New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-04-24

rudi,aer-S of the particular stroke which the
coach teaches.
After The Christmas vacation the varsity men
ioin the freshmen 1t rowing on the machines.
AT this time all rowing candidates are supposed
to go into mild training which means give Up
all tobacco and liquor and eat only the most
Wholesome food.
As soon as The ice is gone from The Harlem
The crews are ordered into The boats. There is
no thought II Easter vacation If a man is Sc
rfously trying TO win = seat He turns away
from the round u post-Leutcn dances as he
would from a poison CUP. lie becomes j rowing
machine lie dreams OF k-ifaike shells, 0t Grip
ping blades. IF stroke. stroke. stroke.
As He days and weeks pass he and his Eel
lans become more proficient. The stroke oar.
uah which The other seven mast keep perfect
time. .s pulling faster and harder. The relther-
weight .rzsa4in. who holds the -u65er ropes. IS
more .rasty than ever The coach shouts
through the neEaUhone words that au-t claa-
Through al, the slightest fault 0i car or Sliding
seat
Every afternoon rs the day ~ the race draws
near .Ha oarsmaa subjects himself 10 A most
tremendous strain. There are spurts with the
freshmen and the second varsity: there are
races against time. He is fighting Tor his place
in the boat. There are men iH The second crew
almost AS good as he is. and they are str71g
Cling Id get 1t from him. Well they cannot
have it,, noj if he knows il. de VIII tug 1t that
oar until be tears himself 10 pieces 4 neoes-
sary.
His hands are terribly 5lis-ered. but the pain
Of therr seems To make him row the harder.
His face. shoulders. arms. legs are sunburned
50 that he can hardly sleep At night; but he
laughs al that. and sleeps anyway. because he
is too utterly sired to keep awake
At last the crew is picked. and his name is
in the list Of fortunates- They go to Pough-
keepsie and the coach works them harder than
ever. Then comes the day 4 the regatta, the
"wH5 for Of all their struggle. The puffy black
launch lows them under the sky high railroad
bridge and away up the river to the starting
point The Blue and White boat takes its place
with the others. and presently they are Of There
ara four heartrending miles 10 go. each one
harder and faster than the one before There
are those Cornell fends strealing along with
their famous Courtney stroke on one side and
big fellows in blue and red from Pennsylvania
on the other besides unknown quantities from
the West and South. What efforts these crew
men put forth to keep their shell in the Lead
no one who has not pulled oar in varsity
boat can tell The strain Of the contest Is
awful but II one only wins il can be forgotten
And r one loses-weIl. one has done the best
that was in him. and defeat is not dishonor.
Although Columbia has had TO be content Tor
the last five or SIX years with second places and
even worse. her record Of races won is most
cre5uanle. she is the only American university
that ever sent crew 20 the Henley regatta in
England and returned a winner. II was IN ISIS
that This winning crew crossed the Atlantic. Il
was HaVtalned hy Jasper T. Good in. who IS
now eaachng the crews on the Harlem.
Columbia won the first Poughkeense regatta,
which WAS held in 1895. defeating Cornell ard
Pennsylvania Another notable victory was at
Saratoga. in 1874 This Vas in what some have
called 'the golden age Of college rowing in
America u was a great open regatta, in
which every college that followed rowing en-
tered a crew Il was q three-mile race. and Co
iurbia led the procession. covering the course
in l6 minutes - seconds That day she brought
defeat 20 Harvard Yale. Cornell Princeton
Williams Dartmouth. Wesleyan and Trinity
Several Of these colleges have long ago given I'D
rowing as too expensive a sport