"PADDLE!"

A brief ten minutes on the Charles this afternoon will indicate with what effect oarsmen and coaches have spent the many weary months of training which began with the opening of college. The natural interest in a first race of the season will be considerably enhanced, moreover, by the fact that the Harvard crews, are the product of a new set of coaches working under a system distinct from that of last year.

The inevitable desire for a victory this afternoon is sharpened by a realization of what the result portends. Since both Columbia and Pennsylvania met Yale at Derby last Saturday, today's race will permit some accurate comparison. And at the same time, the effectiveness of the Freshman crew will offer some indication of what material will be available for the University crews in the next few years. That the renewed interest and spirit of hopefulness which has characterized the early season practice would be measurably increased by a victory this afternoon is obvious.

But whatever the results, they will be far from a conclusive test of the efficiency of Coach Stevens and his assistants or of the results of the commendable cooperation among the oarsmen, Captain Henry, and the coaches. The Harvard crews are working under the handicap of learning a new stroke; and a complete mastery of the new rowing technique is scarcely to be expected, especially in an opening race. The long delay in getting out on the ice-blocked Charles will prove a handicap now, if ever. Yet such has been the enthusiasm of the squad and such the efforts of the coaches that there is little doubt but that these handicaps have been largely overcome.