OUR SPORTING COLUMN.

MR. GEORGE LEE, the Newark amateur who so nearly won at Henley last year, has become a professional oarsman, and has made his first match with J. A. Kennedy of Portland.

N. A. A. O. Fears are entertained by persons interested in the success of the college races offered by this organization that a very meagre entry will reward their generous efforts. It will be a great pity if this should be the case, and will prove that outside of Yale and Harvard, American colleges care little for aquatic sports. We sincerely hope that the aforesaid fears may prove groundless.

Scratch Races. We hope that the scratch races this year may not be confined to those men who compose, or have tried for, their class crews. Now that the rowing mania is in full blast there will of course be a large entry for these races, and many will enter who have not been rowing steadily, and perhaps not rowing at all. The fact of the races being "scratch" would seem to entitle every entry to a show for a seat in the boats, and to secure this it would seem to be fairer to draw the lots from a hat, rather than have the captains choose from the list in turn. Possibly the "lot" system may have been followed generally, but in one or two cases we think it has not.

ATHLETICS.N. Y. A. C. Owing to recent professional doings of the well-known amateur walkers, F. H. Armstrong and F. Mott, they have been expelled from their respective clubs, and are no longer recognized as amateurs. W. O'Keefe and J. H. Noonen, both rather fast walkers, are also expelled. Armstrong was the amateur champion of America, and had a mile record of 6.44, if memory serves us, and Mott could also do his mile close to seven minutes. Their loss is a serious one to the amateur athletic interest of the country.

We understand that several gentlemen contemplate a journey to New York to participate in the sports of the Columbia Athletic Club. We give them our best wishes for their success. Two events have been added since the programme was published, - a tug-of-war between picked teams from the crew of the steamer City of Chester, of the Inman Line, and a chase by the Columbia College Hare and Hounds Club in full uniform. The four-mile walk (go as you please) promises to be the great event of the occasion. The entries from Columbia have been very large.

I. A. A. The Intercollegiate Athletic Association meets in New York on Thursday of this week. Harvard will be represented by Mr. Roosevelt, '80, and Mr. Twombley, '79.

H. A. A. Work is progressing on the track on Jarvis, and we can promise completion in from a week to ten days. The surface will be spaded up to a depth of one foot; eighteen inches will be removed from the inside all the way round, and the track carefully graded and rolled. We think that the track can be made from four to six seconds faster in the mile, and that this work will effect it. We omitted to say that the track will be carefully cindered to a depth of an inch, which will greatly add to its speed. An effort will be made to hold handicap games for "pewters" on several Saturdays in the spring, and to bolster up the interest in athletics generally.

BICYCLING.It is earnestly to be hoped that the report of the forming of a University Bicycle Club was not all rumor. On Fast Day the Massachusetts, Boston, and Suffolk Clubs unite in a "meet," to which they invite all bicyclists in the State. The rendezvous will be at Trinity Church, and the hour 10 o'clock. The unattached riders will be taken under the escort of sub-captains from the three clubs, that there may be no delay or confusion. After circling the square once, the riders will proceed over the Milldam to Chestnut Hill, and after reaching that point there will probably be a scattering, as the fancy of individual riders may dictate. On this occasion the Massachusetts and Boston clubs will appear for the first time in their new uniform, the principal feature of which is the Stanley helmet.

FOOT-BALL.The annual international contest between England and Scotland, at the Rugby game, occurred recently at Edinburgh, Scotland, and resulted in a tie. The Calcutta cup, therefore, goes back to England, where it was held last year.