The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-06-26

TIT . : :. :. v : -. Yale's three victories are attributed by experts to the superiority of the
 stroke taught Yale by John Kennedy over that taught Harvard by her grad
 uate coaches. So far as physical form was concerned there was no choice be- tween the crews, except with the possi-
 bic exception that the Yale freshman
 outweighed their Harvard rivals by over seven pounds per man. The var
 sity race was a surprise. The freshman
 race had been conceded to- Yale, while
 the four-oared race was also given to
 Yale in the great majority of the pre- dictions.
 The greatest crowd that ever came to
 this quiet old harbor town by rail and
 water saw Harvard go down to defeat
 to-day. It seemed as if no amount of
 bad weather and threatening skies could keep people away from New Lon don to-day. From daylight until the l first race started at Il o'clock people came from far and near by the train load, by the boat load and by the yacht load. Yachts which had not been in
 commission before this year were showed off the ways in time to reach the Thames when day broke this
 morning. The sky was dull and leaden
 with the wind cold enough for october. The crowd came in nnackintoshes and
 winter flannels and even then the peo- pie shivered. The oarsmen at their
 quarters warmed themselves before
 great log fires in preparation of the
 struggles of the day.
 As the morning wore on the threat ened storm seemed to drift further and further from the Thames and by half past ten o'clock the wind was blowing
 fresh and clear, and except for the chill of the air the conditions were
 ideal for boat racing. Over the fast
 three miles of the varsity course two | hundred of the finest yachts that float 1 in American waters were swinging at
 anchor gay with colors of old Yale and | fair Harvard. The referees launch slipped away from her moorings and | with crowd of police boats at her heels begun to clear the course for the
 race. By half-past eleven Referee Will | liam Miekleharn, the old Columbia oarsman, the yachts lined up outside of l the flags of the course and had notified | the crews to get ready. in three min | utes' time the varsity four-oar race
 was begun and by half-past one the | big varsity race was under way. These three events for which the blue and | the crimson had trained for six months | had been disposed of in trifie over two
 hours without a break or a single in | cident to mar any one of the races. It ! was great tribute to the regatta com- | mittee who had planned 1t all out in advance and who carried out every de- | tail to-day without a single break. For | the first time Uncle Sam's revenue cut l ters and the New London police boats | held the yachtsmen and the steamboat captains in check and likewise for the | first time Uncle San's revenue cutters kept out of the way themselves. The | Gresham, an old offender, got in front of the observation train at the start | of the freshman race but fortunately did not interfere with the race.
 The story of the varsity race is one l that will live long in the annals of col | lege boating. Harvard led Yale almost | to the mile and a half flag. Over the | first mile it looked like Harvard's race.
 For the past ten days the coaches of
 both crews have said that the race would be finished within the first two
 miles. With the Yale crew suffering
 from recent shifts and changes the Ellis
 were afraid that if Harvard led for 3
 mile Yale would lose her stroke and
 would never get 1t back again. Last
 night John Kennedy told his crew that 1 they must strike 32 per minute stroke
 and hold 1t right through the race. no
 difference what happened. It takes
 good headwork and lots of nerve to row
 lower stroke than the other crew when the other crew is leading. But this is just what Yale did this after
 noon. Harvard got away at 35 strokes
 to the minute, Yale at 92. Harvard had decidedly the best of the start and by i the end of the first half mile was lead i ing Yale by half boat length. Cap 1 tain McGrew put the stroke up to 36
 Yale raised hers to 3S. Harvard reach 1 ed the first flag in 2:3O 1-5; Yale ir
 2:31 3-5. Harvard's coxswain got out
 of his course for a short distance and 1 had narrow escape from hitting the 1 first half mile flag. Over the second I