New-York tribune., 1874-06-25
THE COLLEGE REGATTA.
Nv. riaotH
DARTMOUTH,S CREW.

OF LAST YRAR-THE EVILS THE OLD SYSTEM
OF rRAINING--A STRONG CREW AND A eoioh
sTRoKE-vIEws FROM THE BANK.
IFRox THE SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT OF THE fhinoN"'
H.Novrp N H.. June ia ride of $50 miles up
the Connecticut from Wesleyan brings us TO Dart-
month and more beautiful ride could not De de-
sired in a long Summer day. No woods could De
reener and pleasanter than those along the Vaiiey
nor fuller of the perfumes of Summer. The river
flowing along by the road always presents some new
phase One minute 1t is half mile of In the inter
vale and the next the train shoots across bend so
close TO the edge thar see the pickerel ta'
daily sun themselves in the shadows or pun tneir
noses out of the bank aDd shoot of to more secluded
quarters .
On the way no finer stretch for pulling presents IT
self than at Hatfield where at this time last year
Auberst and the "Aggies" made the center OF at
traction And the regret that no crew comes from
either to the contest this year is mingled with adn
ration at the manly fight the Amhersts maze last
wear against overwhelming disaster. and the uncom-
planng way in which they bore 1t. There goes
our last chance for the race" Capt. Brewer said as
the Columba's outrigger tore through his new boat
a day before the race but it is much our fault
as theirs
Amherst. however, went into the race much better
prepared than Dartmouth, whose men were more mt
for hospital than race-boat affording an exam
pie of the old "raw-meat and bloody bones" system
of training which should if it stood alone suffice to
.extirpate il from college practice.
The sole aim and view of this system was to put on
muscle and work Oft fat, regardless of the fact that
both these processes constitute drain the vital
functions which, if carried too far must result in
lowering the powers of the entire system. From
this the which used to be mole fire.
0uent. of collapse during the and just after it
and the cases which asserted to be and
Il NJ pa rhn apta a1 nor
manent illness by boat-racing while in college.
TIE ENGLISH IDEA OF TRAINING.
Attention was called to this danger by so conspic
uoas a scientific and medical authority as The Lon
don Lancet a dozen years ago, apropos of the fight
between Heenan and King. Speaking of Heenan's
condition at the time of the fight, it said
Tne immense development of the muscles about his
shoulders and chest very remarkable. They stood
ont prominently aud as little incumDeref with fat as
they had been ceaned oy the scape Ia Hneness they
& but Urn all 5 bas
from which his system was only slowly recovering.
Ihe msieh-his weight was Is stone. pounds. AS he
stepped into the ring ne exactly IA stone 1t is now
much more muscular tnan vi al power Long before he
had met Win any any severe PnnishmentIndeed as he
sreathed with much iculty and as be described IL.
bis respiration was "roarlng" He declares that he re-
ceived more treatment at the hands OF sayers
than he did from King; yet at the termination OF tile
fight with the former upward of hours,
he fresh leap two three hurdles aud
distance many OF hi frenis IN race Without Offering
opinion ~ to the merits OF tue combitants 1t is GER
tain tnat Ieenan was in state of very deteriorated
health when faced his opponent. and it
cnde that that deterioration was due III great meas
TO the severity Of training when he had undergone
As with the mind with the body undue and prolonged
exerton end in depression OF power. In the pro-
OF the physical education OF the young, In the
training OF recruits, or IN the sports Of the athlete
the of Heenan suggests striking commentary OF
great interest in pnysioogca point OF view While
bealth excessive exerion produces debility and decay
In volume nine of The CornhW Magazine an able
writer after commented On this as follows:
All over stimulus which is continuous must sooner or
later be fatal aud tram himself INTO fever
and exhausnon Perfect health means the equable
activity OF all the funeons not the vlsor OF the mus
Cuar system alone nor Of Be nervous system alone; not
the activity OF this gland tna but the eQuabe vigor
of all
Training has been for the last twelve years ap-
proximatiDg to these principles in England. grad
ualy looking less and less exclusively to leanness
ard muscle. and dreading vital exhaustion more
than few extra pounds of fat and it will soon be
understood in this country as well that in looking
exclusively to development of muscular bulk and
Grrnnes, there is imminent danger of overdraning
and onfeebliag the vital powers so that the system
will break down under the strain OF the contest
when it comes leaving the victory to the less mus
cuarly developed crew which has preserved undi-
minished its vitaty-that is. is health
WHAT SPOILED DARTMOUTH'S CHANCES LAST YEAR.
In the Dartmouth boat of this year but of last
wears remarkable crew remainS-Mr Gates the
captain. OF the sthers, Msssrs. Paul and Under
hill have been graduated; Mr. Archibald declines to
pull dreadipg the ordeal of last wear, and two
Messrs Ward and Eaton, are obliged reluctantly to
give way on account of i'll health-how far occa-
stoned by the work of last year only be inferred
1t was well understood at Springfield last year be-
fore the race that that crew had burst up and
they were in fact all sick men when they went into
thu race The cause and its effect will give as i
took it from Mr. Gates's own lips:
"Our daily system of training after got to Sara
toga was to get up at before breakfast take three
mile walk. after breakfast a six-mile walk and i'm
mediatey on returning six-mile pull after dinner
a six-mle walk, then pull of six miles as soon
fhe walk was over then walk of three miles after
supper We were never allowed to rest between
the walk and pull and always got into the boat
fired AS TO our food stale bread and beef about
the whole of it once in while potato and little
ybutter no milk, no vegetables, no fruit. We suf-
fered most for want of water, Of which we got the
least possible quantity. One Of the fellows used to
hang behind on the walks. and if he saw q spring
he'd cut across lots and steal good drink; but
most of us kept right up to it. We went to bed
about 10 and dragged ourselves out about g."
I Two weeks of this had brought even these spleD-
did men TO a condition of morbid sensitiveness and
instability of mind and body, and large quantities
of flesh had been taken off. At last, about week
before the race the trainer, at the end of one OF
these terrible days ordered that pull be substi-
tinted for the walk after tea, and himself took the
stroke oar, putting the men SIX miles over the
course at top speed. That ended 1t. According 10
one informant, four men vOmited as soon as tney
GOT out of the boat. Next day they could only
crawl about and some were seriously Ill, including
yvaa nyp