The Washington herald., 1916-02-13

nually up to the present time.
The intercollegiate Association has
used the Poughkeepsie course since
1900 and during that time Cornell has
won the varsity eight event eleven
times. Pennsylvania once: Syracuse
twice and Columbia once.
One Of the peculiar things about the
rowing championship among the colleges
is. that regardless of the fact that Cor
nell defeats Harvard or Yale in a match
race and later wins the Poughkeepsie
classic, the Yale and Harvard followers
claim the championship of the country
for the winner of the dual regatta be-
tween their colleges.
The only real way to decide the cham
pionship. If not by elimina ton, Is to have
the crews from Yale and Harvard COM
pete with the other college crews at
While college rowing seems to have held
the attention of the historians of the
past. that branch OF the sport was by
no means the only nor, l might say
most popular end of the game.
Clue rowing has been a thriving
sport from the time rowing was first
introduced in this country and has
progressed with the times.
In 1872 there was in existence
III inns COunlIy luiiy EUo FOWlnk
clubs and numerous rowing asso-
Citations, who held regattas an
nually in the various sections OF
the country.
In 1871, Josh Ward. then consid-
cred the father of American scull-
ing with a Grew composed Of him
self and three of his brothers. Ell
lis. Henry and Gilbert, won the
four-oared event in the great In
ternational Regatta held on Lake
Saratoga in September of. that
year.
They rowed four miles with a turn.
in the remarkable time of "a minutes
40 seconds, defeating two of the best
crews England ever produced, the
Tyne and Taylor Winship. crews.
When one takes into consideration
the fact that the slide had only been
adopted two years before. having been
invented by Walter Brown, an Ameri-
can oarsman in 1857, 1t can be un-
derstood by an oarsman what a great
feat these four men performed
I might state here that the type OF
slide used at that time was different
from the one now in use. 1t consisted
of pair of runners attached to a
seat set on a brass track, working
like a sled on tracks.
The she'll boat. however. had come
into use, the first American boat being
launched by James Mckay at WILL
iamsburg, l.. l., on June 4, 1856.
The boat was named the Expert
ment" and was 81 feet long, 80 inches
wide and IL inches deep. The first
crew to use the boat was composed Of
Charles Wetherell, the Sellars brothers
and William Hinton.
Ellis Ward, who rowed in the
-- great international four. is the
same man, who. until Vivian Mich
oils took hold, coached the crews of
the University of Pennsylvania
He Is now a boat builder of note.
In looking up the records of old
races, I find report of a regatta
held by the Saratoga Rowing As
sociation in 1873, which was, at
tended by over 5000 people.
Among the winners Tor the day can be
found the name of Charles z. Courte-
ney, the great coach who has done SO
much to put Cornell University as a
leader in college rowing, rowing under
the colors of the Union Springs Boat
Club.
Again in 1875 Courteney rowed at Sara
toga and won the Leading Scullers
Race. In a description of himself given
in the reports of the race. his age at
that time was q years, his height feet
IL IL tHCHeS anu MS weight 100 pOunOS.
On September IS, 1874, George Brown
defeated Evan Morris in a race on the
Kennebaccisis River, near ST. Johns, N
b., for a purse Of $4,000 in gold. James
Ten Eych, now coach of Syracuse Uni
versity, in 1874 won by six lengths from
William Scharf for purse of $1,000.
Ten Eych at that time was y years of
age, was 5 3-4 feet In height and weighed
1888 pounds. 1t will be seen from the de-
scription given that 1t is not absolutely
necessary for a good oarsman to be a
powerful man.
There never was, and / think never
will be, a race that caused as much
enthusiasm or was as much adver-
tlsed as the race, or races between
Charles E. Courteney and Edward
Hanion for the championship Of the
world.
Courteney had but recently left the
amateur class. having won most every
laurel possible I'm that class, when
a match was arranged for between
he and Hanlon, who was then pro-
fessional champion of the world.
The race was rowed at Lachine, Can
ada, in September, 1878, and was wit
messed by over 5000 people. The winner
of the event was to be considered the
champion of the world. The course was
five miles.
Both men got OF to a good start and
rowed neck and neck for most of the
course. one would first lead by small
margin and then the other would forge
ahead but as the men drew near the
finish Courteney drew out in front and