Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-06-25

I
Furthermore. the predictions Of the
rivermcn and the rowing sharps had been
| fulfilled. for Yale won the four-oared
varsity race in fast time. and the young
the eight-oared freshman race. AS had
| been foreca sted for the past week.
| All in all. 1t was most satisfactory
| forenoon spectacle and one which whet-
ted the sporting appetite Of the specta-
| tors for the big event to come this after
| noon. when the varsity Fights of the two
oldest universities in the country race
| over the four-mie course for the premier
honors Of the regatta.
Weather Not Perfect.
The weather conditions were more suit
able for the sightseers who gathered in
! observation trains. yachts. motor
launches and along the banks of the
| Thames river. than they were to the
| oarsmen themselves.
! The well-trained athletes would have
| preferred a calm course with total alb
sence of wind. Weather conditions are
| not made to order. and the eight and
four rowed the two-mile stretch from the
navy yard to the railroad bridge to the
| accompaniment of a clouded sky, stiff
| breeze and the resultant rolling water
| which at times snapped the wave tops
into whitecaps The wind, however. was
! not entirely perverse. 1t blew down the
course and famed the straining sweep
! swingers along at a fast clip instead OF
| retarding their progress, as Is frequently
| the case.
| The ret result Of the morning events
was a victory for the Yale four. which
won by two and one-half lengths from
the Harvard varsity quartet in the fast
| time of 10 minutes 331. seconds. The
Crimson was ten seconds behind, the Of
fetal time being 1O:431e
The first year Johnnies retrieved the
laurels for the Cambridgeites in the sec
ond event by winning the freshman eight
contest by one and one-half lengths from
their nineteen hundred and eleven rivals
by nine seconds, their time for the two
miles being minutes. 1874 seconds to
Yale's Q minutes ~: seconds.
Sun Comes Out.
When the regatta crowd that had come
to see the Yae-Harvard boat races rub
bed its eyes and looked from the windows
and water was not exactly as it wished to
| see it. The sun was trying with indiffer-
ent success to force its way through a
| stratum of clouds and breeze that came
! over from Fishers Island stirred UP the
river surface more than the rowing sharps
| cared for.
/ The ancient mariners of the town were
repeatedly asked for informal forecasts
| Every time the request was made they
went through the same process Of squint-
/ ing up at the sun and smiling the breeze
| before announcing they thought it would
| clear before noon and be just the day
| that the OarSmen need.
| The early specials from the east and
west caused a big jam at the station. No
| one appeared to mind the inconvenience.
| There was no trouble for the railroad men
other than to shove the crowd out of the
path of another snorting locomotive from
| time TO time. Both the railroad and civil
authorities had provided men to handle
! the mob Chief Mcmahon of the New
Haven roads detective bureau was on hand
with twenty men and the entire police
| force Of the city was in uniform and on
| duty.
Policemen stationed ~ the wharves
| near the depot had ti.eir troubles in
keeping many in the crowd from fall
ing overheard In addition to those
| who wished to get to the string pier
| to hail the small boats which were to
take them out to the yachts there were
the training ship from the United States
| Naval Academy, which arrived last
night with the brigade of midshipmen.
This fleet was composed of the cruiser
Olympia. Dewey's old dagship. the
| monitors Arkansas and Nevada. the old
| Hartford and the collier Abarenda. The
crews from these ships were to aid the
revenue service men in keeping order
| along the course
Harvard Has Best Of It.
| So far as omens were concerned. it APP
peared as though the Crimson was get
| ting all the encouragement yesterday. as
| a sort of aquatic cocktail to appetite
| the taste for victory in the races today.
Harvard gobbled up two contests.
In the draw for position in the big races
today. which took place last night. Har-
| ward was again Ine victor. Capt. Rich
| ardson called head correctly in two of
| the three losses. and consequently gained
| the right to pick the course for his crews
| in two Of three races.
| He chose the west course for the var
sity four-mile race. which will be started
at $50 o'clock. weather permitting. This
| is further away from the eel grass beds
along the course than the eastern course,
and is preferable for that reason.
Capt. Ide Of Yale won the second toss
| and took the eastern course for his var
sity four in the opening race at 1890
| o'clock this morning. This contest was
rowed from the navy yard to the railroad
bridge. distance of two miles.
| The freshman eight-oared contest. which
| followed it at IL o'clock, saw the crews
| lined up with Harvard's youngsters in
the easterly lane, as Capt Richardson
| had first call after the third tossing of
1 the coin.
| At 1918 the regatta committee boat
| cleared the course and ten minutes later
| the observation trains left the depot for
the two-miie mark to witness the start
| of the four-oared varsity race, which was
| due to get under way at 1870.
The weather conditions were not ideal
| for crew racing by any means. stif1
breeze blew from the northwest with
sufficient force to whitecap the water at
points not protected by the line of pleas
ure yachts. and leaden gray sky gave
promise of a stronger blow as the fore.
| noon progressed.
| The cars of the observation trains were
not more than half full. many out-of-town
spectators remaining in the hotels and
other public places. waiting for the big
event of the day-the varsity eight-oared
race. at $50 this afternoon.
Varsity Fours Have It Out.
At 1875 the rival tours appeared in tow
Of the launches and after some backing
and pulling and jockeying for positions
hitched up to rowboats at the start
ing points
The wind shifted to the north at 1914.
o'clock and gave the tours a good stif
blow In the back. Yale's boat was late
in getting to the starting point and was
cautioned by the committee For answe,
one of the Yale men said he was fixing
a shoe lace.
They were off at 1858 O'clock Yale
| Immediately jumped into the lead. She
/ was a length ahead before a hundred