New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-08-05

amateurs are up against North American
Indians and every nation besides. III i
has no truly amateur love Of games to'
their own sakes. ana the result Is thdt
our men must either give up the game
for its own sake and go In to win, re
gardless OF other peoples expense, or else
continue TO lose. As neither alternative
is acceptable, the way 10 avoid both IS 10
open the Olympic contests to pi ofesSloh-
ais That Is practical, whereas the fOr-
bidding and barring of professionals have
broken down. for the very good reason
that the term amateur Is so elastic thar
II Is I'm the competence Of any nation 10
create paid amateurs out OF any very
promising material in any class or IRE
Such an expression is almost beneath
contempt. 1t was written. no doubt, with
ont full knowledge that fully one-half the
point winners for the United States were
college men, most of whom had nttIo
chance TO specialize, and without the
fairness or broadness to appreciate that
all good sportsmen In this country are
quite as particular as those I'm England
TO preserve the line between the amateur
and the professional There are some, OF
course. who abuse their privileges. ana
the evils OF semi-professionalism crop out
here and there In all lines OF sport
Every athlete, however, who represented
this country at the Olympic games was
an amateur under the rules as carefully
laid down and enforced so far as possible
by the Amateur Athletic Union. There
may have been three or four who have
violated the spirit and even the letter OF
the amateur rule from time TO time, but
not so openly as TO demand charges
which could not be disproved 1t is a
narrow point of view. then, to assert
that these international contests are
mostly won by people whom We should
regard as professionals" Characteristics
Of people or Of nation have much 10
do with the way they indulge In sport,
and because we play more seriously In
this country and with q greater zest for
winning Is no reason why the charge
should be made that We play only to win
and not for the love OF competing.
Rangers" criticism and those OF other
English writer's which I have read in the
last ten days are a sad commentary on
British fairness.
| am in receipt of letter inclosing the
account Of an eyewitness of the 100
metre run at the Olympic games, in
which A. y. S jackson, of England, de-
feated Kiv!at. Taber. John Paul Jones and
Mel Sheppard. among others. The writer
contends that Taber, the Brown Cniver-
sity miller defeated Kivlat for second
place Ny correspondent then says: "Of
course. both were Americans and the
scores were not affected, but surely II
Taher was second he should receive the
credit VIII you not give us your opin-
ion in Mondays Tribune. as up TO this
time no critics have questioned the deci-
sion Of the judges"
In view Of the fact that ! was not
fortunate enough TO be at Stockholm, my
opinion as to the placing Of the men in
that great race is worth nothing. The
Judges did their best to act fairly. as
they withheld a decision until negative
OF the finish had been developed and
then gave their decision in favor or
Kiviat, with the photograph as guide.
This, | must say. is a poor way to decide
a finish 1t does seem. however. as II
Taber has been bit unlucky in his close
finishes. ! am not the only one who
thinks that he beat John Paul Jones, OF
Cornell, by the narrowest Of margins IN
the One-mile run at the intercollegiate
games. when tho judges declared II a
dead heat. and | am told that Taber is
sure he was second at Stockholm. and
that Kiviat thought so, too The Brown
man has earned glory enough, however,
and no doubt greater things are in store.
I was glad TO see that Harry Hiliman,
who not so long ago was ranked among
the lest hurdlers Of the country, has
handle the Dartmouth College athletes
The former Olympic champion has proved
himself as trainer OF men and Dart
mouth is sure 10 profit.
Ernest Barrys victory over Richard
Arnst, of Australia. for the worlds
professional sculling title In England
last week, is quite likely to prove u slim
illus to rowing In Great Britain, II per-
chance a stimulus was needed. 1t is the
first time in thrty-six years that an Eng
lishman has held the championship.
CLYDE Milan. OF the Washington Sen
ators is working hard TO lead all major
league players in base stealing this year.
He has passed the 80 mark. and says he
Is after the American League record Of
81, established by Eddie Collins. OF the
Athletics. HERBERT.