New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-04-25

But the VIM continued 70 increase IN
volume and the tide was running so
rsp.aaiy that when the junior crew
came up to the starting line they al
most tore the stake boats from their
mornings.
The junior race was not finished
until dusk, and it was O'Clock before
the varsity crews were brought up to
the starting point. The start was made
in the glare Of huge bonfire, which
che passengers on the obser vation
trains had lighted to keep them warm
while they waited.
Columbia Takes Lead
II was a rather ragged sort of start
for the sweep Of the wind and the
rush Of the tide made it impossible
TO hold the shells in position for more
bia seemed to have about two strokes
the better on the first rush and the
Blue and White held lead of a quar-
ter Of length for barely a quarter of
. mile.
The Yale oarsmen then started to
come up and forged ahead steadily
With that same mechanically perfect
stroke they showed on the Schuylkill
against the Pennsylvania crew. The
shells looked like twin white canoes in
the dismal swamp through the dusk,
them glided relentlessly ahead.
At three-quarrers of a mile, afte,
enc of the bends on the Housatonic
had been passed, there was open water
between the shells. The outline of the
Yale boat showed ahead of Just little
catch of dusky water, and that patch
grew wider and wider as they Aitted
through the night
At the mile Yale was leading by
length and quarter and the distance
was widening. At mile and a half
The Columbians made their desperate
effort to pick up the lost distance.
You could feel this rather than see it.
The effort lasted for a few hundred
yards; then Yale continued to gain,
inch by inch.
Yale's Stroke Powerful
Straining the eyes. one could dimly
make out the shoulders of Peters. the
Yale stroke, and gather some impress
Gon of the precision and force Of his
work. Every oar on the Yale crew fol-
lowed him precisely and regularly.
The Yale crew seemed like a powerful
machine, fully tuned and coordinated,
while the Columbia crew seemed not
quite ready for the race.
1t was not day for rowing. The
wind had the speed of gale at times
end there were white caps on some
stretches of the tortuous Housatonic.
Ehe junior crews sweeping out into one
Of these wind-swept stretches were al
most swamped. The gathering on the
observation trains looked like a foot
BALL crowd in the fall, blanketed and
wearing furs.
'f1ne darkness raised havoc with the
experts, for nobody could count the
strokes. Some of them ventured that
Yale started with % to the minute,
picked up to 80, and finished with the
long. steady %. If anybody caught any
Of the stroking of this race he is gifted
with radcliffe eyes.
The marvel was that TIE coxswains
kept to the lanes, for the flags could
not be made out from the shore. Luck
was with them. for if either of the
shells had crashed into one of the
stakes there certainly would have been
An upset, and that might have meant
tragedy in that water.
Not an Exciting Race
The Yale men swept across the line
smoothly and easily, the coxswain
1 bow crossed the line. The Columbians
came after them, about six seconds
later, weary, but none Of the men in a
state Of collapse. 1t was not an ex-
eung race as races go, for after the
| arst quarter Columbia did not seem to
nave chance against that perfectly
soordinated machine coached by Guy
Nickalls.
The junior race was far more ex-
citing, Yale got the jump, but the
CoIumbisns hung on desperately. Once,
1ear the mile mark, the Yale juniors were
leading by whole length. Then the
4 ar bod 70
= quarter Of mile of the finish the
Mew Workers made a desperate squirt.
ned they started this earlier they
nnlgnt have come close to winning.
pat the effort was too late. They came
70 within half length of the Yale
{anior she'll and so they crossed the
1 The showing of their junior eight
aAde the Columbia rooters hopeful, for
/ ne niue and White juniors are light
4 kxsegation, while the men of the var
10y Shell are about the huskiest ma
/ nllai that Jime Rice has collected for
I some time.
Inere was considerable delay in the
uars'ng. Both varsity crews had to
III the two miles up to the start
| . POINT against the wind and the
~; Turning on the river was ex-
Ioingiy difficult for the cold wind
rasned the colder spray on the half
ss.ed oarsrnen and the men in the
ss.a e boats cold hardly hold the
The oarsmen had TO help by
txing water while they waited for
- Starting signal.
Yale Slow to Start
~ Erew blacker and blacker along
housatonic as they jockeyed for
nuon at the head Of the course.
fais crew, holding the west lane,
mo position first and waited the
aai quietly, while the Columbia
seened fidgety. The Colum-
80 beat the word go" about two
ss ard az the shells disappeared
Pho one 81 the bends Of the
sa1onic they seemed to be leading
oous qrarter OF length.
tW tas obseryation train the Colum-
RIOTERS started TO cheer wildly
H. when the boats came out through
Sim of dusk again the boat on the
N s'ds Was leading. That was the
boat. and the Yale men did all
sassr;ng from that time on. 1t
Impossible 10 distinguish any
Eai defects, but even in the DARK
one could sense the mechanical
set'"n and the steady drive OF the
crew.
~ vas no race from that time on.
aArknsss prevented seeing the
ae that the CoIumbians must
put NJ. From the banks Of the
q A.% l.