The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-06-26
HARVARD WINS VARSITY RACE Yale Rowed in Bad
 Form. THOUSANDS WAVED GREETINGS Secretary Taft and Mrs. Roosevelt
 Witnessed Race. With Honors Evenly Divided, Two of The Haryard-YaIs Boat Races Were Rowea During the
 Morning.
THOUSANDS WAVED GREETINGS

deafening din of steam whistles and horns and the fren1ied shouts of col- legians, the Harvard Varsity eight shot their boat over the finish liEe tonight, anced Yale crew, that classic of Amer ican college aquatics, the Harvard Yale boat race.
 But instead of race. Harvard nn- tshed the last mile and half alone. while far behind Yale limped along with but seven men at the oars. with Griswold. the stroke--the man who had been relied upon to set the winning pace-bent forward, limp and faint from the terrific strain of the opening two miles. Up to this unexpected clt- max. 1t had been stirring struggle. worthy of the best traditions of the old antagonists, and with the fitting set ting of a marine spectacle such as had seldom been equalled along a regatta course for brilliancy and magnitude.
 For the first time. too. the President of the United States was taking keen and active interest as champion of the Crimson colors, and although com pelled by circumstances to absent him self today. the spirit of his enthusiasm was voiced by the Roosevelt family. who witnessed the contest from the deck of the Presidential yacht. Yale was more fortunate in having her distin- guished champion, Secretary Taftg pres- ent in reality. the central figure Of a group of collegians aboard one of the observation trains, who shouted enthu- siastic encouragement to the Yale crew as they sped over the early reaches of the course and then lapsed Into glum dismay as Griswold was seen to fall over helpless in the Yale boat. The race was rowed under the most fa- vorable racing condltions. just as the sun was setting over the picturesque Thames with the water broken only by ripples. cioudIess sky and a light northwesterly breeze.
 An Kntexesting Picture. @
 The picture qf the straining racers as they started on their course was one of intense interest. At either hand the green hills of the Thames stretched away, dotted with old-fashioned New England farm houses, the river banks fringed with solid masses of people and with crowded observation trains skirting the banks and keeping abreast of the flying boats. The great steel drawbridge spanning the Thames mark ed the start of the race with the fin- ish at Red Top. four miles up stream. Just above the bridge were massed the main dotilla of pleasure craft with myriads of trim, white hulled steam yachts. auxiliaries, scoops and schoon- CTS, the very pick of the Atlantic pleasure fleet. their rigging bright with signal flags from stem to stern, their spici and span decks alive with yachts men. University men and pretty girls in bright summer costumes. feathers, fans and gay parasols. Further up the course. for full four miles stretched long lines of steam and sailing craft of every conceivable description-big ocean going revenue cutters. torpedo boats, palatial yachts, auto-boats and sharp peaked Herreshofr racers. The Sylph, the Roosevelts aboard, had Q point of vantage while all about were the racing cracks oL every class in American waters
 Through this maze of craft the rac- CTS threaded their way with a clear open course 200 feet wide marked every half mile with red and blue standards. Every eye was riveted on the bronze, swaying forms in the shells as they bent to the terrific strain of twenty-six, then thirty, then thirty five strokes to the minute. driving their frail crafts through the water as with knives. Above the shouts of the onIookers could be heard the shrilI voices of the coxswains. megaphones to mouth, stim. ulating their men and marking time with "One. two. three. four" Yale had splashed at the start. and the Har- yard men had been quick to take this advantage. pushing their boat slightly ahead. There they hung. nip and tuck. Harvard stamina against Yale pluck. through the roaring avenues of nerve- racked. screeching thousands. Half a mile from the start both crews were almost side by side. Harvard being a few feet to the fore; one mile.. Harvard still ahead, with Yale holding on dog gedly; two miles, Yale squirting and lessening the gap; two and a half miles, Harvard still In the lead. with open water between the boats. and Yale lighting on like grim death.
 Now came he decisive moment, with. the final stretch almost in sight and the bFeathless throngs straining to see if Harvard could keep up the pace or would weaken at the close Steadily on they came. when suddenly commo- tion was observed in the Yale boat as Griswold the stroke, fell forward on his oar and ceased to row. Cass Yale's coxswain. had already been dashing water into his pale face. For nearly a minute the Yale stroke sat motionless, bent down as if lifeIess. Then he was seen to straighten up, and bend to his oar again, and a great shout went up from the Yale cohorts as their crew was seen to pick up the stroke and rally for another effort. But they were now six lengths behind, hopelessly beaten. Another twenty strokes and Griswold was seen to col lapse again. and then the whole crew, dish eartened at the fall of their leader quit work and sat dejected at their oars. Yale was beaten. It was not longer a race and Harvard swung ahead alone. still keeping up the rac- ing clip and crossing the finishing line with regular swish -swash" to the very end.
 A DeafeninG Chorus.
 As Harvard swept swept across the line. "boon. boom" and ''toot toot," went up in deafening chorus from the myriads of craft. while from bank to bank rolled chorus of Harvard yells and from every truck and mainmast broke out the triumphant crimson. Tn the fore water stood out the big presi- dential yacht with the Roosevelt chill dren on the bridge applauding lusttly Far away could be seen Secretary Taft's car. the big Secretary, barehead- ed. gazing back toward the crippled