Cornell, Columbia and Pennsylvania to organise contests at Poughkeepsie open to all colleges. In 1899 and 1900 Pennsylvania won, in 1902, 1904 and 1908 Syracuse, and in most other years Cornell. The two annual inter-collegiate regattas are the Harvard-Yale at New London, and that at Poughkeepsie, open to all but not participated in by Harvard and Yale. By way of exception, Harvard rowed at Poughkeepsie in 1896, and in 1897 and 1898 Cornell rowed in two regattas. In 1901 Pennsylvania was just beaten by Leander Club in the race for the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley.
The history of amateur rowing in the United States, other than that of the colleges and universities, is a narrative of continual struggles on the part of the authorities to distinguish between the amateur and the non-amateur. The National Association of Amateur Oarsmen was established in 1872. Many regattas have»been held since that date under their rules, but the standard of amateurism which satisfied the N.A.A.O. has never been strict enough to comply with the requirements of the English A.R.A. or the Henley Stewards. In 1883 a Hillsdale four from U.S.A. tendered an entry at Henley, but it was refused by the Stewards, on the ground that the men were not amateurs according to the English definition. In subsequent years several American scullers entered for the Diamond Sculls, and in 1897 they were won by E. H. Ten-Eyck of Wachusett Boat Club, Worcester, U.S.A. In 1898 Ten-Eyck's entry was refused by the Henley Stewards. No little resentment has been caused in America by the reluctance of the English authorities to accept American entries, but their justification lies in the essential difference, not only in letter but in spirit, between the laws and customs of the two countries with regard to the amateur status and amateur sport. In 1904 a crew of the Vesper B.C. of Philadelphia were duly vouched by the N.A.A.O. and their entry accepted by the Henley Stewards. They competed and were beaten, and it afterwards became known that not only had several of the men made money out of the trip, but that two or three of the oarsmen were not qualified to row at Henley. It also appeared that certain members of the N.A.A.O. had, to say the least of it, been extremely careless in giving assurances as to the status of the Vesper crew, and all relations between the N.A.A.O. and the Henley Stewards were abruptly terminated, the Stewards determining that they would not accept foreign entries except from a country where there was a governing body which had control of amateur rowing and which had an agreement with the Stewards by which they definitely pledged themselves not to send competitors to Henley unless they came Within the English definition. In 1906 Harvard challenged Cambridge. The race, which attracted an immense concourse of spectators, was rowed from Putney to Mortlake in September. Cambridge led from the start and won by three lengths.
Rowing in other Countries.—During the latter years of the 19th century and during the early years of the present century, rowing increased very greatly in popularity as a branch of athletic sport in every quarter of the globe. It would be impossible here to describe the history or organization of boat clubs and regattas in Australia, in Canada, and in the various countries of Europe. Canadian rowing has always been of a high class. In 1904 L. Scholes, a Canadian sculler, won the Diamond Sculls at Henley, and on several occasions Canadian eights and fours have competed for the Grand Challenge and Stewards Challenge Cups at Henley. In Australia they have a regatta which is called the “Australian Henley,” and an inter-university contest for a cup presented by Oxford and Cambridge oarsmen. In Europe international championships have been instituted in the hope of bringing together oarsmen and scullers from all countries. The Belgian oarsmen have by their Henley successes achieved the greatest distinction among continental oarsmen. In Holland the principal rowing clubs have their headquarters at Amsterdam, and several Dutch crews have been seen at Henley. In France there are innumerable rowing clubs which are now governed by the Fédération française, a body which has a strict code of rules, but which has not adopted quite so strict an amateur definition as that of the English A.R.A. In Germany, also, rowing is very extensively practised under the auspices of the Deutsche Ruderverband; the chief contests between English and German crews of recent years were at the Cork Regatta of 1902 when Leander Club defeated the Berlin Club in the eight-oared race, and at the Henley Regatta of 1907, when a four of the Ludwigshafener Club were defeated in a heat of the Stewards Cup by a Leander crew.
Methods and Style.-The English style is the only one in which the oarsman swings his body to the full extent fore and aft, at the same time making use of his sliding seat. Most of the foreign crews who have competed in England have sacrificed a portion of their swing in order to enable them, as they believe, to make better use of their leg work. There can be no doubt that the English style is in a sense more exhausting to the oarsman, that is to say it enables him 'to bring more muscle into play and to make full use of his weight and strength, but in spite of recent defeats it is still believed by English oarsmen to be the most effective. The crews of 1906 and 1907 which were defeated by the Belgians were the best that England could at the time produce, but they undoubtedly rowed in a style which fell a long way short of ideal English rowing. The secret of good rowing is the simultaneous application of leg and bodywork from end to end of the stroke. The instant the blades are covered the whole weight must be lifted from the stretcher and applied to the oar-handle, and must remain so applied until the hands come in to the chest. In order to ensure that the pressure so applied to the blade shall be as long and as lhard as possible, the body must be swung forward to its full extent, and during the stroke the shoulders must always be swinging back faster than the seat, while at the same time the legs are driving hard at the stretcher. The slide and swing should be finished simultaneously. There are many subsidiary rules of style as to the movements of the hands and arms, but they are all of secondary importance and are devised so as to enable the average man to execute the working portion of the stroke effectively and often, without undue exertion to himself. The movements of a crew must be as nearly as possible simultaneous in every particular. There have been many instances of crews which although inferior in style and strength to their opponents have been victorious owing to being “ better together.”
See the volumes on Rowing in the Badminton and Isthmian Libraries; W. E. Sherwood, Oxford Rowing; W. B. Woodgate, Oars and Sculls; E. D. Brickwood, Boat Racing; H. T. Steward, Henley Royal Regatta. (C. M. P.)
ROWLAND, HENRY AUGUSTUS (1848–1901), American physicist, was born at Honesdale, Pennsylvania, on the 27th of November 1848. From an early age he exhibited marked scientific tastes and spent all his spare time in electrical and chemical experiments. At the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, N.Y. he graduated in 1870, and he then obtained an engagement on the Western New York railway. But the work there was not to his liking, and after a short time he gave it up for an instructor ship in natural science at the university of Wooster, Ohio, which in turn he resigned in order to return to Troy as assistant professor of physics. Finally, in 1376, he became the first occupant of the chair of physics at the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, a position which he retained until his premature death on the 16th of April 1901. Rowland was one of the most brilliant men of science that America has produced, and it is curious that at first his merits were not perceived in his own country, In America he was unable even to secure the publication of certain of his scientific papers; but Clerk Maxwell at once saw their excellence, and had them printed in the Philosophical Magazine. When the managers
of the Johns Hopkins University asked advice in Europe as to whom they should make their professor of physics, he was pointed out in all quarters as the best man for the post. In the interval between his election and the assumption of his duties at Baltimore, he studied physics under Helmholtz at
