The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-06-28
ALL READY FOR THE RACES
YALE AND H1RVARD OA RS1TEN TO
 BATTLE TODAY.

Only Very Light Practice Taken Yestor-
 duy-Both sides Conhdent-Yale Crew
 Evidently Very Fast-Has Covered tn | Course In Almost Record Time-An
 Apparent Lack of Interest as Com-
 pared Wi,h Former Years,
 New London, Conn, June 27-Once
 more the representative crews of the
 two leading universities, Yale and Har-
 yard, stand on the banks of the Thames
 ready to renew the battle for rowing
 supremacy while the enthusiasts of for
 mer years, old boatmen and undergrad
 uates are nocking into New London, the scene of so many memorable contests, eager for one more sight of flashing
 cars. cheering multitudes and all that makes the events So interesting and cX- citing. The crews-and this year 1hcre
 are six of them--a varsity. q freshman and four-oared from each colleSe-have finished their training after many weeks of tedious, persevering work. The men arc selected for the different positions and nothing can now be done to add to their speed and endurance, except q few words of caution and encourage nent from the coachers and old eXper- fenced oarsmen.
 l Naturally with IIarvard's captain, who was the stroke and the best oar, out of the boat, reclining on q couch at Red Top with an inured ankle, there is l tonight at Yale quarters a feeling of confidence. In Charlie Harding, how ever who will sit in the boat in Hig- ginson's place and make the pace the Cambridge men have the greatest confi- dence. While he is a small man, phy sically the smallest in the boat, and cannot row as long a stroke as Captain | Higginson, he has excellent judgment and it is pointed out that in the num- erous races he has stroked his crew on the Charles he has never lost.
 The Frcshman Rncr.
 The freshman race is this year ab solbing more than ordinary attention, and as yet no one has been so rash as | to state positively who will win, while that other sort of preliminary round 1 the four-oared race between the sub stitutes of the two varsity crews--is al- so occasioning considerable comment. The few wagers that are recorded-and they are very few-gave Yale the bene- fit of all doubt, and odds of to 3, to g. and even better were offered
 On the regatta as a whole there hard ly seems to be the usual amount of in- tersst and enthusiasm this year There were tonight a number of yachts in the harbor both off the wharves and below near the Pequot house and just at sundown a number of large schoon- CTS were lowed through the bridge and found good positions just above near the finish line. But the incoming trains this afternoon failed to deposit that gay rollicking crowd of undergraduates that on former years has made the eve of the race lively and jolly and at the same time brought cheer to the hearts of the New London tradesmen
 Those who arrived to-day were in the main old oarsmen, who almost i'm mediately went up the river to the two quarters and spent few quet hours chatting with the coaches and members of the crews This crowd is a yearly one, and seldom varies in size, but to- night there was a noticeable lack of color on the streets
 Every preparation has been made to handle the crowd tomorrow and the two railroads will run observation trains on both banks of the Thames so that there will be ample facility to see the crews struggle from start to finish.
 Time of Rnce,
 All three of the races are planned, as usual, to be rowed down stream with the tide, which at the time will have ebbed about three hours and be running strong. The four-oared crews will be sent away at II 30 at the beginning of the course across the river from the | Harvard quarters at Red Top. The | crews will pull two miles down stream and finish at the navy yard. Imme- diately afterward the freshmen will | start at the navy yard and finish under l the big railroad bridge, distance also of two miles, The observation train | which will have followed the crews | down the course, will then hurry back lo ftt Top anu HDoul 1E O CLOCK noon l the varsity eight will start and pull | down stream for four miles
 In Gas" of Driay.
 It may be said that # seldom hap pens that q race scheduled for the mid dle of the day comes off on time The southwest breezes at this time of the year are usually quite strong about noon and die away toward even- ing. Should strong wind necessltate a pOstpSnemept tomorrow the pro- will provide for the four pared an dthe freshman races starting about o'clock in the afternoon. But the varsity race will be rowed up stream and will probably not be started until o'clock It will then start at the draw bridge and finish just below Gales Fer ry The prospects tonight, however, to indicate that the soft wealth ar of the past few days with it's light oreezes would continue tomorrow and the original programme carried out.
 ifn,vnrd's Las, Practice.
 This afternoon most of the Harvard men loafed about the quarters, reading. playing croquet and talking. About i:45 all three of the crimson crews were ordered on to the river. A little spice