Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1908-04-02
May
June
New Features at Tome Institutes
Big Track Meet.

Tome Institute introduces this year a
new feature at it's great annual field and
track Meet, Saturday, May 9th, new
feature that will be warmly welcomed by
school boys, and that in all probability
will awaken wave of enthusiasm for
athletic sports and pastimes from end of
our State to the other. On the second
Saturday of May for the past five years,
Tome has held a great inter-scholastic
field and track Meet, to which come ath-
letes from every school of Importance in
Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington and
this section of the country. This meet
has been growing in Importance and in
terest every year and is now firmly es-
tablished as the unique scholastic meet
ing south of Mason and Dixon's line. 1t
has been called the Southern Interschol-
astics,' and is in the Middle Atlantic
circles what the Intercollegiate are to
the coleges-a meet which draws the
cream of the athletic talent available.
A special excursion from Baltimore, on
one of the boats of the Colchester Steam
boat Co., carries hundreds every year;
the trains pour forth other hundreds at
Tome station in the picturesque town of
Port Deposit, people from as far even as
New York city; while all the morning a
constant stream of carriages comes in
from the surrounding towns and hamlets,
the occupants bent on plcnlclng in the
Tome woods and seeing the Meet in the
afternoon.
1t has been found that boys from our
schools in the counties have little chance
in competing with athletes from the great
city schools, which employ special train
ers. Tome is anxious that they shall
have an equal chance at the prizes, and
shall have an incentive to develop their
strength and speed, and therefore intro
duces this year special series of events
for the Rural High Schools of Maryland,
gold, silver and bronze medals to winners
of first, second and third places in each.
Boys from the city schools will not be al
lowed to compete in these events-they
are restricted solely to boys of our Rural
High Schools. All boys who compete are
invited to do so as Tones guests and the
Institute will entertain them at lunch
an dinner and will do everything in its
power to show them good time. While
their own events are pending, they will
see hundreds of athletes, trained to the
hour, competing in the 100, 220, and 400
yard dashes, the half-mile and mile runs,
the hurdles, shot put, hammer throw,
high jump, broad jump and pole vault;
they will see events for novices, events
for juniors, in fact the largest and great
est athletic carnival of the South.
The medals for the Rural High schools
series have been ordered, and are of
handsome design, die cut, showing on the
face two athletes running, and inscribed
on the back is the name VI the meet and
the event. Any boy who wins one of
them may have just pride in it in flu
ture years, when tits beginning shall
have expanded into a great athletic
movement throughClt The State, with
sectional or county champions to COM
pete at the annual Tome Meet for the
State championship. 1t is not only the
schoolboy who will be interested in this
new feature of the Tome Meets, but the
parent, who wants his boy to grow up
strong and active, surcharged with vital
ity for the battle of life; the educator,
who welcomes the vigorous physical ac-
tlvlty that refreshes tired brain and
makes class room discipline easy; the
statesman, who sees in the movement a
promise of more vigorous constituency
throughout the State. AS spectacle,
the Meet should draw everyone who can
possibly get there; the physical beauty
of those hundreds of trained athletes,
their speed, strength, skill, courage and
endurance, the great crowds, the splend-
id buildings and beautiful campus, COM
bne to create an inspiring and pleasing
spectacle. The movement is absolutely
unselfsh and is undertaken at consider
able expense simply with view of slim
ulating the development of athletics in
the schools in the counties. We hope
our town will be represented, and that
our boys will bring back some of the
handsome prizes that are to be awarded.