The Washington herald., 1910-08-14


The quadruple senior scurl shells
brought out a thrilling encounter be
tween the two crack New York crews.
Nassaus and the New York Athletic
Club For the first three-quarters OF a
mile both prows were on even terms. and
the men were hitting up a thirty
the-minute stroke with wonderful pre-
clsion. To many It looked like a dead
heat. but the Nassau quartet managed
20 put more power behind their strokes
and when the mile flag was reached
they forged ahead slowly but surely. at
no time was there open water between
the crews, and the spectators cheered
loudly as tho quartet shot into the home
stretch. Nassau had the most power and
crossed the line winner by a scant
half-length.
MehrhOf Wins Great Race.
OF all the sensational finishes. the
championship senior single souls was
about the very best ever. Mehrhof beat
out Fred Shepherd by second. actual
time. The race was scheduled to in
clude Mehrhof. Nassau Boat Club. New
York; Shepherd. Harlem Rowing Club:
Dorando Miller. New York Athletic Club
and Gordon, of the Vespers. Philadel-
phia. The last named quit at the half
mile mark, leaving only three TO fight IT
out Mehrhof jumped into an early lead.
but Miller and Shepherd fouled each
other. and II was necessary for another
start
The second time the crews got away
MehrhOf again Jumped into the lead.
with Shepherd pressing him close. When
the mile flag was reached Dorando Miller
WAS unable to stand the terrific pace.
and stopped rowing. leaving Shepherd
and Mehrhof to fight It out. The latter
was leading at that stage by a good
length, but during the final 200 yards
Shepherd cut loose with a burst of speed
that brought him within a boat length
OF his antagonist. with less than twenty
yards to go. Inch by inch the PROV OF
Shepherds shell forged ahead. and had
the finish line been two yards farther
back he would have won. Mehrhofs
lead was less than quarter of boat
length, and according to the official time
he won by exactly one second.
EphphhutS tut tp Splcnutd right.
The real race Of the day. senior eight
Dared shells. in which the Potomacs
best crew was entered. proved a disap-
pointment TO Washingtonians as the
local shell was forced TO bring up the
rear. after putting up a beautiful, plucky
race.
Ottawa Rowing Club, OF Canada, car
ried off the first honors, with the Ar
gonauts second.
This race was easily the most spectac-
ular of the day. The winners were bare
" three lengths ahead Of the tailenders |
at the finish
1t was anybody's victory for the first
quarter mile, so closely were the five |
crews punched. A few yards later the
Ottawas shot into the lead, with the Ar
gonauts close astern.
Al the three-quarters flag the Ottawas |
were rowing smoothly and hitting up /
forty strokes a minute. The Argonauts |
also increased their speed and a battle |
royal ensued. Slowly but surely the OF /
tawa eight tightened their grip on first
place and forged ahead, winning the race
by a good sized length.
The encouraging feature Of the Poto- |
macs work was the bulldog tenacity /
with which Glendon's oarsmen stuck TO |
their tasks. There was not a gutter in
the boat apd when the finish line was
crossed each oarsman had gone the limit. I
giving every ounce OF strength he pos
sessed in the struggle.
Many OF the experts claimed that owing /
~ chi lou tav 81
at a great disadvantage and could not
hit up their best speed. The local oarsmen
were given the inside course. next to the
seawall.
The last event OF the day was the in
termediate fOur-oared shell race. and ont
Of five entries only three started. They
were the Vesper Boat Club, Of Philadel-
ph.a, the Central Boat Club Of st. Louis
and the Mound City Boat Club of the
same place This event was not pulled I
of until O'Clock, the reason for this
delay being on account of the NUMEROUS
canoes and launches spreading out on the
course. and it was half an hour before
the revente cutters tenders and the police
boats were able 10 get the various craft
back Of the lines.
BY running the race earlier in the day.
all of this trouble would have been
averted, but coming as it did after the
feature event. the senior eight shell race.
the crowd thought the races were over
and took the warnings to the contrary
as a huge joke, which served only to
make them go farther out over the
course.
But TO get back TO the race The con-
test from the start was a pudding for
the Vesper bunch they taking the lead
at the start and were never in danger OF
being headed At the half-mile post they
were four lengths to spare over the
Mound City aggregation. who were sec
ond, with Central a close third and gain
ing steadily
Betting I'm 81. Louis Lively,
Because Of the betting in ST. Louis on
the outcome Of the race between the
rival organizations. the interest centered
down to these two crews, and as they
swept along over the course the air
echoed with the cheers Of the water
bleachers. The two crews kept the same
position all through the race, with Mound
City in advance by nearly length, but
the last-named eight mistook a post near
the finish for the end of the race, and be-
fore they could discover their mistake
and get their shell underway their rivals