Daily Kennebec journal., 1908-07-24

i<ciNAoii, -O--l Hc uUlpItuIldlt
state of disputes which has ariseI
since the opening of the Olympic
games, not only between the American
and the officials of the Amateur Ath
letic Association, but between the ath
letes of other nations and the same of
iicials eliminated this afternoon in ar
occurrence which threatened to Wrecl
the inter- Olympic meetings.
The trouble was over the final hea
of the 400-metrcs fiat race, for which j
G.. Carpenter, Cornell University, J. b
Taylor, Irish American a. c., w. G
Robbins, Cambridge. Mass, and Lieut.
Wyndham Halswclle, United Kingdom
were contcsting.
With the exception of Taylor the mel
got off quickly on the firing of the pls-
tol and Robbins sprinted in front tax
ing the pole from Carpenter, who was
just behind. with Haswclle trailing
along behind him. 1t looked like any
body's race as they approached the last
turn. the three leaders being punched
Their squirt for the final 100 yards was
just begun when suddenly a number ol
officials rushed onto the track the tape
across the finish was torn down anG
the race was declared void.
1t was hard for a time to under
stand what had occurred but the Offl-
cial rronounccmcnt was that Carpen-
ter had foulcd HalSwclle at the turn
Everybody close to this spot had no.
ticcd that the three men had Swcrved
toward the outside of the track as they
came around the bend at terrific
lut thnrc ci,rnS nf do.
libcrat2 foul visible to those in tho
press stands.
An uproar followed such as seldom
or never was witnessed on an athletic
field. Officials Of the Amateur Athletic
Association, with whom the arena haC
been filed since the opening of the
games, ran along the edges of ;he track
shouting foul" and appeared ever
more excited than the runners, who
with the exception of Taylor, continued
the race to the finish, Carpenter pass
ing the rost first, Robbins second an(
Halswelle third. Taylor. who was ;
considerable distance in the rear. wa.
dragged eff the track by one Of the ex.
cited officials, who shouted all tho
while that it was no race.
The American contingent set up {
yell of delight as the man had appar
entity captured the race which had bccI
predicted for the Britisher, while the
vast audinecc filling the stand sat 81
lent, not knowing the cause of the OK.
citcment in the arena. Then the an
nouncor made the brief slatemen
through Il mcgaphone that the race hat
been declared void, but no reason wa.
given. Still not knowing why, Il grea
British cheer broke out and continued
for several minutes, men, who coult
not under any circumstance have seer
the incident crying Foul louder thar
those sitting opposite the spot where
the alleged foul was said to have takeI
place and who seeing Halswelle taking
wide turn. thought it mistake il
Judgment, as he had lots of room t
pass Carpenter on either side.
The uproar continued for nearly hal
an hour and as the people poured ou
Of the stands the arguments were talk
EN- up in the aisles and gateway:s by cX
cited thousands. and the race is still
everywhere the subject of the bittcrcs
wrangling.
Matthew r. Halpin, the manager o
the American team, who was III tn
arena, Immediately entered a protest
claiming the race for Carpenter, Wh'
had done the distance, according t.
unofficial watchers i'm the remarkahi'
time of As % seconds, some watChc!
making it even less.
A committee meeting of the Amateur
Athletic Association, the details %
which have not been made public, wa:
Gale d and the judges who rendered thu
decision and Halswelle were called t.
state their case. Neither member o
the committee or the American run
ncrs. however, was called on to make
any statement and the committee afte
upwards of two hours consideration
rendered the following decision.
"The Judges decide the race void ant
order the same to be run over again OI
Saturday at noon. Carpenter IS dis
qualified
When they heard the decision th'
members of the American committee
met and passed a resolution ordering
the men not to run on Saturday.
James E. Sullivan. the American