The Washington times., 1912-09-01
.OARSMEN ON RIVER
GETTING READY FOR
TOMORROWS RACES
Potomac Dotted With Shells
as Athletes Take
Short Spins.
By VINCENT DALEY.

Today and tomorrow are big days on
the upper Potomac. The floats around
Aaueduct bridge and all the way down
the river to the Analostan house were
scenes of great activity yesterday af-
ternoon and evening, but today they
were twice as busy ana tomorrow. with
good weather, they will present scene
that will be inspiring as well as pleas
ant to the besolder.
Early toaay overcast skies caused
concern. among the host Of oarsmen
now here for the Middle States Regatta.
This concern, however, was short hved
as II was not long before the clouds
broke and a warm sun shone on the
river, making conditions IDEAL Tor
there a sufficient breeze to disturb the
placid calm that has marked the upper
course for the past two days, and as a
result all Of the entrants In tomorrows
acauaint themselves with the rowing
stretch and to polish up their crews be
fore the final struggle OF the lslz
The philadelphia crews. first of the
visitors on the river yesterday, We're
also first to launch their craft this
morning. The Undines, yespers. Fair
mounts Maltas, Quaker City men, and
, West Philadelphia and Penn barge rep
resentatives got into togs as early as
$3.50, today. and within a remarkably
short time they were out on the water
for long easy rows. in which their
coaches will put the last touches on the
work of the men in their charge.
Dempsey On River.
Soon after the Philadelphians took to
| the water Pat Dempsey got his four
| crews out and went up the river with
them, coaching them from the Poto-
macs launch. These local youngsters
with their natty red jerseys, were as
pretty as any club on the river. They Will
go out again late this afternoon, and
will then rest their oars until called to
| the mark tomorrow.
The New York contingent came in late
| yesterday. delay In the transporta-
| ton of their boats prevented them from
| getting on the river. 1t was not until
| IL o'clock this morning that they finally
| got their craft unloaded, and hence most
of their preliminary work on the Po-
tomac is confined to what they can get
| in this afternoon.
Referee Miller and Starter ORegan
! came down with them, and will be much
in evidence about the rowing quarters
! today. Both are well known among the
| Oarsmen in attendance. They Will In
! spect the course this afternoon and
make all other arrangements necessary
| before night, so as to insure the prompt
running off of the races as scheduled.
The Baltimore boats were on the racks
early today, but did not get out this
morning. Both the Ariel and the Arun-
Potomac course and. hence will be sat
isfied with a short spin this evening.
The great number of canoes that left
the clubs this morning and headed up
stream may compel much of the after
noon work to be done on the lower part
of the river. Canoeists are extremely
curious whenever there is an event like
this one, and as a result, they keep 50
close to the course that II is exceedingly
dangerous for the sweep-handlers and
scullers TO make headway among them.
If proper policing can be arranged for
over the afternoon, the crews will have
course again, but IL this cannot be done,
it is likely that most OF the visiting
clubs will prefer to forego their op-
portunity for upstream work in favor
OF more open river downstream.
Announce Tomorrow.
Because of the desire on the part Of
the program committee to make the
possession Of one OF their souvenir
booklets as imperative as possible, the
time Sf the events and the drawings
for the courses will not be announced
until tomorrow morning.
However, the courses have already
been designated and will count from
the Virginia shore. beginning at the
second arch, as follows: No: /. red:
No. D. black; No. G. red and white;
No. T. blue and white. The bow man OF
each crew will wear a cap of the color
corresponding to the course.
The advantage OF the courses depends
altogether on the tide. Most Of tomor-
rows races will be rowed against an
incoming tide. The last races will have
the tide with them. Against the tide
the crews nearest the Virginia shore
have the advantage, while with the
tide the crews nearest the middle of the
river will be favored.
However, a small inlet of water from
Ia ,v,sA oh dNAl
feet above Aqueduct bridge should be
, taken into consideration by the near
est crews as 1t causes a slight cross-
current which is of sufficient strength
to throw a boat a little of its course
II II is not looked for beforehand.