The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-05-10
THE AMATEUR OARSMEN.
IT WILL BE AN INTERESTING SEA
SON o. THIS WATER.

DCuble-Scull Teams-The Manhattan
and the Scm;-Professional Oarsmen.
tCoDwight)
NEW York, May 9-The coming season
, will be as full Of interest upon the water as
! the different rowing clubs can make it. The
preparations for q season OF aquatic sport
were never before made upon such an ex,
tensive scale, aud certainly never were so
many thousand young men keenly interested
in results.
Yale, which has pretty regularly beaten
Harvard on the Thames since the adoption
of the famous "Cook stroke" was seldom in
so bad case as this year. The talk of a
week crew" is always heard in April, both
at Harvard and Yale, as regularly as the
report of an irreparably ruined peach crop
IN Delaware, bat this time there seems 10 be
some foundation for the reports, so far as
Yale is concerned. Two men only Of last
years victorious eight are to row, Simms
aud Capt. Brewster, and the latter, the most
valuable man of tbs crew, has b=en Ill all
the apring, though perhaps not quite SO ill
as 1t has pleased his parussns TO represent.
Next to Brewster, the public are most iDter-
ested IN the giant 204-poUnd Heffelhnger,
who VIII probably row in the crew for the
hrst time. The ligbtest man in the crew
Will probably be Ballet, 1866, or Simms 1917,
so that there is plenty Of beef and Drawn TO
rely upon, If three weeks of Bob Cooks
training can civilize and train it. The
harvard men, since their new rowing tank
has been placed in working order, a,e con-
hdent of giving tine weakened Xales
harder pull this year than l2st. They have
! been hard at work all winter on the tank In
the Cary building.
The university race, though undoubtedly
the chief rowing event in the year in the
eyes Of the public, does not interest so many
al ant
| gatte at w Washington in August, or even the
| New England and Middle States regatlas in
| June and July. Within cannon shot of the
| battery there are tweAty-three rowing clubs
! which are members OF the Middle States
Regatta Association. and most OF these will
send some rep. esentGtivps 20 the national
regatta as well. Their aggregate member
sup runs well into toe thousands, and the
number Of young men VINO c.erish the am
| bltion to pull il the championship crews
must be fully half Of the total
The crews of eight are not in many cases
fully made up yet, and interest centers for
the present in the practice FORM Of the
double and single scullers As good team,
| perhaps, as will be ahoat, il no cc.depts
! happen, will DO Freeth and Plat of the
| Naruuas. These young men won pretty
nearly everything they tried their hands at
| last year, but slipped up GA the national
losing 1t to the Toronto team, as they claim,
through inability to see tdeir opponents
at the finish, owing to the SUI on the
water and to little trouble about the finish
line.
George Freeth is one Of the most extraor-
| binary Ga sneu one ever looked upon. At
hrst glance you might take him for con-
sumDtive almost, thin, light young chap,
! who weighs $40 pounds IN training and less
out Of 1t. But he is nervous, and those who
row with him in the four and eight say it's
| impossible for him to row easy. He simply
| can't do 10. In 1889 he proved his mettle
as single sculler, beating everybody but
| Denny Donohue, but this year he will prob
| ably not row single. Platt, who is O much
heavier man, will uphold the Varuna's flag
IN the single she'll rank.
| The Manhattan Athletic Clubs best
singles are Pilkington, Maggie and HAWKING,
md the double viii be made up, probably,
| Of the two latter. Pilkington aud Maggie
| were the champions of 1889, Maggie won the
Long Island championship single last year,
ant Hawkins is coming man" About
| this same Hawkins there is a good
deal of criticism ahoat just now
among the other rowing clubs whose
| members charge that he is at least
half a professional. Hawkins has the
| leisure to spend his entire time on the
| water, and oarsmen want to know how he
| can afford 1t. not being wealthy, and how
| clerks and laborerS VINO can only practice a
| few hours each week are to contend fairly
with men like him. They would also like
| TO know why NJ. A. c. man should prac-
tIce on Saratoga lake. 1t Is undenied that
tue Mauhattaus have q way of saying to
| promising athletes everywhere: Come
| with us; it shGn't cost you a cent in dues. "
/ SO, it is charged, were Pilkington and
| Maggie lured away from the Met
| ropolitan B. Q. 1t is charged also, that the
| treasurer Of the club will give a man like
4 Hawkins lie roi1rCad ~ Go,
Expenses" to go to a regatta, when it
doesn't cost him anything like that sum.
| There Is always more or less growing about
this sort of thing among tho poorer clubs,
| which cannot afford this generosity, and it
may break out into an open war at any
time. However, professionals or not, the
| Manhattan men will have to work for what
ever honors they win.
Another pair OF phenomenally rapid
scullers are Messrs. Bushman and Sharkey,
| of the Ravenswoods. They are in training
| on Newtown creek, Of malodorous memory
! with an occasional spin upon the East river
| when the tide is at the turn and the wind
not too strong. They rowed together for
| the first time last year and made an excel
lent record. The rivalry between these two
| men and the Varuna Seniors will be e9pe-
| cially keen, as both belong to the Long
| Island Association.
The Atalantas of New York are striving
| TO get up another race this year with the
| ale diversity crew, though in a similar
struggle last year the Atalantas were badly
beaten. They will also put strong eight
| and four-oared teams in the middle states
and national regattas. The crack four
Dared crew of the Atalantas is
| curious illustration Of New York's
mixed nationalities. 1t is always called
| the Dutch and Irish" crew, being
made up Of the Dempsey brothers and
the Lau brothers. The Atalantas have the
largest purely aquatic club in New York
and are Of the largest in the country, and
though they do not have a powerful organi-
cation like tho Manhattans ct their back
| they put more oarsmen upon the water
than any other club, own more boats and
send to the regattas good share Of VIM
ners. Their speciality is crew work rather
than doubles and singles, and their great
barges are feature Of the Harlem.
Adolph Rave, who was for some years
the champion of the Long Island Associa-
tion as a single, besides pulling in a winning
four for the Eagle cup, will try his luck
again for single championship honors. He
was not very prominent last season, but his
friends@@say he will show the benefits this
year OF lying falow for one wear.
The Metropolitans, deserted by their old>
| time champions PilEluptOn and Naple W N