New-York tribune., 1873-06-28
THE COLLEGE REGATTA.


POPULARITY or THE CoMKGE-THE BOATING
RECoRD-COMPOsITIoN or THK CREW.
lFRoM rHE SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT OF THE rRmUNE.l
AMHERST, Mass, June eO-Like the Amherst
College Crew. the Agricultural oarsmen are all farmers
sandy haired sunburned Yankees, Of them. and
tough beyond expression. They are all men. who are
mature. and have been used 10 hard According
the prevalent opinion in this quarter those the
things which make pull his pounds"
the last mile. Their boating theories. like them
selves simple but forcible The secret in
rowing is to pull Is their primary axiom and
they look with doubt, II not contempt. on the fine.
spun doctrines which the Yale trying to reduce
to practice. It's talking about saving
strength their captain says. Men have got to work
an race. and there's getting round II. The
thAI does the best work will win spite OF all the fine
strokes that can be invented More than this" he adds
the quiokthroughthe-watera and sow-reoOver theory
won't work in light shell with sliding seats. single
man. sliding out OF time OF these seats shakes
the whole boat aud makes her lose twice az much way
As bis stroke would give. and believe il is impossible
for six men TO pull exactly together In one of these
boats ss not 70 shake or clip her. any other system
except the regular pendulum movement recover being
made III exactly the same time stroke"
STROKE OF THE FARMER BOYS
The stroke OF the "Agges " is the commonplace old
fashioned pull Of about 70 the minute spurt-
ing TO 20 strokes Their captain nstructs them TO
reach forward far possible put on sn force the
instant the oar takes the water TO pull like stroke all
through with stiff back and arm feather easy and go
forward in the same time the pull was made They
pull well together, and make fine show as seen from
the river bank. The three crews Amherst, "Aecies"
end Amherst Freshmen all pull here on the same lovely
stretch Of water. If the Agricultural should row
the Amherst at the present time without further
preparation il wOud be a very fine race and it would
te nearly hard. suspect name the winner as 10
predict the result OF the Regatta The Amhersts
hsvs the advantage OF appearance in their boat from
Ther beausful uniformity Of hight and build, when
seated but this superiority is in appearance than
in reality. asst safe to say that the "Agges in
weight tho most uniform sixoared crew on an
American river. the lghtest being I6s pounds In
weight and the heaviest l65 pounds. One good
Why the students OF Amherst should excel physical
exercises is that in Amherst alone Of all the American
colleges so far known, gymnasium exercise is
CURED part OF the College course each class being put
through Of light gymnastics several times in
each week In the Agricultural College there two
such In explaining them word about the IN
shtutiOn itself will not be out of place
curious fact that this luSty infant defeated the
oes. colleges in the land in the same year in which
graduated her first class Endowed in 1868 the College
was ready TO open till 1861 and has graduated but
two classes in all. This claims TO be about the only
Agricultural College, pure and simple which has thus
resulted from the United states land grant for A
cultural colleges. In other States, the property was
either given colleges already established, else
Institutions founded with it have remained n insigui6
csnce Tney have 800 OF land cultivation, and
smother hundred Of pasturage mainly taken care OF by
the boys Each class has six hours Of agricultural work
week. consisting OF digging planting. grating
nursery work and all kinds Of plowing, draining and
subsoiDS. the senior class acting bosses over the
others This is good why the students are
Kept good training and develop sptness for physical
exercise The tendency and of the institution is
generally agricultural The instructor in agriculture.
Prot stOckbridRe practical who has farmed IN
ta,s fertile valley OF the Connecticut all his life.
rHB FARMERS FAITH IN THE COLLEGE.
The farmers the region about, believe in thus institu
uon fny They send their here, and through the
whole country the college boys say that the old farmers
ssk they Agricultursts the students here call
themselves aud they hear they are. out |
the cider More than this they bet on them. and
though s opposed 10 the general idea Of the sturdy hus
baodman that at Ingesidefn 1871 farmers from
all put up their money on the "Aggies" lsvishly
pulling returns Of hundred fold from the arstocratic
supporters Harvard The most definite testimony to
practical results OF this school is that the boys uni
yersaly believe in the farmers life. majority have
sOnsno farming and others will as soon as they
get money enough TO buy farm; some are working as
gardeners with this view; others as civil engineers
the course beside the farming work with its concomi-
tants chemistry and practical engineering includes
alitary drill which is the second good why the
students strong and apt This occurs four days In
the week and occupies hour each day Aessrs Simp-
son and Edred bow and stroke both captains in the
battalion addition 10 these enforced habits of work
aud drill the boys have a homemade gymna SUM in
which the boating practice pretty steadily all
W0ter
The boating record is brief hut brilliant ln 1910 the
Agrfouiturs under the lead Of Mr. Hardy Of Boston,
organizsd a crew and challenged the Amherst boys
They bought an old Springfield As feet long and
2tipeheS wide which weighed about so pounds more
than the racing standard. In this they tackled the Am
bers on the river opposite Hatfield aud beat them Dy
10 sconds although the latter had then bean praetcng
gor two years Taking new courage from ths' they
bought the Amherst boat in which the Freshmen hso
won the Freshman race of 1870 ana reOrganzed taxing
n two new men Next year they entered at the Uni
Terty race At Ingleside and there gained the victory
ghrh broke the proud prestige OF Harvard ana made
tbe name of the Agges known throughout the country
y,e number OF students entering almost doubled the
year after the race OF 1871, and the College has now
sbout 2o students The grounds very extensive and
The buildings imposing.
CHARACTERISTICS or THE CRBw.
The crew which will ~ Ingeside, as the repre-
sentative aud result Of this novel training, made up
'0'O"' Weight.
Bow-Heury Bell Simpson ..................... 1863
q p JubeI VIM Clay y.............-........... 1853
s srauk H. Rice. ioe................---..-...-.. 100
- q. J0nD NJ. Benedict..--.--.--.----- ------'-.--- 40,