St. Paul daily globe., 1896-04-05

selves. In this division there will be work
with the foils salve and sword amateur, civil
and military wrestling, Greek and Roman
| methods.
Shooting occupies a class by ITSELF It will
consist of target practice with army rifles,
| earDines and pistols; rife range 300 and 200
| meters; revolver and earbine. so meters.
| Aquatics is a general term that will embrace
| all sorts of contests in and upon the water.
| There VIII be ten-mile steam yacht race on
| the Saronic gulf, under the rules of the Cercle
| dc la Vale de Paris, and also competitions
| between sailing yachts of three TONS five
miles, of three to ten tons, ten miles; of ten to
twenty tons, ten miles, of over twenty TONS
| ten miles, rules of the Yacht Racing Associa-
| tiOn of England.
The rowing races will be run along the
Phaleron beach, where also the swimming
contests will be held. The rowing will be
with single scuIls, double sculI and four oars,
rules of the Italian Rowing club governing.
The swimming matches Will be at three
distances-l00 meters, 500 meters and GOO
| meters.
! The bicycle races will take place on the
Phaleric plain, situated halfway between the
city and the seashore. TIE courses will be
! 2,GO0 meters and 10000 meters and 100 kflo-
meters (sixty-two miles, and of twelve hours
all upon track rules of the International Cy-
| cIists' association
| The athletic games division will be made UP
OF contests at lawn tents, single and double,
and cricket. 1t intended also to have
! football, but il is doubtful if any nation will
have team at Athens. 1t is question
able If the erleketing feature will be a sue
cess, for similar reason.
The Marathon race will undoubtedly be the
| star event of the meeting. The course will be
| taken along the highway from Marathon and
| will end in the stadium. 1t will be started
| at noon. and the road will be properly guarded
| and reserved. 1t is in this race that the
| good American or English cross country run
ner is expected to shine.
| All the other races will take place in the
! stadium.
! great deal of interest is also manifested
in the contests with the discus. Discus throw
| ing is similar to the American game of quoits,
| but is more difficult. The winner is deter
mined solely by length Of throw, measured
| from the front of the platform on which the
! thrower stands.
In putting the shot the thrower will stand
| upon a platform two meters square. The
| length Of the throw will be measured by
straight line drawn from the point where the
! shot first strikes the ground to the nearest
! side of the platform. Thus it is seen that the
| direction of the throw is Of radical Importance
| This shot throwing will be heavy work and
| a very trying test of muscle and pluck, for
| the shot will weigh 1880 kilos, which Is
| something near sixteen pounds
| Another sort of muscular development Is
required in the rope-climbing contests. Sue
! cess in these depends entirely upon the
| strength of the muscles Of the arm. The
height of the rope will be fourteen meters,
| and in making the ascent the climber must
keep his feet and legs absolutely motfonless.
The weight-lifting tests will be confined to
| lifting the weight of 3S Kilograms (S3A
/ how'd and yI1l1h
| Kilograms 069a pounds) with both hands.
The wrestling contests will draw big
! crowds for they will be duplicates of the
| original wrestling matches that were had IN
this same stadium 800 years ago. The con-
| tests will be held in a ring strewn with sand.
| Tripping, bending the neck, clutching the
head or the legs, bending the legs, biting,
| putting adversary's head under the arms or
legs and squeezing under the armpits are
| forbidden. The competitors are paired by lot.
| Since the restoration Of the great stadium
| the proportions are practically the same as
they were originally-that is to say, there is a
straightaway track about 600 feet long, and
the total length of the amphitheater is approx
| imately go feet.
Under the ancient regime in the time of
Herodes Atticus and his multimillionaire COM
panions, the magnificent arena is said to
| have had a seating capacity Of about $4,000,
and now, by the addition Of the temporary
wooden structure, it is said that there are
accommodations for 10000 spectators.
The track width Of the stadium is 1OS feet
and it's field area 800 square yards.
Nearly all the civilized nations are repre-
sented in Athens today either officially by
their respective athletic teams or by pri-
vate eitizents who are there to enjoy ten
| days of excitement that will not flag for
| an instant, while the bsA specimens OF
/ physical manhood the rzHSl can furnish
| struggle for bloodless but honorable victory.
And what is the Greek athlete doing? some
| one asks. Is he keeping up with the process
sion, and will he try to preserve the prestige
| established for him centuries ago?
The answer that he will give will be his
| valiant appearance in the field. He is not 60
| ing to let the victors bays be borne away
| from Greece if he can help it. And while
| there is no disputing the fact that the decad-
ence of athletics was an accompaniment to
| the decay of Grecan art and literature the
modern Greek is on the up grade and is do
| ing wonders in the direction of the reasser-
| ton of the worth and dignity of the glorious
! race from which he descended. The prelim-
| mary contests for the purpose of selecting
| champions to represent Greece in the Olympic
games were begun March Il and continued
several days under the personal supervision
| of King George, Crown Prince Constantine
! and Prince George and in the presence OF
/ from 10000 to 1000 spectators, who gathered
! in the stadium daily. The Marathon race was
also rehearsed, the winner covering the dis
! tance in three hours and eighteen seconds.
The opening of the Olympic games, occur
ring as it does on the day which marks
| the seventy-fifth anniversary of Grecian in
! dependence will be celebrated in splendid
fashion. The hospitable people have also ar
| ranged a series Of banquets and other enter
| tainments for their visitors. There will be a
grand torchlight procession, representing
| memorable scenes from Greek history, and a
series of gala representations Of the dramatic
masterpieces of the world, beginning with a
Sophoclean tragedy and ending with Wagner's
''Lohengrin." There will be, furthermore, a
special Olympic ode, composed for the occa-
sion by the modern Greek composer Samaris,
| produced by a monster chorus and orchestra.
And so we find history repeating itself and
| Athens, for a few days at least, as in the old
| en- time the center Of universal interest. The
nations of the earth have assembled them
| selves together, the athletes are ready and
st1 aiming for the struggle, and it only remains
for King George to lift his hand, as did his
august ancestors, and say "Let the games
| go on!' waiter j. DaVls.
|