THE INTERCOLLEGIATE ROWING ASSOCIATION The inconvenience of Saratoga as a regatta course, and the fact that rough water caused the postponement of the University race for a day and the Freshman race for two days, gave the Stewards sufficient reason for taking the races back to Poughkeepsie, where the course was ready of access, and where smooth water was quite as certain as at Saratoga or on any other four-mile stretch. And since then these races have been identified with Poughkeepsie, and it is not likely that they will be moved.
With the formation of the association came a plan for the extension of college rowing and the interesting of more men by placing new races on the programme. In 1899 a second-crew race was added, in which men who had never sat in a University eight at Poughkeepsie might row, and in this way provide a race for those who did not make the first crew. This race, in the first year, was between Cornell and Pennsylvania, and it was agreed that it should be held alternately at Ithaca and Philadelphia. In the next year Colum bia entered, when the race was at Philadelphia, and although Cornell would not consent to going to the Harlem course, the three crews had repre sentatives in the event until 1904, when the Stewards merged it with the American Rowing Association Regatta, and only Pennsylvania sent an entry. Cornell also gave a regatta annually on Decoration Day at Ithaca, in which a club crew from Harvard, or one of the second crews, if the second-crew race happened to be at Ithaca, participated.
In 1899 Davidson Kennedy of Pennsylvania gave a trophy for annual competition in four oared shells without coxswains, and this race, rowed by the substitutes of the eight, has been a most interesting feature of the regattas. And in i9oo Mr. Francis S. Bangs of Columbia pre sented the Steward's Cup for Freshman eights, completing the list of trophies. All the cups are perpetual.
The races of 1899 brought out a most stirring contest in the eights between Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Cornell had a poor eight, rowing in exaggerated fashion, and after a couple of miles the contest narrowed down to Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The Western eight had gone away
at thirty-six, and no one had paid much attention to them, believing that they would soon come back. But instead of going to pieces, Wisconsin kept plugging away ; and when, at the bridge, Pennsylvania had disposed of Cornell, Wisconsin was three lengths in the lead, and with only a mile to go. Then Gardiner took the Pennsyl vania eight on what was perhaps the greatest spurt ever made in rowing, and certainly in four mile racing. The stroke went up to thirty-eight, but Wisconsin's lead could not be cut down — they were going as strongly as before, and looked like certain winners. But then the Penn shell began to gain, almost imperceptibly, and then faster and faster the distance decreased until the Pennsyl vania bow had passed the Wisconsin stern, and was going ahead with a clean, hard stroke that gained in power every moment. Wisconsin struggled hard and kept up their stroke, but all the men were not equal to the test ; two oars began to weaken ; the boat swung in spite of the coxswain's rudder. In short, Wisconsin was done after their brave fight, and Pennsylvania went on as they had come up, and won by a length ; Cor nell was nearly three lengths in the stern of Wis consin. A ridiculous story came out several days after the race that Wisconsin had met a berry crate in their course, and that the deviation of the coxswain was due to a desire to avoid a collision ; but after the race no member of the Wisconsin crew nor the coxswain knew of the obstacle, nor was the crate seen from the referee's boat or by any of the launches ; the whole story was made by a newspaper man to give color to the race and to account for the swerve of the shell, which was, of course, due only to the unfortunate collapse of the two men. A berry crate was found floating above the bridge and some fifty feet out of the course of any crew. Columbia's University crew was poor, but the Freshmen were fast and were beaten by only five seconds by Cornell ; Pennsylvania won the fours easily.