Omaha daily bee., 1908-10-18
WITH TIE COLLEGE ATHLETES
DOings in the Field of Sport in East
and West.
CROSS COUNTRY AT MICHIGAN
Harvard's wonderful Equipment for
DeveIOping varsity and Glass
Teams - Painful ROwinE
situation ut Columbia.


The completeness or the athletic equip
ment Of Harvard must always be a source
Of wonder and perhaps envy in the mind
Of the person who makes a visit TO the
stadium and the buildings near It. To begin
with, the immensely of the stadium makes
the deepest impression. Looking down from
its heights, the huskiest foot ball warrior
appears none too large. The deep, ringing
echoes off its rows OF seats when It is
nearly empty in the early foot ball practice
time serve to aocentuate the vastness of the
place.
Looking off from the top Of the struc-
ture, the river, with the two great boat
houses, catches the eye. Those houses are
marvels in fitting. They mean that more
than half a hundred oarsmen may be sent
forth. on the crooked Charles any day for
practice work. Compare thst-if COMPARE
son is in the best OF taste-to what any
other university can offer.
On another side one looks down from
the top OF the stadium to some more foot
ball gridirons, laid out for the class teams
and the use of those who aren't out for
any foot ball eleven. whether class or
varsity. There is a view too. OF seemingly
innumerable lawn ennis courts aud a
separate ground and stand for base ball.
Whatever there is at Harvard in the line
of athletic outfit is very complete indeed.
IT'S Small
1t is small wonder that Harvard has
large squads in the VARIOUS sports. 1t is
easy TO accommodate the men who turn
out. There surely is no other university
which offers this same sort of room for
sports. Compared to Harvard, Yale is
miserably off in aquatics. Pennsylvania
confines her sports all to the one field.
In the spring the track men have to a k
their chances OF being hit by base balls
flying around in Franklin field and there
is always horrid warfare between the other
sports and the soccer players over the use
of the infield. Princeton is better off than
any other eastern college except Harvard
for grounds to devote to sports. Compared
with them all, Columbia has practically
nothing. Williams. Amherst, Dartmouth
or any Of the other New England colleges
all have better chances than Columbia for
the sports that require to be practiced on a
field.
1t is Just typical OF the luxury of appoint
ment, so to speak, at Harvard that the
cross-country men are working under the
~ NAAAAC0 0AAAhOb " liz Inter
collegiate run on November 81. Harvard
spares no expense. The other colleges do
not have as many men in charge of track
athletics as does Harvard. There the one
coach takes charge of the field events
men, another looks after the runners.
Ordinarily the track team coach at most
universities gives what time he can to the
c~ross-country men. John Mack at Yale
has to give a lot OF his time to the foot
ball players and What he can devote to the
runners in the fall is very little. 1t would
be possible to go on at greater length with
instances of other sports.
COIumbia's Crews Finances.
Very pat with this subject comes in that
of Columbia's crew finances. AT the very
start it IL to be remembered that in 1907
the first Columbia varsity eight that James
C.. Rice coached finished second at Pough-
keepsie. three feet behind the Cornell var
sity boat. and that this June the Columbia
crew was again second, fifteen feet this
time behind Syracuse. Previous to these
two races, since 1902, Columbia had been
away back in the ruck in those races at
~Poughkeepsie. The expenses of maintain
ing the crew have been heavy and owing
to changes in the management at critical
times the Columbia University Rowing
club has run into debt about 5000.
The university decided at the opening of
the fall term that unless the crew cleared
off that debt rowing would have to cease.
In any event, there was to be no rowing
until the money was raised. There is no
fault to be found with such a decision, be-
cause the responsibilities of managing any
university sport should be respected by the
undergraduate managers.
Coupled with the actual deficit of about
5000 there has to be considered the rails
ing Of the money for the budget Of the sea-
son. The cost OF rowing at Columbia aver
ages $4,000 a year, so that upon the man.
ager, A. ID Alexander, who was elected
less than a month ago. d~evolves the duty
of collecting $4,000. A task like this is well
nigh impossible, although there was a crew
manager at Columbia. Barent Lefferts, 'Os,
who raised $4,000 and pulled the crew out
Of debt. paying every cent of outstanding
obligations all in one season. The appeal
to the Students and alumni at Columbia
brought In among the first contribution
less than 5000 and the sum has stuck
about there for some time.
There has been no general response to the
requests Tor money. III IL were Tor a foot
ball team as unsuccessful as the last few
Of the Columbia teams were before the
game was abolished, few persons would
wonder at It.
MtehtEan Falls in LINE.
Michigan has joined with the other insti-
buttons now i'm deciding TO give the var
sity letter to the cross-country men who
may finish as a team in first place. Michi-
gan expects with Gayle A. Dun to put up
a strong fight for the first Individual
honers, no matter what the other men may
do. Dull is captain Of the Ann Arbor track
team.
Crew practice has begun at Wisconsin.
The observation-disclosures crew is preparing
to meet the sophomore-senlor eight. BY
Coach Ten Fyek's arrangement two clubs
have been formed. With this variation of
the Weld-Newell system at Harvard il is
expected that general enthusiasm for row.
ing will be stimulated.
The Pacific coast colleges. Stanford and
Berkely, are preparing as usual for their
seasons at Rugby foot bali, not the Ameri-
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