New-York tribune., 1897-07-04

which makes them different from shorter races.
This has been acknowledged for many years.
and the study has been to discover what was
the most effective way to secure this sliding.
continuous running OF the SHELL One OF the
theories has been that the long stroke With the
oar in the water the longest possible time. and
out Of water the shortest possible time. is the
only method Of occurring this absence OF checking
so far 1t Is possible TO secure IT, That, In
brief. is the basis Of the lorg English stroke 1t
Is the basis Of the stroke .nred by Harvard
Yale and Columbia this year Ia varying degrees
Courtneys theory. which during the last two
years has met with the success which seems 10
make II for the moment the better, Is that the
strength Of each muscle In the mems bodies shall
be used to It's greatest advantage and at he
time when 1t will count for the most, and that
the power put into the stroke shall be distrib-
uted as evenly as possible over all these
cles He therefore brings the leg motion in at
the end Of the stroke on the theory that the fna!
thrust given 20 the oars just before they come
out of the water. vii! he sufficient to carry the
boat until the men get forward on the full
reach again and catch the water. This has GER
tany been effective this year and whatever we
NAV say OF the stroke used In the past or the
strokes to be used in the future. the fact still
remains that Courtney's crew this year is one
OF the most remarkable for speed ana periect
ness that has been seen In this country. IT
would seem that this was reason enough Tor
other coaches to learn lesson and profit
thereby.
MR. LEHMANN'S VISIT.
one of the pleasant features OF the year in
rowing has been the VISIT or II. Z. lenmann 10
the United States. Amateur sport In this coun-
try has for the last two or three years been I'M
proving In It's quality. The presence of profess
sionals direct or indirect on college teams Is be-
coming less and less frequent Indeed. the flavor
of amateur sport in the United States Is much
better than 1t was half-dozen years ago. Just
at this time the coming Of such a manly athletic
spirit as Is represented by Mr.. Lehman mas
had an extraordinary influence In urging for
ward the reform in athletics, and there Is no
nuestion therefore, that there can be traced dl-
rectly 10 Mr. Lehman an actual improvement IN
sports All have been able to unite In entertain
ing him There are jealousies created by has
presence here, and. while he has been defeated
this year. he has nevertheless put such an en-
thusiasm not only into Harvard rowing ana
Harvard athletics themselves but into the atm
letics Of the colleges generally, that every one
whether he be Harvard man or not, looks for-
ward to the coming Of this representative Eng
lish sDortsman to this country another year. Ol
course II is meant in the best spirit by Harvard
that Mr. Lehman should receive an A 81 de-
gree and yet in spite of all he has done ana MS
ood-fellowship in coming and staying for tniS
length Of time it does seem. after all. as IL the
giving OF a degree Of Master OF Arts was bring
ing scholastic honors into field that Is NOT par
ticularly scholastic although II requires aoiilty
and brains. And II also seems as H. on the
whole It was neither expected by Mr. LenWaiil,
nor a necessary result Of his coming mere anu
his work while here.