THE SPORT OF ROWING “At the foot of the last half mile of the course there had been packed in between the shore and the open lanes kept for the [shells] a lot of small sailing craft and steam launches. Directly down into this mass of boats the Wisconsin coxswain steered his craft while the Pennsylvania boys kept down the straight course that led to the finish line. “Whistles were screeching, guns booming, and all the noises that man has invented for use on such occasions were making themselves heard as the pair of shells rushed down to where the judges at the finish were stationed. Perhaps this rattled the Wisconsins. Pennsylvania, by holding to its course after the bridge was passed, gained an advantage of at least a length, maybe more. “At all events, it was a sufficient amount to get its shell first past the judges by but a trifle more than half its length in spite of disadvantage the Wisconsins were under. “Wisconsin finished away out of their lane, back even of the inshore boat that marked the finish line, and where, even had they finished first, it would have been doubtful if they would have gotten the benefit of a victory. “While the guns were booming and the whistles screeching, Cornell passed through its proper lane three lengths and a half behind Pennsylvania and, according to the time of the race, nearly three lengths behind Wisconsin. Columbia, well fagged out, brought up the rear of the procession, a couple of lengths behind Cornell. “Oarsmen generally believe here tonight that had Wisconsin been able to keep her boat on the proper course it would have resulted in a victory for her. Up to the point where Wisconsin’s shell first got so hopelessly out of her proper course, the Wisconsin crew was in the lead. Wisconsin’s men were as fresh and apparently rowing with as much power as those of the Pennsylvania crew, but once the strangers got over among the interfering craft they were attacked with nervousness. “This was shown that twice between that time and the finish, No. 4 of their boat ‘caught a crab,’ which, of course, interfered with the impetus of the boat. These two accidents alone would have accounted for the second and a half of time between the finish of the Pennsylvania and Wisconsin crews, and so a well-earned victory for Wisconsin was lost. “After the race, Ellis Ward, the coach of the victorious Pennsylvania crew, said: ‘I had no idea that the Wisconsins were the powerful crew that they proved to be. I thought they could beat Columbia without much difficulty, but their form had been so ragged in practice that I did not see how they could beat two crews like Pennsylvania and Cornell. This is one of the cases, however, where splendidly conditioned men, fitted physically for their boat, can often beat crews whose rhythm and form are absolutely perfect.’ “‘I had told the men to pay no attention to any crew but Cornell. They followed their instructions implicitly and with almost fatal result. Had we known that we were going to have such a crew to race as Wisconsin proved to be, we would have kept with them all the way. [my emphasis]’”4857 Ward continued in Leslie’s Weekly: “I would like to make one statement right here about that floating box that is said to have blocked the Wisconsin boat. The box was just below the two-and-a-half-mile mark, instead of the three-mile as has been alleged, and it was not in Wisconsin’s way a particle. The whole cause of their veering at that point was a weakness of their starboard side. It has been said that Wisconsin caught a crab, and that lost them the race. I did not see any crab caught, although they splashed a good deal. 4857 The New York Times, op. cit. 1356
