Waterbury Democrat., 1901-08-10
THE KANGAROO START.
origin of the crouching Position As~ sumed by Eoot-Racers i'm
 Athletic Sports.

Of the hundreds of thousands of persons who witness college or other athletic sports, probably not one in hundred thousand persons knows how the peculiar erouching, or kan garoo," start of the sprinters orig inated, says the New York Times
 Eleven years ago every sprinter stood up to the mark with one arm extended. At the crack of the pistol he brought his arm down hard and leaped forward. This start was con sidered the proper thing. Now not one sprinter in score uses this method. Instead they crouch with hands as we'll as feet upon the ground. This start was discovered by accident in May, 1890, by "Tom- my" Lee, at that time one of the crack sprinters of the New York Athletic club. Soon afterward he became the champion of the world, and several of. his records made in Canada still stand as records of that country.
 One Sunday in May of the year named Lee and number of sprinters and middIe-dis tance men were limber- ing up on the grass at Travers Island from the effects of a hard Saturdays racing. Lee was so much faster at getting away that there was no fun in the short dashes for the other men. So Lee, ,iwho was fellow of much originality as we'll as the life of the Travers Island training camp, said he would handicap himself. With this object in view he got down on his hands and knees, then on his toes and knees, and finally he struck on the start as now used.
 This proved to be anything but a handicap. Lee got away quicker than before, gaining yards on his conn panions in several instances. The next day he showed his start to George Goldie, then the clubs coach, and proved to him that the new start was better than the old. After a week of practice Lee tried the start for the first time in public. The N. Y. A. o. men bet on him, and when he lost they jeered at him for his :'fool dog start," and laid his defeat to it. Lee,l however, says: T was beat because could not run fast enough, and but for the start would have been beaten worse"
 A month afterward, on June 28, 1890, Lee proved the efficacy of his start by defeating Fred Nesting. for the eastern championship in a 220- yard dash at Staten Island. This was the first championship ever won with the start. At that time Nesting was the champion of America, Canada and England, so practically the champion of the world. He was noted for the quickness of his starts, yet with his "foo1 dog" or kangaroo" start Lee got away at least two yards ahead of him. Westing's efforts to catch the N. I. A. c. man pulled his cork" in the parlance of the cinder path, and Lee beat him after desperate finish.
 In 1892 the value of the start was proved to the satisfaction of every one. It was in the open carnival of sports at Manhattan Field. Cary, who had a record of oy09 As for the 100 yards, and who was a remarkably fast starter, was on scratch. Lee had handicap of a yard and a half. Cary ran his trial heat in the announced time of 0:O9 2-5, which would make him cover in ten seconds 100 yards and 20 feet while ten-second man was covering 100 yards. Lees start gave him such an advantage that when he had covered Is yards he was four yards in the lead, or more than double his handicap. He won thu race.
 This was enough for other sprint CTS, and they began to use the start. Now it is in use all over the world. English, French, Australian, Cana dian and American sprinters use it. A man who stands erect now, is jeered at as Lee was when he. first appeared with his "fool dog start" The value of the start as expressed in Lees own words is:
 ''The beauty of this start is that there can be no false motion, no backward step, when the pistol cracks. You dig your holes for your feet, and place your fingers on the mark and lean all your weight upon them, with your upper body out over the mark. The instant you lift your fingers from the mark you begin to fall forward, and you must run, and
 
 run hard, or you will fall on your face. That it is the natural and prop CT way to start it's universal use proves"
 It is said that certain professionals back in the early seventies used crouching start unlike the kangaroo start" and useless except for the purpose used. That was to get into position so that they could look back between their legs and start with the flash of the pistol which precedes the report. One amateur, Charles H. Sherrill, 1o0-yard Ameri- can Intercollegiate champion from 1887 to 1890, was so unsteady on his feet and was so often penalized that he placed one knee on the ground. Some have called this the origin of the Kangaroo start" but this as can readily be seen was a handicap in- stead of help to Sherrili
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