Evening star., 1921-04-10
THE RAMBLER WRITES OF AN OLD BOAT
RACE AND A STORM ON THE POTOMAC

r looking over the history Of the
Columbia Athletic Clubs connec-
ton with Analostan Island and in
going through the files of The
Evening Star to refresh his memory and
yours the Rambler came upon the ac-
count OF the memorable regatta Of Au-
gust. 1888, which was interrupted and
demoralized by windstorm, which ii
not really a hurricane or cyclone was a
furious blow. This matter was referred
to in last Sundays nara tive. but the
Rambler grew SO interested in reteliing
of the dedication of the c. A. C.'s club
house on street April %, 1890, and OF
the merry-making and high jinks on that
Joyous evening. that he had no space in
which to present the facts of the wind
swept regatta.
Several preliminary articles appeared
in The Star. Regattas on the Potomac
and participation by the Washington boat
clubs in regattas on other rivers were
more frequent than now. and being al :
fairs of general local interest they were
publicity The doings Of the boat CLUBS
and the bicycle clubs furnished exceifeh.
reading because many Of the people OF
Washington were members OF tnose
clubs, and a very large part OF our pop
ulat ton was interested in boating ano
bicycling. The Rambler wonders II you
will agree with him that those sports
did more good for the arms. legs and
lungs of the boys Of the sos and the Sos
than motoring does today? or course.
some Of You will disagree: Tha1 nat, IS s;so 10
.oraa ui,h ,ny observation not made
by themselves.
In one Of the advance stories about
the regatta it was said that the Co
lumbia's junior four would De
O'Leary. Moore. Kenyon and Miller:
that the Potomac's eight-oared sheil
would be pulled by Dyer. Reynolds,
Robinson, Elmore. Mindele1. Norton
Oertel, Offley. with Doyle as coxswain:
with Lingreen. Alpin. Dr. writ ana
Warden in reserve as substitutes. ana
that the Columbia's eight -oareo sneli
would be pulled by Harlan. Snyder.
Elder. Kondrup. Reed. Hyde ana Duke
with Gibson as coxswain.
August 8. was the
w day Of the regatta The nrst
noteworthy incident was the delay In
starting because the tugboats. crowd
ed with race spectators. had no permit
to carry passengers and The Star re-
porter-partly reporter. partly critic
and partly editor--wrote:
There was a delay OF almost an
hour in starting the races. A failure
to secure in time permit from the
steamboat inspector for the tugs 10
the same thing has happened before, 1t
would seem that some better arrange
ments should be made IL the boat clubs
desire to keep up the interest OF the
public in boat races"
Along one stretch Of the course.
which was a mile and half from the
Columbia landing above the Aqueduct
bridge to a point below the Potomac
boa thouse. the oars of the Columbia
and Potomac "fours" became tangled.
Both boats stopped. the referee ruled
out the Potomac crew, and the visiting
crew, the PASSAGES. took the race. The
chronicler of the event wrote:
The first race was started by
Referee Watts at $3.50 o'clock. 1t was
for -oared senior crews. and the
were the PASSAGES of New
ark and the ColumbiaS and Potomacs
of Washington. 1t promised to be an
exciting struggle, but it wasn't The
Columbia had the Virginia shore. the
Potomacs next and the PASSAGES had
the middle of the river AS the shells
were backed up at the stakeboats.
Elder, the Columbia bow oarsman.
called the referees attention to cove
about half a mile down the river, and
said: Look out for a foul there; l
don't intend to be crowded out of the
Then follows a description Of the
start and this: The oars of the Column
bias and Potomacs fouled and the
boats stopped The bow oar of the
oar of the Potomacs. The Potomacs
were ruled out. the race started from
the fouling point and the Passaics
won hands down."
The second race was between junior
fours of the Columbia. Potomac and
Ariel Club Of Baltimore. The Colum-
bias won. with the Ariels second.
Black clouds had gathered and the
next race was between four -oared
gigs Of the Columbia and Potomac
clubs. They started. but before the ;
race was half over the storm broke.
r EFT the old reporter tell the story:
- The wind blew a gale. Waves
da shed against the boats and rain and
hail fell in torrents. but the crews
on. Coxswain Doyle kept
The Potomac boat in a straight course
steered it toward either shore it
would have been instantly swamped. |
The boats were sinking. A moment |
more Coxswain Doyle was waist deep !
in the water. She's swamped.' was
The cry that was repeated on all sides, |
but few realized the danger. All |
pleasure boats were driven off the |
river and the tugs nearly capsized in |
turning around to help the Potomac |
crew that was struggling in the wa
ter. clinging to the half-submerged !
gig. The tugs nearly collided with |
one another in attempting to get close !!
to the crew. who were fast losing |
strength. An attempt to throw a line !
rom tug was fruitless. for the wind |
would not allow it to go half dozen |
feet. 1t was an agonizing scene. and !
spectators anxiously counted the /
1eads which appeared after each wave |
passed over them to see il all were |
holding out Life preservers were |
thrown from the Dixie and one was |
taught by Coxswain Doyle. and he |
.hereupon let go of the gig.
pleasure boats put out from the |
shore The first boat reached J. H !