The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1908-07-25

LODGED
TEAM COMPLAINS or
UNFAIR METHODS IN oLYM-
PIC EVENT.
Men March OFF Field When Request
for Fair Play Is Refused Spectators
Said to BE Entirely in Sympathy
With the American Contention
Rain Decreases Attendance.

athletes and the British Olympic Assoc
citation. Americas chief cause of COM
plant is the arbitrary manner in which
their protest against "the fagrantly
unfair methods of conducting the tug
of war;" was dismissed. Every unpre-
JUDGED spectator present at yester-
days meeting was convinced that the
Americans were justified in refusing
to go on with that event.
The United Kingdom has three teams
entered in the tug of war, made up of
the police of the city of London, Liver
pool and the Metropolitan forces. The
Americans all wore ordinary street
shoes, complying with the rule which
says:
mo competitor shall wear prepared
boots or shoes or boots or shoes with
any projecting nails, tips, springs at
points, hollows or projections of any
kind"
The Americans in wearing ordinary
shoes naturally believed that the team
representing the United Kingdom
would do the same. Their disappoint-
ment, therefore, was all the greater
when upon the Liverpool police ap-
pearing it was noticed that they were
wearing heavy shoes, SO heavy, in fact,
that it was with great effort that they
could lift their feet from the ground
Boots Enormous.
The boots were enormous calf af-
fairs that could not by any stretch Of
imagination be called ordinary shoes.
Heavy boots are worn in the British
navy, but these were greatly exceeded
in weight by the footgear of the Liver
pool athletes, which in addition had
steel rims around the heels.
Matthew Halpin, the manager of the
American team, Immediately entered
protest to the games manager, but he
was told the shoes were those ordi-
narily worn by Liverpool police. At
first Mr.. Halpin made up his mind to
take his team off the field without at
tempting to pull, but finally decided to
go on with the first pull in order to
show how unfairly the Americans were
being treated.
The decision was wise one, for the
spectators in the stands near by could
see that as soon as the United King
dom team put their weight down the
heels of their shoes cut through the
turf and gave them hold that was
almost impossible to break The
Americans made no effort and were
promptly pulled across the line.
Mr.. Halpin then announced that the
American team would not continue un-
til the rule was adhered to-. His pro-
test was ignored and all the men
marched off the grounds, one official
proclaiming through a megaphone that
the Americans retired because they
have had enough of it,
Protests Useless.
The facts in the case were reported
to the American commission and James
E. Sullivan preferred formal protest
to the British Olympic Association,
who turned it over to the officials of
the Amateur Athletic Association. AS
these officials already had decided in
favor of their own team, the protest,
of course, was not allowed.
An American team has been organ
lied to take part in two days. sports
at Paris, to be held July 81 and Aug
ust 1.
The frequent downpours yesterday
morning kept even the most hardy
away, and when the archery contests
commenced there were scarcely any
persons in the stands.