St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-06-12

been lett to chose for places of pleasure be-
tween the various forms of religious ana
mental exercise or q social life whose pleas
ureS were found i'll either of those various
forms. or to accept when urged by the full
blood of freeman, the saloon and the laZar
house. There is time i'll the life OF every
healthy young man when, like hlgh-bred
colt. he first essays 10 try his speed time
when the blood threatens to overmaster the
kindergarten of his moral life.
| regard the absence of q well sustained
public and patriotic spirit III favor OF manly
athletics as the greatest defect in the struct-
IRE of American life. Alas, If nj the hour OF
yielding TO appetite and fashion the men OF
America could have been the mental, moral
and physical athletes which God designed
them all 10 have been. if at that hour the
youth could have been engaged in the prac
lice of athletic exercises, so that his mind
found pleasure III them, that he found his
strength therein needed 10 secure his per
sonal honor, then would have been hundreds
Of thousands of the very bravest and bright
est sons OF this republic saved from personal
degradation to do unyielding battle for the
honor and virtue of the country.
We of America have left the morals and
culture of our youth TO stand upon its earl Hr
teachings, and while the unequaled purity.
our home life has thus far kept the great
majority of our citizens from degrading hab-
its and destructive tendencies, II remains
nevertheless true. that our entire absorption
of public and municipal classes TO the pur-
suit Of making money, and the grand emer-
gencies of most active business life have
left US careless OF that public and personal
spirit in manly athletic exercises which has
offered the youthful minds OF all OF our peo-
pie o forum for Measurable and engrosS-
ing enterprise. And the decay in public
virtue which seems TO be admitted by our
statesmen is largely due TO this decay III the
virtue of some OF cur sons which seems thus
to have been fostered by this public neglect.
If at the hour when vices fastened them
selves OH our youth there had been the pub
lie spirit OF encouragement which would
have amounted TO q public demand Tor per-
sonal virtue and personal health and physical
development, the public vices which your
statesmen now timidly admit are public nee
essities, would never have confronted the
march of your masses to the ideal perfection
of orr republican ambition. This IS the
lesson of history.
No institution exercised a greater influence
in moulding the national character and pro-
ducing the unique type of physical and IN
tellectual beauty which we see reflected in
Greek art and literature than the PUBLIC con-
tests of Greece. For them each youth was
trained in the gymnasium, they were the CEN
trail mart whittier poet, artist and merchant
brought his wares and the common ground
of union for every member OF the Hellenic
race. The Greek Olympia was the modest
spectacle in the world.
1t was the democracy Of the athletic
games which nurtured philosophy and art OF
literature To contend for a prize to be lit
a higher honor than crown. The Roman
Cicero tells the story OF the Rhodian DieSor-
as, who having himself won the prize at the
Olympia. and seen his two sons crowned on
the same day with the wild olive, was adj
dressed by Il LacOnian with these words:
Die DiagOras, for thou hast nothing short
of divinity to DESIRE
Although the prize was only crown OF
wild olive. poets like Pindar and kuripides
sung the victors praises, and sculptors like
Phidias and Praxiteles carved his statute of
enduring marble
Plutarch writes that during the reign of
this patriotic emulation there was not found
in Sparta for five hundred years all adulterer.
The personal virtue of those Greeks out
rivaled the best specimens of our Christian
civilization. And that Greek civilization,
with its false religion could thus take high
est place In public morals is due 10 the
splendid emulation of its public games.
Rome debased the games, and we are now
heirs TO the corruption OF the bloody
circus" its whelp the bull fight and the
gambling holls Of the race track and the
pool room.
The hour has come for the people of this
republic to take lessons of the old democratic
Greece. and revive The glorious games which
stimulated personal emulation by every force
of the public spirit. For in this strenuous
emulation there is no place for vice to foster,
and personal habit must be that OF virtue to
bring the victors crown.
Thus we are assembled here today to ask
ing and creation of a gymnasium suited TO
the needs of our youth. We boast in st. Paul
hundred mIllionaires. Will they not with
Charity to their race. with patriotic fervor
10 our state, with noble purpose
to our Christian civilization, come
forward and assist the very people IN this
long and crying need to substitute for low
place and morbid appetite the splendor of
personal glory in personal achievement and
personal virtue
And to the gentlemen who are here and
have volunteered to enter in these lists and
10 contend for our simple prizes, let me say
that as yOu bear yourselves today in your
manly rivalry. so will YOUR eXertiOns inspire
the more powerful and able of our great
classes, in their turn, to encourage this
movement for public morals and public
virtue.
This address was received by pro-
lOnged applause, indicating the fact
that the keynote sounded by the elo-
quent lawyer and patron Of manly
sports and paStimeS struck a responsive
chord liz the hearts of the auditors.
Then came the events in rapid sue
cession. The 440-yard dash, with five
starters, was covered in 1:01. S. A.
Ballentine took the emblem that had
been hung up by the club, and he had
an easy time of it. The heat was too
intense for brilliant running at that
| distance, and that accounts for the slow
time.
The $50 yards dash was only partic-
| ipated in by four candidates for the
elegant gold medal offered, and they
all fell out save NJ. c. Thompson. of st.
Paul, and E. B. Murnane, of Minneap-
oils. The former won handily in 2
minutes and q 3-5 seconds.
The candidates for the prize for put
ting the 16-pOund shot were l.. Defiel,
A. StamwitZ, j. d. Gorham, F. Nc
Cartby, E. B. Murnane, Fl. Grunau. q.
w. Rehoe and NJ. +. Mesgen.
The first trial revealed the
superior skill and strength of
Murnane, Kehoe and Stamwitz, and the
others were soon retired. Then the
struggle settled down to battle ragged
between Kehoe and Murnane, and each
| contestant found good backing. But
Kehoe was too strong for his slighter
rival. Still the little man made the
event mighty interesting. The distance
recorded was: KehOe, So feet 615 inches;
Murnane, 81 feet inches, ane STAN
WITT, "a feet inch. 1t should be re-
marked that Stemwitz is very prom
| iSing young athlete. He was in no
| condition to stand the heavy continuous
strain upon his muscles under ScOrch-
ing summer sun, and he tired. Again
| he lacked the experience and tnesse
shown by Murnane. for instance, in put
ing the shot. With training he will
| push many of the older athletes to the
| wall in ignominious defeat.
Throwing the sixteen-pound hammer
was an exciting event, but Craigie, Of
Minneapolis, was not pushed to his ut
most endeavor. The participants were
G. Craigie, q. W. Kehoe, of Minneapo-
| lis, and l.. Defiel and j. A. Macleod, of
mark at Is feet and 10 inches S pe da foia
lowed with &c feet and 4 Inches, Kehoe
with 70 feet and ~ inches. and Mac
! Le6d with "A feet inches. Then came
the second trial. Craigie sent the haTi-
mer for 81 feet, and Kehoe for II feet
and 10 inches, but Macleod was I'M
able to reach his former mark. He