The sun., 1909-02-28
NEWS OF TIE ATHLETES
MANHATTAN FIELD, FAMED IN
ATHLETIC LORE, WRECKED.
C,ub for Henley to Rival Leander Boat
Club Obsolete Event IN New YORK
&C. Games Professional Confrms.
zion OF Walkers Recent Records.

II " rnldwefk wlnurtorm leNelleu tne oiu,
,,cts y fence which surrounded Manhattan
risid o. lSSth street and Eighth avenue
.od ,r . passed the last vestige of the once
T,roon. athletic enclosure. The track
wb,ch ,rs known the world over and upon
-btch IA w string Of worlds records were
,,,da ,s M, va grass grown footway, and "
could take strong imagination to connect
~ vim the a, psational athletic doings OF u
generation ado
FOR wears III, void fence has stood In lone
hness and go an, while inside the long
sfsse and thist onereu an ''np'us
,ss,, ,or eats d oss, bats and all sorts OF
,,n,a.,css wander, pg things. Occasionally
, L,,,l,on Z mad bo, ~ would be found brows.
IN. ,hsye and SIR W Harlem goats ever
found II a good pla, for meal Ns long
a. the fence stood The spot etalned a certain
dipni,y. but With the Tnce gone It assumes
ia ori ainal shape Of tv snty-nve years ago
bare, wind swept pa On OF Harlem con'
mon To raise the fence won'o De posSlute'
hut 10. dsy not board { Y planh ls et' lor
tbs' Harlem urchlns an,N itshan women
.rnoped down on the wro ok and removed
II 10 short order.
Manhattan Ficld will live IN the memory
of Athletes lon z after host Of notable thlngs
have passed into oblivion. IN lSn the
field became the hesdauarters' ot the Man
haitian 4 & aud immediat WV negan
series OF brilliant athletic NEE ts whlcn SCI
the world taking. The Metrop' hitan cham-
pionship ol isai was made Tel uoraoIe pN
two races, the hall mile and mi v. In the
hslt the late Walter 4. pohm OF Princeton
University and the New \ ork \. {. was the
winner. and he covered the dls anoe IN |
rninute So, seconds. then the ~Ane1can
record. and It was Il shade slower than the
worlds record of / minute ~ go secd mas
by r. y X. Cross Of oxford University M
March. 1855 \ little later IN the day loHnnS
Connect turned out for the mile ana amer
being shouldered around everJ bend ana
made tn run several yards wide he got nome
IN A minutes ~ seconds. eqialling the
American record made by ". q. George
whep tho latter came over TO run l.. b,I
Myers a series Of amateur races IN the earlN
500 George Gray was to the front in the
geiahtputtipl by making the record OF
4s feet "a inches for tho ~ pounds. Other
contests saw men excel who have since
been gathered to mother earth IN W. ID. pay
Euzepe Goff. NJ. W. Ford and +. II. Herrick,
Between 'ai and o. there we're numerous
tap notch performances. but in the latter
car occurred the greatest in the history
Of American amateur sport. the interna-
tionsI match between the New York A. I.
and the London \. 4. Undoubtedly the
ono event best remembered by those who
saw the affair is The half mile run in which
J. Fitzpatrick did minute SO 2-5 seconds,
to-day the vorld's record and had not the
athletes running togHery become disar-
ranged he would surely have clocked
a second or two faster time. Next in i'm
portance 70 the half came the running high
tump wherein Mike sweeney cleared feet
Ssx inches vet on the books worlds mark,
topner won the mile IN minutes Is is
seconds. aud II was remarkable that his
lime for the first half Was a:io and tor the
-econd rs is, something never before or
sIncs accomplished by any runner-that Is,
10 run the second ualf ot sensational
mile faster than the nrst halt The 100
vsrd run marked the Introduction OF h. j,
vefers. who won ~ - seconds, and Ste
rhen Chase Won the leo yard hurdles IN
Is rs seconds. then the worlds record.
some time prior 10 the international meet
he Manhattan 4. {. went out Of commits
Ion aud the grounds gradually went to
several intercoleg,ats championships
reTe held there and so we're \, \. I. cham
raonships. the last being IN 1900. u VAS IN
ooe of the intercollegiate meets that Weters
hung up the II rs seconds for he 2?O-y ards,
and he several times reeled oil the century
IN . IS seconds Alvin G. Kraenz ein is
neId for in one nj the intercollegiate meets
held there he won three hrsts and a second
he two hurdhnT events the 100 yards and
,econd IN 'he running broad Jump. Among
= host OF other men who showed their prov
ess on Manhattan Field were Tommy Burke,
ssso9 .sS Yale. h. 'fSES dns a"o HEH s0sra ard
Johnny Gregsn. nrpceto3; y. {. Downs
Word comes FROM london NJ a movement
20 form. rival 10 the besnder boat luh,
The msterial TO be drawn from the men incl
longing 70 the Amateur Rowing Associs-
lion The idea s NOT new by any means;
such thing has been discussed before,
hut " never took q recognizable shape
1ntI the present \ Subcommittee has
been formed to get the views Of other boat,
= e Love. London y G., chairman: Arthur
,arpen'eI, Sts,nesN 6, \ Cameron,
u ii FOSTER, Thames {, and e. W. Kent
Molesey .. & T. appears the main object
in view is the association of rowing clubs
With headquarters At Henley that will
afford scconlinodst lon to the members dur
tng Henley week. A to the plan of muster
,rs picked crew ike Leander on the water
he promoters NJ the new scheme say IL
- TOO early to talk Of such thing. but II Ia
hinted that. such thing ts possihle. An i'm
hing 70 bs conPsCil1n o %h fs the new
rro poset 10 he a Hgure which will be within
tbe reach NJ ell, and sr osrsman need by no
means he millionaire to be able 10 sub
scribe
Quite a 10, Of "omment has been aroused
over the fact of the New York 4. e. having
o. The programme a, Madison square
,lrdep on. March 10. with some an idea
sH M, ne gorI wLogsd toSi wants to
MAY bc interesting to know that the in
tiusion of the events arose our Of an argl-
nlent one night at the clubhouse on the
n-arits NJ champions past and present.
An eNuberaut admirer of the present day
RACKS ayerred ihat Flsnasan., Mcdonald
or McGrath would. were they there in the
Old DAYS. and throwing the 5s" In the old
sryle, make he men wh no on cham pionships
ioos cheap. Count Graninni the clubs
physical instructor, Thought differently.
Dnd was Of the opinion that there is not a
man to-day in open compel ition who can
throw 26 feet With one hand from stand
IO settle the matter the event inserted
In the programme. aud II will be of great
interest n see how the trio OF big fellows
rAke out with the old method Of tChing
me weight. though not a giant in statue
BY any means, trduinn was good at the
Sc from 81 and, for once lie made pitch OF
who beat this mark will be few. The Count
also regrets that the old style Of throwing
the "56' was ever abandoned. for he says
II was an exercise absolutely distinct from
the hammer. The way the SO" IL thrown
TO-DAY Is but "a heavy hammer. or at least
throwing a "a pound hammer with a short
handle. The hammer. shot. discus. jayelin,
Zach other as possible aud then they would
appeal to the faucles Of the different ath-
leteS and have variety. the one thing that
gives .llip to amateur sport.
There is IA pretty authentic assurance
from South Africa that r. r. Walker. the
Olympic champion Splinter, will surely
come 70 America after he competes in the
English championship which Is fixed for
July D. Tint the professional brigade Is
doing us be~i 10 tempt Walker there
II no doubt. and the latest offer he received
was 81, 900 and T5 per cent, of the gate re-
'eipts. Mlu OF lose, for one race OF 100 yards
against Postle, the Australian professional
ENVaNa n FafnG kFtWNWf