The third Newell crew won the fall graded race yesterday afternoon, defeating the first Weld by about two feet. Owing to a misunderstanding the judges boat was anchored about thirty yards above the proper finishing line. On this account there was some dispute as to whether the victory should be awarded to the Newell crew, for the first Weld was gaining rapidly as they crossed the line. The order in which the crews finished was as follows: Third Newell, first; first Weld, second; second Newell, third; first Newell, fourth; second Weld, fifth.

The race was by far the closest and most exciting that has taken place on the river for several years, although all the crews rowed rather badly. The course was smooth, in spite of a slight head wind. The first Weld took a hard spurt at the start, and got a little ahead of the other crews. At the quarter-mile the first Newell drew ahead of the first Weld, and the second Newell fell about half a length astern of the other crews. By this time the first Newell had settled down to a long stroke, not above thirty, while the first Weld kept up a stroke of thirty-three almost through the whole race. At the half-mile the first Weld and the third Newell began to draw away from the other crews, and held their lead during the whole race.

As the crews approached Harvard Bridge the first and second Newell boats fouled. Before this they were only half a length behind the leading boats, but afterwards were left several lengths behind. After passing the bridge the first Weld was still rowing at the rate of thirty-three strokes a minute, and the stroke of the third Newell was considerably higher.

Below the bridge the interest of the race centred on the third Newell and the first Weld. The stroke of the Weld crew was, at this point, somewhat increased, and resulted in the whole crew rushing their slides. The Newell crew kept up a long, steady stroke through the whole race. About half a mile below the bridge the third Newell took the lead, in spite of the fact that the first Weld had been a quarter of a length ahead, and that the Newell crew was rowing the slower stroke. The Newell boat was unable to keep its lead, however, and was soon overtaken by the Weld.

The last quarter of a mile was very exciting. About a hundred yards from the finish the first Weld again made a great effort, and, gaining steadily on the third Newell, was only beaten out by about two feet.

The orders of the winning crews were as follows:

Third Newell -- Stroke, Stevens; 7, Bard; 6, James; 5, White; 4, Perkins; 3, Otis; 2, Coleman; bow, Bryant; cox., Lewis.

First Weld--Stroke, Wolcott; 7, Hartwell; 6, Brooks; 5, George; 4, Greenough; 3, Maltby; 2, Sanger; bow, Dillingham; cox., Chase.