The Washington herald., 1909-04-25

me present dtnieIlc age mas ueen ue-
scribed by wen-known authorities as an
sge when athletes and officials seem
filed with an intense desire 10 see all the
DID records wiped OF the book Nearly
every day We hear Of an athlete. near by
OF possibly in some far-distant cline.
breaking q record set up by a cham
pion Of bygone days. II is often Won
dered how the athlete Of the present day
is able to wipe out so many of the rec
ords SCI up by the old ones"
The answer is embraced in the follow
ing facts. IN the day Of the so-called old
ones a record would not be recognized
by the authorities unless made under the
following conditions: First. such record
must De established at a championship
meet: second. It must be made on a
standard track; third, the pistol frer
must be one Of repute; fourth. the timers
must possess frst-class watches and
know how TO handle them. Every pos
sible action was taken beforehand 10
safeguard the existing records, and II
one Of them was broken q second inveSti-
CATION was demanded before il would he
allowed II anything vas found that, in
the estimation Of the investigators. was
tinged with suspicion the record was can
Celed.
In other words. the officials Of ten years
back were prompted by decidedly differ
ent motives than the officials Of to-day.
Athletes nowadays are allowed records
for single performances. often made
under suspicious circumstances In sew
eraI cases the men have not only been
unable 10 equal records with which they
have been credited. but often fail 10 ap-
prOach the said records
Mike Murphy. who is without a doubt
the best authority or subjects Of this
nature. mas the following 10 say in re-
gard TO the record holders. past and
present
Murphy's Statement.
Il would ike TO see some OF the mod
ern champion sprinters credited with 4-5
seconds and ike records running against
Bernie wefers as he was running in 1885
and 1896. Against the London Athletic
Club Wefers covered the 100 yards in
- seconds, and the same day he estab-
lished his worlds record Of p I-5 seconds
for the 220-yard dash. In this race at
100 yards he beat several men who had
records Of g as seconds
Yet Wefers beat them all a stride or
more. which is equivalent TO nine feet at
the least WefeTs could run 100 meters
any day then IN 10 3-5 seconds, which is
faster than the present record Of 10 -
And II the officials were as anxious 10
break records then as they are now he
could have done 10 % for this distance.
-Four other men I would mention as IN
the same class with Wefers were Owen,
Jewett. Sheriff.. and Carey.
Since then We have had only two men
in their class. They were Arthur Duffey.
Of Georgetown, and ". Schick. Of Har-
ward IN q handicap race at Worcester,
Mass, in 1895, WefeTs did 10 yards IN
I1-5 seconds. Maxey Long. the world
champion QUaTteT-miler. was almost as
fast for 90 yards, but in this race Wefers
gave Long six yards and beat him 20 the
tape by four
Nowadays. IN order 10 give new rec
Ords. some Of the second raters are max
ing new figures at odd distances ike 80
yards, I50 yards, and go yards. These are
records which the old champions could
have broken almost any time they de-
sired.
To-day about all a man has to do TO
get a record is 10 get some Of his friends
together, beat some old mark, swear il
before a Justice Of the peace, and then,
behold, the new mark goes on the book.
KeIIy's Record False.
Consider. for instance. the record Of
2 3-5 seconds for the 100 yards by Dan
Kelly. Any man who ever saw Kelly run
knows that he never made this time. Yet
there Il stands on the book. biotting out
the marks Of a lot Of men who were
really able 10 do. and repeatedly did do,
the times credited 10 them contend
that It is not only unfair to the old cham
pions. but 10 the public as well. 10 allow
this record Of 93-5 seconds to stand.
There is nothing personal in what I say
about KeIly's alleged record. had Kelly
working under me last spring before the
Olympic games, and know what he can
and cannot do
I viii say that he IS a great broad
jumper, but I know that he did not 90
B3-5 seconds. but that he cannot beat 70
seconds. I VIII never even believe that
he can do 10 seconds until I see him do
IL The best he ever could do for me was
2 little worse than 101-5 seconds. And as
for his doing 2II-5 seconds for 90 yards
around a curve, that is only q joke. and
merely goes 20 show the kind of pistol
frer and timers they had at this meet.
Bernie Wefers could have stood Kelly
out six yards in 220-yard and beaten
him easily
y I repeat that II IS wrong 70 allow this
record. Kelly has had every kind Of q
chance 20 equal his spTIntlng perform
ances in the East, but he has failed
lementably. and has not even been able
70 hold his own with men We consider
second class I have been objecting to
allowing this record for more than q
year, and II seems that the only way to
get rid Of It Is by getting out a new book
and placing it among the doubtful per
tormances.
sprinfers Are Regular.
Tt should be understood that there is
nothing so regular in athletics as a
Eprinter. What he can do to-day he can
do almost any time when in condition.
In other words, If q man can do s4-5 sec
onds for 100 yards, he can do the same
twice week on a good track. When a
man does 8 3-5 seconds. for 100 yards he
viii be a long way ahead OF the bunch. I
was al Berkeley Oval that day in May,
1902. when Duffey was credited with 3-5
seconds for 100 yards
1T viii be remembered that sDuffey
Just beat out Schick. Of Harvard. by q
few feet. and that only in the last ten
yards. II should also be remembered
hat Schick had bad leg ard that DufIey
got poor start I had two men IN the
race. One OF them was beaten two yards
and The other three and neither man
vas capable Of goiug faster than 101-5
seconds. Now. the difference between
man going S3-5 seconds and one going
io1-5 seconds Is aboEt eight Yards. So II