Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-04-22

twice as long, while the Dolichos was
twenty-fcur times the length of the Stadi-
um, OF about eighty yards less than two
and one-half miles 1t may De empha-
sized that the courses OF the Diaulos and
he Dollchos were not In the nature OF laps,
but simply forward and backward along
the same track Hence It is improbable
that Ladas or Dandes, the Argive, or Anti
patros OF Epirus ever travelled as rapidly
as will Schick. OF Harvard, or Archie
Hahn, of Milwaukee next month.
! The Greek had no high jump, 90 that one
point OF comparison. outside the time rec
ords, Is denied u.s. As for the long leap,
counsel. Phayllos, Of Kroton, according
to inscriptions on various pedestals. leaped
distance of So feet and the Attic foot,
be II remembered, was a bit longer than
our own. One modern authority reckons
the distance at 40 feet inch, but this Is
equally incredible to any one versed In this
branch OF athletics. It is true, the ancients
used weights In jumping, but otherwise
the jump was the same as praotised to-
day. AS may be recalled In this conneo-
ton, the greatest leap OF modern times
was "a feet 11% inches. made by o'Connor
in Ireland Possibly this record was
eclipsed by Howard. of Bradford. who in
1854 is said to have cleared 20 feet inches
with dumb bells OF Ave pounds each.
Among his extraordinary feats was leap
ing over billiard table lengthwise.
Ire o d and the Ne7u
Although the ancient Olympians were
masters of feinting, blocking, side step
ping, ducking and lodging in their boxing
contests II is doubtful whether the csle-
brated Melancomas was in the same class
of shadow fighters as Corbett or O'Brien.
The mill between Pollus and Amycus, one
OF the most exciting episodes In the voy-
age Of the Argonauts. is recorded by both
Theocritus and Appolonius The antago-
nists wore the cestus or gauntlet of leather
thongs. Amycus was tricky and rather
unfair, while Pollus was cool and wary.
He countered on the other, broke his Jaw
then with another blow landed on his
forehead and laid It bare to the bone, and
finally slew him with a crushing blow on
the temple.
On the other hand. the contest between
Kreugas and Damoxenos lasted from noon
until dusk, and must have been dlstln-
guished by exceeding skill. AS for the
wrestlers there is excellent testimony to
the extraordinary strength Of many OF
them. Milo. for example, carried an OK
on his shoulders, and, indeed, met his
death through his own prOwess, having
rent the bole OF tree asunder and been
| caught OH the rebound. But there Is no
record of the early Greeks or Romans cor
responding to the modern feats OF Louis
Cyr. Sandow or Hacksnschmidt. the Rus
sian
Swimming was one of the most generally
practised exercises OF the Greeks, and
| their high water mark seems to have been
| the legendary feat OF Leander crossing The
Hellespont. But even this dWindlss By
comparison with the feat OF swimming
from Dover 70 Calais In less than twenty
1.-TWO hours.
There Is evidence. despite statuAry ideal
isms to the contrary, that the oFecian
tendency was to produce men Of bulky
muscle rather than pliability. Plato, him
sell trained as an athlete, speaks Of the
Olympic champions as VIGOROUSLY Aug
4 gish and lacking in intelligence EirapOdeS
Plutarch and Galen were OF an opinion
that the ancient system OF physical train
ing, with respect TO professional athletes
and the athletes OF early history were al
most invariably professionals-was more
harmful than beneficial. Five years seems
to have been the limit OF extreme VigoE
! among the Olympians. There is no record
of F1tzsimmons or anything approximat.
Ing his equal In the early olympiads.
stu further considering the Greek stat
lues as an example OF the Pan-Hellenlc ply
lsique, We have XenOphon describing the
athletes OF his acquaintance as being un-
evenly developed, owing TO a tendency
toward specialization. He mentions the
long distance runner with his overdevel-
loped legs and his underdeveloped shoulders
Land arms and the wrestler, with his
powerful torso. but comparatively meagre
Hover limbs,
4 BY comparing the American Olympic
candidates pictured on this page with the
famous statues OF the Greek boxers, the
discus throWers and the Wrestlers, Il will
he seen that the American athletes are by
llno means as uniformly developed. nor IL
can be added. are any champion modern
athletes comparable to the Greek criterlons
in beauty, symmetry, strength and grace OF
physique the divergence from the ideal
standard being necessary sequel to sps-
\ claiization.
4 But taking everything into consideration
the Wdtchery Of modern achievement In the
athletic feld-it Is believable that modern
American athletes have almost unquestion-
ably reached a higher stage OF general
physical and mental development than the
: early Olympians AS several substantial
prizes have been offered those American
candidates who get first places In the
Marathon race. the Ave mile run the
weight throwing and other events, no en-
lcouragemsnt will be lacking for some rec
ord breaking performances. Meanwhile
} Athens promises TO supersede Algeciras
very soon a. the source of very Interesting
news from ever seas