Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1888-02-25

circuit could be made in an hour. At
10 o'clock at night they dove into the
river The men who backed them fol-
lowed in q boat, and am to Il that
upward of twenty thousand francs
were put up on the question whether
either of the contestants would finish
on time. They came to the finish pre-
c;sely at the same instant, having ar-
complished the circu in tiftv-seven
m nut, s. The prize money VS. di-
vidcd between them. When they were
taken from the water the weather was
so cold that ice formed on their trunks
before they could be got under shell
ter. One of them b came dangerously
i'll, but the other su cred nothing from
his hardy adventure.
Fencing sup ose everybody knows
about. i he rench are the acknowl-
edged masters in the art, and every
educated man in the count Y knows
how to hand the sword. The war
department does everything poss BILE
to encourage the general cultivation Of
this exercise. General BoulangCr is
himself famous swordsman, and fire.
,ucntly goes out If his way to act as
iudge In pub ic contest. These con-
tests are numerous, much more numer-
Gus, | am inclined to think, than the
Sparrmg exhibitions that take place in
New York. And this, it need not be
said, is distinctly sport wherein mere
muscular power is at discount; it is
skill that counts.
"The French are also experts at bill
lizards, and, in short, will he found the
peers of any nation in games of skill.
We have had some good wrestlers,
a so, notably Chrystol, Perrier and Reg
nier, but the wrestler with us is not
lionized to the extent that a champion
would be in America"
rs there no general interest in aqua
tic sports?"
"Ycs, responded VI. Dumont laugh
ing. "The wealthy have their yachts
as you have here, and there is form
of canoeing that, though highly enter
tanning, would har ly pass for sport in
the sense you mean. Canoeing is a
popular recreation of Sunday, and in
TACT those addicted to it like it so we'll
that they often spend the entire day at
it. That is more than your boat club
men do on the Harlem. is it not? But
the canoeist on the Seine is almost IN
variahly accompanied by the lady whom
You Americans would denominate as
his best girl. and he not infrequently
takes along cargo OF lunch. All, yes,
canoeing is good sport, but l do not
remember that | have heard of cham
pionsbip contest. And on our holidays
it is not game of base ball that at
tracts the crowds; they go to the
tn leries and listen to the music and
roam about the gardens, and ow and
t en- an Irregular kind of football is in
obliged in. 1t is not the lugby game
by any means, more kind of indis-
criminate kicking.
an the northern part Of France they
play variety of lacrosse, but it is
considerably different from the game
known to Americans. Lawn tennis is
played by the same class of people vino
play it here, and in the winter. when
the weather allows, there is some skat-
ing, but it is an intensely ar;stocratic
sport, not at all the popular thing it is
here. Our champion skater, by the
way, so far as we have one, is an
American, George Frost. More than
that, | lie ieve he is Journalist.
Speaking of aristocratic sport minds
me to say that our sport is mostly OF
that character. Such great games as
we have are played manly bv the titled
persons and the military. The leading
one think of is a paper chase on
| horseback, conducted in very much
the same way that the English and
| Americans Dlay hare land hOnn1S
| With us, two of the most intrepid