USA > New York > Tompkins County > Landmarks of Tompkins County, New York : including a history of Cornell University > Part 54
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puted; some maintaining that, the commodore being present, the com- mand was given in his honor, the captain maintaining that the disas- trous command was given by the commodore himself. On June 1st this redoubtable craft, the "Buffalo," encountered a tow-boat and sunk, which ended the naval experience of the first year.
Just before the organization of the Cornell Navy, a University Boat Club had been formed, somewhat exclusive in its membership, but, sus- tained by vigorous supporters, it became formidable to the regular or- ganization. In the middle of May a six-oared outrigger, known as the "Green Barge," also from an Ithaca shipyard, was launched, the home of which was a barn at the corner of the lake. In honor of Mr. Hughes this club received the name of the "Tom Hughes Boat Club." Mr. Hughes acknowledged the honor by sending a silver challenge cup, to be known as the "Tom Hughes" cup. On May 12, 1872, Cornell joined the Rowing Association of American Colleges, a step promoted by that most enthusiastic Cornellian, Mr. J. B. Edgerley, whose early death has a pathos which will always appeal to those who knew him. On May 2, the Tom Hughes Boat Club became part of the Navy, and a six-oared cedar shell was purchased from Yale and a professional trainer secured. The first regatta was held on Cayuga Lake on May 10 and 11, 1872. It was proposed to send a crew to Springfield, but the necessary funds were lacking, and at Commencement the crew dis- banded, after several months of vigorous training.
The university first entered a college race, at Springfield, Mass., on June 17, 1873, with a new cedar six-oared boat, the gift of President White. The crew had been carefully trained by the oarsman, Henry Coulter, and was composed of excellent oarsmen. It drew a position in an eddy with an up-stream current, behind an island, around which it was forced to row. It, however, won fourth place beside Yale, Wes- leyan and Harvard, in a competition with eleven colleges. At the first contest in Saratoga, held on July 16, 1874, the crew won only fifth place among nine competitors. The arrangements for the race had been imperfect, the condition of the crew wretched, and their training probably crudc.
Four class clubs had been formed in the university which united September 18, 1874, to form the Sprague Boat Club, the two organi- zations together constituting the Navy. Mr. J. B. Sprague of Ithaca presented a challenge cup to be awarded to the successful crew. Under Captain Ostrom in the spring of 1875, boating in the university began
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to be a science. Training throughout the winter in the gymnasium was continued, and as soon as the ice left the inlet, practice upon the lake began. A new paper shell, built according to the directions of Captain Ostrom, was obtained. The crew consisted of Gillis, Jarvis, Gardiner, Barto and Waterman. The freshmen determined also to send a crew to Saratoga, and Jack Lewis, later a familiar name in Cornell annals in boating, was elected captain, with Carpenter, Graves, Smith, Camp and Palmer as associates. The victory which the university crew won over Courtney and his crew of Union Springs gave them great confidence. On July 13, 1875, the freshmen race was rowed on Saratoga Lake in which crews from Harvard, Brown and Princeton were defeated. Here, it is said, the Cornell yell was first invented. On an omnibus crowded with Cornellians driving from the city to the lake, Charley Raymond suggested trying a version of the Yale refrain-"eli, eli, eli, ell"; and an inverted form of it was attempted, Cornell! i-ell, i-ell, ell, ell. When, however, the Cornell crew passed that of Harvard, pressing on swift and straight to victory, a yell burst forth, caught up by the groups of students throughout the vast company of spectators and by the spectators themselves: "Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah! Cornell ! I yell, yell, yell, Cornell!" which has since been adopted as a battle cry of the university on many closely contested fields. No university race has perhaps ever surpassed that which occurred on Saratoga Lake on July 14, 1875. Thirteen college crews were in line, each with a narrow lane marked out through the water before it. Three crews led from the beginning, Cornell on the left, Columbia in the center and Harvard on the right. When the goal was first reached, four thousand specta- tors rose from their seats, lifted the crew from their boat, and bore them on their shoulders in triumph. A palace car was placed at their dis- posal on their return and the crew was greeted by enthusiastic throngs at every station through which they passed. They were met at the rail- way station in Ithaca by processions of students and citizens, and rode upon a platform, proudly bearing the shell with which their victory had been won, amid fire works and beneath a triumphal arch, through the streets to the university. On July 17, 1876, a second race at Sara- toga between Cornell, Harvard, Columbia, Union, Wesleyan and Princeton was won by Cornell. In a single scull race which im- mediately followed, Charles S. Francis, now a chosen trustee of the alumni, was victorious over Harvard, Columbia and Princeton in a two-mile race, and on the following day the Cornell freshmen defeated
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both Harvard and Columbia. This triple victory was received with enthusiasm equal to that of the preceding year. With the regatta of 1876, the Rowing Association of American Colleges dissolved. Yale withdrew early, Harvard remained to contest once more the supremacy of the waters. Cornell's friends raised in New York in a few days five thousand dollars to send the crew to England to row a four-oared race with cockswain, with Oxford and Cambridge. The crew would have consisted of Ostrom, King, Mason and Lewis with Fred. White as cockswain, but neither Oxford or Cambridge would accept the challenge. A challenge was sent to Harvard and Yale for an eight-oared race, which was, however, refused. In the fall of 1877 a freshman race was arranged with Harvard, which challenged Cornell. This race was rowed on Owasco Lake on July 11, with Harvard alone, and the university again won. In 1829, the university sent a crew to the national regatta in Saratoga where, however, it had no competitors and rowed over the course alone. The single scull race was won by Lewis without com- petition. A race on Lake George during the same year with Columbia and Wesleyan, entered upon hastily, was lost. In 1879, a crew was again organized to contest supremacy with Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania on Lake George, and Cornell again won. During the summer of 1881, a race was arranged in England to be rowed on June 31, 1881 for the Steward's Cup at Henley. The crews with which they contested on this occasion were veteran oarsmen of the Thames Row- ing Club and the London Rowing Club. The position of the Cornell boat was bad and they were less familiar with the course, which was exposed to adverse currents and wind, and they were defeated by both opposing crews. On July 2, a second race was rowed with the Hert- ford College Boat Club of Oxford over the Henley course. Cornell led until it approached unexpectedly a shallow, when its boat grounded where the boat of the Thames Rowing Club had stopped on the preced- ing day, and again victory was lost. A third race for the Thames Chal- lenge Cup in the Metropolitan Regatta on July 14, with two leading London clubs was lost by bad steering. A fourth effort for success was made upon the Danube at Vienna. Cornell led until victory seemed assured, when the sudden illness of one of the crew checked the speed of their boat and the race was lost. These England races were accom- panied by charges of treachery and unprofessional conduct on the part of one member of the crew. Whatever the truth may have been, the charges made, though they could not be demonstrated, were generally
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believed, and left a painful impression in connection with this experience of our crew abroad. In 1890, a new boat house with excellent accom- modations was erected by funds raised by the students, on ground generously leased to the navy by the Delaware and Lackawanna Railway.
Mr. Charles S. Francis, the accomplished oarsman of 1876, thus writes of later boating :
Passing over the various successes and reverses of several years we come to 1885, which marked a new era in boating at Cornell. The services of Charles E. Court- ney, the professional oarsman, were engaged in that year, and have been continu- ously retained ever since, as coach and trainer, and from then until now not a single defeat has been recorded against the Cornell Navy. While I would not take from the gallant oarsmen themselves one jot or tittle of their hard-earned laurels, and while I certainly appreciate at their proper value the advantages of good water and the big hill which does so much toward developing the leg muscles and lung power, I must be permitted to publicly express the opinion that to the intelligent and care- ful coaching of Mr. Courtney the Cornell Navy is more indebted for its phenomenal and unbroken record of victories during the last eight years than to all other causes combined. And it is an undeniable fact that Courtney's influence upon oarsmen, the freshmen particularly, has always been excellent. He not only frowns upon intem- perance, but will not tolerate immorality in any form. He is impressed with the belief that mental and physical training go well together, and the chief object of a young man's residence at college is to improve his mind-in other words, study first, play afterward. Courtney will not, knowingly, permit a man to occupy a seat in either the 'Varsity or freshman crews who is behind in his university work, and he recently remarked to me that he had observed that the rowing men who stood well in their classes invariably proved conscientious, faithful oarsmen, and could always be depended upon "when the pinch came." "Give me good students," he added, " and I will make you fast crews. They have ambition, and that is a quality win- ning oarsmen must possess." The loyalty to, and unbounded confidence in their Mentor, shown by the boating men generally, clearly indicates the hold Courtney has on the supporters of the Cornell Navy and augurs well for its continued prosperity.
Recollections of later-day victories are so fresh in mind that they hardly need re- cital in this article, to emphasize the fact that victory has been emblazoned on Cor- nell's aquatic banners for the last eight years and there never has been any occasion to substitute for it the word, defeat. Records have been broken by our crews with pleasing frequency. In 1889 the 'varsity crew won the Sharpless cup at Philadelphia and made the world's record for one and one half miles, time 6 min. 40 sec. The freshmen in '90, at New London, under the very noses of the New England Univer- sities-in fact defeating the best Yale freshmen crew ever organized-scored the best freshmen time on record-11 min. 16 1-4 sec. Another world's record, that for three miles, was established by the Cornell 'varsity crew in the intercollegiate race over the same course in 1891, time 14 min. 173 sec., while the following season the record for the Passaic River was lowered by the 'varsity to ? min. 21 sec .- one and one half miles.
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When one considers the unvarying aquatic successes of Cornell during these later years it seems almost incredible that such pre-eminence in boating could be acquired in so short a time and from the disheartening environments of the little rickety student-made boat house at the steamboat landing. The oarsmen of to-day can hardly realize the discouraging conditions that confronted sturdy John Ostrom and "Jack " Lewis and the other crew men back in " the seventies," nor can they readily understand how much effort it required then to evoke the entltusiasm demanded for successful training and development of speed. With Courtney as " coach," with improvement in boats and sweeps and with convenient boat house accommodations, it is not surprising that the Cornell crews of to-day row in better form and faster than their predecessors and are better qualified to defend the aquatic honor of the university against all comers. In this connection, however, I trust I will be par- doned if I express the hope that the crews, present and future, will not allow over- confidence in their ability to defeat opponents to beget listlessness and loose train- ing. Neither Courtney nor any other " coach" can teach crews to row fast unless the men themselves are willing to make the personal sacrifices demanded in strict training and are desirous of being taught. Nine times out of ten an exaggerated opinion of ability is fatal to success in any outdoor sport, and especially is this true in boating, Past victories will not win future races.
With such a long list of victories to its credit, Cornell is naturally desirous of en- larging the circle of her races. Persistent effort for years to arrange a 'varsity race with Yale and Harvard has proved unavailing. Occasionally Harvard and Yale have offered to row Cornell in Freshmen "eights"-and these events have always been won by the latter-but, for reasons known to themselves, although generally under- stood by all men, the New England universities have never been willing to meet Cornell on the water since the Saratoga regattas of '75 and '76. While the bars of exclusiveness have been taken down sufficiently to allow Columbia to compete with them, they have not been opened wide enough to permit Cornell's entry. Last sum- mer Cornell, in a friendly spirit, challenged Yale and Harvard to row on any course, for any distance and at any time. The invitation was not accepted. Casper W. Whitney, athletic editor of Harper's Weekly, thereupon published the following :
"It is greatly to be regretted that Yale and Harvard should not have opened the freshmen race at New London to Cornell; the same reason given for refusing a 'var- sity race does not apply since the event has been thrown open to Columbia. It is really much of a loss to college aquatics that a university so pre-eminently qualified to test its strength on the water with the best in the country should be confined to events that are more or less walk-overs for its crews. Cornell's freshmen crew should unquestionably be admitted to the New London Harvard-Yale-Columbia race, pro- vided, of course, its members are governed by the same general university regula- tions as the freshmen of other colleges, and to bar it seems hardly sportsmanlike.
" The best interests of college boating likewise demand a race between the 'var- sity crews of Harvard, Yale and Cornell. The 'varsity rivalry between Harvard and Yale is recognized, and that they should be indifferent to rowing any other crew is readily appreciated. The marked success Cornell has had on the water, and the wonderfully fast time her crews have made, seem to demand a test of the two sys- tems of rowing, which are totally at variance one with the other. To persist in a re- fusal is prejudicial to our national school of rowing. Cornell is willing to row either
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Harvard or Yale, at any place, at any time, and for any distance; it seems to me as though such sportsmanship should receive some recognition other than continual re- buff."
Friends of the Cornell Navy have earnestly hoped that a race might be arranged either in this country or on the other side of the Atlantic, between the Oxford and Cornell 'varsity crews, but there does not seem at present to be any likelihood of such a contest between English and American aquatic skill and brawn. The Oxford- Cambridge race occurs early in the spring. At such a time it would be manifestly impossible for our crew to cross the ocean and meet the Englishmen on the Thames, and it could hardly be expected that the winners at Henley would be willing to re- main in training without a let-up until July to row Cornell in England. It is barely possible that another year, through early correspondence, a four mile race between Oxford and Cornell might be arranged to take place on the Thames in August. This would give the Cornell oarsmen sufficient time in England to become thoroughly ac- climated and to return home before the beginning of the university year. Such an event would be of absorbing interest; it would attract international attention and show the relative merits of the English and American university rowing as well as give the boating world an opportunity to ascertain the comparative values of wooden and paper racing shells, and old country and Yankee stylc of boat rigging. If Cor- nell could win such a contest and return home the acknowledged college champions of the world, it is believed the old New England college "exclusiveness-in-rowing" would receive a shock which, while it might result later in self-created, humiliating embarrassment, would be regarded with entire composure by the American college world at large-a just and discriminating public which always admires pluck and manliness wherever it may be found, on the broad waters of Cayuga Lake, the Charles River or the sinuous Connecticut. However, under the free institutions of this glorious country with its untrammeled liberty in speech and action, Harvard and Yale, if they so elected, might even then preserve their self-sufficient prestige in boating by continuing for an indefinite period to dwell in all the glory of their soli- tary grandeur !
Below is appended a list of victories won by Cornell on the water, and which, while it may be incomplete, is sufficiently formidable to be regarded with genuine pride by every friend of the Cornell Navy, and to claim for the red and white the respect of every fair-minded and manly boating man in America, in and out of col- lege:
Intercollegiate regatta, Saratoga Lake, July 13, 1875 .- Freshman six-oared race. Time, 17 min. 32 1-4 sec.
Intercollegiate regatta, Saratoga Lake, July 14, 1875 .- University six-oared race. Time, 16 min. 53 1-4 sec.
Intercollegiate regatta, Saratoga Lake. July 19, 1876 .- University six-oarcd racc. Time, 17 min. 1 1-2 scc.
Intercollegiate regatta, Saratoga Lake, July 19, 1876 .- For Cornell University, Charles S. Francis, single scull race. Best intercollegiate time on record, two miles, 13 min. 42 3-4 sec.
Intercollegiate regatta, Saratoga Lake, July 19, 1876 .- Freshman six-oared race. Time, 17 min. 23 1-2 sec.
Freshman eight-oared race, Owasco Lake, July 17, 1878 .-- Time, 17 min. 13 3-4 sec.
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National regatta, Saratoga Lake, July 9, 1879 .- Four-oared race, one mile and one- half. Time, 9 min. 15 sec.
North Hector regatta, Lake George, July, 1879, four-oared race.
Lake George regatta, Lake George, July 17, 1880 .- Four-oared race, one mile and half. Time, 9 min. 12 sec.
Cazenovia regatta, four-oared race, May 25, 1883. Time, 11 min. 57 sec.
Intercollegiate regatta, Lake George, July 4, 1883 .- University four-oared race. Time, 11 min. 57 sec.
For Childs championship cup, Philadelphia, July 19, 1887 .- Four-oared race.
Amateur Rowing Association, Newark, N. J., Passaic River, July 11, 1887. Four- oared race.
Intercollegiate regatta, Worcester, Mass., July 5, 1887 .- Four-oared race, one mile and one-half. Time, 9 min. 38 3-4 sec.
Childs championship cup, Philadelphia, July 19, 1887 .- Four-oared race.
People's regatta for Downing cup, Philadelphia, July 4, 1888 .- University eight- oared race.
Intercollegiate regatta, New London, June, 1889 .- University eight-oared race. Time, 16 min. 4 sec.
Philadelphia regatta, eight-oared race, July 4, 1889 .- Time, 7 min. 3 sec.
Intercollegiate regatta, for Sharpless cup, Philadelphia, July 5, 1889 .- University eight-oared race. (World's record for one and one-half miles). Time, 6 min. 40 sec.
Ithaca Intercollegiate regatta, Ithaca, June 18, 1890 .- University eight-oared race. Time, 17 min. 30 1-5 sec.
Intercollegiate freshman race, New London, June 24, 1890 .- Eight-oared race. Time, 11 min. 16 1-4 sec. Best freshman time on record.
Intercollegiate regatta, New London, June 26, 1890 .- University eight-oared race. Time, 14 min. 43 sec.
Intercollegiate regatta, New London, June 27, 1891 .- University eight-oared race. (World's record for three miles). Time, 14 min. 27 1-2 sec.
Amateur Rowing Association regatta, Passaic River, May 30, 1892 .- Eight-oared race. Time, 7 min. 21 sec. Record for that course.
Intercollegiate regatta, Ithaca, June 9, 1892 .- Freshman eight-oared race. Time, 10 min. 56 sec.
Intercollegiate regatta, Ithaca, June 15, 1892 .- University eight-oared race. Three miles. Time, 17 min. 26 sec.
Intercollegiate regatta, Lake Minnetonka, July 8, 1893, vs. the University of Penn- sylvania .- University eight-oared race. Cornell 23 min. 40 sec. Pennsylvania 23 min. 52 sec. Four miles.
Freshman eight-oared race, two miles, New London, July, 1893 .-- Cornell 10 min. 8 sec. Columbia 10 min. 42 sec.
Intercollegiate regatta, eight-oared race, Delaware River, near Philadelphia, June 6, 1894, vs. the University of Pennsylvania .- Cornell 21 min. 12} sec. Pennsylva- nia 21 min. 343 sec. Four miles.
Freshman eight-oared race, two miles, Lake Cayuga, Ithaca, June 19, 1894, vs. Dauntless Crew of New York. Freshman 11 min. 152 sec. Dauntless 12 min. 11 sec.
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The Cornell 'varsity crews have won twenty-four races, lost six, and had one foul. The freshmen have won seven and lost none, while our single scullers have won nine and lost two. Among these we have world's records for one and one-half miles in 6. 40, three miles in 14. 27 12, besides the two mile intercollegiate record of 13.4234.
Baseball and football have been cultivated at the university, and as these contests have now become a part of the calendar of every univer- sity year, it is impossible to chronicle their progress. The proposition to form a baseball club was made as early as February 27, 1869, and upon May 8, a petition was presented to the Executive Committee for a baseball ground. During this month the first games with rival clubs were reported.
The first efficient impulse to start a gymnasium is due to Professor Byerly whose enthusiasm in athletic sports led him to undertake the difficult task of erecting a gymnasium by soliciting funds among the students and citizens. This enterprise was begun in the autumn of 1873, and the erection of the original gymnasium, just east of the present Sigma Phi chapter house on Central avenue, commenced in December of that year. This modest structure whose entire cost with equipment did not exceed $1,600 contained the essential apparatus for the best physical development. Parallel bars, rings, trapezes, ladders, horses, lifting machines, lifting weights, rowing machine, etc., etc .; also apparatus for expanding the chest and increasing the capacity of the lungs. The apparatus was selected by Professor Byerly in New York, who was thoroughly familiar with the best modern equipments of a gymnasium. The gymnasium was finished and ready for use on Feb- ruary 21, 1874, and it formed for a long time a useful, almost indispen- sable element in the physical training of the students. The erection of the present Armory was authorized on April 29, 1882, and it was erected during the same year but was not finished so as to be open for use until the spring of the following year, when Dr. Edward Hitchcock, jr., was appointed acting professor of physical culture and director of the gymnasium. Under his inspiration the equipment of the gymna- sium took place rapidly and it was used not only for gymnastic exer- cises, but for an armory and drill hall, under the efficient administration of the Commandant, Major J. B. Burbank. Later additions to the gymnasium in the year 1892 furnished greatly increased facilities, swim ming tank, bath rooms, running course, etc., etc.
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The development of university athletics received a new impulse in the gift of an athletic field, of the value of three thousand dollars, in June, 1889, from William H. Sage, esq., situated just north of Fall creek. Mr. Sage has been the constant patron and promoter of all the athletic interests of the university. This field consists of about seven acres, enclosed by a high fence, with a grand stand, cinder course, dressing rooms, etc. By two gifts of J. J. Hagerman, esq., of Colorado Springs, amounting in all to seven thousand dollars, the necessary preparation of the field was secured. The field was named " Percy Field " in honor of a son of the donor of its equipment, who with his brother have shown an enthusiastic and generous interest in athletics. Mr. Robert H. Treman has contributed a valuable and active support to university athletics. The Athletic Council was succeeded by the Athletie Associ- ation of Cornell University, consisting of alumni and student represent- atives of the various athletic organizations.
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