The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-10-21
ATHLETIC RECORD BREAKERS.
FEE YEARS stan PERFORMERS
on TRACK AND FIELD.

u -
Sheppard and HIS Hair MiIe-ROdg.
ers's Good work as n MiIer-JaPancse
Nnim for speed -Samse's Great Pole
vsuIt-HorEan. Flanagan and sheTI-
dan In the weights other Records.
The athletic record chapter for the season
VI 1903 IL an exceptionally lengthy one, for
there 10 a big list Of varied performances to
treat. While a number Of those new marks
vii never be honored with the official stamp
at acceptance by the ruling authorities. a
great many are beyond question and will
replace old figures in the record tables,
In sitting the new claims for superiority
Ebo record committee has had a hard task.
and In several cases II has taken months TO
hnsarth the vital details "a to timing, meas
uring and other condit ions at these per-
formsnces. What has caused the principal
trouble to the investigators Is the unre-
liable data furnished, s%pringing from an
esgerness in most cases that the records
claimed should pass muster. for the record
uraSe 10 rampant. A set OF games nowadays
IL nowhere without some sort of a record
being shattered, and in the endeavor to keep
pace with the times managers and other
officials OF various meets often indulge in
ridiculous man1uvres in support of the
record mania. The increasing popularity
Of track and field sports has given a flip.
as Il were. 10 the %contagion. Until recently
record breaking was confined mostly TO the
East and Middle West. but now the Far
West, North and South are in evidence and
with vigorous ambition.
Another feature Of the season which
attracted worldwide attention 10 Ameri-
can athletics a the olympic games at
Athens, Greece. The brilliant victory OF
the Yankees. has now become household
gossip throughout the globe. 80 that a
heavy job awaits the historian Of amateur
sport TO recount the tra~nscendent feats OF
tho athletic year now on the wane.
KELLY's sPRINTING RECORD.
On account of the universal popularity
ri sprinting one Of the most important
records OF the yea was that made by Dan
n. Kelly Of the Multuomah A.. c., Port
land. Ore; in the 100 yards at the North
western rack and field championships
ut Spokane, Wash. on June -. The
figures returned by three timers wore o 3-6
seconds, which. If the conditions we're cor
rect. made a new mark for the century,
and incidentally nut a big notch in the
fame post Of sprinting not only in America,
but in all other chimes where civilization
has left its mark Immediately the eyes
Of the sporting world were turned to the
West and the boy from Esston, Ore, be-
came famous in a day. Then, after the
FIRST shock OF the announcement had swept
over, the soeptical began to inquire into
the conditions under which Kelly ran, and
there was a clsmor for the names Of the
timers and other officials OF the meet.
Several stories got abroad, some favoring
the genuineness Of the record and SOM
against it.
The reports culled from local newspapers
agreed hat Kelly swept over the ground
like q prairie tornado, and they accepted
the timing as gospel. IL appears that the
course was surveyed without delay and
found to be five inches short, but a wiseacre
present said the ault lay with the tape-a
steel one-used in r~emeasuring, and not
with the track. This tape was used for the
Jumps and weights. and. exposed TO the broil-
ing heat. stretched the five inches. Then
IL was coiled up and placed in a tub Of cold
water for a time, and when it was again
stretched over the course il was found to
have contracted the five inohes-and Kelly's
stretch was found to be the full hundred.
As to the weather conditions there was a
unanimous voice that even the faintest
breeze neither blew against Kelly nor behind
him. n there was such a calm -over earth
snd sea and sky" that the veriest leaHet
failed to CULVER on the n~eighboring boughs.
6tfl. there was a suspicion in the minds
Of those who nave been looking at sprinters
for years that Kelly was no q S-5 man, and in
order to clear the armament of doubt James
~ AarUiuun chairman ~ tho A TT o.zul
committee, began a careful investigation
kf'the race and all about it. He is being
ably assisted by H. W. Kerrigan, a member
OF The committee at Portland, Ore, and a
fellow club member Of Kelly's, and the re-
bult Of their long probe will not be known
until after the A.. A. U. convention In No
vsmber.
Us SUSPICION AROUSED.
' Suspicion as TO the validity Of the DER
fcrmance was first aroused by the fact that
sprinter named Cary. belonging to Spo-
Diane. ran within i've feet of Kelly, and, as
q watch well regulated will not show less
chan two yards or a fifth OF a second. Cary
snust be running Just as fast as Kelly, ac-
ccrding to the watches. This was highly
Improbable, as Cary previously had not
Deem moving much faster than 10 rs seconds
With reliable timers. Smith Of Seattle, the
third man, was close on Cary's heels, as a
a~xnspshot Of tho finish shows this, making
be third man well inside even time, some
thing entirely unknown In the history Of
athletics. The fact that such a poor Splinter
Rs Cary wal only i've feet away staggered
Eslly's psrtisans, and then a report was
aprsad broadcast hat Cary was not Cary
mt al, but q Western professional ringer
capable any day Of ~galloping a hundred in
Q rs seconds. Within q few days this story
was found 10 be untrue, Tor Mr.. Cary IL
nov at Yale University. and he has stated
that he was the man who ran second to
Kelly and there was no ringer.
But it Is quite possible that Kelly was
fast on that particular day, and earlier in
The season, on May II, he showed good
form by doing o as second in a hundred
yard contest at Eugene, Ore, with a slight
breege behind him. Kelly, however, was
not alone in his glory In his attacks on
established figures, for from out the depths
Of Pennsylvania State there fioated one
day a report that G. Wttham, a student
Of the University OF Pennsylvania, covered