New-York tribune., 1907-06-30
COST OF REGATTAS.
College Roscing InCOlreS Erpendi-
t,rc of Much Money.

The great regatta week OF the American year
has passed. and the public has returned from the
pleasing speculation TO whether Glass would
be able TO row and how tho Ten EyclIs father and
son, would fare at coaching rival crews to the
less picturesque but more lucrative occupations OF
every day. and so. with the end OF vistas OF fair
waterways and snewy oarsmen and waving flags
the alumni and the undergraduates of a score of
universities end colleges Will soon be figuring I'D
the cost
For the boat races are big free show-or
many shows. That they free does not. per-
haps. occur to the average man who growls at
railroad rates and hotel hold-ups, coupled with
the final sting of fares the observation trains
And should Mr. Averageman fall among ticket
spectators. there IS little wonder that he does
not consider the water contest in the light OF
panem et circenses' thrown to the public by the
intercollegiate rowing associations. But free the
regattas
With Corneus hard wrung victory on the Hud-
son and Yales traditional winning on the Thames
still fresh in mind. 1t may seem sordid 10 count
the cost. Yet the bills there. receipted. and
witnesses Of tho expense. BY the precedent Of
former years, 1t may safely he said that to the
six universities and the Naval Academy that
rowed IN the varsity elSht contest of Poush-
keepse last Wednesday the aggregate outlay
hardly less than $4,000 To take no other than
that second glorious struggle AT New London, the
cost may also be estimated at about this amount
for in the published reports Of tho rowing asso-
Citations OF Yale and Harvard In former years
they spend about the in the aEgregate
Critics with greenish souls have gruInbled be-
cause college football and baseball associations
have charged admission and wound up their
with fat surplus. No such point can ever
be made against the hackers of tho oarsmen. Any
man who can get to the place where the boat races
held may watch them gratis for nothing"
the patent medicine pedler hath II, until his
eyes ache. That he falls for charges OF the
hotelkeepers and the SPECTATORS in observation
train tickets is due simply to his anxiety 10 be
comfortable. The universities and their supporters
affected neither one way another.
And the spectacle thus laid before everybody is
the fruit of months OF much toll The varsity
eights have been in training off and for three
or four years possibly. Every is made up
of men who have for the last six months lived
with the single purpose OF holding down those
little sliding seats and welding those long sweeps
at the pulse stirring moment when the starters
pistol rings TO send them off for the fair name
and fame of their alma mater. And who can
bring down to dollars and cents. even in this com
merclal age the best effort of tho best men Of
the great eduCa tional institutions?
1t along in January and February that the
crew began their work in the gymnas asiums.
And work 1t certainly was. swinging back and
forth in the rowing machines tucked away in the
Easements OF some big buildings. just over there
from the campus. Here were cheering crowds
and footing whistles and kissed waters to spur
them Outside the winter winds were blowing
about the gym" and tho only comment they
heard was the Intentionally grun. rough advice