Los Angeles herald., 1908-06-25
Special to The Herald.

NEW LONDON, Conn.,, June "a
Fifteen thousand race-mad people are
walking the streets of New London to-
night. The hotels are crowded to their
utmost capacity. cots are at premium
and every rooming house in the city Is
full Every incoming train is bringing
its hundreds. Never before has such
interest been manifested In Harvard
Yale boat race.
Far to the north end of the town
thousands of Yale students are congre-
gated around numerous bonfires, and
strains OF For God, for Country and
for Yale" issuing from the thousands
of throats are waited down on the
gentle breeze that Ia blowing through
the city. AS with one impulse, the
great crowd pauses, and as the last
words OF the chorus die away the bank
on the west side of the river blazes into
life, and a thousand rockets light the
skies for miles around. "It Is the Har-
ward camp" gasps the crowd, and then
a roar breaks from the camp and soon
the crowd can distinguish the words OF
the old song, Three Times Three for
Harvard" which ends in a cheer and
a. tiger for Roosevelt" whom they
have taken for their mascot for the
morrow's race. Impulsively the crowd
listens for an answer from the Yale
camp. and are not disappointed. A low
wall greets their ears. which resembles
TIE BIOWt VI TIC iC6ShooAJ 1oAN 1N@A
dog.
Tomorrow's race promises to be the
greatest contest ever fought by the two
ancient rivals on the Thames. For the
first time in many years Harvard VIII
start in the great race favorite, de-
spite the removal of the veteran Fish
by the Harvard faculty. 1t promises to
be better race even than last years,
when Harvard finished only three
fourths Of a. boat length behind. The
Crimson has had most encouraging
preliminary season, defeating the naval
academys eight and Cornelps first
crew, the latter by matter OF ten
lengths. Harvard started early on the
water, being favored by an open season
a week or so before the weather ord1n-
arily permits rowing on the Charles
river.
AS an offset to this Yale has not been
SO fortunate. The New Haven men
were not able to get so much rowing,
especially at distance, in the earlier
work before they left New London.
They could not get out on the harbor
for the four-mile row often enough to
make them count. SO that In relation
to Harvard they are like Wisconsin
compared to Cornell in the amount of
preliminary rowing they have been able
to do.
In the matter of weight and experi-
ence, as we'll as in the detail of early
season rowing, Harvard has an advan-
tage. Furthermore, the Harvard crew
has had two good races. Yale has had
none. There Is nothing like hard race
to bring defects clearly to view, and
Harvard has had two chances of this
!. kind to get line on what may have
j been wrong. Possibly Coach Kennedy
of Yale Is Just as we'll aware of these
feelings of the Yale eight as If he had
q ParhanQ there are
no defects. But the little things that
crop out in the course of a race very
likely never would show in the prac-
tice, not even in stiff brushes. So on
all these counts Harvard appears on
the upper hand. These things being SO.
IA there any good reason why Harvard
shouldn't win the big race tomorrow?
There are 1000 Harvard men in New
London tonight willing to answer that
question. Griswold, the Yale stroke
oar, is lean man Of the z. T. Foote
type, probably not as strong as that
man and certainly not capable of doing
so much work as Foote without getting
oyertrained. Griswold is calm. not at
ali Of the nervous type. and ably sets
the Kennedy stroke, whoch the crew
rows in a style unchanged absolutely
from that of the last two seasons.
Coach Kennedy has a crew as Well
developed as that of last season, and it
Ia said the boat equally is as fast, al
though no definite report as to any act
uai time taken while the crew was
training has reached the Harvard
camp. Coach Kennedy said tonight:
"We are not making any excuses and
have turned out an average Yale crew,
although we have suffered all spring
from bad weather and rough water.
Despite the alarming stories Of Har-
vard,s smoothness and speed, we look
forward to hard, close race"
Harvard Has Great Hopes
The greatest effort has been made. .at
Harvard to keep tho makeup OF the
boat intact since 1t was formed many
weeks ago. Coach Wray succeeded IN
this up till within few days before
the race, when Fish, who rowed NO. .
was removed by the faculty.
At no time during the past seven
teen years has the Harvard crew
shown the life and snap OF the present
combination IT corresponding date
No crew wearing the crimson ever has
had more brilliant prospects or cap
turing ultimately the much coveted su-
premacy of the Thames
One OF the disagreeable features OF
last years race was the arrest Of ID.
H. Hartman. the railroad magpate.
TIu xrfr.ao.. s.aro4rto1 In utoIQfinE