NEW LONDON OR SPRINGFIELD?

THE Harvard correspondent of the Herald, in a communication last Sunday, alluded to the indecision which is at present manifested by some of our boating men as to the advisability of changing the course of the Yale-Harvard Race. He seems, to the present writer, to sum up very conclusively the advantages of still adhering to New London, but there are several points merely alluded to by him which it may be well to take up more at length. In the course of the past ten years Harvard crews have rowed over all the principal racing grounds in New England and New York. We have successively tried Worcester, Springfield, Saratoga, New London, and Owasco in 'Varsity and Class Races, and fixed on New London as combining the greatest number of advantages.

The first thing that is naturally sought for is a straight and favorable course; next the accommodations for the Crew; and finally, the ease with which the race can be witnessed by large audiences. The first and last of these requisitions New London possesses in a superior degree; about the second there is more to be said.

The farm-house in which our Crew was quartered the past three years is certainly too cramped, besides being in a very hot situation. It is at some distance from the boat-house, and is devoid of any shade or shelter from trees. In this respect, the Yale crew has the better position. But if a frame house could be built, somewhere near the boat-house on the pine-clad little promontory that juts out into the river, to be the property of the University Boat Club, the fullest requirements of the Crew would be met; for they are undisturbed here by the visits of strangers and idlers, and very few reporters make their appearance; while the steam launch proved invaluable last year as a means of quick communication with New London, for doing errands and getting provisions. It is to be hoped that before long an especial fund may be subscribed for erecting suitable quarters for our Crew, as it seems to be improbable that the annual receipts will ever do much more than cover its running expenses.

The advantages of the Thames river as a racing ground are too well known to need more than passing notice. The water is almost invariably smooth enough for rowing during the latter part of the afternoon, and it has been the experience of those of our men who have been there for two or three years that the wind, if there is any, nearly always goes down by sunset. No race has yet been postponed there over the day appointed. New London also offers a chance for yacht clubs to meet and see the race, - a capital grand stand, and good look-out points along either shore.

With all this in its favor, the advisability of a change would seem to be very uncertain. Our annual race should - like that of Oxford and Cambridge - become a fixture, over a fixed course; as few things will tend more to decrease the number of spectators and the interest of the world at large in our races, than to be continually changing our courses.