The Washington herald., 1908-08-23

royal welcome home. are feted. dined
and showered with trophies. 1Iike AIur
ply, their great trainer. viii not be for
gotten For IT was chiefly 70 his san.
training methods that The team was abb,
20 accomplish what it did
IN an effort 10 find a reason for tht
great superiority OF American athletes
English spOrtsmen have finally CONCLUDED
that this superiority is entirely due Z,
The high Development 20 which the Yam
KEGS have brought the science Of train
ing This is better than 10 acknowledge
that the manhood OF Great Britain has
ceJerlOraJed- The American athletes ex-
plain II by simply saying Nike Mur-
ply for Nike is the king-p5n Of the
profession, as every trainer IN America
follows as closely as he can the methods
Of the man who has developed more
champions than any other trainer in the
world
The English critics did rot overlook the
work OF Murphy IN the London Stadium.
and one Of them struck the nail on The
head when he said. MUIR ~ is some
thing more than a great trainer" Be
fore the American team sailed ror Eng
land there was bitter strife II athletic
circles because Matt Halpin, a veteran
spriater. had been selected to manage
the olympic team and supervise the
duaI preparations Of the men There
was open revolt IN some quarters and
more than one champion announced that
he would not 80 = EalpIn were put IN
1uu charge, owing 10 the 6iscord his
methods aroused when he managed The
Olympic team sent 10 Athens
The Amateur Athletic Union saw ssri-
Gus trouble brewing and 70 dodge il they
selected Mike Murphy 70 act as trainer.
while 10 HaIpin was left the work Of
looking after the details Of the trip In
stantly everything became serene and
the Eastern athletes were quick 10 ex-
press their pleasure.
Lays Down the Rules.
The Western athletes said nothing.
There are clever trainers in the West
and they were not ready 70 acknowledge
Murphy 70 be in "a class by himself They
wanted % be shown Before the team got
cut OF the Lower Bay Murphy assembled
the men and gave them a short talk L
was very short but straight 10 the point
In I've minutes every man knew the
rules within cweaty-four hours the
Westerners had confidence IN Murphy
and before the team reached England
they had declared him an ace.
The Trip across was made one OF
pleasure Murphy IS always joriaL The
men forgot they were in strict training.
so cIeverIy were they managed They
took only IiEl- exercise and were made
10 feel that II was merely play. Aiur-
PHI kept a sharp eye on the ships cuisine
and rot a man suffered much from sea
sickness The men arrived IN England
refreshed or the ocean trip and in better
form than when they started.
Murphy was the lie OF the team. He
kept them busy having fun all the time
and no athlete had chance 10 sit In a
corner and wO-ry over what sort OF
showing he would make in the stadium
in that one week Murphy knew the aJh-
-etic history Of every man. He knew
their weak points what muscles they had
previously strained what sicknesses they
had undergone. and their general Charac-
ter That e. part OF his method
Nurp-y-s 1rsr act In England was char
acteris-ic. He noted tie dingy quarters
secured for the team IN London, the
crowd OF athletes training al the same
hours il the stadium Then he demanded
that most OF his men be sent TO Brighton.
where there was a better chance 70 SEE
the sun Manager Halpin and Others de-
INJURED They were thinking Of the
expense They 60 To Brighton If I have
20 pay their way answered Murphy. The
trainer had his way, and he did not have
10 stand The expense
Improves ShePpard's speed.
As the games proceeded and America
scored victory after victory. Il gradually
dawned on the British public that q
wizard was directing the campaign for
Aner.ca- AIuvPhy-s subtle hand was first
seen when Sheppard. man not credited
with the ability 10 run over 1000 yards at
a championship race, captured the 1900
meter contest from Wilson Even the
members OF the Yankee team were as
founded At this Improvement n Sheppard
as a distance runner And Sheppard came
right back and won at his own distance.
So meters, IN record time
Another surprise was Carpenters real
victory IN the A5 meters. which England
fairly stole BY declaring the race void on
a foul IN this race England's greatest
middle distance runner. HalsweIle. was
not only outrUn. but completely. outgen-
eral=d- The British were cocksure Of this
contest. buc they had counted without
Murphy No American had equaled the
time Of Halswelle for a quarter. and he
easily made the best time in the heats.
When il came 20 the final America looked
beaten
But al the tine Murphy had a trump
card Up MS sleeve During the training
at Brighton he had developed Robbins
into a sprinter- who could co close 70 ten
seconds for The hundred Only Murphy
and half q dozen others knew OF the ter
r-1ce speed Of Robbins Murphy had also
discovered that Taylor. the negro. was no
longer the whirlwind Of former years. and
thar Carpenter had the strength Of a bull
when finishing q quarter The Britons
thought Taylor was the man ETalswelIe I
had 20 beat. and chUcHled gIeefuIly when /
Taylor. by chance or design. had 20 take
The outside PAIN in the race The start
was on q curve, and poor Taylor was sure /
10 get uve yards the worst Of the seud-cI- {
Robbins 10 the Front
On the ran was Robbins. with secret IN
strucJtons % break the heart OF HalsweIie {
In the first 800 yards The pistol cracked. !
and Robbins went OF as though out 10 1
break the record fer 100 meters. The bis.
powerful Briron clung 20 Robbins. who
was going at pace beyond the pos
sihility OF a human being TO keep Up for
20 meters Robbins fairly few the first /
5urlong. covered AZ Championship speed. /
Stil Haiswe.le failed 10 get wise. and
stuck Ike a Ieech-
We've fooled en-: wen win" said i
Murphy II the grand stand The Briton I
followed Robbins for 800 meters at that
fearful pace, and then q new man. Car
7enter, shot TO the front. This was the