The times., 1901-06-24
THE RACES ON TEE THAMES
Great Interest in the Coming Yale
Harvard Contest.
The Varsity Crews to he Pittcd
Against Each othc- Next Thurs
duy-C0ndftion Of the Rival Fights
and Their Work on the Water.

day-C0ndition Of the Rival iSiSbts
and Their Work on the Water
GALES FERRY. Conn. June 2S.-Yalc
and Harvard are within four days of the
great annual race and the excitement al
both Red Top. where the Harvard men
, are quaitered, and AT Gales Ferry, where
Yales stalwart oarsmcn are, is daily in
creasing. The headquarters of both crews
are besicged by friends OF the crews and
the coaches are having hard work to keep
the oarsmen from being keyed UP to too
high pitch Quiet days however, and
long, cool nights have acted as the hes;
possible safeguards for the men. and the
condition of every man who steps into the
boats for the last time on neXtAr thursday
viii he as fine as could be desired. There
is no fear at either Yale or Harvard quar-
ters thai the men will fail to come up to
the scratch. The two crews are today in
tiptop condition ard will remain SO to the
race.
What will be the outcome of the great
race on Thursday is. Of course, the great
question today, and nobody is venturing
a prophecy as to the probable winner
| There has never been year when condi-
tions made it more difficult to state which
! is the better crew than this year The
! outcome Of the time rows last Tuesday
! evening, when Yale and Harvard both
/ went over the four-mile course, was so
surprisingly similar in both cases that all
! previous forecasts were knocked higher
/ than the proverbial kite. Under condi-
/ tions that were so identical as to make it
! impossible for one crew to have an advan-
| tage over the other, Yale and Harvard
/ went over the course within a second OF
each other Yale finishing the four mile
/ spin in PLY and Harvard in 2i:1S That
was the time flashed up and down the
river by telegraph to the newspaper stop
watches at either end of the course. The
Yale coaches took slower time for the
Blue shell, while the Harvard coaches be-
lieved that the Crimson did it in even
faster time. but the time given was iden-
tical with that derived from other sources
of information. That row, the first OF the
kind in recent years, showed that beyond
a doubt both Yale and Harvard are close
I together, and that both are fast. Every
one at Gales Ferry and Red Top looks
upon the coming race as likely TO be the
most exciting ever rowed between Yale
and Harvard crew. 1t should be either
crews race to the last flag, and the vic
tory viii go to the boat that shows the
most improvement in the coming three
days. The fact is established that the two
varsity crews are wonderfully well match
ed at this stage of their development.
The next three days VIII tell the whole
story.
The seating order of Yale's varsity boat
is now practically assured. Fred Allen,
lead coach, stated that unless something
unforeseen happened to change the plans
the varsity would row in the following
order: Stroke, Cameron; No. Z, Captain
Blagden; No 8, Kunzig; No. 3, Mitchell;
No. 4, Hooker; No. s. Johnson; No. 2,
Bogue; bow, Waterman. OF these men
the first three, Cameron, Blagden, and
kunZig, are veterans, though the others
have rowed in previous years, either as
varsity substitutes, as four-oar men, or
as freshmen. Johnson Is wei known IN
the boating world as one Of the famous
Wdchusett four that rowed with Ten
Eyck as coach and stroke two years ago.
All Of the Yale men are strapping fel-
lows, with plenty of muscle and not too
much weight. They are wiry and full
of endurance, ard look - if they could
handle the four miles with comparative
ease. HarvaTd's eight seem to lie taller
and perhaps heavier men, but not neceS-
sarily stronger.
For Harvard, Mr.. Mumford, the head
coach, says that the crew VIII roS as
follows: Stroke, Bancroft No. z Law
renee; No. f. Bullard; No. 5, Aver; No. /
t. Shuebruk; No. 8, Blake No ?, Nc
Grew; bow, Goodell. This order, with the
exception Of Nos. and Z, was decided /
on a week ago, but the arrangement tried /
this week, changing Lawrence and Aver
at Nos. ; and I, respectively, was so sue !
cessfuI that it will now continue TO be
the rowing order of the boat. Technically
speaking, the trouble with Harvard S boat /
seems to be a loss Of leg drive, which !
results in q slight hang OF the boat be
tween strokes The spacing. however, IS
good rather better than Yale's. Until /
recently there has been a noticeable list |
to port in the Harvard boat on each re-
cover, giving Bancroft, the stroke, un-
necessary work and delaying the boat
considerably in spurts. This has, how
ever, been corrected within the last Few
days and is not now 50 noticeable.
Taking the two crews as they look from
the launches, there are several notewor-
thy differences OF style. Hale TINS year
seems TO have departed somewhat from
her oldtime slow recovery from the catch.
Old Yale oarsmen criticise this to some
extent, after watching the boat a mile
or two. The old Bob Cook trick OF COM
ing back slowly to the catch. that was
carried out with such success by later {
coaches, seems 10 have been dropped to
some extent this year. Allen has drilled
into his men something entirely new TO
Yale oarsmanshiD in the quick reach for /
ward, which is apt 70 result in trouble
some recovery 1t is noticeable feature .
Of Yale $ rowing, ana gives Snarp, snap /
py, and fast look to the boat that II really
does not possess. The other feature of I
Yale's work in the boat is perhaps more
commendable. 1t is the fierce, hard catch !
and the great leg drive which the men
get This is most noticeable in the Yale +.
boat, and jams the shell through the wa
ter at great speed. At a little distance
Yale's boat looks odd because Of the vary
ing heights of the men, and on this ac-
count some Of the men have To work hard (
10 keep up with the sweep Of the oars.
But the strong trio Of men at the stern. /
Cameron, Blagden, and kunZig remedies /
this to great extent
Harvard is, on the whole more rhyth- /
mical and uniform in the boat work. and /
il looks at a distance Of half q mile as !
if the she'll were gliding along more easily. /
This is probably due TO the fact that Har- |
ward has the more even TecOVery-a fact /
that is generally admitted by experts who /
have come down here 10 see the two /
crews at work. Harvard men are a little 1
bigger also, but there is q hang between Z
short quick stroke Of the Yale boat Tn /
questiOBably. there is more inherent power /
in the Crimson boat this season, but /
whether it will be brought out Dy next /
Thursday is a question.
Most Of the Harvard coaches think !
that the Crimson boat is much faster |
than last years. At Gales Ferry the i'm |
preston seems to be among the men who |
have watched the Yale crews progress |
from year TO year that this seasons is |
than either the 1898 or 1899 boat. If this |
is so, the race ought TO be a good one, !
as both Harvard and Yale win be nearly |
on a par
duubtcdlY be one of the most interesting |
10 watch Of the week. Yale has a four |
cared crew that is the fastest ever sent |
to the Thames from New Haven, and il /
is improving every day. The rowing |
order viii be: Stroke StrouEs No. 3, |
Rumsay; no. 2 Hewitt; bow Thomas. |
The four is rOwuS in iaSt style and Is |
regarded as remarkably good crew |
Harvard men do not expect 50 much |
from their four. which is rowiuE 2s fol |
TeF.as mol ~.fiz