The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-10-25
new RECORDS OF ATHLETES.
s.ran,'s Two Niirs the Rest Contest of the
Year -~srubb'> " ondrri vi Work In Eng
land -DuHe,, sispp. DE Wit. ncch.
Glass aud Gardner tisr Cracks Here.

Glass aud Gardner tise Cracks Here.
The outdoor seasun IN track and field
sports ,e Row al an end. ard Tie year Of 1908
must he reckon,d with the successful ones
IN athletic history II il true that the
records III d ma ior.ly Of the STANDARD events
have not been disturbed, h,lt this i not TO
be marv"ied az. when il il remembered
that III ~ championship ,.veL,s the mari
now 81 are close to the limit Of human
proves But. taken all around TIE per-
formancrs this year were Of a nigh order.
and besides 2 host Of new records were set
up for odd events and distances
One thing noticeable about this vears
athletics MAS the absence Of n phenomena
performer III either running, jumping or
weigh, throwing, and This, 100, had some
thing TO do with the scarcity of new nark.
for established contests Of course. there
was Dufev in the tprints, but he has 20 be
regarded AZ au -absentee, for after a
mereoric display n, the Intercollegiate
championship he skipped to England and
stayed there till his speed WAS spent
In modern athletics sprinting is always
the mos, popular event on the programme
and the feature most eagerly watched by
the special ors. 50 it il entitled to the premier
place in review Of the past. The record
of Q 2-5 seconds for the 100 yards received
no shock but long-standing marks for
shorter distance were attacked with re-
markabie vigor This aggressiveness to
wipe OF the slate all old marks for the
40 Yards and distances Whereabouts de-
veioped principally at indoor meets. where
board floors and other conditions were
favorable The neighborhood of Boston was
especially not ID for this onslaught on the 40
yard record, ard ii was so frequently sue
c@ssfu that the record authorities waxed
wary Of all new records accomplished at
the Hub,
Early III January the Boston A. A. held
a meet in Mechanics Hall, at which f. l..
Thompson of Amherst College covered 40
yards in 4 3-5 seconds, figures equallng
the worlds record held by several How
ever, "A little invest igaton revealed the fact
that there was something wrong with the
timing and starting. and the claim for the
record was not even filed with the A. A. l.
Al the Bos' on A. A. meet on March IA. the
40-vard mark was subjected TO more an
noyance, and this time at the hands of
a tyro named K. J. Leonard Of Newton
High School. He won the first heat in
81 seconds. the record again, but he was
beaten by j. F. Doyle Of Worcester High
School in the final in A. seconds. That
tx. he varied something like two yards for
this distance in period OF about an hour
and the fact clearly showed that there
was something wrong somewhere. Right
| on the heels of this sprint came another
event which furnished another glaring
instance of charming variety in timing
! and starting. j. F. Doyle, who beat Leon
! ard in the forty. ran the 45-yard hurdle
| in 3-5 seconds In the second heat and
! this eqtlalled the record made by F. B.
! Scheuber of Boston at Boston in 1899 and
1891 But similar fate awaited Doyle
as that which befell Leonard for in the
final Ire was beaten yard by j. j. Healy,
the time being As seconds. Strong
claims were put in by the Bostonians for
the record. but the A. A. L. people never
! regarded them seriously.
| In the vicinity Of New York the 40-vard
! sprint record came in for some attention
| On April a. at the games Of the Sixty-ninth
| Regiment, Frank Rickart and P j. Walsh,
| both of the New York A C.. covered the
| distance in 80 seconds Although in re-
| ceip' OF seven feet start in the 5O-yard
| handicap. Rickart did not win, and this cast
suspicion on both performances, and they
! viii never 90 on the record annals, The
mighty Duffy who If one of the Joint holders
/ of the record for this distance, had a shy
| at il himself on Saturday, Feb. |, at Philade-
phia Tie Watches showed 3-5 seconds but
I "a hat hp not m
On being questioned about it, Duffy HIM
self admitted that the starter was tri1e
careless" With Amslar of Pennsl wanna
Duffy tried again little later, but the
attempt was not productive OF anything
| startling. The Georgetown mans ability
over short distances was shown at the Boys
Latin School sports at Baltimore, on May 2
The distance here was IS yards, and the time
! returned was l-5 seconds. Thus was
beaten the old record Of 3-5 seconds. made
| Nv Luther Cary in 1891 and b. J. Wefers in
1896 But Duffy's attempt was not in regu-
lar competition, he being only paced by a
! couple of sChoobOys, SO the record must
pass into oblivion Out on the Pacific
| Coast another man tried the shorter sprints
Abadi Of Leland Stanford University sue.
seconds, good performance and yer
close to the record of ji2 seconds, made
almost twenty years ago by the late L. f
Meyers
Although there were numerous first
class performances in the 22O. 44O, $50 yards
and mic there were no new records aLC
only in the two miles occurred the mos
notable running feat of the year At tn,
fall meetin Of he New York A &. at Traver,
island Alec Grant, formerly of he I'm
vnrsity Of Pennsylvania, but now Of the
New York A. G., ran the two miles 4
minutes 72-5 secOrds, supplauting IT,
former American record Of o minutes 50
second. by The late v u Day at Berkele,
oval, May H. 1890 when Grant started
out IN his race lo did not seem o be movin,
Ia record form, and !oped by the mile pos
in 4 minutes i3 2-5 seconds The furthe
he went however the better he seemed T.
20; aud il was only a couple Of laps iron
nome that it was seen he had "A chance
for record figures Then the coache
woEe him NJ and sticking 10 his wor
uUDly Inc breasted the tape ia TIA" TIM
. stated II vas by long nuds . better rae
tLau Days, for the latfer had v !
Young the crack Enghshman, and "
Mccarthy to carry him along Al an eve