The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-03-08
To Register Power in
J the Stroke.
CHARLES NJ. ALLEN
Has Machine to Assist in
Training 0arSmen.

The greatest invention for the assist
ance of coaches of college and other
eight-oared crews will be perfected by
Charles NJ Allen, instructor of me-
chanical engineering at Worcester Po-
lytechnic institute, in a few weeks.
Mr.. Allen is hard at work on the in
vention now, but has not completed it,
and is a little difTidsnt about saying
anything concerning it until he has
given it a thorough test and proved its
usefulness.
Although it has not reached state
which will satisfy him perfectly, Wor-
cester men who know thing or two
about rowing have seen the machine
and predict magnificent success.
The invention is an apparatus by
which the application of power put on
the oar by the oarsna an is registered.
1t will record in such a manner that
there can be no doubt just where the
man at the oar is doing his work and
just where he fails to apply himself to
get the proper amount of power
The benefits of such an apparatus can
be easily understood by anybody who
is familiar with the sport. The great
est difficulty with which coaches OF
crews have to contend is to get the men
to properly apply their strength. While
the men are at work in the tank the
coaches are nearby and can direct them
but when the men start off in their
light shell it is not as easy for the in
structors to see when the men are row.
ing as they should, and when they are
getting their strength into the oar.
Despite the efforts of the coaches it
is impossible for a man to shirk his oar
if he feels tired from his eXertions. He
can follow the motions with the others
and make a pretense of rowing Just
as hard. Many times a coach can de-
tect loafing, but many times he can't,
and it is no unfamiliar complaint of
other men that somebody on their side
of the she'll has not been working as
hard as he might
The invention of Mr.. Allen will stop
all that. And not only will it make
the several men in the shell hold their
end up, but it will be of valuable as
sstance in coaching men who are will
ing TO row themselves out. 1t fire.
quently happens in the makeup of an
eight that men are placed in the boat
who are as strong as any other man
and as willing, but they are not able
to apply their strength. They may be
able to catch the water fully as hard as
any of their companions; they may be
able to put their strength into the mid
die of the stroke or they may finish
strong; but it sometimes happens that
they are not able to combine the va
rious portions of the stroke in order to
obtain the best results. The apparatus
which Mr.. Allen is working on will re-
cord the application of power at va
rious parts of the stroke, so that the
faults of the men can be seen, and ii
will then lay within the power of the
coach to remedy them.
Mr. Allen is a brother of Capt. Allen
of the Yale boat crew, and has had
his assistance in working out his ideas
He has been on the apparatus for sew
eral months and expects to have it
completed in another month. Last
summer, during vacation, he used the
apparatus, his brother rowing the boat
while he worked on the invention.
Since his return to Tech he has worked
on the machine during his spare mo-
ments. He has not fastened, prefer
ring to prove every step he has made
before jumping to the conclusion that
his apparatus will work
He is both modest and reticent about
| the machine. The Spy man called on
him last evening for pointers in regard
10 the invention. He said he would
prefer to wait until it has been given q
successful test before he makes a pub
lie statement about it, Another reason
too, he says, Is that If The Spy de-
scrihed the invention fully the whole
boating world would see it. and he
would be deluged with questions con-
corning the invention.
AS to what win be done with the APP
paratus If it works as well as he hopes.
he did not tell He said he did not
work on it expressly for the use of the
Yale crew OF which his brother is cap
tain.