THE CORNELL CREW OF ‘7. A Very Unusual History.— How the Veterans were Supplanted. Poughkeepsie, June 19, 1897. The his- tory of the Cornell crew this year fur- nishes a striking illustration of the uncertainties of rowing. At the begin- ning of the season every man who rowed on last year’s victorious eight presented himself at the crew room in the University Gymnasium and an- nounced that he intended the man who should win his seat in the boat from him should work for his position. As long as the practice was confined to work on the rowing machines every one felt that the crew should make a strong fight again at Poughkeepsie. They rowed in almost as good form as at the end of last season, and there seemed to be an abundance of power. ee er —— CHARLES E,. COURTNEY. Coach of Cornell. Alongside of them, at another set of machines, was last year’s Freshman Crew, all back except one. Many an ex- citing race was rowed (in imagination), as the crews swung back and forth at the machines, side by side, but. one was inclined to feel sorry for the ’99 men. There seemed not the slightest chance for one of them to make the University boat; but they were faith- ful in their practice, and seemed in no way discouraged by the poor pros- pects of their rowing at Poughkeepsie. Thus it went until April 12, when the crews were able to take to the boats. It soon appeared that the ’99 boat moved as fast as that manned by the older men. This in itself was surpris- ing, but in a wek or two the so-called Y Adie ALU MNT second crew had improved so much more rapidly than the University crew that they defeated the veterans quite handily every time a race was ar- ranged. The expected improvement in the University’s speed did not come. Their form remained all that one could ask, but the lack of power was painful- ly manifest. The Sophomore crew not only defeated them in every one of the two-mile races that they rowed, but the defeats became worse week by week. The youngsters were preparing for their two-mile race with Annapo- lis on May 15, and were not sent for a longer distance. They won their race handily in rough water and slow time. After their return they were tried against the University for three miles. They demonstrated in no uncertain fashion that theirs was not only the ability to sprint for two miles; they defeated the University so badly over the longer course that all doubt as to their superiority vanished instantly. The positions of the crews was exactly reversed. The question was no longer whether any of the Annapolis crew would secure a seat in the University boat, but whether any of last year’s crew would be able to win his seat from any of the ’Ninety-nine men. There were rumors, too, that the rap- id improvement in the Sophomore boat had been only apparent, that the fact was that there had been slack training on the part of some men in the Uni- versity boat, and that the difference between the two boats was due to their deterioration rather than to improve- ment on the part of the Sophomores. THE SHAKE-UP. Whatever the cause, there was evi- dently no use in waiting longer for the older men to improve. .On June 1 they were informed that only one of their number, Savage, would be retained at training table. The whole University was startled at this tremendous ‘‘shake- up,’ but every one felt that there was nothing else to do. ‘Afterward Briggs and Spillman were taken back, and when Moore returned from the civil engineering camp at Otisco Lake he had evidently trained with such care that he was allowed to take up his work where he had left.it when the Faculty had refused to excuse him from the regular field work of the en- gineers. The discarded men, without except- ion, admitted the justice of what had been done, and most of them continued to apear at the boathouse, saying in the» best of spirit, “If we cannot row our- selves we can at least help make the other fellows row.’”’ So a pacing crew was made up and relay races began between the ’Ninety-nine crew, rein- forced by Savage and Bentley (one of the Henley substitutes) and the old University, and Freshman, relieving each other. The ‘Ninety-nine crew continued to fmprove and demonstrated that they were good for three miles, at least. None of the men could leave Ithaca it marks the resumption WeEeKRLY HARVARD UNIVERSITY CREW. The Oars Are Just Coming Back. (From a Photograph at Poughkeepsie, June 17.) until June 16, Commencement Day, and their practice on the Hudson has been therefore limited. It seems not yet altogether certain at the time of writing, who will stroke the crew on the day of the race. Hith- er Carter, the stroke of the Annapolis crew, or Briggs of last year’s Univer- sity, would be a good man and they are relieving each other in the prac- tice. There seems to be some difference of stroke between last year’s crew and the ’99 men, which may result in Cart- er’s pulling No. 8 on Friday. The men have the same quarters that they occupied last year, the ‘‘old Hicks Place,’? on the summit of Pros- pect Hill in Poughkeepsie, about a mile below the bridge. They are in good spirits and hope to make a good showing, whoever wins. Their boat- house is abreast their quarters on the east shore below the city. This year’s University race between Harvard, Cornell and Yale is fraught with especial interest for two reasons; of rowing contests between Yale and Harvard and it will be the first time that Yale and Cornell have met: on the water in twenty-two years. Harvard and Cor- nell rowed at Poughkeepsie last year in company with Columbia and Penn- sylvania, but Cornell has not rowed CORNELL UNIVERSITY. CRE VV: Oars Have Just Entered. Part of Freshman Crew in Foreground at Finish of Stroke. (From Photograph at Ithaca, June 14.) race. against Yale since 1875 at Saratoga, in the races of the old Intercollegiate As- sociation. Cornell won that race, as indeed she had won the Freshman race the day before. There were thir- teen starters, however and Yale felt that such a number was unwieldy and undesirable. Accordingly Yale with- drew from the Association and in 1876 Harvard followed her example, after being defeated by both Yale and Cor- nell. Cornell-was unable to gain ad- mittance to the subsequent races be- tween Yale and Harvard. CORNELL’S RECORD. Cornell holds the American Inter- collegiate records for four miles, for three miles and for one and a half miles, all in eights: Since the Inter- collegiate Association ceased to exist, Cornell has rowed with Pennsylvania, Columbia and Harvard. Since 1883 the Cornell crews have used the much-— talked-about ‘‘Courtney stroke,” a purely American production, according to some authorities. Anyone who has ever watched it knows that there is nothing mysterious or new about it. When the oars drop into the water, to begin the stroke, the seat is forward on its slide as far as it can go, the arms straight out, the knees’ bent sharply but not spread and the back straight. A quick sharp catch to grip the water well in the oar-blade and ‘the shoulders start back, at the same time the legs begin to straighten and the seat runs back. The arms are not bent until the legs are straight. Then, the body well back, the hands are brought into the oarsman’s lap, drop- ped, to take the blade out of the wat- er turned quickly to turn the blade flat, and shot out straight immediate- ly. The seat comes back quickly as the body bends forward at the hips but slows up as it nears the end of the slide so that there is no jar to stop the boat between strokes. Cornell has two University crews here at Poughkeepsie besides the Freshman crew. The pictures show the men who will probably row in the They are as follows: Ages. Height Wt. Bow—Samuel W. Wake- man, ’99, E. E., Bridge- port: “ont. ee 6 165 2—Wilton Bentley, ’98, E. Bao Flivanna NN: Yac.. 20 5-11 158 8—Ciarence S. Moore, ’98, C:- BW. Olean, NYY ..;...... 20 55-10%. 165 h Aa? Oo Jeans 09, ee Peg Trumansburg, N. Y.¢..... 20 6 168 5—-Mark M. Odell, ’97, Let- ters, Baldwinsville, N. Y. 25 5-11 162 6é—Charles M. Oddie, ’99, M. E., East Orange, N.J.. 20 6-144 168 {—Kdward J. Savage, ’98, Optional, New Haven, OORI 2 ae eta ree ene 22 5-116 148 Stroke—Emment B. Carter, 99 M. E., Owego, N.Y.... 21 5-10% 148 Coxswain — Frederick OD. Colson, ’97, Letters, Buf- fale. 2Ne Os ae soa a ass 21 5-6 106 Substitutes :— Frederick