The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-22
ONE LEGGED ATHLETES.
Records Made by Men With Serious
HandiOaD,

Although most Of us have seen, or at least
ha We heard OF, the one legged cricketers-
eleven Of whom were often wont, in the
days when the game was not 80 strictly
disciplined as it is at present, to oppose an
eleven OF one armed players-one legged
athletes are by no means common, and a
one legged golfer is probably unique. Yet
such a phenomenon does exist, in the per-
son OF a member of the Bulwell Artisans
Club, who, it is said. plays a very sound
game. He, in all probability however, ac-
quired the rudiments of the science when
acting az a oaddie in days previous 70 the
accident that necessitated the 'amputation
Of his limb, .
That such a handicap as the loss of a leg
does not incapacitate a man from eNcelling
as a swimmer, says the London IitRits,
has been ~oonclusively proved on more than
one occasion. One of the foremost en-
ponents of the natatory art at the present
day labors under this disadvantage, and
many old frequenters of Brill's Baths at
Brighton will remember the head swimming
master, Camp, who, despite the fact that
he had but one leg, was not only an adept
at trick swimming, but in the matter of pace
could give a start and a beating to many
WHO idu tiI6 MOI MA HuHlDeI Vi liilDS' . b
More than once has a one legged oyc)ist
won a race, and not SO long since such a
one, named West, used, with a liberal start,
TO hold his own with the speediest pro
fessionals. fitzpatrick. too, must be en-
dowed with as much power in his one leg
as most men have in their two, if ne COP
slider the many daring feats he has accom-
plished on his cycle, foremost among which
are his standing with his machine on the
summit of the 100 foot high Laxey Wheel,
in the Isle of Man, and his descending at
breakneck speed the east steps of the
Capitol at Washington. -.
The annals OF foot racing contain more
than one record in point. We read how
once Newman ket Heath was the scene OF
a race between two cripples. each having
throng. among whom was the Merry Mon
arch, they started fair, and hobbled IA
good pace, which caused great admiration
and laughter among the beholders; but the
tallest Of the two won by two or three
yards" Again, over a hundred years later,
in 1893, a certain one legged man, named
Carter, backed himself to cover six miles
within the hour, and performed the feat
with six minutes to spare. n,
Some years since a wrestler named Binet
gained much kudos among the halJituss of
Continental fairs less by his wrestling
owe although that was not inconsid-
cradle, than by his being handicapped by
the loss of a leg. This notwithstanding he
always made a gallant and not infre-
%ouently a successful show his great height,
strength and weight standing him in COED
stead. He excelled too. in feats of strength,
and was specia lily notable for his skill III
| casting a heavy bhcksinith's hammer. To
a trial OF skill with this implement he was
wont to issue a general challenge and it
was but seldom. he found his master.
Nothing. one would say. is more calcu-
lated to place a boxer at a disadvantage
than the loss of a leg. Yet Thomas ench,
a burly Is stone man, topping 9 feet by
some 5 inches, we'll held His own with the
! gloves with such as had the temerity to
face him in the arena of the booth with
which he and other boxers travelled the
fairs and race courses in the days when
| pueilism fourished.
Not only did he take on all corners at
mimic warfare. bu, on one occasion at
least he stripped in the ring for serious
fray, his opponent being a Leicester butcher,
who thought to compensate for his infer.
iority in pounds and inches by his superior
activity: In this, however. he was mis-
taken, for the long left of the cripple,
which he was unable to avoid, put him out
of time after seventeen well fought rounds.