The New York herald., 1879-09-29
THE o'LEARY BELT.

The nrst race Tor the y Leary Deit. representing
the cham mpionship OF America and $500 in money
prizes. will take place in the Madison Square Garden
October to II inclusive. One hundred and seven
men paid the $40 preliminary fee. and ffty-three
made good the remaining 500. From these fifty
three twenty five contestants and nve substitutes
have been selected in accordance with the rules of
the belt. The fortunate ones are:-
Joseph Allen, Renfrew Mass.
John Henry Behrman Jersey City.
Charles Boyle, Montreal, Canada.
4. Bran, Asbury Park. n. j.
Il. Briody, Greenpoint, l.. l.
John Albert Brondgeest, Toronto, Canada.
Henry Brown. Fulham. England.
Michael M. Costello. Fishkill on the Hudson.
Richard Cromwell. San Francisco. Cal.
Peter Grassland Sheffield, England.
Benjamin Curran. New York city.
Edward Davis Kerry, Ireland.
John J. Dickinson. Philadelphia. Pa.
J. P. Dushane. Newcastle, Pa.
Walter Eckersall Chicago. ILL.,
Frank L. Edwards. New York city.
Alfred Elson West Merden. Conn.
Christian Faber. Newark. NJ
Patrick Fitzgerald. New York city.
Charles Fox. Austin. ILL.,
Harry Howard Glen Cove, L. I.
Martin Kemmerer, Lock Haven. Pa.
James Mahoney, New York city.
James McLeavy, Bonhill, Scotland.
John Perkins, Brooklyn, L. I.
Albert Pierce, New York city.
Samuel p. RUSSELL Chicago. Ill.
Timothy Spellacy, Millerstown, Pa
William TAFT, New York city.
Cyrenius Walker. Buffalo. N. Y.
In jewellers shop in John street the O'Leary
prize belt is now on vew 1t is far superior in ar
tistic execution and elegance of design to the Sir
John Ashley belt 1t is indeed, "a thing of beauty"
and produces this impression the mind instantly.
1t is composed OF fifteen chains. each thirty-six
inches in length and three and half inches wide,
upon which is placed six medallions The centre
shield Is eight inches long and six inches wide and
ss Se hue of
Six-days-go- u-please;" below this, oval
shield in blue enamel. are the national colors Of
1ua1o aud T.
tire the shield is gold figure representing OLeary
walking on tan-bark track. The shield is also sur
rounded with eight solitaire diamonds in stars, and
on the lower part of the shield American eagle
branches OF laurel leaves and the words Strength
and Endurance" The two shields on either side Of
the centre shield have pedestrian golu figures Of
which is representative of Rowelrs 'og trot, and
the other OF All the shields are bordered
with Scotch thistles, American ferns, oak ivy and
acorns. The material is sterling frosted silver
The belt is valued at about $780, 1t weighs nine
pounds. and has about one hundred pennyweights
OF gold in its manufacture.
USE AND ABUSE OF ATHLETIC ExERcIsEs-THE
BRUTALIzING EFFECT OF THE RECENT WALK
EDWARD EGGLEsToN.
The Rev. DR.. Edward Eggleston. pastor Of the
Church Of Christian Endeavor. at the corner Of
Hooper street and Lee avenue Brooklyn. E. D.,
preached last evening to large audience in his
cses." topic suggested by the recent walking
match. which attracted such widespread and
unprecedented interest. DR.. Eggleston took for
his text H. Corinthians tx, "a. He spoke
as follows:-I do not intend to make o spirit
ual application Of these words in the liberty which
allow to myself in this pulpit to preach what relates
to the conduct Of life. ranging from the conven-
tional standard which excludes many topics from
the pulpit. will tonight follow in the direction Of
your thoughts. and speak the use and abuse Of
athletic exercises. man is at discount If he has
full or wholesome action of the mind or the moral
perception II the physique is enervated. There
have been great men with weak bodies. but no
man is ut his best without physical strength.
A man like John Randolph. irritable and excitable,
is brilliant for "short head, to borrow sporting
phrase, but he cannot last The rule is, to weaken
the body is to reduce the mind, and men great with
feeble bodies would be twice great with strong
ones. A Keats burns out; producing at twenty
was thirty forty. There must be equation or
mind and body and proper balance kept. There
cannot be any happiness without health.
But we go to work in many ways to systematically
break down health. Sending children early school
"Childhood abhors quiet nature does a vac
uum," says one. but children are put in school
and kept quiet; 1t puts an extinguisher upon them
and lays the foundation for future misery. The
crying shame OF times is the weight and re-
straint We put upon children. Business men
adH 1pen
run in New York. We do not walk enough; the
street car is an enemy to health Muscle is not to
be cultivated at the expense Of BRAIN Carry physi.
cal culture too far and the brain is drawn upon.
Men like DIR. Winship, all muscle, frequently die
suddenly. There IL too much muscle our colleges
now. The boating man cannot learn anything else.
see.
Their sports show the character Of people. In
their Olympic games the superiority Of the
Greeks the Romans. The latter their gladia-
toria contests. showed the Internal depth OF bar
barism in which they sunk The Greeks had
no tremendous test OF endurance for six days: no
gate money or bookmaking. They offered no prize
Of money value after the first few con-
race simple wreath of myrtle. HOW
different from the knightly tournaments the Mid
forefathersl But brutality is not absent from
sports. We not content. as the Greeks. to have
contests in running or wrestling only, but must
men prove their endurance by walking. / have had
that universal human interest in walking matches
to know how the stands. l the good in
pluck and tremendous endurance and cannot help
admiring 1t. The everlasting hold which keeps
up to their work is to be admired wherever
seen But when their calling out of all the forces of
human nature is allied with gambling and betting we
see how brutalizing it is. Such scene that in
front of the HERALD Office Of four hundred or Ave
hundred persons watching the bulletin, aud when
it stated that Hazael is going groggy and complain
ing severely of his knees, putting their hands deep
in their pockets because it affects them there il not
noble one. 1t is not sport worthy of the patron
age of the noblemen of England the gentlemen of
America Is is not noble to measure men by their
legs. Tenacity of purpose belongs to brutes we'll
men; bulldogs have the hang which does not
give up. When rejoice IL Rowell is sick, or
cast brckbats at another contestant, it shows how
degrading such contest can become. ] will say
nothing about the waste OF money and time by tho
spectators. II New York wishes to pay $4,000 in
week for the spectacle suppose it will; would not
suppress 1t by law But 1t is worth while notice
how the police force wink at crime and how betting
and gambling carried on in their presence. for
aught know they taking part, If the truth were
known. This tremendous excitement affects each
one of us. It Is savagery coming to the surface.
Puritan, but desire to stand against anything
which dehumanizes and degrades, and the lessons OF
the past week may hope, be correctives to all.