The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1901-04-02
BRILLIANT STEERING LANDS
OXFORD FIRST.
BAD WEATHER FOR RACING
Cambridge Puts Up Good Contest
and Places Record at
New Notch.

vain snatched a victory from Cam
bridge today in a bright steering race
after the Light Blues, Cambridge, had
led by n length and a half at Barnes
bridge, an advantage which at that
point is supposed to mean a sure VIC
tory.
The crews were SO evenly matched
that clever steering meant everything.
In this alone the Dark Blues, Oxford,
had the advantage. The weather
could hardly have been worse. Rain
fell all night and with a strong south
wind, made a discou1aging outlook.
The race was up stream on a flood
tide, with u seven knot breeze off the
port quarter at the start. which was
made at 1925 a. m. Each crew rowed
down to the starting skiffs. There
was little to choose between them in
action or physique.
At Colonel Williams signal the
crews caught the water together, but
Ca%mbridge's snappy stroke gave them
a shade the better of the start. Cam
bridge rowed "a strokes to the minute
at the start and Oxford 35, which
brought the Dark Blues abreast of
Cambridge and gave them a fractional
lead, which they lost before Ham
mersmith bridge was reached. Cheers
rose from Cambridge's steamboat as
their boat passed Hamme1smith
bridge, half a length ahead. On the
Oxford steamer there was deep silence
and anxiety.
At T%honeycrafts very rough water
was met and the turn of the course
brought the wind around and ahead.
There the superiority Of the Brocas,
Oxford, boar, showed itself. Both
crews dropped their stroke to 20, but
Oxford's was the steadier. Still Cam
bridge gained. At Barnes bridge their
lead was a length and a half. Then
the Oxford champions on the Oxford
steamer gave tongue for the first time
and yelled encouragement to their
crew. The response was %instantan-
eous and as heart breaking as the pace
had been for the first mile, which was
one second under the record, Oxford
%quickened her stride to 80 and then to
"a and Cambridge quickened to SO.
But the latter lacked the driving pow
er Of Oxford, who went up, foot by
foot. The crowds on the banks caught
the contagion of the struggle and
surged along towards the finish. Ok
ford crept slowly up and overcame
the Cambridge lead, in spite of the
constant quickening of the Cambridge
stroke. Then the Cambridge steamer
passengers following the race cheered
despairingly and Cambridge %quickened
again to Sc, then to 80 and finally to
40.
The Oxford bow Tapped the Cam
bridge stern for a time and the race
hung in the balance. Oxford quick
ened to Sc and Cambridge struggled
gamely., but lost her hard won lead
by inches, failing signally in her
steering at each time, while Oxford
never lost an inch on the geometry of
the course. In the last 200 yards Ok
ford's bow began to show ahead and
she relentlessly overhauled Cambridge,
who rowed strong to the finish.
Nevertheless. deep throated cheers
arose as the crews flashed between the
red flags at the finish and Cambridge
saluted Oxford as they ceased rowing.
Then to the American spectators,
came the surprising feature. The
winning crew rowed to their landing
place and carried in their own oars
and boat, instead of being themselves
carried in on the shoulders of their
admirers as would happen in the case
of an American win.
The times at the main points of the
course we're: Cravensteps, 2 minutes,
s seconds; mile, 5 minutes, Sd sec
onds; beating the record by II second.
Hammersmith bridge, 7 minutes, 80
seconds; Chiswick, II minutes, 90
seconds; Barnes bridge 10 minutes.