The Washington herald., 1908-08-02

ALalGuLd IN ElTdtll-t III l4AF tS4lIa %
Cas described by EJaJo) chose for her next
incarnation that Of an athlete, being
tempted by the honors which awaited ne--
writes Andrew Lang in the LSndon
England Morning Post. In Jhis cOun-
Try We are said 10 besJ0w even too much
ronor on athletes. but they are usually
cricketers and 0arsmeu- The running
and jumping heroes are not nearly SO
famous and the senior members OF the
community know little about the pare
gons Of football. In America there .s Jar
more enthusiasm about the so-called
olympic sports held in the ArcadIan re-
sion Of Shepherds Bush. Here, no doubt,
Every shepherd tells Lis tale
Beneath the hawthorn il the vale
Greek competitors probably have =
vision OF their own Of Shepherds BEsl
"a sweet lonely Theocritean landscape
where Daphnis and Thyrsis contend IN
song for the prize Of g kid or bowl Of
ivy wood. The ancient Greeks. I believe,
cid not throw open their Olympic sports
70 barbarians. but N Shepherds Bush the
barbarian IS in great force. We hear Of
a young American Undergraduate. a
champion spriutar who may be atavis
edirus regibus. but these princes are OF
The bluest blood of Africa Though e
negro. this gentleman CONTRARY TO the
custom OF his race has the athletes IN
step and his photograph proves that he
also possesses the Aryau or lndo-ElirO-
pean heel Here. then. Is q puzzle for me
ev0luLionist- Whence came that 1y1lE
heel that arched instep, that speed OF
foot2 Why did The Bautu race not de
velop them, for they must have frequent
need OF feet feet I'm avoiding the atteu-
.H5-4-
acquired Jhen2 Is he a happy sport On
the evolutiorary sense), born 20 be the
ancestor OF swIfteU warriors than those
who charged under the standard Of
TChakae Here is a topic for Prof Ray
Laukeste-- To the amateur evoluJiouIst
this hero IS a mystery more than Ecu
sinian-
What Canada Consributes.
We also hear Of a gigantic Gan1wanfao
& Amerindian. from Canada who was a
hot favoTite for the Marathon, or long
distance race. FEe appeared unknown as
The Dislnherited knight al some great
Canadian athletic contest and ran more
Aeety than PlelGippus. If I rightly re-
member the name OF that Hellenic sports
man, perhaps il was Pheidlppides2 He
appears 70 have joined an Irish athletic
club. probably because the exilas of Erin
seem at present 10 be the greatest alh-
Ietes Of the world has the reader heard.
for example, Of the renown of the young
OreE0n5au- M hellE2 in Jraus-Ar-
lauuc serial I read that he. like the gods
Of Homer. Is easily recognized Under
his little black college cap his hair Elis-
tens with the rednezs Of copper He IS
red al over. Ike PLDa5Cs. The sIl-gOd-
he digs his toes into the dry, sandy track
with q vicious kick sc0wls alZl5usly,
and walks away 70 slip into a bath robe
Why does he thus veil his spiaudor- and
why is this student not a Rhodes schCl-
ar? A match between this apollo ana
The African spriur5r should be a glorious
spectacle
But Kelly IS not alone. We have Hun.
of Chicago. "a tall sturdy athlete with
the build Of Viking and a stride as swift
as that OF O. frightened deer. a man like
Skarpleliu. VINO leapeC JUeU-y-tlree ICel
from bank 90 see of LHIf-frozeu river,
battle-ax IN hand and sliding along off
the ice slew his enemy as ne slid Eaton.
Of Boston too. is famed for his almost
explosive swiftuess-'
These deuiscds- with Parsons. VINO
leaps like a mountain deer did once
encounter the Oregouian Phoe5us in a
hundred yards race Whose money
would not have Eoue or the giit-e-ilg
bronze legs Of the great EeIly2 He once
jumped - feet 81 iEehesl But none can
deal with his cate that The Spinning WOH-
an spun for him in his heroic cradle
Kelly Was Not Placed.
Kelly was not placed Hun. Eaton.
Parsons. romped IN first, second and
third. The public giggIe6- Kelly walks
away with head lowered. his light eye
-brows twisted In q frown-" Let US drop
q tear Of unrewarded energy Kelly. as
Mr. Parsons explained, was too strong
for the Crumbling track. But he cid not
fail unaveuEed- Coming Up 10 The TAX
tng-of place for the long jump he ian
with that thUuderOUs vigoT which Mr..
Knox displays as he rushes I'd 20 The
crease. and he jumped within. one-foulrh
inch Of tweuty-f0ur feet. The photograph
oS 1Ir. Kelly does not remind US OF -he
Sminthianr at least as regards the lsad.
The body arms and legs are a model for
Pheidias- He has ruu 100 yards IN 9 3-5
seconds Nobody seems 10 have done II
in nine seconds.
Do we ask why America is so puiSsant
IN the racer To answer is 'Grit-that's s
u.s. But Erit Is eYy--Ssl,0dy. Has the
Briton. has the Belgian no grit2 The
negro, the Huron. We have seen. does not
lack grit However, rrv author writes
that IL IS ''tLe American spirit or grIt
that wins the day 40 foreigners need
apply when they do apply they are no
where, TIL by residence in America they
absorb the hustling American spirit
John Flanagan absorbed IT, When he
landed on the shore Of free country he
could throw a hammer only about I-5
feet In ten years OF American e0u-De-
uiriOn he reached I72 feet 1874 inches.
Perhaps be had absorbed grit. but is il
not possible that ten years OF RELENTLESS
practice IN his useful acc0mpIishuzat
would have produced the same results
under any other skies2 At Athens. Mr..
Daily did not Win the fve-uIIe race. but
after only two years in America he beat
al the Americans Yet they were born
with grit and daily breathad the hust-
linS atmosphere Of the land OF hustle
These facts ara not easily 10 be explained
On the theory OF ''the American sr.5--f 10
because the defeated Americans. must
have had much more OF that than 1r.
newcomer. When H. GlsrEa-. a French
runner went across rae Atlantic 7se
trained on, he improved but nv uhiI-
OS0phic author refuses To account for this
by the change froua "th- b=iHfE climate
OF France lo that Of san Francisco. L
halmy climate does not seem 10 be the
best for training The Vikings. who car-
tainly were very athletic. did u0c find a
baiuy climate in Iceland. and where the
spicy lraez=s blow soft Ger Ce-I0u's
isle records are nor lrcz7u-
Defeats Easily Forgotten.
II appears tEat Iu 1875 chow easily ne
f.--=- raH-a-e. r---.-rs-l- --s-r----