant strength of constitution should be taken -away so suddenly in spite of the most devoted and assiduous medical attention shows plainly how powerless is medical skill against diseases which are really serious. Had ho lived, it was confidently expected that Searle would have jastifielThis claim to. be the most phenomenal rower of his age. Rowing ie perhaps not a very elevated pursuit, and certainly it ie not the moat elevated. But as certainly it is better to be good at something than good at nothing, and I tor one have no sympathy With the sour bitterness which frowns upon all distinctions of this kind as unworthy. Searle was a general favorite, but it need hardly ba said that bo moved in a circle fall of danger, and did not altogether oeoape ths inevitable consequences. ' ' December It.

The body of Searle was forwarded through Sydney to the residence of bis parents on Saturday last. There wae an immense drmonstration of respect add appreciation, Rowing and cricket clubs threw up their ap 1 pointmanta and rolled np co maeee to swell the procession, end tbs streets were lined by thousands of citizens who have no special connection with athletic sports. Such oooasions as these show that in the great heart of the public there ie an immense fund of appreciation tor any excellence pr merit which they can understand. The nttdarslandinfi faculty may be limited to very low atrtf - very material planes, but there is always room for hope that it may rise, At present it is quite true that a great Cricketer or rower gets more fame and attention than a groat author or artist. But thia is because more persona san understand their excellence and the gifts and application by which it has been attained. Excellence of a higher order is to ths gteet majority a light bid under a bushel, 'BBS perhaps that the light is really hid, but ibEe are no eyes to see it. which amounts to tench the same thing. On ths other hand instead of sedulously endeavoring to interpret itself in • manner that should bo acceptable to those whose ideas move on lower planes, there io a groat tendency in unappreciated genius to wrap its cloak haughtily around it and smother itself in its own pride. However none of then things oould be charged against Searle. He achieved great excellence in nls own line, and his excellence met with a very cordial aod hearty appreciation, especially since hie death.

Mklbocbkx, Deo. 10. Whom the gods love dis young.'* • 80 be it. Nevertheless the fetes, or ths sods, hove been rather bard on Searle, the champion sculler, in outting him off 10 early, just as be had climbed the pinnacle of fame, and I have no doubt that, had he bsou consulted, he would have preferred to bo “loved ” less and to live longer. Yes; it's herd on Searle, just when he had nt foot in Australia, hie native land, covered with leurele, to ,bs laid hy the heels and vanquiebed by typhoid fever. Ha was known to bs sinking, and little hops was entertained of hie recovery, and I left my place at Hawthorn at 5 a.m. and wended to the nearest news agent for the early paper, The Age devotee half a column to Searle, beginning thus: “ The condition of Searle, the ohampion sculler of the world, has now reached such a low ebb that all hope of his. recovery , has been practically abandoned,'* and the article concludesHo bee gradually sunk to a condition which seems at any moment likely to terminate fatally.” On reaching town at halt past ten, I found newsboys calling “ Extraordinaries ” of tbs Evening Standard, and announoing the death of Searle. I bought one of the copies. It was stamped— '* Extraordinary.” It aunouooed the death, and gave a portrait of Searle, the champion sculler, and what was really very extraordinary was the circumstance that the paper waa dated 9th December—\ut evening I was considerably aurpnaeJ that an evening — newspaper of eight pages should be able to publish a full blown edition at 10.30 in th morning; but, of course, the date settled the mystery. It was a " bit of enterprisiog jour, nali«m." Neither ths Argus nor ths Age had got hold of the news of Searle's death when they wont to press about 8 this morning. But the Evening Standard must have got hold of it later on, and this is what must have happened. Boom had been made in yesterday’s undistributed type, or stereo plates, the news would be •* dropped in,” the word “ Extraordinary ” would bs inserted yesterday's date would be designedly left, and the machine was then set to worir. News, paper people and pressmen srauhf-Mt be deceived, but the majority of the public would. The dodge was not a bad one, bat I ana sadly afraid that the same dodge will be “ blown upon” when the hour at which poor Searle died cornea to ba known.

December 16. A thoughtfully written article appeared iq the columns of the Age lest Saturday, whiol) will commend itself, for the goad aenee eon. tained in it, to all thoughtful readers. It refers to the undue prominence which hag been given to the achievements of Searle, the boatman—a prominence that has beeq actuated by the untimely death of • young man. The Age very pertinently asks, What are wo to think of the utterly undue, or rather, disproportionate interest that has besn sxoitod in society by the death of Searlo. It was only natural that athletes of all classes should olus'er round ths dsad man’s ftolßu, tor ho bed she! lustre upon tbs possssoors of abnormal muscular development and more than ordinary pluck and endurance. But, M the Aga pertinently ratqarkr, ■■ the oareman, Uht the chessplayer, leaves qankiqd pretty., nfadl) where he found them. Hu amuses people, and furnishes them with a little harmfaW recreation. But hie pstriolism tulle very teg short of that q| tbs suocosslql statosuton Mta general who baa restored ths fortunes ot country by a masterstroke in the. council* room or the battlefield.". It he had .Mt eonv treated this fatal dissert, and died, he.would have gone to bis home comparatively un« noticed, except by a.tew enthusirttio eportemen. It he bad fallen battling in. the aauee of down trodden humanity, as Gordon did; it ho had enent years ot hie Ute in the oame cause, out off from friends and civilisation, as Emln Pasha has dons; it He had braved death In a thouMnd torm*, as Stanley has done:—Uht had even made two blades of grass grow in the place whatg hardly one grew before, ae the Obathy Brothers are noq doingit ho had dqM any one of these things, or a tenth part qf any <q them, one oould then understand the fuse nvog the fate that has bet alien hint—a tato Which overtakes far more noetui man every day ot our liver. It augurs badly tor. the future ot the young Australian giant when in its infanay It is taught that notoriety in the anwH fide, the football field or upon the river, are more desirable objects ot ambition than dUiinoU.B in the study, the Senate, al the Bar, in medicine, in egrioulture. .or oven Ip oomancsws’nS what aw we to ihioh of a man windtac the Senate Home, and proposes a vqta •! oondolonoobvet the death ot a young oareasn ( citing as a precedent, end hie egcoee for doing so, a veto that Was do. passed, whose death snatched awey the lUostrioae ruler at a powerful nation with which wo have friendly relations’! Why, even Mr R. 8. Smythe, the professional "star” manager, doos not rise to that level in a letter which ho hoc eddroeoed to the Argus thio morning, when he dOsoribeg Mr H. M. Stanley eg **tbs barites MfK elonary." Livingstons was a miuloMry, and so was Gordon—although ths latter was nsvsr seoreditel by any missionary Society. But I never yet heard et Stanley posing ae a missionary,aod I rathite thlfikM WonifiM amuse! at anybody cite who lheo “-poted'’ him,