Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-09-08
CAMBRIDGE WINS
BY TWO LENGTHS
Race With Harvard From Put
ney to MortIake.
ENGLISH LEAD FROM START
Have Advantage in Winning the Sur
rey Side.
THOUSANDS AT THE RIVERSIDE
Americans Lose Somewhat in the
Second Half Of the Contest
by Bad Steering.
ENGLISH LEAD FROM START
Have Advantage in Winning the Sur
rey Side.
THOUSANDS AT THE RIVERSIDE

PUTNEY. Eng. September 8-The race
between the crews of Harvard and Cam
bridge universities from Putney to Mort
lake today was won by Cambridge by two
lengths.
All the members of the Harvard crew had
an excellent nights sleep and awoke this
morning feeling ready to row the race of
their Hves and very confident of success
The Cambridge men were no less satisfied
that they would be able to carry off the
aquatic palm.
The weather conditions were ideal when
the two crews turned out early in the day
for few brief practice starts, their final
appearance before the great boat race
which has caused the greatest excitement
ever aroused in Great Britain by a contest
over the historic championship Sc from
Putney to Mortlake. The sky was cloud
less, light, Indian summer haze hanging
over the river The breeze was from the
southwest, and although against the racers
it was very light in the early hours of the
day.
The excitement over the international con-
test pervaded all London, all the provincial
centers and even most of the sporting COM
munities on the continent, judging from
the kilograms asking for early and full
stories of the race. The business centers of
this city were gay with the stars and
stripes and Harvard crimson, which were
conspicuous everywhere The crowds began
moving toward the course early In the day,
the railroads running speciai trains and
every line being taxed to its utmost capac-
ity.
Early on the Riverside.
Early in the afternoon the green banks
Of the river were lined with people to an
extent which promised the greatest pouring
out Of people ever witnessed at boat race
here. Although, naturally, the light blue
colors of Cambridge predominated, the Har-
ward crimson ran them close up, while
numerous contingent of rowing enthusiasts,
unable to make up their minds as to which
would win, had donned rosettes of ribbon
combining the blue of Cambridge and Har-
wards crimson.
The members of the American colony in
London and hosts Of American visitors to
the city were early in the field, taking up
points of vantage from which to enliven
the American crew with Harvard's college
yell. In fact, the enthusiasts from across
the Atlantic were so numerous that when
the Harvard men turned out for their prac-
tice this morning they might, judging from
the cheering and American college yells,
have almost imagined themselves in home
waters.
The majority of the expert opinion gave
the final verdict in favor of Cambridge,
but Vivian Nickalls. the old Oxford oars
man, and quite a number of other past
on Harvard.
Although in some quarters patriotic pride
drove the Cambridge stock up to as high as
100 to so on the light blues, most of the
betting was done at nearer even figures.
AS the afternoon advanced dense crowds
gathered at the starting point, and stretch
ing along the river banks as far as the eye
could reach testifying to the fact that the
sporting instincts of the British public had
been aroused as they had seldom been
aroused before The throngs were wholly
cosmopolitan, and cheered with equal en-
thusiasm all appearances Of the wearers Of
the crimson or Of the blue.
Value Of Surrey Position.
The breeze freshened somewhat as the
time for starting the race approached and
there was much eagerness to ascertain
which crew was the winner of the toss for
positions, as 1t was calculated that the
choice of the Surrey side of the river might
give the lucky crew an advantage of as
much as length.
The Contending Crews.