Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-11-10
ARE HARD LOSER
One Thing That Must Be Said About
English Sportsmen.
LACK THE SPIRIT OF FAIR PLAY
This Fact Shown in Their Contests
With Americans.
SON E TYPICAL CASES
pccial Correspondence Of The Evening Star.

| NEW YORK, November o, 1900.
| One of the best known-perhaps the best
! known-of the growing class of high-grade
| young American sportsmen was speaking at
| club the other evening of the recent I'M
| fair rulings against Americans on the
| British turf. In addition to being the
| cleverest of amateur American horsemen
| and a first-rate all-around athlete, who has
| taken part in many contests of streng, h
| and skill on both sides of the Atlantic. this
young man, who is the son OF a notable
| millionaire. is a recognized authority of
matters pertaining to nearly every branch
of craftsmanship. and a quiet. well-bred.
| finished gentleman. In effect, he spoke as
| follows:
Il believe the English and the American
peoples got closer together, more nearly
| Appropriated a genuine entente, in the
| days Immediately following the outbreak
| of our war with Spain than they ever had
| before since the war of 1872. don't know
| the inside history of the matter of course.
| but the American people seemed to reach
| the conclusion that their gratitude was due
| to England for Ensland's attitude with re-
| spect to our quarrel with Spain. There
| was quite revulson in the Unborn and in
| nate anti-BritiSh feeling among Americans,
| and an al-around feeling Of good will be
| tween the two peoples was established ana
| this seemed to be a pretty good thing. rms
| feeling, however, has not survived 1t has
| been virtually eradicated, feel convinced,
| by the unfair and unjust, conduct OF Eng.
| lishmen in connection with international
sport. We overlooked DunraVenS caddlSh
| actions We regarded him merely as sin
gle disgruntled individual, and there was
| no disposition on the part OF American
| sportsmen to indict a whole nation as
| believe Edmund Burke put 1t, Tor the chllu-
| ish and Incorporate outburstS OF one nara
| loser One finds it difficult to speak in
| moderation of the manner in which we nave
| been handled by the English in almost the
| entire field of sports during the past two
| or three years. They have shown almost
| unbelievable meanness and smailheSS ~ ~
| ward US The end IS bound to be, sooner
| or later a complete withdrawal OF Amerl-
| cans from any contest of strength, skin or
| speed. on the part of both men and AMI
| mails, in England.
They Hate to Lose.
1.-The whole nub of the matter Is that the
English are the hardest losers on the race
| of the globe. 1t tears an Englishman TO
his center to lose. / have spent great
! deal of time in England during the past
fifteen wears, and | am fully aware of what
I am talking about An Enslishman pc
| comes violent, ferocious. uncontroilapie'
when he picks the losing end. l don sup
| pose he can help it; but 1t is not sportsman
| like
gwen the losers in contests between Eng
| Hshmen almost invariably set up dismal
| groans. A defeated English cricket team
| rarely accepts its defeat gracefully. Inc
| beaten players mutter and spiutter ABOUT
undue advantages having been taken OF
| than. of their lack of form before begin
| ming play of tro absence of their best
| bowlers of this. that and the other. Ihey
simply can't be cheerful and nice about 1t.
| It's not in them, l verify believe.
do YOU ever near any mournrul Wills,
not to even mention outright accusations
| of unfairness, on the part of beaten
American foot ball team? The Princeton
| o11x 0fld
Strengthening on Saturday last. 1 was pres
ent at the game. There was not single
Princeton 'rooter who had word to say
In disparagement of the victorious Corneii-
| ians The Princeton lads felt blue and sad.
as they had a right to feel. for not only
was it the first time in Princeton's history
that the Princeton foot ball team had been
| thrashed on it's own grounds. but the team
/ was absolutely shut out by the triumphant
team. Yet when the game was over the
| rineton boys, stunned and miserable as
| they were, actually cheered the Cornell
| team. Nothing of that sort ever happens
| in England.
| No Spirit of Fair Play.
.If. then, the English can't stand defeat
at the hands of their own countrymen. 1
leave you to imagine their state of mind
when. as generally happens nowadays, they
are downed by Americans. Making every
| sort Of allowance for the English on ac-
count of the natural gloom they must feel
| to see their erstwhile supremacy in sports
| taken from them. their conduct in defeat
character to be graceful in defeat and gen
erous in victory, it ought at least to be in
them to refrain from being insulting in the
one circumstance and in the other.
| Il am bound to say that the average Eng
| lish crowd is quite as uncomfortable in vic
| tory it Is childish and bitter in defeat.
The few events that were captured uy Eng
| lish athletes when our last team of athletes
went over there and swept everything be-
fore them were the occasions of such saw
| age, brutal, ribald gloating the part of
The young American athletes positively felt
ashamed for the spirit displayed by the
| crowds that witnessed those contests. A
foreigner who comes to the United States
| to comrN>e in any branch of sport is not
gloated over and revied when he suffers
| defeat. Very much to the contrary. He
is taken in hand and comforted. There
| fore, l can't help but feel that the much
Wanted British fair play has passed from
the yon to the h.,ner side Of the Atlantic.
| together with the all-around supremacy in
craftsmanship
When They Are Beaten
THE whole world knows that we now
have the English on the hip in every class
Of sportsmanship-in yachting, In rowing.
in athletics. in bicycling, in billiards in
pugilism. and last but by no means least
| in racing. Yet there is only one sports
ulel III all England that freely
! admits this fact. The rest of them do not
| hesitate to attribute our supremacy to the
| fact that We are cheats and swindlers
When our young American athletes from
| the universities went to England, and, com
| peting under the tremendous disadvantages
of which they never complained-present-
| ed by soil and a climate that were strange
to them, literally made the best athletes
| in all England look like an outclassed lot
| of pretenttous children the English writers
on sporting matters Immediately began to
| cast about for excuses. They could not say
| that the English competitors in the events
| were poor crowd, for they well knew that
| the English athletes so soundly trounced
| by the American boys were the best pro-
duced by the English universities for many
| years. They could not say that the Ameri-
| can lads had taken the slightest unfair
| advantage. They could not say that the
| English athletes were out of form, for the
| fact was very well known that they had
| been preparing for months for the coming
| of the Americans. How, then, did they go
| about to explain the wonderful series of
| successes by the Americans? Why. they
deliberately spread the report that the
American athletes were not collegians at
all. but a gang of professionals! Yet every
youth in that party of victorious American