The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-06-24
me ON THE VARSITY CONTEST

POUGHKEEPSIE, n. Y, June %
Three crews of freshmen, on the Hud-
son this evening, smashed to smith
Greens all previous records for fresh
men on a two-mile course, and put up
one Of the hottest intercollegiate races
ever Witnessed in this country.
crew of the strudy Yale freshmen
rowed the two-mile course in min
utes 1872 seconds. A trifle lighter crew
of Harvard freshmen fought them
very inch of the way and finished
trifle over two lengths behind them in
9:261a. and the Cornell freshmen, whose
college record is that none Of its fresh
men crews has ever been beaten be-
fore, finished a length behind Harvard
in 9:291%. The best previous record for
two miles was 9:41, made by the Co
Iumbia freshmen crew Of "a, at New
London in 1891.
While the conditions here are better
for fast time than they are upon the
Thames, and while therefore some al
lowance should be made for the much
better exhibition today, the days race
was a very remarkable one, all three
of the crews having lowered the record,
the last crew in the race-Cornell-do-
ing So by liz seconds. All three OF
the crews used every pound of power
in their boats at every stage Of the
two miles and each crew at some
period of the race was in the lead.
The victory of today is looked upon
by the crowds here tonight as being
in some measure indicative of the re-
suit of Fridays big varsity race. 1t
is not contended that the order Of
finish will be the same, for Mr.. Leh-
mann, of Harvard, has all along said
that his freshmen had been badly ne
elected and could not be looked upon
as a representative freshmen crew.
On the contrary, the Yale crew OF
youngsters has been said to be more
sure Of winning than their varsity,
while MIR. Courtney's Cornell crews
have had equal attention paid to them.
The chances, therefore, as picked out
tonight are that the order Of Fridays
finish is likely to be Harvard, Yale,
Cornell.
START DELAYED.
The start which was originally
scheduled for $50, was postponed be-
cause Of water conditions until
O'Clock. Then the crews were gotten
in line and at 7:10 the pistol sounded.
Harvard got the best clip on the water
and in a few strokes drew to the
front, closely followed by the Cornell
crew, with Yale almost a quarter
length to the rear. Harvard and Cor
nell started at 80 strokes to the minute
and Yale at a sweeping stroke of "a.
At the eighth mile, Yale, finding that
she was trailing behind, increased her
stroke to SO, and began to draw up,
while Harvard and Cornell dropped
down to "a each.
At the quarter Yale was still behind,
but seemed to be rowing easily, while
Harvard and Cornell were working
hard, Cornell drawing up on the Har-
ward lead Yale was easing up her
stroke and within the next half mile
brought it down to SO and "a, but even
then she seemed to gain, and there was
a perceptible dash to the boat that
seemed lacking in the others. At the
three-quarters mark it became ap-
parent that the heavier weight in the
Yale boat was going to prove trouble
some to the lighter youngsters in the
Harvard boat and still lighter ones in
the Cornell shell. Just crossing the
mile line Yale had pulled her boat up
even with that of Harvard and was
showing it's nose forward few inches
with each stroke. Cornell was labor
ing a length behind Harvard, rowing
a rapid SO stroke to Harvard's 50 and
Yale's steady 50.
From that point on TO the nnlSh
Yale rowed steadily at SO and 81, quick
ening to Sc several lengths from the
finish in an endeavor to make the
breach between her old enemy, Har-
ward, and herself a triae wider And,
although Harvard picked her stroke
UP to So after passing the mile and
held it until the finish, it lacked power,
and the boat dropped gradually be-
hind. crossing the line a trifle over
two lengths behind the Yale boat.
When Yale passed both the Harvard
and Cornell crews, just beyond the
mile mark, the Cornell men, who hal
pulled their boat On to even terms
and, perhaps, as seen from the obser-
walton train, slightly in advance Of
Harvard, made a desperate effort to
keep Yale from gaining but it was OF
less avail even than Harvard's effort
and at the mile and a half there was
clear water between Cornell and Har-
ward. From there on to the finish Cor
nell whooped it up to Sc per minute
and closed the gap slightly, finishing
just about an even length in Har-
wards rear None of the crews seemed
distressed when they finished but Yale
was decidedly the freshest of the three