Omaha daily bee., 1896-07-05

ltISrTSSSa@ wells spoken. Alma
~ mater has wit
y TaAssrTA ~ messed the launch
H. ing of another
brood OF progeny
upon the sea of active life. The last days
of school are as lugubrious as they are trl,
umphant to the student, especially he OF
Drawn and muscle and speed. The togs OF
the athlete have been laid aside, in many
cases forever. OF course, Yales fate at
Henley is yet to be revealed, but that Is
about the last event. The base ball cham
pionships have been won and the aquatic
%C1ntests decided. Postmortem examinations
and controversies alone remain to amuse
and edify the followers Of the big colleges, at
least until the rugged days OF foot ball once
more roll around. The lack OF enthusiasm
on the college diamond this season has been
at a lower ebb than for years. Field day
athletics and boating seem to have en-
quilted the national sport. How different
from the days OF the past. We can all re-
member the lunacy rife when Yale and Har-
ward had their Stages, Winslows, Aliens,
Dams, McConkeys, Harris and Gundersons;
when Princeton went crazy over her Moffat,
Iarkin, King and Knickerbocker and Penn
s~ylvania shouted herself blue in the face
over Cahill, Darragh, Lansing, Bayne and
Wagonhurst. They were heroes of heroic
days. There were no such scenes OF wild
enthusiasm during the past season as there
were in auld lang syne. Still, while there
has been a lack OF excitement in this depart
ment, the college athletic curriculum has
oNlltiliultu VII lcluibtlll cAllOlNS anu lulb
strides of advancement have been made.
Next year will be a great one, but now, as
the bat has been bagged and the blade laid
aside, another t~welvemonth must come and
go before the embers are again famed into
life and the championships again fought out.
This is certainly proving a great season
upon the western running turf, and the
sport of the kings has experienced an i'm
petus which ought to tide 1t successfully
over for seasons to come, Look at the
3-year-old events. Was there ever such a
cluster OF fast and brilliant races? The
Kentucky, Oakley, Latonia and National
derbies form a quartette OF uneXampled
events. The annals of the turf show moth
ing better. or course, out here in the west
we must remain content to read of this
great sport, but the time will come when
things Will take on a different aspect. A
twenty-day running meeting under the
auspices of such a staunch body of men as
the Omaha Racing association would be
as a koh-i-noor to a rhinestone compared
with a light harness affair. And the day
will come, just as sure as the sun rises
and sets, when we will see Just such a
meeting. Any and everybody can enthuse
over the thoroughbreds, but there are a
whole lot of people not educated up to the
standard OF an all-afternoon t~rotting race.
AS the time rolls on apace for the inter-
national championship sculling match be-
tween Jim Stanbury, the hampton Of the
'o''a anu '"6 NlS ISlbl1N
pion, the interest increases among the lovers
OF the blade. The race is to be run on the
legendary Thames and over the old historic
course from Putney to Mortlake, and the
event is certain to be a thrilling one from
start to finish. Both men are considered,
by their followers, anyway, as marvels. A
couple of weeks ago l spoke about the
disparity in the size OF the contestants.
Stanbury Is a giant, while Harding Is q
Lilliputian. If he beats the champion, won
derful indeed will be the achievement, but
! do not believe he will. In looking over
their races as published in the Clipper
Almanac l cannot figure out how the big
Autralian can lose. Sullivan, the New
Zealander, has been met and vanquished
by both men; in fact, Harding beat him
twice, neither time, however. with the
ridiculous ease with which Stanbury laid
him out for the championship. A compare
tive analysis of their other contests leads
up to but one conclusion. and that is, that
the Antipodean must win IL he is as good
a man as he use to be, and his friends say
he is. No matter who wins, however, he
must give lake Gaudaur, the American
champion. a race, and then we will see
who Is the boss OF the world.
Now that the great rowing jubilee on the
Hudson is history, all eyes are strained in
an attempt to see across the Atlantic. The
famous Henley regatta opens up Tuesday.
Can the Ellis get there? That is the all
absorbing question. For a good many years
we nave Deen SenulnS our best crews over
there to compete for the mug and diamond
SOULS, but yet nary a glimpse have we got
of either. The beef-eaters have kept a
death-like clutch upon those valued trophies.
I'VE thought we had a sort of a chance last
year when Cornell went over, but you have
all read about the famous snowflake in
Hades. But when George Lee journeyed
over many years ago was when we counted
on a lead pipe. And we had it, too, had it
not been for an accident. Lee sculled the
shoes off the whole crowd and was coming
home at a beautiful clip, when he collided
with a stake and swamped, and an English
man kept the cherished prize. But again
we are on the eve of a crucial test. The
picked crews of England, comprising the
flower OF Britain's rowing stock, trained
as never before, boated according to the
latest English scientific ideas, confident
and cheered on by the whole English people,
who have a way of lmparting confidence to
their athletes unknown in these United !
States, will meet the finest crew ever turned
out by Yale, which Is saying a great deal.
] have always contended that no crew of
Americans, no matter how well trained and
clever, stands an even chance on the
Thames against a native crew. The climatic
influences are depressing, and it is rarely
the case that eight men, trained down fine,
, can become sufficiently acclimated in such
short time. Still, reports from abroad are
encouraging. Yale's work has attracted
favorable criticism from the English ex-
perts. The snap and stroke of the sons of
- - f.A@Ss $1,000 1N~N ~ Il
Bob Cook has followed the men carefully, |
and, from inside information, the health OF
the men is said to be good. II they do not
go stale It will be a fortunate thing. Charlie
Courtney says that he will never start
a crew at the Henley again unless the men
were of the boat only three or four days, or
on English soil four months, and Courtney
IS a good Judge, and spoke from experience. |
Yale's crew can be fairly said TO be the
representative amateur crew of America to-
day. 1t compares creditably with the crews
of 1895 and 1894. Last years crew was said
10 be the fastest Yale ever turned out, and ii
WAS owing to its remarkable work done in
trial, for the race with Harvard at New Lon
don was so one-sided as TO afford no chance
of Judging Yale's capabilities. If Yale sue
ceeds In winning II viii be a triumph for
America, equal in Importance with the
Olympic victories. Rowing In England is
followed closer and with more enthusiasm
than any branch OF sport, and England is
essentially the premier sporting country in
the world. This applies to amateur sport.
1t encourages manly sport, contrasting credi-
tably with this country In that respect. DIR.
Mcdowell OF Chicago will try for the
diamond SOULS, but his chances OF winning
are not very rosy. He is far from heing the
fastest sculler We have, but his efforts are