New-York tribune., 1901-01-06
EXPANSION OF SPORT.
ASTONISHING ENLARGEMENT OF
MANKIND'S PASTIMES.


of game. big and little. the practice of archery,
the playing of golf. the matches at cricket and
football the trials of deftness at craftsmanship.
the tests of mastery in driving and riding, the
contests of Drawn and lone in boxing and
wrestling, We're in favor in Great Britain, the
Continent of Europe and in the Western Hem
isphere. and gatherings of excited spectators
were neither few small. In feats of force
and aptness and endurance on horseback and
on foot there was lively spirit of contention,
and fox hunting. sport in which boldness and
alert capacity in governing and guiding hot
blooded mounts were requisite, almost
craze with thousands OF people of leisure and
of means on either side of the Atlantic. Dazzling
exploits in the saddle and in the drivers seat of
four-in-hand coaches gained plentiful applause.
The coursing of greyhounds was kept up law
ishly by wealthy breeders and owners. Chasing
rabbits with beagles and the deadly following
of wild beasts and wild birds of almost every
sort were amusements which attracted troops
of enthusiasts, although the weapons carried
by hunters and fowlers in the eighteenth GEN.
tury were clumsy, uncouth and feeble in COM
parison with those now in use.
BRUTAL SPORTS DISAPPEARING.
A hundred years ago the deyotees of sport in
too many instances We're coarse and brutal in
their tastes. The most cruel and revolving OF
dognghts brought together witnesses Of high de-
gree and of fashionable connections. and dukes
and marquises. earls and squires indulged In
prodigal wagers upon the prowess of bullterriers.
Cockfighting also looked upon with ap
proval among club members who were influential
and conspicuous in the society of that
Yachting was practically unknown. All kinds
OF vessels were then handled and sailed by pro-
fessional navigators and shippers. and amateurs
were not forming associations jealous for the
discovery Of the finest models for the heetest
champions OF the waves. Crews that could
WELD the ashen blade effectively were not nu-
merous and sportive contests on stream
were relatively meagre and unalluring in the
period OF the Napoleonic campaigns and In the
primitive years OF this Republic Horseracing.
however. had been started in Great Britain
early as the jocund days OF Merry Charles and
Mistress Nell, not many decades after the death
of Cromwell. the Lord Protector; and the Ep-
som Derby. the blue ribbon prize OF the turf the
world over, was first awarded long before steam
was employed on river or ocean.
RIVALRY MORE GOOD NATURED.
In every imaginable department of sports the
advance and the broadening out in the century
just closed have been impressive. The most
gratifying evidences Of progress have been seen
in the field OF international rivalry. free from
bitterness and faultfnding. The friendly meet
ings which have decided the superiority OF the
representatives OF different countries have been
frequent and exceedingly popular In this century,
and they have left nor i'll feeling behind them.
Few such amicable struggles for prizes which
were not sordid took place in the century before
this. The fraternal and good humored battles
on the sea for the Americas Cup have increased
and intensified sentiments Of amity and kindness
between peoples separated by thousands of miles
of tides. Oarsmen and athletes of many classes
have met in well arranged and earnest emu
lation East and West and North and South The
spirit of the century with regard 20 sports has
been that of brOtheTly but jealous competition,
without sourness or grudge. And how wonder
fully the range and extent Of sports in every
quarter of the globe have been widened and
heightened in hundred years!
In ancient Greece the Olympian games were
fought out by the select adversaries of the age.
the swiftest runners, the most cunning wrest-
lers. the racial and national chieftains Of the
epoch in their special fields OF effort. II Is a
remarkable feature Of the athletic ambitions or
this era that the Olympian games We're revived
a few years ago. and that America, as we'll as
the Old World, sent to the Grecian arena
worthy aspirants for classic laurels The in
tercollegiate battles for glory and renown have
been striklngly characteristic or the forward
movement of noble sport in this generation and
in those generations which Immediately preceded
this The most famous universities, colleges
and schools in both hemispheres have delighted
TO engage in friendly jousts and tournaments
have stirred the blood and stimulated the loyalty
Of undergraduates and graduates alike.
1t was relatively poor and scanty array of
amateur contests which inspired the ambitions
of the amateur antagonists before the latter half
of the Nineteenth Century was entered upon.
Now every season OF every year has its appro-
pirate field days.
AMATEURS TO THE FRONT.
The forward steps taken in amateur athletics
within the last twenty-five years have been so
numerous and admirable that tho most hasty
glance at the milestones of progress cannot pass
them over lightly. Before the beginning OF the
Civil War in the United States amateur athletics
were in a confused and chaotic condition. The
rules and regulations were unsettled and indef
mite. The dividing line between professionals
and amateurs was indiStinct and wavering.
William Ii. Curtis. sometimes anectonate!y
STYLED the Father Of American Athletics did
more than any other individual to eStabnSh
order out Of SKIES and sevens. and to secure
definiteness and precision IN these matters. Ills
memory ought always to be held in esteem FOR
his unselnsh devotion to amateur athletics. and
for his memorable services IN the promotloh OF
clean and equitable sport.
II was said long ago that 1t has been
wonderful century of invention and ii is plain
20 the world that inVentiVencss and development
arena of sports. Yachting, trottinS, polo Ia
crosse lawn tennis baseball. bicycle riding.
football as permanently defined regulated ana
systematzed and many important and popular
DEPARTMENTS of athletics both professional and
amateur belong chiefly to the last fifty years
some of them to the final half ot the fifty. And
the tendency in the whole vast circle of these
sports has been steadily toward a finer sense or
honor, q higher feeling of responsibility,
stronger desire for fairness and sterner dislike
of tricSery and wrong dealing. Both in the old
sports and the new. the competitors and thelr
sympathizers, hackers and friends have gone
onward and upward in breadth of view, in
tolerance and liberality.
IT might not be out OF place to recall word or
two from Matthew Arnold although he was not
writing exclusively of sports when he put them
in print. But is il not true that the sports of
last century and especially the amateur ath-
letics international, interuniversity, intercol-