New-York tribune., 1908-12-20
CROWD SEES SKATERS
FALLS DEFEAT RACEho.
Granger Wins Handicap by Strong
Finish an Fast Time.

Como holly, contested skating races furnished
amusement to a good sized crowd which gathereu
last night at the st. Nicholas RINK al oo'h 80
and Columbus avenue. There were three race
scheduled-a half-miIe handicap. a one-rnhe Faoe
for novices, and two-mile handicap
c. Granger, of the Wanderers Hockey CIuo, ~,
the haIf-1nile handicap from scratch IN a L.. g..
which brought the crowd to Its feet Ihe Heo1
p Kearnev from the same club, seemed ~
have the race well in hand when ne went NV NV
with a crash He going so rapidiy a. 20
time that he slid all the way across the hoCr anu
bumped into the wall on the opposite side Even
then he recovered himself so quickly lha' L" O-'''0
IN third by a fine burst Of speed -.
The one-mie race for nov1ces was ooIh 80 80
ing and amusing the latter because some ol '
contestants were so evidently nov1ces that the
figures they cut the ice-not lteraIy spedhIAe
were rather ridiculous. Again in this race an
upset changed the position of the leaders ftiiii
p stelI OF the Lotus Club. who had oeeh Iolo'-e l
the pace throughout the entire race went down aS
he turned into the fifteenth lap. but PICKING Hiii
self up managed finish third
Thomas A. Nugent of the Wanderers. won the
race When Sten fell Nugent was slightly IN ln9
lead and It is doubtful whether the former couid
have won barring the accident >useH'
time was minutes 81 1-5 seconds
There was an unusually large field OF starters
for the two-mile handicap race. and some OF then
had over a lap handicap on the scratch men
Kearney Granger. J. Miller Of the New York Atm
letIc Club and w. sutphen. of the Saratoga
Skating Club. were the men who started from
scratch. With the crack of the starters pistol
Granger sprang to the front and, closely followed
by Kearney set a terrific pace Soon these Two
men began closing In and gradually overhaullng
the men with the smaller handicaps, but the pace
set was too fast and after eight or nine laps IL
cut down.
The skating Of both Granger and -Kearney was
beautiful and far ahead Of that OF any or their
rivals On the tenth lap Granger started a spurt
and as he rounded into the eleventh lap fell heaV-
iIy. Several men were close behind him, and TWO
fell over him No hurt in the mixup'
and although Granger resumed the race and naoe
desperate efforts 10 pick up the lost ground he
found the additional handicap too much and tailed
to finish in place position
Kearney slowly overhauled the field until only
W. NJ. Taylor, of the New York Athletic Club, VINO
had an SO-yard handicap, and E Schultes, Of the
same club. who had the same handicap, were
ahead Of him. Both of these raced in excellent
form, however, and Kearney failed to start his
final sprint in time to catch either They finished
In the order named in the good time Of s minutes
% 30 seconds.
During intermission it announced that a
silver cup had been offered for the skater who
made the greatest number OF points in the races
which will be held at the ST Nicholas Rink during
the season. Little Katherine Post did some pretty
fancy skating and loudly applauded by the
crowd.
The St Nicholas Rink track is sixteen laps to
the mile and although records were broken
last night, time. considering the track was
considered exceedingly good The races brought
out some of the best skaters IN the country Others
will be held at the same place shortly.
The summary follows: