The Washington bee. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1884-1922, 1895-07-27

odtalOSd, July 1I.-SdfdlOgd tO-udy
looks like a seaport town, for every
where on the streets. standing in knots
in the hotel smoking rooms. lounging
on the porches or stumbling over one
another in their efforts to get aboard
the "double-deckers" going lakeward,
are hundreds Of stalwart, sun-browned,
flannel-clad men. brought here to strug-
gle for victory, or to root" for their
friends who are participants in the
twenty-third annual regatta of the Ma
tional Association Of Amateur Oarsmen.
Never before, since the time when the
association, which Is now proudly -four
ishing, was formed In 1872, has there
been so brilliant a regatta. The entry
lists are full Of good, strong men, some
Of them equal In skill to professionals.
It seems highly probable from the
talk OF the oarsmen this morning that
an attempt will be made at the meet
ing tonight to make this the last year
In which races with turn will be W
ed. Several Of the most important
clubs have refused to enter the regatta
because Of this feature, and the reso-
luton abolishing the turn when intro
duced will undoubtedly have a great
many supporters. Very little objection
has been made to It, so far as the con-
tests in the singles go; but in the four
Dared and doubles the best crews often
come to disaster while attempting to
turn the buoys. The course is laid out
to-day three-quarters of mile long;
buoys with flags upon them mark the
start and finish, and at distances of an
eighth Of mile apart mark out six
lanes for the boats, so that there may
be no interference Of one crew with an
other These lanes are 100 feet wide
at the starting line and $50 wide at the
other end where the turn is made. The
only general advantage of having races
with turn is that by allowing specta-
tors to watch both the start and the fin
ish, the use Of boats upon the lake Is,
In a great measure, done away with,
and there Is no interference with the
oarsmen. The only boats upon the lake
this morning are those occupied by the
referee, the newspaper men and the
private yachts of James D. Kearney
and Judge Henry Hilton.
There is a great deal more betting
upon the results of this years races
than ever before. Possibly this Is be-
cause gambling is prohibited here, and
the running races not being on, the
sporting fraternity find this a slight
break in the monotony of the season
The bulk of the money seems to be
placed upon the results of the senior
efght-oared race and the senior double
sculls.
The decision Of the regatta committee
TO have the races at 8 o'clock this after
noon instead of this morning gave all
the oarsmen a chance to have a
practice spin during the forenoon. 1t
also gave many more people an oppor-
tunity to get out to the lake, and the
result is that the gathering In spite Of
the cloudy weather, is one of the largest
In years.
The races set down for to-day includ-
ed the trial heats in the senior singles
and the finals In the intermediate fours.
pair-oared and intermediate eight-oar-
ed. The first heat in the senior singles
brought to the starting flags such ex-
cellent men as Fred. Hawkins, Of the
Harlem Rowing Club, New York; J. J.
Ryan, of Toronto, the present champion.
and j. A. Ruhmo, also of the Toronto
Club, who is very fast, and was rein
stated by the executive committee last
night The second heat had in 1T such
good men as j. j. Whitehead, of the
Columbia Rowing Club, of Boston; J. T.
Hackett, of the Rat Portage Club, and
r. Mckay, of the Argonauts, of Toron-
to. The third heat brought together E.
n. Atherton, Of the Hartford Rowing
Club; W. s: Mcdowell. of the Della
wares. of Chicago and Charles Bulger,
Of the Albany Rowing Club, three of the /
best men In the association.
The pair-oared event had but two en- |
tries-the Toronto Rowing Club and |
the Pennsylvania Barge Club.
In the intermediate four-oared event |
The entries showed up a very creditable |
ot Of oarsmen. The Metropolitan Row
ng Club, Of New York, had course No. |
|; Detroit Boat Club, of Detroit, No. 2;
Winnipeg Boat Club, of Winnipeg, No. |
J; Excelsior Boat Club Of Paterson, NJ
T., No. 4.
In the intermediate eights the un-
lnown quantity seemed to be the Wa
'husett Boat Club. of Worcester, Mass,
which was to row with the Eureka Boat
Club, of Newark, and the Montrose
Boat Club, Of Philadelphia. This crew
9 also booked in the senior eights, if
lot beaten.