The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-08-07
THE QUHRTER-M MILE DISH,
Which Percy Houghton Saved.
All That the Minnesota
Oarsmen Wen.
JUNIOR FOURS WENT FIST
Judges Put the Time at S.2s
Which Made Old Experts a
Bit Incredulous.

quarter Mile Dash-Percy Houghton. Min
ngsU1a; InndGr 4; Ell II. Logan Winnipeg, second.
an Winnfneg fUg[J9ayior Ps8d henson Mclean, Row
Iora, Minnesota, second; time 835
n, senior Slngle-C W. Johnstone Winnipeg:
FIatt B Walker, Lurline second. Time To-
Junior Double-Strang and Johnstone Win
nlpeg Christian and Louden LurIne sec
%; 9nd; Potter and Bjornstad, Minnesota, third.
AS a glance at the above will show
the opening day at the Minnesota-Win-
| n1peg regatta at Minnetonka, was very
much Canadian day, the doughty
| oaFsrnen from Manitoba capturing three
out OF the four events and winning
second place in the fourth. From a.
favorable opening, starting with the
| Quarter-mile dash, which Percy Hough-
ton, Minnesota landed handsomely. for
tune turned against the Twin City
| oarsmen, and in no one of the three
subsequent events could the St Paul
or Minneapolis men push the noses of
thelr shells across the line ahead Of the
shells OF the wearers of the red and
blue. In the junior four race, a, quiet
hght crew of Canucks rowed out a fast
race against the rather sturdy Mime
| sofas, who showed the DISADVANTAGE of
not having rowed together. The men
from out of the North rowed in beauti-
| Iul form and easily took off the honors.
Percy HOughton, Minnesota, preferred
not to go after Johnstone, the crack
oar from Winnipeg, in a twisted shell.
so the Canadian won rather a hollow
victory from the Minneapolis entry. P.
| WI r11a aio1I
off his superf1uous flesh. All this hap
pened, too, after George Landlord, just
out of the bruising four race, ATTEMPTED
to go to the starting point in Hough-
tons shell, only to pull it apart in five
strokes and hand himself a duck in
the drink directly in front of the boat
house. The race of the day was the
last one-the junior double-with crews
from st. Paul, Winnipeg and Mime
apclis.
After pretty start with the Mime
sotas, Bjornstad and Potter, to the
fore, the other two crews raced away
neck and neck to the Lafayette, while
the Reds got inextricably mixed up in
the weeds, yards and yards out of their
course.
1t was anybody's race up to within
an eighth of a mile of the finish, when
Strang and Johnstone, the Canadians,
pulled away prettily from Christian and
Loudon, and won with some two or
three lengths to spare.
The events were watched by a gen.
erous crowd of spectators, who filled
the pavilions, lined the banks. or fol-
! lowed the boats in all manner of small
steam craft. The course lay a mile
and a half straightway from the Lake
| Park TO the Lafayette, finishing at the
latter place. W. w. Heffelfinger offic-
lated as starter. Col. c. McC. Reeve
was referee, while A. A. Andrews acted
Is commodore. Messrs. Leslie Wann,
Minnesota; NJ. H. Boutelle, and J. c.
| Waugh, Winnipeg, held the stop
watches. These officials, with the press
representatives, occupied the launch
Saucy S7 Kate which followed the races.
There were four starters for the dash,
which was rowed parallel to the
shore. Houghton and Harold Bend,
| Minnesota; A. H. Logan, Winnipeg,
| and f. B. Walker, Lurline 1t was
! Houghton's race from the start, and he
set the pace for the others at a thirty
stroke. Near the start Bend and Wall
ker fouled and stopped rowing. leav-
ing other pair to finish it out. Logan
made a good try for the leader. but
the Minnesotas had to win something,
and this was it. Houghton finished a
winner-not pushed-by two good
lengths.
When the Junior fours were called it
was seen that the Canadians were
| lighter but older men than the Mime
sofas, their only adversaries A glance
at the Canucks as they pulled awav
| from the house showed that thev
! rowed in tip-top form. The Minneso-
tas, though much heavier. pulled rag
gedly and with much rocking and
some poor steering lost to a fast crew.
which did the distance, after a hard
| finish, In what the judges agreed to
| call S:35. Very fast time
| When the start was made the lake
was smooth as glass. with the slight
! the finishing point. Minnesota won
the choice, and took the Lafayette
side. After some delay caused by the
stupidity of the excursion boat cap
tains, the crews went off to a good
start with Winnipeg slightly in the
covered and settled own to a. thirty
four stroke. while their adversaries
pulled as much as thirty-six The
Winnipegs rowed like one man and
steered prettily for the finishing point.
They were in the lead, but the Mime
sofa admirers trusted to the long pow-
erful stroke to pull up the reds. The
Manitobans entered the narrows a full
length to the good, and maintained
this lead up to a point opposite Big
| island. Once off for the last half of the
distance, the two crews started down
the lake, but the Minnesotas lost con-
siderable ground by bad steering.
They hit up their stroke to thirty
eight, but the red and blue boys would
not let down and away they went. i'm
proving matters slightly by their
steady telling stroke. The brawny
Minnesotas made a plucky effort to
hit it up. but their boat rocked and
they could not do the traditional Min
nesota spurt. The Canadians made
the winning by not less than two and
one-half lengths The watches diff
fered as to the exact time. but it was
agreed to call it S:35, although the old
oarsmen shook their heads. This is
very fast time, even under the favor
able conditions, and although the crew
was counted a gritty, well trained
crew, some doubt was expressed as to
their ability to make the performance.
C. w. Johnstone, of Winnipeg, and
P. B. Walker, Of the Lurlines, were
the only starters in the senior singles.
Houghton, of the Minnesotas, was
entered, but was unable to row, owing
to the crippled condition of his shell.
Continued on Second Page.