Evening star., 1896-07-03
The TALK AT HENLEY
Yale's Prospects Generally Thought
to Be Good.
GOOD FEELING FOR The AMERICANS
Their Shell Believed to Be Too
Heavy.
DIR. M'DOWELL'S CHANCES

Copyright, 1896, by the Associated Press.)
HENLEY, England, July 3.-The training
of the crews entered for the Grand Chal-
lenge Cup and other races to be decided
hext week at the Henley regatta is about
completed, although some Of them during
the present day and tomorrow will undergo
their finishing touches.
The consensus of opinion is that the race
for the Grand will be won by I.eander, New
College or Yale, with the Thames crew
having good lead for fourth place in the
estimation Of competent critics. Trinity
College and the London Rowing Club are
considered out of the races The latter be-
cause they are far behind their form of
other years, and the former because, for
some reason unexplained, they have fallen
off remarkably from their performance Of
week ago
There are several factors however, which
should not be overlooked in forecasting the
chances of the different crews. The New
what overtrafned. Bob Cook has care
fully avoided this. and Yale will go to the
post In prime condition, most important
factor with the crews as evenly matched as
the present seem to be- The draw-if there
is strong west wind, such as has been
blowing every day this week off the Bucks
statlon-means an advantage of at least a
length and half. There is an undercur-
rent OF feeling here. fed by the press, that
II Yale wins 1T will be because Mr. Cook
copied the English style of rowing with a
really good crew, and that II Yale loses it
Will be because they had not time to thor
oughly adopt the English style.
Good Feeling Toward Yale.
Cornell" said Mr.. ]. F. Cooper, secre-
tary of tine regatta committee, pursued a
suspicious policy before unknown to Henley
crews. They declined Invitations as if they
suspected they would be poisoned. Yale, on
the contrary, seems one of ls and has met
us In the same spirit. We are with them
in manners and men and they are not look
ing for traps and tricks on every side. If
they win 1t will be a great thing for Hem
ley, as we suppose Harvard will not be
content and perhaps other colleges will not
be satisfied until they add a victory at
Henley to their home triumphs. But, even
Il Yale succumbs, We trust 1t will not he
long before we see her blue ~ again, and
if Yale wins you may be sure there will be
no begrudging her the victory even among
the defeated crews
This is the keynote OF the feeling at
Henley. and 1t is repeated among the Le-
ander. Trinity Hall and New College men,
no less than among the watermen and the
towpath loafers.
The Yale men are a lot better together
than any of our crews and 1 cannot un-
derstand Why they do not cover more wa
ter. After watching them carefully, have
reached the conclusion that the fault lies
with their paper boat. 1t is rot as rigid as
cur cedar boats, and if Yale Is defeated I
believe it will be because while the paper
boat is better than any American built ce-
dar boat" '-+.- = -.'''' H-
This view is shared by the watermen in
charge of the tent boat houses
You see said one Of the watermen
dale.s boat is heavier than first Trinity's
Ciasper. which was alongside OF it. THE
Yale craft" he continued, 'fs heavier than
that swaddle there pointing to Emman-
uers boat, 'and with more weight it is not
SO rigid, which must tell Upon its way be-
tween strokes
? Wauchop, stroke Of the Trinity Hall
crew, is of the same opinion as Mr.. Cooper
and the watermen regarding the relative
merits of paper and cedar shells. He added
to the foregoing remarks: II am afraid
that the chopping and changing will have
tendency to destroy the. homogenity Of
the crew."
Wauchop's opinion that changes make
the men nervous Is shared by c. NJ Pit
man of New College. by the Leander men
and other boating men about the river.
Bob Cook will express no opinion as to
the chances of the Yale crew, and the men
maintain the same attitude of reserve But
they all seem to be quietly confident
DR.. McDoweN.s Prospects.
The absorbing interest ihahe race for the
grand challenge. cup obscures. a allaoet com
pletely the coming race for the diamond
SOULS. DR.. Mcdowell the American cham
pion oarsrlan. who is entered for this
event, seems to feel this somewhat. He
says that apart from the friendly recep-
tion he has met with among the oarsmen,
his boat house has received no courtesies
whatever. The doctor added:
in At a.
surprise some of them. But 1 am convinced
that they will go to the man who gets the
Bucks station. Then am not properly
equipped for the Herley waters. Mind, 7
do not complain, but my boat was built
for Lake Michigan. and weighs over thirty
pounds. The smallest and slightest boat
possible is what is wanted here Black
stairs boat only weighs twenty-six pounds,
and Harding's only weighs eighteen and
one-half pounds. However, no matter what
l do this year. 1 shall have a much lighter
boat and come next year."
The morning was stormy, and 1t turned
out to be nasty day for rowing. The
wind was down the river, and the water
choppy.
New Boat Not Yet Rugged.
Bob" Cock, however, had the Yale men
down to the boat house at $50, in order
that they might help to rig the new shell
and so that they might to get a better
idea of catching the water by watching the
practice of the English crews. They were
occupied until noon at which hour the
shell was still not ready for use Conse-
with Bob Cook coaching the men from
a bicycle, Yale pulled some short stretches
with the stroke varying from 36 to 40. The
men. however, showed bad form, and Mr. Cook
tried to impress upon them the necessity of
SPFCTAT NOTTCFC