The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-06-29
Closest Race in Years is ROWpd
 on the Thames
YALE TAXES MINOR EVENTS
Yale's Varsity Went to Stake Boat a ravorite, Which Makes Rejoicines at Cambridge All the
 More Hilarious.


 varsity trfumphed over Yale today and before the greatest crowd that ever gath cred here on race-day, and coming after years of defeat. victory was sweet in- deed to the Crimson.
 It was a great Yale crew that Har- ward defeated, a crew that had broken all records on the Thames in practice and went to the stake boat a favorite and tonight Harvard's joy is unconfined. To Captain Filley and Coach Wray, the supporters of the Crimson are offering the greatest tribute that ever athletic heroes received Harvard won but Yale rowed race this afternoon that will live long in the annals of college sports. Not once from the start until the last sixteenth of a mile did the shells cease to lap each oth- CT. The men in the rival boats could see each other for more than three miles and a half, as first one coxswain and then the other called upon his crew for leg drive and body swing to push his shell ahead.
 Killing Pace Proves Too Much.
 Then, and then only, did Harvard real ly get the lead, for the killing pace proved too much for the Yale men and in the final spurt Boulton and Moves of the Blue were done, their oars literally slipping away from them. Here Harvard began to open up clear water between the two shells, and in the last ten or fif- teen strokes of the race she pulled away from her rival.
 Moves Yale's No. 6, absolutely exhaust ed began to miss the stroke the catch, and swung his through the air He sat upon his seat until the flag dropped. and then fell backwards into the boat like a dead man.
 Chase at No. 5 raised Moves head and dashed water on him, but he remained un~ conscious for a considerable length of time All the way down the last mile and quarter Yale's coxswain had been throwing water into Bouton's face and when Coxswain Barkalow finally yelled "vast' Boulton fell forward on his oars.
 Game to the Finish.
 Dick Morse, Yale's captain, splashed water upon his men and called to them to sit Up in the boat. He had lost his race and the dearest prize of his college career, but he was game to the finish.
 Harvard's men in the intoxication of their victory did not stop when the flags 
 bridge amid the din of hundreds of yacht whistles, the boom of cannon, and the shouts of Cambridge men, who almost Jumped out of the observation train into the Thames to get at their crew.
 Harvard won the race by less than two lengths and a half. Her time was g minutes and seconds; Yale's 23 minutes and II seconds
 While the crews had the time with them. they had brisk quartering wind which made fast time impossible. The record for the course Is 20 minutes, 10 seconds, made by the Yale crew in 1sSS.
 Conditions Play Important Part.
 The question of the conditions this after noon in the minds of many, especially according to theories of Yale men, played an important part in the race. The time set for rowing the race was o'clock and when at 330 o'clock Referee Richards with the judges, E. C. Storrow for Har- yard and W. w. Skddy for Yale, steam ed over the course, the wind was blowing ominously strong for Yale. It has been admitted ever since the crews reached the Thames that Harvard had the best men physically, and that Yale's only hope lay in superior rowing. The Yale coaches know the strength of this comparison. and when Referee Richards asked General Skiddy and MT. Storrow what they had to say about the conditions Mir Storrow at once said:
 "The conditions are good enough for us; Harvard is in favor of starting the race on tlme'
 General Skiddy hesitated as he looked at the fluttering flags and the ripping Thames, which all but broke into white caps In places, and then said:
 MT. Referee, Yale would like to have better conditions. These conditions are not in our favor but we cannot say that 1t Is too rough to start the race"
 This frank statement settled the ques- ton and at AID o'clock Referee Richards had the two big eights lined up at their stake boats, and ready for the crack of the pistol.
 Shot Away On Equal Terms.
 Then at the word, the crews ripped their oars into the water and shot away or what seemed equal terms. After the first few strokes Yale had a trifie the bet ter of 1t, but soon the noses of the shells were right on a line. Harvard to the surprise of everyone. settled down to S2 strokes to the minute, while the Yale crew. which had been rowing 30 stroke at the most in practice, was rowing 34 strokes to the minute. This lasted for all most half a mile, and 1t became appar- ent that the Yale men had been instructed never to lose the lead. They were fight  Ing for 1t even though 1t was at a big cost. At the time the first mile flag was reached however Yale dropped her stroke to g. Harvard's gait, but even rowing at this Harvard was getting a lit tie thtk better of Yale. When the Yale crew s, ed down to their normal gait. their 8, n travelled better. and they gain ed a tri1e, but this advantage was not for long, Harvard put steam and the boats finished the mile and a half on even terms.
 Efforts Tell on Vale.
 Yales effort, however. began to tell on her men just before the end of the first two miles. and Boulton dropped the stroke back to 29
 Filley saw this and he quickly put his stroke up to 32. and at the navy yard he once more had his crew in the lead. Yale put her stroke back to 30 and held it over the third mile. As soon as Filley had / taken the lead away from Yale. he let his Rtroke down to 90. and at this gait both