The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1875-07-12
THE SARATOGA REGATTA.

Inc college regatta 10 come OH al oaIa-
toga this eek, while it does not absorb as
much of the public attention as in 1874,
still gathers interest as it approaches. TAX
ing place at the great American summer
resort it is sure to draw au attendance of
many thousands. Beside its particular To-
cation Saratoga lake is most charming
spot for this manly sport. Those who
strive for the cham pionship of the oar can
find no faiier field on which to test the
genuine pluck and muscle of the young
colegian than this famed rowing water.
Winds seldom lash the waters into furious
waves, and it almost always possesses IN I'M
ruflled bosom, and bears the frail fleet with
no treachcrous tide or current. The race
is won or lost by elch as his skill or muscle
favors him.
The crews are now all at the scene, and
have been in diligent practice for the past
week. There are twelve clubs to
enter the contest-Yale, Harvard, Column
bia, Wesleyan, Cornell, Dartmouth,
Princeton, Brown, Amherst, Bowdoin,
Union and Hamilton. There is less glori-
Gcation of the crews than last year.
Dartmouth and Bowdoin are called 'braw-
ny giants" but lack science. Princeton
sends crew of trained athletes. Yale
has made long preparation, and keeps its
anger up over last years controversy.
Harvard is not ranked in the current esti-
mate as up to last year. They rank about
in this order Yale, Columbia, Harvard,
Wesleyan, Cornell, Dartmouth and Prince
ton. No prophecy can be given, as the re-
suit is most DELIGHTFUL uncertainty.
AT the close of last years regatta 81 eat
degree Of disgust was expressed, both by
the press and people at the disgraceful
squabble between Yale aud Harvard, and
it was supposed the end might have come
to college boat racing. This impression
may account somewhat for the lack of en-
thusiasm the present season, but the inter-
est in rowing has far from abated. There
is class who believe that athletic sports
are necessary ingredient of perfect life
and consider the popular enthusiasm for
the art as an evidence of an advance in
public sentiment toward athletic sport,
games and healthful amusements, and as
an abandonment of the old ideas that the
sports of the field, forest and stream are
antagonistc to intellectual culture. There
has been vast change in American ideas,
in reference to athletic sports since the in-
ternational contest between Harvard COL
lege and Oxford university, when million
of people sat upon the shores of the
Thames and watched the struggle for su-
premacy, and our own countrymen await
ed the result with such anxiety. The pu.
rtanical notions of our ancestors who
deemed any kind Of pleasure or enjoyment
a sin-hunting, horsemanship, fishing, bal
playing, skating, rowing and yachting ART
rapidly passing away, if indeed, they have
not been almost entirely changed, and these
sports are coming to be recognized as le
gitimate exercise and recreation. The
young men of the present day, and society
at large, are devoting to seasons of sport
recreation, large measure of time and are
considered necessity to the full develop
ment and perfect education of the man.
The celebrated Olympian games, in an
cent times, furnished manly sports in which
all the people Joined and which bound tn,
different states of Greece together as fami
lies. Their running, wrestling, boxing ant
chariot racing, were the annual nationa
sports of the people, and the crown O
Olive branches awarded to the victor, wa
regarded as an enviable distinction and rem
dered illustrious not only the victor, bu
his whole family and his dwelling place.
There is no longer doubt of the tenden
cy of the American society to these sports
Our military and naval schools have ap
proved of rowing as an exercise and recre
ation our leading colleges and universe
tics recognize atlethc games and exercises
and especially encourage boat racing an,
other manly sports among the students
The excitement of these annual regatta
may be run into dissipation and exces
and gambling, but whatever may be tn
result it is evident that it has become tn
popular sport, and will receive encourage
ment from the masses of the people. TIL
place chosen for such recreation, drawin
together SO many thousand witnesses
appropriate, as the spacious hotels, beauti
full parks and mineral springs give healtl
and pleasure, rest, strength and happiness
and afford the sportsmen atletes and in
valid an opportunity to commune together
amid the shades of the American Badel
Baden.