Birmingham age-herald., 1895-06-25
COLUMBIA WINS THE RACE Rough Waters Prevent Good Rac-
 ing at Poughkeepsie. YLVANIA'S BOAT SINKS And cornelrs Goes Down After the Race The Tu bulent Waves Too Much
 For the Teams.

Poughkeepsie, N. Y, June 24-Almost in the face of a stiffish wind and in wa ter so rough that the boats of her two op- ponents filled and swampped, one before and the other after the finish line was passed, Columbia rowed steadily on to victory this afternoon in the fast time of twenty-one minutes and twenty-five sec onds. Cornell was second, several lengths back. Her time was twenty one minutes and forty-six and two-fifth seconds. The Pennsylvania's evil luck lasted to the end. Her shell, smashed by the waves from Governor Morton's tug last Friday and patched up till it was practically as good as new, went down over mile from the finish. The Cornell boat was swamped just below her own bent house after the race was over by swells from the steamboats and was fairly broken in two.
 Today's race, like Fridays fiasco, was started under threatening skies, which gave forth torrents of rain from time to time. In the morning the day promised to be cloudless. It began hot and clear, and it was not until the middle of the afternoon that it commenced to cloud up. It looked in the morning as though very few of the enthusiasts, who were dis
 
 back today. Up to noon only handful of rooters were in evidence The town was comparatively deserted and the prospects that the race would be rowed under perfect conditions, but without the presence of a large crowd After noon, however. things began to lven up. Spe- cial trains on both sides of the river poured their crowds into Poughkeeps.e and Highland continuously There seemed to be much less betting than on Friday, but the crowd moved across to the west shore. The odds showed some changes. The Cornell men, instead of giving 1 and 3 to 1 against Columbia, offered to l, which was eagerly ac- cepted. The Columbia men had more money than anybody else here and snap ped up everything that was offered.
 The members of the crew staked an amount aggregating $3000 at average odds of to l., Cornell was a to fa- vorite over the field today. On Colum- bia against Pennsylvania the betting was even. Scarcely any bets between Cornell and Pennsylvania were recorded.
 Rain began at o'clock and lasted half an hour, nearly breaking up the race, but after it ceased the preparations were completed and at 6:45 o'clock the starting shots were fired and the boats got off on the instant on even terms. The Pennsylvania crew pulled with more vim than either Cornell or Colum-
 
 of a mile They forged ahead a couple of feet in the first half dozen strekes while Columbia in the center and Cor nell on the outside were rowing exactly even. Cornell was pulling forty-four stFokes, while Columbia, with her long, easy swing, kept her place with thirty six strokes. Pennsylvania rowed from 36 to 3S strokes.
 At the half mile the University of Penn sylvanias boat led by a quarter of | was a foot in advance of Colum bia s. Then the shells began to strike roughcr water than they found at the start. The Cornell crew on the outside got the worst of it, but Pennsylvania, on the inside. took it in the poorest shape. The boats gradually drew up on Pennsylvania, and then it was the long, easy stroke of the Columbia crew gradually moved their boat to the front. Pennsylvania dropped back to the rear at the three-quarter mile, and was not in the race thereafter, although her men pulled pluckily on. The first mile was made in 511. Colum- bia had good half length the best of it, and Cornell led Pennsylvania by 6 feet.
 At the mile and half point Cornell showed signs of weakness, and while her stroke had increased to 4S, Columbia, with 38 strokes, was slowly moving ahead, while Pennsylvania was nearly abeam. At the mile and three-quarters there was clear water between the boats of the blue and white and red and white. while the red and blue of Pennsylvania was half length to the rear.
 At the two mile mark, with half the course yet before them, Columbia had lead of two lengths. Cornell was splashing badly, but had added half length to her lead over Pennsylvania. Two miles were made in 1O:S2, quick time, considering the water, which was growing rougher every minute. At the two and a half mile Columbia was still 5orging ahead, and had two lengths and a half to the good. Pennsylvania was splashing so badly that her shell was beginning to settle in the water. Cornell kept up her quick stroke, doing forty-six to the minute, and her friends hoped every minute to see her close up the gap and show up in front. But Co lumbia clarly outrowed her opponents and showed no signs of weariness. At the three mile point it was Columbia's race, barring accidents. Her boat led by four leng thS. Cornell was pulling gamely on, but the Pennsylvania boat was getting deeper and deeper in the water. and just after passing under the bridge the crew stopped rowing. The men were sitting iii water and their boat was sinking.
 Their launch, which had noticed their condition sometime previously and had kept close to the crew, was quickly alongside and took the men aboard.
 From the three mile point to the end the race was procession. Columbia seeing that they had the race well in hand eased down a little, as the water was rough and Captain Pickney wanted to take no chances. The long, telling stroke was kept up down tho line of screeching tugs and badly tilted excur- sion boats to the finish. It was 7:15 when Columbia crossed the line. They had made the four miles in 21 minutes and 20 seconds, beating Cornell several lengths Cornell's time was 21-minutes and 46 2-5 seconds.
 The Comedians started to row to their boat house, but they met the same fate as the Pensylvanians. Their boat filled and sank and will probably be of no fur ther use. The crew was picked up by their launch.
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