The San Francisco call., 1908-05-09
THOUSANDS CHEER
SAILOR OARSMEN
Fair Hands Strew Waters of the
Estuary With Flowers Be-
fore Races Begin

The crack racing crews of the Allan
tic feet enjoyed the novel experience
OF competing over flower bestrewn
course yesterday in the races arranged
BY the citizens of Alameda as their
contribution to the entertainment of
Admiral Evans gallant men The ladies
OF the Adelphian club. led by their
president. Mrs. Hubbard, went over the
estuary. course IN Carlton Walls launch
just before the start OF the races and
scattered the choices@ Of blossoms in
the path OF racing cutters.
Il seemed Alameda and aH the coun-
tryside had poured countless thousands
OF spectators along the banks of the
estuary for a mile or more and the
light coiors OF the summer gowns of
the fair. spectators were heightened by
the lavish display Of the pational col
orr which fiuttered from the yachts and
houseboats and from the hands OF the
great throng.
long line Of trim yachts. decked
out with their signal flags. were sta
toned or the northeasterly shore of
the estuary near Park street bridge.
while Beyond them were the house
boats crowded with eager eyed specta-
tors Owing 10 the congestion of ex-
cursion steamers about the cruisers
al their anchorage in the bay it was
difncult TO assemble the various racing
crews so that the navy oarsmen were
not able TO live up to thelr reputation
for promptness IT was after the ap-
pointed hour when the various crews
arrived IN their racing boats. but once
on the scene the preliminaries were
soon arranged and the races were
started in rapid succession.
DAYS H0NoRs DIVIDED
The races between navy crews were
over straightaway course OF two
miles, starting from the house of the
Alameda boat club and finishing al
Broadway, the crews passing under
the Park street bridge It was unfor-
tunate that the men had never seen
the course until they went over IL IN
the races. as some OF them became con-
fused near the finish and did not perse-
we're until the official finishing point
had been reached- To add to their
confusion the yachts saiuted them as
they approached and the firing of these
guns puzzled the coxswains, as the
finish Of a race is always signaied by
gun fire.
The honors Of the day were divided.
The gig race went to crew from the
Maine The race for men Of the en-
gineer corps was taken by the brawny
oarsmen OF the Kentucky The members
OF the Alabama crew won the race for
the men Of the marine corps, while a
picked crew from the South Dakota
won the race for picked crews
With the races for men Of the navy
We're other races. In which the pick of
the crews about tho bay competed A
series Of minor mishaps marred these
and took all the spectacular element
out Of them. The first of these races
was the junior barge, for which crews
were entered by the Dolphins, klame-
das and South Ends. The stroke oar
OF the South Ends broke HIS blade at
the start ana the crew was out OF the
struggle at once. The race finally re-
suited in a victory for the Dolphin
crew, which led out the Alamedas by
four lengths. The time was 7:3s 2-5.
The winning crew was. made I'D of
Hagerdorn, stroke; Freyer, Gerdes and
Minzenmeyer. with Kennif coxswain
MAINE CREW HAS SPEED
The junior skin race was also. fail
ure, as Harvey Slocum won easily in
10:os 4-5. His cnIy competitor was A.
Stern OF the Dolphins, who failed to
finish The senior skin was equally un-
satisfactory, as L. D. Weniand of the
Doiphins was swamped soon after the
start and had to retire. A. B. Outflow
went over tie course alone
The senior barge race was a fair con-
test until the last 200 yards when the
man rowing number two in the crew Of