The San Francisco call. [volume], June 09, 1907, Page 5, Image 5

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

Image provided by: University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA

                
The San Francisco Sunday flails
THE COMING OF THE
EIGHT OARED SHELL
Randall W. Borough
TUESDAY, March 12, 1907, was an
epoch making date for oarsmen
on the Pacific coast. On that day
thjvelght oared racing shell for
Etanf or4Pun!verslty . arrived from the'
east. To the uninitiated the event was
fra.oght with little importance, but to
the rowing enthusiast and university
nan It •was the reward of long deter
mined effort and the " conquest of
seemingly Insurmountable obstacles. If.
three years ago. & fervid boating opti
mist had predicted that 1807- would
witness the race of varsity eights his
prophecy would have been greeted with
the pitying smile of toleration bestowed
on the weak minded. The optimist now
Lm the laugh on his condescending
brother and has shown the public the
one sport that equals In every way the
old game of Intercollegiate football as
& creator of thrills, nervous exhaustion
end mental collapse. ij~ '.-
The University of California can "at
least thank 'the rowing clubs on the
bay for the aid of competition. For. •
while the men at the state' university
owe their beginning to their own 'en-,
thuslasm and zeal, and- their develop
ment to Coach Garnett, the San Fran
cisco rowing clubs were rivals- worthy ,
their best efforts and furnished an In- .
centlve to training:.
The boating interests at Stanford
may be grateful, too,. for the. aid re
reived from the Portland rowing, club,
for it was from that organization that
the Stan fords got the veteran coach.
r>an Murphy. The Impulse given the
cardinal crew by the coming of Murphy.
Teas so great that only those who have
been in close touch with the struggle
of the university oarsmen for recogni
tion can fully appreciate what this
coach has accomplished .through his
enthusiasm, skill and -hard work in the
face of most discouraging conditions."
Rowing on the bay for the past dec-,
ade has been a sport monopolized by
a few yachting and boating clubs,'
•while the contests have appealed only
to a few enthusiasts of the 'different
competing organizations. This rivalry.*/
one might say, has been almost per-,
tonal.
In the northwest public interest was
a little more general. The crews not
only represented rowing clubs, but also
the big athletic clubs, and these latter
all had big and .enthusiastic follow-
Ings. There, too. the popular approval
of an amateur sport is not so greatly
influenced by varsity dictum. The an
nual regatta between the various ath
letic clubs and the rowlngv clubs at
Vancouver, Seattle and Portland Is a
matter of general interest. That row
ing Is in high favor in Portland is
proved by the fact that the Portland i
rowing crew had secured the services
of Dan Murphy as coach.
At the other end of the coast San
Diego has taken the lead. Coach Kins
developed senior and Junior crews that
gave the veteran crew* from Stanford
two hard tussles. . In the south row
ing is i?j the embryonic state, but i/.
the past has lacked In achievement,
the future i* full f>t promisinK possi
bilities, for they have one of the most
important requirements— a smooth
course.
The First College Rowing
In 1897 rowing was inaugurated us
an intercollegiate pport. True, the .
crews were only' four oared, enthusi
asm was confined to & few zealots and
the races were unofficial; but this much
progress had been -made — that the uni
versity rowing clubs rowed under : the
names of their respective universities!.
It was a 'matter of - little, moment to
the spectator, just what was the. exact
technical athletic , standing of - the
crews as regarded their varsity stand- ,
ing. Wht-t was of .'vital 1 importance
was that* the rival universities had
roved against each other.' "Whatever
the contest .might" be, t"he fact that Stan
lord . and California were contestants
\u25a0was alone sufficient! to arouse = popular
Interest. The partisan feeling, was
awakened. Rowing had come" into' its
o%vn — in a crude state to be £Ure — but
it had at last "arrived."
The second year of intercollegiate
rowing saw the University of Washing
ton entered in the intercollegiate re- •
g^tts. Unfortunate bickerings between
Stanford and California over ; the loca
tion of the course " forced Washington
to win two races, the first against Cal
ifornia, which she lost, and the 4 second
against. Stanford, which- resulted in_ a.
victory for. the northern crew. 'A month'
and a half later all three. varsity crews';
competed on ; Lak e. Washington. Calt-^
f orn Ja won the r. varsity and f Stanford
the freshmen race. i
Stanford, : so - far. 1 had . been working <
under great disadvantages. The coach- 1
Ing had been i done .first; by -Professor."
A. W. Smith and * later , by^ Bob : Gaither. : <
Student body ; support was; lacking and, 1
only the , small ; coterie Z of : enthusiasts j <
who form " the boating ' club : stood back \ '
of tho rowing movement. ;.:..V \u25a0•*'•" .' 's}.'< \u25a0;~.};\
, The' spmmerjof "'- ISOO \ marked' an lm- <
pertant advance ;to- tbe/ l&tercoilefl&te ; <
•-•--\u25a0\u25a0• _*. •-\u0084 .'.-'\u25a0;
: situation. California had .profited by
' the able service " of I Coach Garnett," as
'. was shown by the success of her crews. :
Dick Barrett, the Stanford student body;
[ treasurer, had become greatlyClhter
[ ested In the struggle of - the cardinal
, crew and he recognized the fact * that
t rowing, to take Its proper place in ml
l tercollegiate athletics, needed the same
\u25a0 care and attention that was bestowed
: on the other sports. . ."••*\u25a0 \u25a0"•
\ Taking his cue from the .victories of
, California, Barrett secured -the services
of ; the oarsman | and fcoach Dan
Mtirpby^ X;- Stock f» ln •^."boating '}{ took "a
- BuddenVinrnp -at. Stanford, v" Men came '
out for. the I . crew," th*e old. time lethargry
-. was no more. ::•[ ; Calif ornia'-was," in*,turn»^
. stimulated* to greater .'effort by^the't ac-^
tlvlty of her greatest', rival; '.Then, Just^
. . , a 'couple of ; weekg \u25a0 before" theT-date * of .
, '\u25a0; the 'regatta, came .the- earthquake ;'of
. April 18, leaving the' supremacy [on "the
•' \u25a0 water • for ,1906 a : -"question'* unsettled.'
This was unfortunate, as both Califor
nia and - Stanford had spent consider-
L ably more time and effort than, eyer.be-.
fore In 'preparing their/crews "and both
.sides were particularly "anxious; to .test
; '.the, Dan Murphy stroke against, that ,of
, Coach Garnett. Coach Murphy claimed
> that the Stanford. varsity four was., the.
\u25a0. fastest crew he ' had . ever.;- trained.;
s Later in the season he made, the;Port
1 land rowing club four, champions 'of the
northwest, and then, - taking; thenv east,*"
1 won the championship. The. fact -that:
1 the. two best members of .this .four, were
\ on: the Stanford .varsity -crew In the
spring would " seem ' to prove 7 that", his.
. claims for"; the - cardinal oarsmen - were
veil founded. \ • .
The fall of 1906 found Utie rowing
spirit stronger than .ever at .both' unl-.'
versities. ' ' Murphy, was eager torprove
"'that what. he- had declared of, his crew
in the -spring 'was.' no. idle --boast; Gar
nett ,;on -the other,* hand was
anxious to show th^U, even 'if _ the car
dinal was as fast as claimed, the blue
and gold 'varsity still -could" keep its
old place, in front. _ Naturally matters
were" not likely to lag, and they cer
tainly did not.
Eight Oared Shells
. Up to this time rowing on the coast
had, only' advanced as, far as the four
oared v shell:! even the most -"ardent
. devotee had . not expected nor asked
for, anything better. .The rowing fever
grew stronger and stronger at. the uni- ;
versities, and at last an. enthusiast pro- '
posed the purchase; of eight, oared
shells. The' "eight" idea, once started,
gained rapidly, in . favor. California
bought two eight oared- shells ,from ;
Cornell, while Stanford grot one from
Davy. , the boat builder, for. Harvard.
The University of" 'Washington,. follow-:,
ing. the example of -the California unt
versltics. also purchased an eight. ' '
The new; rowing, shells .were slow in
arriving. Stanford ' was - especially
\u25a0handicapped, as she.had only one foiir.'
oared barge, one "four oared 1 shell ar^
a two" oared working barge. Besides :
this, the big. storm of December 15 had
so. badly '[ damaged the cardinal boat
house at* Redwood that a great deal
of time that should have. been spent! in'
training was r used, In house:building
by the crew. Later on, when . the f new '
boat was bought,^an v additi6nhad to.be \u25a0
made to the boathouse and the oarsmen
again .became^carpentere.
StanfoFd _ received - the ne^* boat, but
owing to stormy, weather fafter' Its ar
rival, the "eighty was ; not ready, for the
water, until ; abo'ut three.' weeks * before
the date set for tho varsity race.;; Cali
fornia fared even worse though/ foVj her
crew^had; barely "two- weeks'/ training
In the eight; but this disadvantage .was;
morel than ; offset' by having; one, more".
;; f oiirjoaredf shell than 1 Stanford. yWash-'
Ington -was"{ no better, off.; having v her
new shell only about' two; weeks.-.What-
ever the crews : would Hack Jin? formi ; no 'A
one could feel that- they ; ! had; the": worst' '
- of ; it, for, they • all - had v to f . labor |under.]
the same disadvantages.. As , the .'day
for the race^approached; public^lnterest
was ' proven \by • the . space devoted >, by J:
the daily; papers \ f to^ the" { discussion of ;.
the ! crews ,- and v the " c . figuring*'. of the >.
"dope." " . . l .* .
'Washington .sent; her /."varsity ; . "elglit '
and a "triangle" race added extra' ln-'"
-teresc -.\u25a0/\u25a0- .],.-\u25a0\u25a0;:' \u25a0 \u25a0 .
Mistakes caused by Ignorance; spoiled^
the - first '•" attempt ' to T . race I the "^.varsity;'.'
eights, v Sausalito; having, been j selected
as - 1 the: course, i the' error, was 'committed
.of trying. to puli; off, the race, lnUhe'aft-."
ernoon.- / Roughs .waters caused .all the . .
boats r to" swamp,; and "as -the '\u25a0 steamer < ,
; City of. Puebla.was.waiting.to.taket the)/
1 Washington crew ~*kboard c/Washington-.i
had to H return '.hbinel- without*- proving^
concluslvelyi Her .1 worth; >i Bhel had 1 * done"; :
. enough"! before t her^boat \ sank 1 ? to Vcon-"? ;
vtnee i her ) that she'; badja^cvew^ta i ;
,beXre"ckoned|wlth»asfdangerousi;oppq-i'
nenta, 7 I 'Later,'on. t° e same afternoon" the"
freshmen 'from Calif ornia \ and' Staiiroird,
-;\u25a0*'\u25a0"\u25a0 ".T •-"'.: \u25a0\u25a0 ' _'-'-\u25a0-. \u25a0". • \u25a0\u25a0\u25a0 \u25a0 : \u25a0.'. -v, 1 -\u25a0\u25a0_ \u25a0« .\u25a0v.-,>'.-.,V'-v \u25a0\u25a0
put] up^aflpirttedTedntest,' 1 Calif ornia/ be* i: :
:• eprintiof : herirlvalsi. f ) . \u25a0 •**\u0084.- \u25a0/^ ' :i : -, -' * : ]
the Stanford varsity c, beat
/ the' 4. Calif ornians'l ;-by : ,"- seven -.lengths.
'While the'cardinal adherents were! Jubi
-lantcover'the. victory and -claimed ,that
;:- Dan v, Murphyjs J' style ' -showed 'J \u25a0what ': it
-could v d6, twinning, by>-cither ' crew was
, incidental.' ; ' Wha t; was of -vaster import-"
:\u25a0- ->"\u25a0\u25a0 \u25a0 .-\u25a0\u25a0-..-- ' \u25a0 . '-;•• \u25a0;-\u25a0?\u25a0.•.,:\u25a0
ance jlay," in ; thejfactlth'atHbousanas i'«»f j
Bpeptators;had lined, the) hills of Sausa-.
Uto.3 filled ft^eiobservation'tralng and :
:rowded 'the' course .with boats/- thereby ;
proving r conclusively, tnat '- interest at
last wasgeneraL* i.-. '--- v. - v -. . '
It .was . unfortunate accordingly that
the-; great audience- should -be disap
pointed., though", the - few enthusiasts
who.saw; tb.ej.race IMonday.; morning, or
•tayed ; for.; the- freshman "race late Sat
urday I ' afternoon returned to ..the city
more enthusiastic than ever. :\u25a0„
\u0084 Rowing has "come to stay. The sport
: has -many • qualities \u25a0 to" make it both
popular and- keep it^fronvthe taint of
professionalism. _, There ia chance
for; dirty." work, such ) as Is possible 'In
football, baseball or on track. It is es
sentially clean. , Roughness toward an
opponent is impossible.' Conscientious
training is -necessary. The individual
member r of , the \ crew must - be skillful
with .the .oar 'and know how to pull hla
stroke. -And; what's even more ; import
ant, he must ; learn bow^ to; pull » with
machinelike*-? precision \u25a0.;';. ;'; with * his 'i. seven
rowing mates, and ; be ' responsive ; to the
change ; of \u25a0 paco i without disturbing \ the
unison of the crew. His condition must
be"; perfect? , \t one remembers that In
rowing i not^ one • moment ; Is - 5 given * for
breatbing space for> rest, \u25a0 that in each
stroke: every* ounce of. strength that a
man has -In leg?, > back and ; arms is put \u25a0
to, its - fullest test, that .as the I crews
'near .'.the end of -Ihe race- the paca In
creases.'it is seen that a man cot In the
pink of 'condition will : fail to, respond
to the ';.;': coxswain's; call f or . a * higher,
stroke.' his.oar f wlll drag, hejwill splash
on his • recorery;\ ruin the harmony of
the bofi: ana: nullify, the- efforts* of 'tho'
crew. He must : know how : to row. The
crew must have form. . But nls knowl
' edge * and < : f <Jrtn /avail / but ; little jif his
s condition • is ; not ithere.'x This if act was
"demonstrated ; in the "race between YJall
fornia and Stanford eights., California's
4 crew.vwas- in '.•poor,' condition and as soon
-as j^the *pace^began r vto itell' they^ com
'niencedcto ;* badly." Stanford's
'crew, 1 : on"; the?ottier;-hand:^ being, ln^per-'
feet condition,-; kept" its 'form and- speed
to wie^eiJd^ of J^thoj r9.ee. ,;, This compari
son Is "not meant r as)'a ; criticism r of th«
•crews,;, but; to rshow;_that- condition is
paramount. "".' 'Go6d\con'dltlon ;is gained
only .by long .training ' under * expert
es'es." .This „ means a- large outlay, es
pecially when 7 the 'rowing squad * num
bers upon an' average 30, t0 40 men for
tho season. - Here we reach the vital
point wherein :,lics both the weakness
and strength of .the rowing problem—,
tho expense account. . •
A Clean, Costly Sport
To keep the crew means heavy ex
pense withouta/eent of .revenue. This
has. retarded the adoption of this sport,
for the universities; could; figure only
deficits in : their; student treasuries, nt
the- end "of ''the ', year;; but the plunge
was taken. this. year to the limit when
the "fight" was developed. In the very
element,' however, that, has caused ; tha
delay we -find the .strongest argument
for the crew— the tendency toward 'pro-
; fessionalism r; is eliminated,''
"t or ; -.there i cahV certainly-; be mo ; tempta- •
tiah^inlthiafijirecyo^vwltlj^o: jaojje^ ia .
»" Now that Stanford anil California at
least have .varsity eights, the next
etep is to get the "prep" schools In
terested in aquatics. First class ma
terial, as every university man known,
should receive a certain amount of
training in the secondary schools. This
will come In. time, and we must have
patience, leaving It to the imitative
qualities of the younger men to solva
,this problem.
We have all been to the great foot*
ball games . between California and
Stanford and have felt the tension and
excitement; have played every play
with intense concentration of rapt in
terest and have worn ourselves to
nervous physical exhaustion as .we
helped the line bucker In his play with
the ball, or braced ourselves while Im
ploring our team :to "hold that line."
That's the fascination of football — it
Intoxicates tho beholder with excite
ment—one .minute a delirium of Joy.
the next instant the abyss of despair.
the frenzy of desperation.
The race for the "eights" will rival
the : Intercollegiate football contest o£
the past in all the n»rve racking quali
ties that go to mak* the intercollegiate
contest so wildly fixcitlng. The person
who has witnessed the race of the
varsity eights knows how impossible
It is to describe in words the nervous
excitement of the contest.
Go to Sausallto on regatta day. Tho
hills are covered with spectators. The
course Is lined with craft. The bis
observation train . winds snakellka
along the bay 'above. All are gaily
decked In -the brightest colors of the
rival crews. The- morning is warm,
the sunshine brilliant and the water
placid. The kaleidoscopic . reflections
that swing to ithe ground" swell "or
break In - the wake of the pleasure
.boats as i they dash - hither and thither
add to "the ; color and beauty, of ;tha>
Iscerie. Every ; cheer,'; and answering
cheer,' every 'echo "and answering echo,
sends excitement one notch higher. Tha
crews row slowly down the course .to
the starting ' point, the cheering re
doubles -as - partisan feeling increases.
The boats take position, a* silence sud
denly falls on that vast audience. The
white puff rises from the referee's gun.
The rigid, silent crews spring to Ufa
with a straining , heave and we hear
the sharp, quick, barking commands
of tho coxswain. With an electric sud
denness the thousands -of spectators
who the moment before were an in
tense, silent mass change into a shriek-
Ing mob. The note of entreaty in the
yelling Is gradually drowned in the
shouts of. triumph of the adherents of
the leading crew. One boat, then an
other, forges to the front, and at each
change of position the note of joy
changes in the crowd of followers. The
race is won. Tho winning crew, is
surrounded by boats as the vlctorioua
shell finally ends its triumphant return
at the boathouse Goat. Scores of eager
enthusiasts surround the victors and
hoist them to their shoulders, while
from the "hills and from the" bay con
tinue to ring and reverberate the cheer
and echo of_victory. This Is why the
eight oared shell has come to Cali
fornia and come to stay. This is why
the 'expense and work and hardships
of training are forgotten.' This is why.
as each year goes by, the ', thousands
of spectators will increase and look
forward with expectancy to the annual
regatta," -Two. words— sfjadvtce :anxl ,
.warning. ;i; i If you have ; good. 5 red blood \
In ; your i body, don't 4 miss the! race; lit \u25a0 \u25a0„
you i hay« ; a, weak stay -away. •