The Newtown bee., 1903-07-17

Bader, Jr.
Canoe race, paddle, West and Clark.
Tub race, rubber boots, w. Gustaf-
son.
Entry Master, William Foulois.
Athletic committee, Rev R. E. Car
ter, J. I. West, William Foulois, D. }.
Wyant, Walfred Carlson, Fred Eek
man, George o. Rylander.
The remarks of DR. William J. Ford,
presenting prizes for athletics, were as
follows:
Athletic contests and exhibitions OF
physical strength and skill have been
known in all ages and among all people
since time when the memory of man
runneth not to the con trary. The an
Gent foot race, the chariot race, the
wrestling match, and the gladiatorlal
combat have all had their places In
history and each has been run or driven
or wrestled, or fought, for prize. The
defeated Roman gladiator, as he turned
his eyes from the sands of the arena in
that last plying appeal to the pretor
and populace, looked for the sign of
the up-turned thumb that should give
him that greatest prize of all-his life.
but if perchance the thumb was down.
ward turned, he bent his neck for the
blow that should end his mortal Ca
reer. Have we not to-day reason to be
thankful that the civilization of the
Goth century is a little higher, and the
common brotherhood of man little
stronger than in the bloody days of the
old Roman amphitheater? Let us see
to it that the civilization we received
from sour forefathers goes not back
ward in our hands. Let us assume it
as sacred trust, and let us firmly re-
solve tibet we will, each and every one,
do all that is within our power to ele-
vate it to still higher plane, that we
may pass it on to the generation that
is to come after us, a little better than
we received it. So shall we not have
lived in vain and the world will be bet
ter for our having been in it.
In searching the scrapbook Of my
memory for something applicable to
an occasion like this, two old sayings
have occurred to me. One certainly
has the sanction of biblical authority,
ar d the other, if not in pure diction,
unquestionably has in spirit, cit is
more blessed to give than to receive"
and "To the victor belongs the spoils. "
You who have been victorious and are
of your prOwess, can well afford to
stretch forth the right hand of fellow
ship, and with all grace and all humil-
iJy, bending low, say to your Oppo'
nents, cit is more blessed to give than
to receive" and you have been almost
but not quite, victorious, you who
have made it possible for your friends
here to win these prizes, while you
| register mental determination tc
win next time sure, can, with equa
grace and equal humility, say to your
adversaries, "To the victors belong the
spoils." But, my friends, there is an
other prize, higher and nobler, an6
more to be sought after than any OF
these, prize which is open to all, vic
tor and vanquished alike, a prize VOL
| to-day by you all. 1t is found in the
good will and acclaim of your audience
No better illustration of this was evel
given than by that Irish nobleman
who, standing on the bridge of the
Erin and seeing his cherished Sham
rock falling astern, turned to his
| friends about him and in the spirit OF
true chivalry said, II have lost, the
Columbia is the better hoat." Those
words echoed and re-echoed from
ocean to ocean, until to-day Sill
Thomas Upton stands as the highest
and noblest type of the true sports
man, and though we as Americans
hope and trust the Americas cup will
never be lifted, I think we all agree
that if it is ever to pass over the sea
we would rather see it go under the
pennant of the Shamrock than any
other. We cannot all stand on the
bridge of the Erin, but we can al
stand on the platform which Almighty
God has decreed our inalienable birth
right, and from it we can as honestly
and as nobly prove to those about us
that we are in the highest sense true
sportsmen, as did Sir Thomas Upton
from the bridge of the Erin. Now my
friends take these prizes, treasure
them and the recollections of this day