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California Shell Made of Western Red Cedar
LONGVIEW, Wn.,'June 26.-The racing shell in which the University of California won first place in the intercollegiate rowing regatta at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., recently and broke the 27-year-old record of college crews for this four-mile event, was constructed of 'Western red cedar, a wood which has come into use for this purpose within the past few years, according to word received by the West Coast Lumber Bureau. In beating the Columbia University crew by three quarters of a length, California clipped 17 2/5 seconds from the former record of 18 minutes and
53 1/5 seconds set by a Cornell crew in 19O1.
While the ability of the California crew was standing factor in determining the time made in outrace, the the the use of an improved type of shell was a contributing factor, close followers of shell racing believe. The red cedar shell in which the California crew rowed was constructed by George Pocock, veteran shell builder of Seattle, Wn.
Use of 'Western red cedar enabled Pocock to make his shells 3O pounds lighter, the weight of a red cedar shell being 27O pounds.
Pocock also has produced a lighter and stronger oar by combining Sitka spruce, of airplane fame, with red cedar. These oars have 13 separate parts! aqd excepting where oarlock and oar meet are fastened together with glue applied under heat and pressure.