The times., 1898-03-06
Capital City Athletes.

1
LET'S have a Potomac River regatta this
summer
Every man who is al an in touch with
the local rowing interests cannot but
feel, If H. is honest in his home rowing
connections. That there never was = great
er necessity for reviving The joint re-
gatta than this year.
For the lack Of q local regatta last year
the bottom dropped almoS, completely
out Of the interest in the noble sport on
our river and il wnl take more than this
seasons awakening and hammering to
put the interest back to where il was
TWO or three seasons ago.
Il seems "a pity. ray a shame that with
all the advantages we have. first of all
IN the choice of two Of the finest courses
10 5e found anywhere and with three
=pleu0idly equipped boat houses. that we
should allow a season TO go abegEing
Tor the sport that long since made the
noble old river famous.
This thing Of sending crews away to
regattaz heid ~ other cities is all very
nice whea The proper conditions obtain;
when for instance a crew is remarkably
fast and creditably represent locality
and have a reasonable show Of winning;
under these conditions the sending away
II crews should b6 encouraged. and the
writer has always helped along such
movement. But TO send crews away
equipped with scarcely anything more
than hope of winning and certain Of
being lost in The shuttle against the tried
and experienced. the cream OF a locality.
is more than a game of chance with all
odds against winning. This, Of course.
applies TO amy and an localities and the
suits and facts.
Now, now much better ii would be for
Us 10 put out crews at home, in any open
regatta. where. with local influences,
home roofing there would be an even
chance to win against all comers. And
how much pleasure il would give the
thousands Of local admirers and follow
ers OF the sport TO again witness one Of
the good. old-tme Potomac River regat-
tas where all The races are rowed with
The spirit OF local pride, made spicy and
Snappy by the never-failing rivalry be-
tween the clubs. Let's have joint regat-
Ia this summer. And if we are going TO
have ID: if We are thinking about having
it: LETS get together as soon as possible
and talk il up and get matters in shape
with our minds made up 10 have the
best We have ever had.
The ColumbIas, Analostans and Poto-
macs have not been so well prepared in
several years as they are this season.
The Potomscs are especially fortunate in
this respect. and the splendid form, the
surprisingly good form. displayed ny the
new men in club rcGattas last season is
still remembered with pleasure by all
lovers of the sport.
II We cannot afford TO hold an open re-
Eatta. then hold an invitation affair for
certain few events only, and il we cannot
see our way clear TO even this, then have
an inter-club regatta FOR the champion
ship OF the river in the several races TO
De decided upon
College Athletes and Regist ration.
1t did not require a seer OF a prophet
10 foreten what the college athletes
would do with the attempt of the \. A.
L 10 force the obnoxious registration
rule upon them. once they got together
and talked il over. II / remember Alright
a prediction in the matter was made in
this column a fortnight ago. II has since
been borne out At the meeting Of the IN
tercoIlegiate Association Of Amateur Ath-
leres. held in New York last week, it
was unanimously decided rot 70 be gov
erned by the rUle. II was clearly demon
srrated that the rule was and would be
rather a detrimcnt than help 10 ANA
telGr competition. mainly in that Il would
keep many aspiring athletes out Of COM
petitions entirely. IL was also shown that
q membership IN the Intercollegiate As
sOciati0n gives an athlete all the neces-
sary protection and record Of his dOings
that the 4. a l. plan could possibly
give. and further registration is not
deemed necessary. u the a. 4. [. in
sists upon the application OF the rule TO
the r :. a. A. the latter viii certainly
retire from membership in the Union,
which seems 10 be making itself very un-
81 ssrr- -rr7a
and orders
Another very important action taken at
the intercollegiate meeting was the adop-
ton Of = new basis for scoring points
made in competitions. and in the future
VIII be as follows: Six points for first
place, four points for second two for
third and one for fourth. The latter was
added to give encouragement 10 men who
when they found themselves in the bunch.
with no chance of winning third or bet
ter. dropped out. This VIII now make
harder contests Tor third place. and the
third man siLl make il hotter FOR those
ahead Of him. TwO-mile races viii be
championship events instead Of one mile
as heretofore.
Columbia Athletic Club.
March came I'm with a rush in the gym
rasium of the Columbia Athletic Club,
with over half a hundred members exer-
cisine between the hours Of 4 and 6. The
members are more and more appreciating
the benefits 10 be derived from systematic
body building. and in consequence Prof.
Crossley is very busy man. prescribing
exercises and coaching the noyices after
ward.
Stanley Warren now holds the record
for blowing the Spirometer, with $50
pounds To his credit. Franz and Consaul
are a tie Al 221.
Acrobats and gymnasts and athletes are
busy now preparing for the big athletic
smoker TO be held in the gym" on next
Saturday evening. II promises TO be the
best hello IN several seasons. Prof. Garter
VIII have fine lot of boxers ready for
the occasion, and their part OF the pro-
gram viii be very attractive feature
Won Lindgrcn and McGowan are among
the veterans who will coErs together
again Tor q spirited exhibition.
The program will include class drills
hslf-rnile for local indoor record. fence
vault. IN this an effort viii be made Il
break the local record Of feet 8; trick
somersaults. from springboard; higl
jump; lrick bicycle riding by Hardy Ca
brera- three acrobatics; high leapiHg and
diving ia which the record viii be tried
for bv AfcElhOne; parallel bars; foil fenc-
ing and broadswOrds
Royce Hough has re-juined the club
and will make an effort 20 regain his
former records and several new ones.
S0usa. TOO. has come back into the
ranks and he promises 10 develop into
one Of the best Of high jumpers
George Stewart, who represented Cen
tral High School in the Boston Athletic