Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1875-07-23
90, 1875.


Tribune:
When at last all was ready, the boats lay
at their starting point motionless, the bright
caps shining in the sun. The hall naked
boys, brown as Indians, were the Hover OF
the physical development of the American
college. The muscles stood out full and firm
as iron, and the beauty of their tanned backs
and shoulders was enough to convince one
that flesh color ought to be bronze. In each
boat the SIX heads bend As if by a machine
the oars fly back. The long, brown boats
crouch like dogs held in the leash, their
noses thrust out Every cord Is strung,
waiting for the word to fly. Who can watch
the flight of thirteen separate boats all eager
for a start? For once believed in Butter
ISM and wished that | had that swivel eyed
statesman with me. | could assign SIX boats
to each eve, and reserve one for myself. Bat
these crews don't care much for Butler or
Butlerism Just now. They feel the sun CHS
tening on their bare backs, and the ripple OF
the waters vibrating through their oars, ana
they can see in Imagination the crowd that
waits eagerly for them at the end OF the
most eventful three miles Of their lives. 1T
last they were ready Mr.. Gunster called
out, Are you ready? 4 moment OF dead
silence and suspense, while each man counts
three under his breath. ''Then 60. They
are shot like the arrow from the bow. Inc
| start was made at 1908 ID.
The seventy-eight oars flashed a once and
| in all the line not boat missed Is siroke-
Harvard, according to its old tradition,
gained the best start. The Cornell the
men of the hour, gained the next best, and
pulled away neck and neck with Harvard
| At first the difference was scarcely pereeptl-
/ BE. but soon Cornell was seen to pass W IL
| liams on the extreme west of the line, and to
have an apparent lead of everything on her
side OF the course. On the Snake Hill SIDE
Harvard shot out, dropping Hamilton on one
side and Union on the other, and II was not
long before she had a lead on Yale. IHe
centre boats were pretty well hunched the
green caps of Dartmouth and Brown anu
Wesleyan's boats were well to the front. At
the one-half mile the positions oil the crews
we're as follows: Cornell, Harvard, Dart
mouth. and Columbia in the front rank with
Yale, Wesleyan, Bowdoin, Brown, and Am
berst close up Princeton and W llllams
were slightly behind these Farther back,
I-n MON and Hamilton already had matters u
themselves. All dashed prosperousiy and
proudly up the course, striving with every
atom Of skull and strength for the lead but
there was little change in relative positions
after the first half mile. The crews which
took the lead retained il, and the crews
which first fell To the rear only dropped idr-
Their and farther back, a the van swept on
ward up to the mile and a half The boats
and men stood the terrible strain brayely.
The Crimson was still ahead, Columbia per-
hans next. and Cornell third, though the
| difference between the three boats was bat a
few feet, and the precedence was hard To de,
eide. with such lateral distance a. stretched
between Columbia in the middle OF the line
and Harvard and Cornell almost at the Two
extremes.
Always making fine appearance IN a
race. Dartmouth was pIcuoa-ly hand
>jtne crew. "a they sped away down The
course, pulling with amazing yl5of. IheiI
green caps picked them out plainly iroin the
| neld. if the observer failed to recognize tic
magnificent physique Of the men. Dare
mouth was one of the grand surprises oil the
/ race. Yale. alas, was soon 10 be the other
There was Yale hanging on the flank oil
Dartmouth, in perfect form, graceful, easy
stroke after stroke falling with absolute per-
lection. every detail complete, most beau
tifui si-ht. But how was II tat Dart
mouth. the unscientifc and derldtd, sept
that length or so ahead? IN 0minous qJc,-
ton: sui Aale's uartislns were NOT dis
outraged. Yale has pulled waiting race
alway~. they reasoned. Inc ad0antasc Oh
Cornell was becoming s0mcw hat alarming.
five or ~ix lengths at least Bat wait III
Bob Cook lets himself out on the last mile
Then vou'il see. Comfort the dJub;er OF
the blue. On they come, and the mighty
form Of the Gulliyeriau Eodser marked their
nearest competitor, a. Wesleyan, Brown
Amherst, Williams, Princeton anu b'"i9il
followed, MON and Hamilton still mAdi;
clntenling the rear position
Between the mile and half and two
mile h4,- badly needed help came 90 ln!ln
and Hamilton in the shape OF disaster u
some OF the Others ahead Of them. For q
mile and half Princeton kept decent po-
>itiou At this point she lsgsei percept.-
blv. and il was remarked ON board the
referees boat that She was likely % take q
very low position Mr.. Nicoll, the captain,
noticing the sudden drag of his boat, tlFncd,
and Observed that Mr. George plrm-y, %
New York. who pulled No. !, Was staring
straight before han with fixed look. ana
worked feeby At his oar. He bad handy
called 10 him. For heavens sake Pdruly,
what's the matter ," before Parmly dropped
[ bis oar and tell back sick and flintius. WIKI
out reply. into the arms Of Mr.. Van Lcncu
behind him. The reward Of the long PERI
Cd Of labor and abstinence vanished in mo-
meut. the HE went out of the boat and
she tlll mournfully out Of tie race. .us ON
the surface of the lake.
The Brown men up to the mile an! three
quarters were well forward in tie second
division, behind Yale and Wesleyan but
ahead of Princeton, B5wdoin, Hamilton.
Mon, AmheTs, and Williams at this
point, however. Bradbury, No. >. caught
a crab, and Williams. Amherst and
Blwdoiu went 10y them flying. The
eighth position Brown managed 10 hold
20 the finish in spite of another misfortune,
consisting in broken strctcher az NJ. !,
which prevented Mr.. Roper from doing much
( on the flush. Williams and Yale caught
TWO crabs apiece about here, and Wesleyan
struck down hlg. without doing herself
much harm. Thee accidents changed the
/ face Of things in the rear considerably. In
/ front, Cornell, by remarkably quick dash,
made without any apparent extra effort,
/ had drawn ahead OF Harvard ami Columbia,
50 that she had clear water. and the other
two were left TO struggle desperately with
| one another.
Now was the time FOR Cook To BE heard
/ from. Cornell was gaining more and more,
and the most effective squirt, NOT 70 be use
| les, must come soon. Cook says he did call
for ii, bat it did not come. The boat
| moved up little on Dartmouth, but seemed
/ to drag IN a discouraged way, and it was
| plain before the two and half mile flag was
/ reached. that Yale was beaten boat. At
/ the two miles and half Cornell had lead
I Of several lengths. which had been obtained
without quickening their stroke. and ap
/ parently without extra effort, a the seventh
! and eighth men crossed the last half mile
/ line the usual hoar>e roar greeted them
1 from the grand stand, and sent n flame OF
| excitement into every oarman : veins. Cor
nell put in hard stroke. not exactly n
| squirt. but which had the same effect.
| Harvard, though plainly tired, answered to
/ the squirt: but Columbia, throwing every
pound upon her gildei oar-blaies, made a
superb squirt. and opened between Harvard
ami herself a gap which separated her by 4
hairs breadth from Cornell. Within five
lengths of the line, crab was captured On
the port side of the boat, which made her
tremble from PROV to RAIDER. and she stopped
almost short Harvard gained good
length. 1t was a perilous splash, dash, and
founder with Columbia for moment p
Harvard swung up, le; she gathered her
self bravely together, sud after i few limp
/ ing strokes on five leES the boat caught the
swing again, and just >wooped over in time,
/ se.,Ga. and half ahead OF the crimson.
The Winning mag ~ the race was not
quite as good as that OF last ear-poiumbia
last year crossing the finish in l6:42 - and
Cornell this year in lG:j3 II. This slight
difference may. however. he due to the wind
I or to the condition Of the water.
! OWN Tii A. Ia. b,