Putnam patriot., 1912-07-19

StOCkHOi1H.- 06 last act or the Olympic drama was played in the Sta dium, and, as usual, Uncle Sam occu- pied the centre of the stage. The De cathlon, one of the classic contests of the games, was won by James Thorpe, the big Fox and Sax brave. from the Carlisle Indian School. Thorpe scored SAP points out of a possible 10000, beating his nearest competitor, Weis- lander of Sweden, by 6SS points, Un- cle Sam's flying four, Melvin Shep- pard, Tad" Meredith, Edward Lind, berg and Charles Reidpath, flung their feet in the faces of the French and British teams in the final of the 1,600 the Olympic and worlds record time of 3.16 3-5.
 For the victory in the pentathlon Thorpe earned the right to hold until the next Olympic meet the challenge cup presented by the King of Sweden entitled to the custody of the chal- ienge cup presented by the Emperor of Russia High honors indeed for one of the aborigines on the splendid team that came from the United States to lead the nation for the fifth time in the recognized athletic cham pionships of the world.
 For most of the ten days that these competitions have held the spectators enthralled the United States has led the rest of the world combined, but rousing finish by Sweden and scatter ing points gathered in by other coun- tries brought the total scored by all other countries up to 94 when the cur tain fell on the most successful set of Olympic games since the festival was revived in 1896. Against this the Uni ted States rolled up S5, or only mi nority of g.
 Besides the United States only three nations earned a score which ran into double figures. Finland, mainly through the efforts of the great distance runner Kolehmainen, finish ed second, with 29 points The Swedes landed in third place with "A.
 In scoring these points three are given for first place, two for second and one for third.
 The task of conferring the honors on the winners was too great for one man, so while the King handed out the first prizes, the Crown Prince pre- sented the second prizes, and Prince Charles, brother of the King, took charge of the thirds.
 In the parade of the winners the Americans led the way, and received hearty applause not only because of the fact that they had won sixteen irsts and had scored 12S points to Sweden's 104 and England's 66, but because the American athletes are genuinely popular with the Stockholm public.
 Besides receiving gold medal, each winner of first prize was crown sd with laurel wreath by the hands of the King.
 You, sir, are the most wonderful athlete in the world" It was with those words that King Gustave of Sweden greeted James Thorpe, the American Indian, when the redskin stepped up to receive his prizes at the trophy presentation by the King.
 The Olympic curtain falls with Un- cle Sam still the undefeated and un- disputed athletic champion of the world. The Yankee gentlemen won the worlds athletic title at the first modern Olympiad in Athens in 1896, and successfully defended it in Paris h 1900. on his own soil In St Louis in 1904, in Athens again in 1906, in Lon don in 1908. and finally here in Stock holm in the big battle just brought to close
 F. Lazaro, the only Portuguese en- tered in the Olympic Marathon. is dead as a result of his gruelling work ln the hot sun.
 Ancient Game 10 chess.
 It is impossible to state just when and where chess was born. Back we may go in the ages, but We still ma II existing. We see 1t painted on Egyp tan vases, and we find It in the Chi nese Books of Wisdom. It has been ascribed to all kinds of birthplaces, Its creator having been at times man. at times a god. Nothing posi- tive is known about it. yet the great est probabilities seem to point to us having come from the east.