The Regatta

Yesterday evening, for the first time in many years, a regatta took place on the Ohio river in front of this city. It had been announced several days previous that preparations for it were going on and every body was on the qui vive to witness it. The race was between the rowboats Brilliant, Capt. James McGuire, and the Dexter, Capt. Levi Riggs, the winner to receive a handsome sail. Long before the hour of starting, the bank, wharf, and every conceivab le place was taken possession of by anxious spectators of the scene. The river was filled with boats of all kinds, from the finest yawl and rowboat to the common flat bottomed skiff, presenting a very novel and unusual appearance.. The regatta course selected was from the foot of Pearl street to a point opposite Dowerman's ship yard, a distance of nearly one mile. Each boat came to the starting point at twenty minutes past seven, the Brilliant having three oarsmen, and the Dexter three. The word "go" was given by Capt. Mat Hurley, and off both boats dashed amid the cheers of the men, and the waving of handkerchiefs by the ladies. The race was well contested down to a point opposite the foot of Broadway, but the boys in the Dexter, it seems, started off too brash and began to show signs of over exertion. The steady strokes of the Brilliant oarsmen soon told, and from that point to the end of the race they gained on their adversary, coming out twenty-five yards ahead, in the short time of 2:03.. The Brilliant is a fine new boat, and was built expressly to run by Mr. Wm. Weaver. She is twenty-five feet long, easy and graceful. The Dexter is much smaller, but equally as fine. We understand another race is in contemplation, in which six boats will contend for a large prize.. We remember when, twenty-three years ago, the twelve oared barge Henry Clay, modeled and built by our fellow-townsman, ex-Mayor Hooper, entered the lists and became the champion of the West, making the best time on record, beating the celebrated barge Grey Eagle of Louisville, in a six mile race above the falls. This was one of the most exciting regattas that had taken place west of the Allegheny mountains, and drew together the largest assemblage of the kind we ever witnessed; fully twenty thousand persons were collected on the point above Beargrass creek. The Henry Clay rowed but ten oars, two less than her complement, and the Grey Eagle her full number of eight oars. The Grey Eagle, up to that time, was considered the fleetest craft afloat, and when beaten by the Clay, the members of the Louisville club not only submitted gracefully to their defeat, but entertained the champions in a princely manner. It is likely that Haldeman of the Louisville Courier has a lively recollection of this race, as it is said he dropped a "slug" or two upon the result.