The Washington times., 1903-02-01
Thomas E. Burke,
A QUINTET OF THE WORLDS FAMOUS ATHLETES

placed at feet 55s inches, and swee-
ney on his first attempt failed On
his second trial he shot into the air,
and as Mike Murphy afterward eX-
pressed If, You could have put a
derby hat between his hip and the
bar"
Duffey or WefeTs?
There has always been a question
as to who was the greater sprinter,
Duney or Wefers. Unu Duffey did
.93-5 seconds last May, I alwaysr
maintained that Wefers was the
greatest sprinter for 100 yards that
this country ever produced. Dufey's
performance against Schick stamped
him as the most rs9rveIlous man at
the distance who es1er competed in
either amateur or professional ath-
Ietics. Wefers was wonderful per
former up TO and including 440 yards
while Dufey would be helpless be
yond $50 yards, if pitted against a
champion The day that Duffey de-
feated Schiek he was one yard faster
than Wefers ever was. For any dis
tance over 120 yards. Wefers would
make Dudey look like q selling platter.
The greatest sprint race ever run
in America, and probably the great
F.. est eyef run in the world. was that
between Duney and Schicll, the Har-
ward record holder at Berkeley oval,
New York It viii be many years be
fore 93-5 seconds is equaIled in com
petition. Schick will never do it, and
it is almost certain that DUfey viii
never repeat the performance. The
record can never be questioned
When the pistol was fired, the wind
was calm and hardly noticeable
Schick led Duffey at sixty yards, and
at seventy-five they were equal Dur
ing the last twenty-five yards of the
race, Dufey simply ran like a fend
With distored features he few over
the ground, and broke the tape five
/ feet ahead of Schick. Any man who
beat Schick five feet in 100 yards COW
cred the distance in . 3-5 seconds be-
{
Heartbrealing Performance.
When Wefers ran go yards in p 1-5
seconds, the last 120 yards of the dis
lance was covered in II Is seconds,
Men like Patterson, of Williams, and
Denholm, of Harvard, who were with
in . yards of the champion at the 100
yard mark, were defeated by Z or
yards when the finish was reached.
It was a beautiful sight to see the big
Georgetown sprinter cover that 12O
yards. ATaxey Long was the quarter
mile king" and his straightaway
record may be marked permanent"
Anyone who has attempted to run 40
yards against time can appreciate
what It means TO cover the distance
in A seconds. Long was as strong
as "a moose. and it was the muscles
of his massive legs and that easy hip
action that carried him over the
ground.
Long was unfortunate in many of
his races. his chief weakness being
what the trainers call "of days
Boardman never should have beaten
him, but the record holder often
found it difficult to get below 50 sec
onds. Long at his best was the fast
est quarter-miler We have ever Rad.
and it remained for him to settle for
ever the famous Baker-Douues con-
trOversy as to who held the record
for the distance straightaWay.
The quarter-mile race between
Wefers and myself In 1896 was con-
sidered quite an achievement at the
time. and 1 have always considered it
the toughest race I ever ran on ac-
count Of the condition of the track.
The track on Manhattan Field was a
mud hole when the race was run. The
tines As seConds-was creditabie
| under the conditions. 1t is rather