New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-07-16
w. I. PASS ON
ROWING FUTURE
OF COLUMBIA u.
Blue and White May Never
Flash at POughkeepsie
Again.
By FRANZ O'NElLL.

The fate OF rowing as spcr. at
Columbia University fa1rr ID che BAL
ance The athletic council viii meet on
Wednesday, the crtlA situation will be
,hrashcd out. and .- mag be- that the
sport viii be abandoned Lack Of in
terest on the par, OF the students,
which has caused % scarcity Of candi-
dates for the Blue and White crews, IS
the cause OF the contemplated action.
It may be that The committee viii wait
for another year before issuing the
ed.ct which viii cause the shells and
sweeps to be housed FOR an time, and
rob the regatta 40 Pourhkocpsie Of one
Of its most popular conterders.
There seems scont hope Of this, how
ever. Al present there is strong SEM
timcnt in favor Of abol.sh.nc tho sport
and releasing Jim Rice from his con-
tract. which has still five years 90 run.
Such action would make This coach a
free agent, and afford him tho oppor-
tunity Of satisfying his ambition 90 be-
come coach Of Cornell. There has been
much talk of securing Rice to guide the
destinies Of the ithaca crows. since POP
Courtney announced his intention Of
retiring from active coac1ile.
Before Rice would accept tho post 40
Cornell. however. there arc some little
details which would have 90 be
smoothed out 10 has been announced
from authoritative sources chat VINO.
ever takes the Cornell crows would
work under fnc direction and advice OF
Courtney. Rice. whose record at
Columbia is wonderful whom ,le nandi-
caps under which he iaborcd ore con-
sidered. might think long and serloufly
before he made any such agreement.
Columbia Won Twice.
Columbia has won the varsity race
al Poughkeepsic only twice since 1880
In that year the Blue and White was
run TO the poake, with The Red ana
White of Cornell second and The Red
and Blue Of old Penn third. Nineteen
years later. in 1914, the Columbia eight
with that little giant. Mccarthy, AZ
stroke. triumphed over Penn, cornell
Syracuse, Washington and Wisconsin
The freshman crews OF the Morning
side Heights institution hav' been even
more unsuccessful. Only once ID 1911
have the Columbia colors been hung
20 the breeze beneath the bridge AZ
Poughkeepsie, with the others strung
below II.
Failure to win the highest honors at
tending that gruellinc race from hrum
Elbow 10 the line below the bridge
need not imply failure 10 "ln glory.
The Columbia crews have made their
presence felt. and only three times IN
-
finished worse than fourth. IN 1913
they trailed home dismal last IN
field of six Three years later they
finished NTH, and IN 1913 they stag
gered home in the same position peat
ing only the Quakers.
The brightest pages IN columbia
rowing history have been written since
Jim Rice assumed command OF sHalrs
in 1907. The Blue and White went 70
the line that year lightly regarded.
From gun crack 90 flag fall the Blue
and White fought wonderful oattle
with the Cornell crew, rowing stroke
for stroke and bow To bow down the
course. Cornell won By @ scant TWO
saconds. but the rowing world awOke 10
hail wonderful coach IN Jim Rice.
Crews Always Fought.
Handicapped by lack Of material, be;
set with a thousand trials, klce hfeh
the men who reported with his own m
domintable spirit. and while he could
not win. his men were never beaten
until the last stroke was rowed and tne
last eddy disappeared IN the tides. In
1908 his crew chased The syracuse
eight home. but won signal Individual
triumph. for il defeated Cornell. Inc
finish of the race in 1909 VIII ihget
long in the minds OF those VINO VII,
messed II. for here again Columbia ana
Cornell waged savage hght loI
honors. but again Cornell won ny
margin Of inches after q race tha'
thrilled. o.. ,o,o
and le; Pennsylvania gfappie ior
highest honors with Cornell, out TOT
some three miles the Blue and White
rowed laped on the shell Of the men
from Lake Cayuga. lt was question
of stamina. and Columbia burned ITSELF
ont The following year, however,
Rice's boys were right back at their Ola
tricks. fighting Cornell fo me last
stroke. In 1912 and 1913 Columbia
dropped back, but in 1914 Rice achieved
the ambition of his career, and won.
II was day OF triumph 20 Rice, but
il was more 20 Columbia men. That
eight. mildly tolerated by rowing
critics. outweighed by lts rivals, swept
down the course with che power. the
precision of machine. 10 ro~ea
down the course as am eight coaenea
bv Jim Rice always rowcd, and TINS
one had the power 90 stavc or the dying
rush of the Pennsylvania crew ana WIN;
Columbia cIghths have accomplishea
little in the last two years. me ma
torial has not measured up 20 the
standard. and. however cunning the
coaching. IL requires power TO WIN
races. Last year Rice had cant Two
dozen men from which 10 choose ms
eights. The race at Poughkeepsie told
us own story. and the sctlon OF the
athletic council is one of the results.