New-York tribune., 1870-04-20

to he killed as best we might There was no lack Oh
use for ones eyes. Long since the CROWDS had De-
pn TO file over the bridge and fill the streets OF the
bpddled little village of Putney. The tide bore past
o 90 ,vo Law moored lust above the aqueduct, sue
ccssye fleets of yawls and launches and craft OF all
sorts freghted with men and women displaying
every tint Of blue, and it was odd that
n shade half way between the genuine Cam
bridge and the genuine Oxford seemed TO be the
fayorite. The green lawns on the Fulham
tide looked as if they had brought suddenly forth
gigantic growth of fnged gentians. About the boat
houses the club headquarters, the hotels swamed
the masses of British humanity who make point of
mobbing the crews at their frst7and again at their
last apperance before the race And the tide, which
came hurrying i'm great volume up the Thames, was
matched by another tide shore; by the flow OF an
endless procession that oozod along the strand and
towing path steadily upward toward Hammersmlth
till il was lost i'm the bend of the river. But the true
crowd is not to be seen at Putney. When Hammer
smith Ridge comes in sight, you will begin to
pomprehcnd the numbers, and when Barnes Terrace
is reached the throng becomes so vast as to burden
ihe imagination with sense of oppression not easy
TO be borne and which the consciousness of free ar
and the exhilaTatiOn of rapid motion cannot wholly
remove. We all count II piece OF good fortune that
the day has proved bright and calm. 1t is even
warm though the trees have shown scarcely sign
Of coming Spring. and the branches that bend over
the river are black and leailcss But the sun is the
sun of an unciOudcd Summer dav.
Ii is the tide which fixes the hour for the start 1t
being tradition that the race shall he rowed on the
last of the hood. What with one delay and another
II often gets 10 be slackwater before the boats are
fairly off High water will be at six o'clock the time
agreed on for the start is five The more tide the
better for oxford say the connosseurs, because
ramLrdge is the stronger and viii do relatively
better AGAINST the tide, or with least help tIoln II
.'crhapS il is knowledge of this that brings Oxford
ont first. some five minutes before the hour ana
keeps Cambridge back till five minutes after There
Is hardly any moment OF greater interest tnan lhe
brief pause lust before the start. Oxford has got
away from t>C bungllng good Will OF the thTong that
thinks il a ddty to see their embaIkatlOn The ten
miru'cS waiting for Cambridge seem long TO US
what must they seem to the nine men whose nerves
are strung for the contest that now is only question
81 minuteSi When the two crews at last lie side by
side the contrast between them IS very strling IN
their actual weights there is little difference
but appearance is all in favor of Cambridge. The
erect bodies square, broad shoulders powerful lons
and even distribution of strength throughout the
boat that ought TO mark first rate University crew
are conspicuous only in the boat that carries
the LIGHT Blue flag. All the critics agree
Cambridge has the superiority in strength
of Oxford's successive victories, doubt whether
they would have been favOTtes during their train
ing. What is TO be decided in the next twenty min
utes is the mOmentOus question, whether Cambridge
has shaken off the vicious influences that in later
wears have led her to defeat; whether, in word,
She has abandoned her old style, and learned new
one. II has happened that have been able TO see
none of the practice of either crew. and it is quite
useless to try form opinion the criticisms of
the newspapers,i widely do they differ in their
judgments. But the first glimpse of Cambridge is
Mr. Morrison's indefatigable coaching has at last
produced its due impression. Faults enough remain
but it is plain, even from seeing Cambridge paddle
down to their station, that they going TO row III
form very different from that of last year.
The following are the names and weights Of the
two crews: