Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-08-09
bending the back too much or too little. sitting

bending the back too much or too little. sitting
too far forward on the seat, sliding with jerk.
ending too abruptly, feathering badly, so that
the water is thrown up in splash, dipping
| too deeply and expanding force uselessly, TAX
ing too little water on the blade at stroke,
| turning the blade too soon after the stroke has
been taken, not turning it soon enough,
| dropping the oar into the water at other than a
| right angle and splashIng water with it-such
are a few OF the very many errors Of action OF
which every young crew is guilty and which
| are caught as quick they are made by the
| trainer. 10 note all this, fine as it is, and far
away as the crew is often, requires q very sharp
| sight and an intimate knowledge of the posi-
| bIlIties and the rules of water craft
These faults are sometimes corrected while
| the men are on the river, but more often they
are admonished of their errors after they have
left the boats and where Courtney can take
them 10 one side and talk to them quietly. for
he Is hrm believer in the doctrine that 1t does
a man no good to tell him of his faults within
the hearing of his fellows or in sounding dis
lance of a crowd of balcony rowers unless it is
such mistake the entire crew is liable to
fall into. In which case it is often well to speak
oil IL to the boat full of men out in the river
away from the house. Nobody ID more quickly
or easily Inundated than an oarsman, and it
Is one of Courtney's theories that word spoken
on the sly Is more effective than dozen hurled
at man while he is nervous and conscious of
the critical attention Of the other men In a
boat.
Most people believe that to train boat crew
means to take the men from their ordinary
habits and diets OF everyday life and feed
them on specially prepared and selected food
that Is supposed to bring a man down to a de-
sired weight or condition. That is not true
with the present course of treatment through
which Courtney Is putting the Columbia crew.
He ID trying, OF course, to keep the men from
excessive smoking or drinking, such as would
soon wipe out their chances OF ever winning a
race, and no has control OF their sppetites at at
least one meal day. Every evening, after
the men have come out Of their boat, they
battle and redress, and then the whole party,
crew, coxswaln and trainer, so up the street to
the Morgan House and have supper, which is
composed of wholesome meats and vegetables,
such as any man who wishes to get strong would
eat, and devoid of such trimmings as pie or
cake or any other varieties of pastry, which is
not supposed to be good for men who anx-
lous to sleep well. AT this meal the work OF
the afternoon is discussed. and often it is there
that the trainer takes occasion to tell them one
or two unpleasant truths about their form in
the boat. 1t Is scientific experience meeting
OF oarsmen that assemblies around the board.
and from this evening meal some of the best
results of the course of training have come.
In meeting Mr.. Courtney thus at the supper
table the men have always found him to be
gentlemanly, refined in his speech and man
ners. with quiet but firm convection that he
knows just little more about rowing than
they do
Courtney is essentially a gentleman, despite
the Odor of another element that has attached
itself to the profession of rowing. He has a
good education, which has been increased by
his association with men of collegiate training
since his advent into the rowing circle. He
has good trade, which is more than almost
any OF the other so-called professionals have,
being a cabinet maker and wood worker In
company with his brother, John Courtney he
Is the proprietor of large shop in the town Of
L SnrIDOS list
MI, and he makes very good living from
this source. He cOnfided to a STAR reporter
the other day that he thought it doubtful if he
ever went into another professional race again.
OF late years he has not been rowing much,
but has been paying attention to business at
his home, with an occasional dash back to the
water as the trainer of the Cornell crew, of
(which he is usually the successive father, year
after year. He says that he feels as though he
belongs to Cornell College himself after having
trained SO many victorious crews. This year
the Cornell freshmen, after undergoing a course
OF treatment from Courtney, beat the Yale
freshmen with the greatest of ease. At Cor
nell he has the crew under almost complete
control for several weeks after graduation and