The Class Races.

About noon, yesterday, the students began to assemble upon the pier of the West Boston Bridge, where the little fleet of tugs had already gathered. At half-past twelve the Wm.Sprague, with the referee, press representatives, and 'varsity crew and nine on board left the bridge and steamed up to the railroad bridge at Brookline, followed by the Elsie, flying the yellow and black pennant of the sophomores, the Mattie Sargent, aboard which the freshmen were assembled under their red and white colors, and the Curlew, upon which was a large party of undergraduates and ladies. Upon reaching the bridge the party whiled away the inevitable long interval between the time announced for the start and the actual appearance of the crews. At this time the condition of the water was all that could be desired, though the fine, steady rain was far from comfortable for either contestants or spectators. At 1.15 the draw swung back and the junior crew shot through the opening, when, to the surprise of all, it was seen that the two centre slides in the shell were unoccupied. Inquiry elicited the information that Cabot had been obliged to give up his oar by the advice of Dr. Sargent, enforced by an order from President Eliot. As this state of affairs was made known to Captain Latham only a few hours before the race, it was impossible to meet the emergency, since the substitutes were not sufficiently accustomed to rowing in a shell to render them of much service. Under these circumstances the crew pluckily determined to pull the race with six oars rather than to withdraw from the race altogether. The six men were seated in the following order: 1, Latham; 2, Brown ; 3, Dewey; 4, Codman; 5, Hamlin; stroke, Harris. The next crew to come to the line was the '85 crew, followed by '87 and '88. No sooner had the freshmen come to the line than it became apparent that they, too, were in trouble, for the coxswain was holding in his hand the rudder, which had torn free from its fastenings. Finding that another half-hour's delay would ensue if this damage were to be repaired, it was decided that the race should be rowed at once, and the freshman coxswain was accordingly provided with a paddle with which to steer his craft.

THE RACE.

At 1.35, three-quarters of an hour after the advertised time, the whistle blew for the crews to take up their positions. A few moments later the gun was fired, and the crews were off. Eighty-five and eighty six got the best of the start, but for the first few yards the crews were practically even.

The crews were at this time pulling at the following rate: '85, forty-four strokes a minute; '86, thirty-eight; '87, thirty-eight; '88, forty. The seniors now began to draw ahead, while the juniors slowly but surely fell to the rear. The sophomores were rowing well within themselves, and the freshmen, though necessarily steering wildly, were gradually slipping ahead of the juniors.

At a point a little beyond the Crescent Boat Club's float, the seniors were nearly a length to the good, the sophomores next, the freshmen some three lengths to the rear, and the juniors behind still further. The stroke at this time was '85, 42; '87, 42; '88, 40; '86, 42. This order was not greatly altered at the sluice-way. When the leading crews reached Exeter Street, the sophomores had drawn up on the seniors, and from this point on, they gradually increased their lead. From Exeter Street to the finish, the race between '85 and '87 was a magnificent struggle, but '87 steadily gained until the boat crossed the line a length and a half to the good, in 11 m. 13 1-2s., followed by '85 in 11m. 24 1 2s; '88, in 12m. 29 1-2s.; and '86 in 13m. Both these latter boats narrowly escaped being swamped by the swell from the referee's tug, which had steered across the course ahead of the two last crews.

The '87 men were wild with excitement, sending up cheer after cheer for their winning crew. The dense crowds upon the roof of the Union Boat House, and along the sea wall also united in applauding the victors, while the classmates of the defeated oarsmen silently withdrew. In a few moments the gathering melted away, the crews were on their way back to Cambridge, and the class races of 1885 were over.