Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-02-23
(Copyrighsed.)

| GERMAN BEER AND ITS EFFECT on ATHLErros-
THE LOVE OF SPORTS IN ENGLAND AND IRELAND.
tCopyrighted)
Cuba is the only country in or near the
tropics that have ever visited whose men
take live interest in athletics. This does not
except Spain. for a man who sits in an easy
chair and watches bull fight cannot expect to
be classed as an athlete. l was very much
surprised the first time went to Cuba at the
fondness for sport which the people displayed
| 1t was not difficult to find the cause. Every
Cuban boy whose family can afford
the expense is sent to the United
States to be educated. The Cubans are
quick-witted and clever race of men,
and they easily imbibe whatever book
knowledge is essential to a scholastic career
here. They mature much more rapidly than
our boys. The result is that they have plenty
OF time for athletics, and they are always prom
/ lnent members of the clubs in the different
schools and colleges. When they go back to
Cuba they keep up the fad and the result is
that they have managed to infuse liking for
sport throughout the whole island. There are
half dozen or more athletic clubs of the very
hrst order in Havana, plenty of yachting and
rowing in the harbor. and baseball has driven
bull-fghting to the wall.
l BASE BALL IN CUBA.
have seen some notable games of base ball,
but never anything that approached contest
IN Havana about three years ago for the cham
| pionship of the Island of Cuba For two years
| the Matanzas and Havana clubs had struggled
for the mastery. and this was to be the deci-
slve game. There were 10000 people on the
! backgrounds, and when drove out the clubs
had been playing three hours and half and
had not yet reached the third inning. They
had had four umpires and the grounds were
lined with police. The excitement Of
the people was beyond description
Everybody the grand stand was
hoarse from violent screaming, and when the
third inning came 10 a close with q home
run on the part of the shortstop of the
Havanas, the populace crowded over the bal
ustrade and almost sfnothered the shortstop
with caresses. They began all over again the
Following day under rigid police rules and the
curbing OF the excitement wherever it was pos
sibie,and the game was brought to satisfactory
| close. The Havanese have picked up the slang of
the American ball field. 1t was very odd to hear
the lncessant jabbering of Spanish interrupted
by such phrases as home rfn," foul tip"
fair ball" take your base" &C. The ex-
element of the players was no less intense
than that of the spectators, but despite ali the
frenzy which characterized the game it was
noticeable that the Cubans played mighty good
| ball. If Manager Mutrie sends the New York
reserves down there he will find that they will
Cubans are not heavy batters, but they are the
quickest fieiders and base runners that have
ever seen.
THE OLDER LOVE
OF the Cubans for bull fighting is on the wane
Undoubtedly bull fighting is still fascinating
sport for the old timers, but there has been
such succession of clowns in the bull ring
during the past ten years that they have prac-
tlcally killed the sport. When a great bull
nghter turns up in Cuba-an event which hap
pens about once in four or FIVE years-he is
nonized to a wonderful extent for a time but
there Is every indication that bull fighting as a
national sport has seen its best DAYS in Cuba
L often wonder what has become of MAJ
zanini, who went to Cuba from Spain and
Tell violently In love with Sara Bernhard
the day that he arrived in Havana. Sara and
he were lnseparable during the stay of the
French actress in Havana. Wherever the
bull-fghter went enormous crowds followed
him. The conjunction of the French actress
and the hero of the ring was almost too much
for the sightseers. MaZZanini was a remark
ably handsome man, and he won his way into
| the affections of the people by his amiability
and good nature. He was paid S60.0 200 and all
his expenses for four weeks tour through
Cuba and Mexico. When it came to the &C
tuai business of buil-fghting however. he
proved himself more or less of a muff The
bulls were SO tame that they excited his de-
rislon and he expressed his contempt in
pantomlme to the populace. The populAce
grew sulky and refused to attend the bull
fights. Then Mazzanini went to Mexico
where he also expressed his contempt for the
bulls and the place generally with rather
tempestuous results. The people pelted him
| with chairs, benches, and everything else
| that they could lay their hands on and then
shot at him casually as he rushed out of the
ring.
saw woman bull fighter once in Havana.
but the bull she was to fight proved to be a
calf. The populace conceived itself to be in
suited. Sonora Gloria was imprisoned for
night were given over to charity. All Of this
shows that it is not safe to fool with the hot
southern blood of the people of the tropics.
ATHLETICS IN FRANCE.
1t has always been a mystery to me why
France has not produced more athletes. The
French boys are quick, lively and energetic.
AT the public baths, and in some of the big
schools they exhibit no end of life and activity,
but they never develop into strong men. They
begin drinking coffee and absinthe and smok-
ing cigarettes too early in their lives. The only
things they really care for are riding and fenc-
ing, and they excel in BOTH The Frenchmen
are natural swordsmen, but they have no con-
ception whatever of the benefits of general
physical training. remember at the Smith
Kllrain fight there were two French noblemen
who had come over from Paris with
Lord De Clifford to see the match.
They were of the ordinary type of iockey-
club sportsmen, fond of horses, cards and foiis
They watched the two puglists pummel each
other for few minutes, then yawned and went
over and sat down on a stump, smoked cigar
cites and talked about their friends II any
one called their attention to the pugilists they
glanced at the ring politely, then shrugged
their shoulders and admitted that they could
not understand it at all. A lot Of French
men shortly after the fight had begun rowed
over from a neighboring village to the island
in the Seine where the fight was going
on. They shrugged their shoulders and
went back at once. 1t bored them to look at
mill for seeing which almost any man in Great
Britain would have been willing to pay heavily.
l have often talked with Frenchmen about
sparring and kindred exercises, but their minds
are thoroughly made up on the subject They
believe that it is much better for q boy to cui-
| tivate his brains than his muscles, and they
esteem bit Of repartee or a notable bon mot
much more highly than they do the most per-
feet physical development which the mind of
man can conceive.
GERMANS AND THEIR BEER,
The Germans are, as a rule, too heavy for
light exercises. They do not keep themselves
| in condition at all. 1t is a curious thing that
people so intelligent, and living in a climate
| which is admirable for athletic exercise, should
give up all the finer and lighter forms of out
door amusements. Running, cricketing. base
ball lacrosse and similar games are at a very
low ebb in Germany, though there is some