The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1898-06-24
THE FRESHMAN RACE.
The Splendid Work of the Three Crews
Surpassed Varsity Contest.

New London, June 23.-The freshmen
crews Of Yale, Harvard and Cornell
rowed one of the best races ever seen
on the Thames, this afternoon. Yale
won, but Harvard spurted at the finish
and was so close a second that only
a few feet separated the two crews,
while the bow of Cornell's shell was
opposite No. of the Harvard crew. 1t
was a royal battle from start to finish,
with Cornell leading at first, Yale
catching her at the one mile and Har-
ward making a grand rally and beating
out Cornell at the line. Considering the
weather conditions, with the wind
blowing strong up stream and the tide
also running in that direction, the time
was fast, although the slowest race
since 1892. Every one of the freshmen
oarsmen came over the line in the very
best of condition. There was no fall
ing over by any of them and it is likely
that, like Cornell earlier in the day,
LDSy GSuId nave 6OllC niolIlCl liillG
without going to pieces In fact the
Yale coxswain was so uncertain of vic
tory that he carried all three crews
well under the bridge, an eighth Of a
mile past the finish.
The Yale men tonight were more
pleased with Haryard's victory over
Cornell than they were over their own
over both, and the first thing the win
ming crew asked after they caught their
breath was how badly Harvard had
whipped the Ithacans. The race was
certainly surprise to the more ex-
pert oarsmen, even the three leading
coaches included. No one believed that
the youngsters would do so well, and
the students of all three schools felt
proud of the freshmen.
The race was called at o'clock, but
at that time the wind was strong from
the southwest and the referee put 1t
OFF for an hour. Then there was anoth-
er wait for the wind to go down, and
finally at 4:30 the three crews got in
position just off the wharf at the naval
station. Harvard had the west or out
side course, Cornell the middle and
ing with the New Haven eight.
The race started at sos and at the
pistol shot Harvard caught the water
first and shot ahead about three feet,
Cornell, however, was right after the
Cambridge eight, and in the first ten
strokes had drawn UP even and then
passed her. Harvard rowed about thir-
ty-four at the start, Cornell thirty two
and Yale thirty-three. The race to the
first haIf-mile rather foreeasted what
might be expected. for Cornell although
rowing nanfully and with the same
long swing that characterized the Var
sity earlier in the day, found that she
could not shake off her rivals and at
the half mile, both We're Tapped on her
quarter. The rough water on the west
| course caused Harvard to splash some,
but the Cambridge crew did not seem
| to lose much and held onto the other
| two right we'll Yale, however, put in
| a good squirt just before the mile was
reached and passed Harvard At this
point Cornell was rowing thirty-four,
Yale thirty three and Harvard thirty
| five.
| AS the crews came up to the first
| mile Yale crept up even with Cornell
| and the two crews swept by the mark
with absolutely no difference between
them, while Harvard was not over a
| quarter of length behind. The next
| stroke after the crews crossed the mile
nag put Yale foot In the lead, but
Cornell recovered and for the half mile
| following the crews alternated, first one
showing ahead and then the other
while Harvard seemed content to have
| the nose of her shell at the bow of the
| Cornell boat. With the finish only a
half mile away and with the roar of
| the whistles and cheers of the partisans
on every side, the crews made a brave
| fight for the line. Yale could not shake
| off Cornell. In fact, could not even get
a short foot ahead of her, but just as
the shells went by the one and half
| mile mark Yale succeeded in getting
| the nose of her boat beyond Cornells
and held it there. Then came the finish
and such a finish has not been seen on
the water for many year. Harvard $
coxswain called on his crew and it re-
sponded nobly with a squirt that put il
almost on even terms with Cornell.
AT an eighth of a. mile from the finisf
| line Cornell put in another squirt ant
established a slight lead over Harvard
but could not catch Yale. Again thu
Harvard coxswain called on his mer
and the shell jumped this time well be.
| yond Cornell and, with the line only
| few yards distant, the Cambridge crew
| had taken second place and pluckl,
| started for Yale. Inch by inch Har
ward gained, pulling a dashing strok,
| that sent the boat through the watel
| without a hitch, but the finish line wa.
| not far enough away, and with Har
wards bow at Yale's No. and Cornell:
bow at Harvard's No. the crews spet
over the line and Yale had won. Th,
scene at the finish of the freshman race
was far prettier than that at the finisl
of the varsity. The Yale boys wer,
doubly overjoyed, first because the,
had won and second because Harvard
had beaten Cornell, while the Harvard
crew was royalty received by it's coacl
| and roundly praised for it's grand rail-,
| at the line.
1t was an aquatic battle in which tw,
losing crews won almost as much prais
as the victor and a contest that wa
well worth waiting for. The spectator
| on the observation train on the ives
| bank, with the sun shining right ol
| the three boats, had a fine view IF tn
whole contest from the start to TIL
finish, and it was unfortunate tina
l =