The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-07-14
AMERICANS
 SATISFIED Two Men For Final
 Heats. OLYMPIC GAMES OPENED Twenty-one Nations Represented in
 the Contests. Kiag Edward and the Royal Family Were Present aad His Majesty Formally Declared the
 Games Open.

Team of Athletes are well Sattsned with the results obtained by them on the first day of the fifth revival of the Olympic Championship games which opened at the Stadium here today. hav- ing got two men--J. P. Sullivan and Melvin W. sheppard. both of the Irish American Athletic Club--into the nnai heat which will be run tomorrow of the 1.5o0 metres races.
 They were unfortunate however in the first heat when two of their best men at the distance had to run against each other and these same con- ditions prevailed in the second heaI when J. P. Haistead, New York Ath- letic Club. was beaten by his team partner, Melvin Sheppard by half yard. The Americans point out the in- justice caused by the English drawing for heats as shown by the fact that Halstead although he ran much fast CT than the winners of the other heats. is eliminated from the final as he nn- ished second.
 Charles M. Daniels New York. al- thouMh he entered the 400 metres swim, 0fQ not BtATL nAblH6 NSSeo~& serve himself for the shorter distances. Budd Koodwin, New York Athletic Club, was the only other American en- tered but he was unplaced.
 The other event of the day was the four heat tandem bicycle race Of z,OOV metres and though some of the Amefi- cans were entered in this event. none of them reached the scratch.
 Flags Not Displayed.
 N~.Hznr4 ~x.f.fnh f& causing much talk in sporting circles is the failure of the olympic Company to have either the American or the Swedish flags dis- played fn the Stadium. The Americans remedied this. omission somewhat hy bringing out many of their own stars and Stripes, but Sweden, aithough Crown Prince Gustave was present, was r9pfesented by but the single nag carried by the nationsst athlete. The Americans have decided to formally protest against the eligibility of Tom Longboat the Canadian Indian runnner but if the committee should decide to allow him. to run. they will abide by that decision so as not to interfere with the success of the sports.
 Shortly after o'clock in the after noon, the Royal box. which had been fitted for the accommodation of forty person1 began to fill up the early ar rivals including the Grown Prince and Prineess of Sweden and their children, the Crown Prince and Princess of Greece, the Duke and Duchess of Con- naught and the Duke and Duchess of Argyll. A short time after the playing of the national athem by band of the Grenadier Guards. was announced the arrival of King Edward, Queen Alex andria and Princess Victoria. with their suites.
 As the King entered the royal box A bugIer gave a signal, the gates lead ing to the competitors quarters flew open and the athletes marched out url- der the banners of their respective na- tions. The procession was formed in alphabetical order, Austria leading, with the expectation that the English speaking races came last. This later section was led by the American team with GarreIs, of the Chicago Athletic Association at it's head. carrying the Stars and Stripes. The British colo nfes were directly behind the Amert- cans and at the end, the United KRng- dom as hosts. As the procession came into the stadium each country received applause, that for America and the coll onies being particularly enthusiastic as the audience which braved the ele- ments to witness the opening of the great games included large conting- ents from across the seas.
 "A OENB&AAW8 MA8H1s
 As the day advanced. the downpour of rain gave way to a drizSle. which. however, soon passed over and as the time approached for the opening the sun came out occasionally and with the assistance of light breeze. bright ened up the decorations
 At the last moment a change was made fin the order for the events which were to follow the formal opening. The first and second heats of the 1.5oo metres run were placed first, and both T. D. Lightbody, Chicago A.. A., and J. P. Sullivan American A., were drawn in first and Melvin Sheppard, Irish American A. O., and J. P. Hal stead, New York A. C.. In the second heats respectively. and in fact there win be two Americans in most of the eight heats of this ev@lt to be run.
 Before the arrival of King Edward. the athletes paraded around the ground. The representatives of the United Kingdom looked formidable with their array of SIS men. The nearest ap- proach to this number was Francis z1s contestants: Sweden came next with 1e9 and then Hungary with i54 men. The Americans would have had the next largest army with 14S, but trainer Murphy refused to allow all the men to come up for the ceremony, insisting that they remain at their quarters at Brighton until called on Tor more serious work Tn all, twenty one countries were represented. and among that gathering Turkey was rep' resented with one competitor.
 The athletes having taken up posi- tions facing the royal box. the Ameri- cans in the center. nanked by the Can. adians and the Englishmen. Lord Des- borough marched up with the members of the Executive Committee and said:
 tWiu your majesty graciously de- clare the Olympic games openedr'
 Tn reply the King said:
 T decare the Olympic games of London open"
 Cheers for Edward.
 At the completion of this ceremony cheering broke out from all parts of the Stadium. After the demonstration had died down. the athletes gave three cheers for his majesty and then march. ed past the royal box. The men made a splendid appearance. though unfor- tunate weather prevented all of the competitors from coming out in ath- letic costumes.
 only fifty members of the American