Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1913-01-17
jim THORPE'S RISE
MOST SENSATIONAL
Famous Indian Athlete of To.
day Was Scoffed At Four
Years Ago.

around the jumping standards. where
Warner was attempting to show the
jumpers how to clear the crossbar. The
bar had been placed at a height which all
the jumpers had failed to clear. Warner
mac stepped to the standards and was
preparing to lower the bar when one of
the athletes touched him on the shoulder
and said:
Wait a minute. Mr.. Warner. Jim he
wants to jump. Ha. Ha. He tink he's a
grasshopper.''
Warner turned and saw one OF the stu
dents. an Indian boy. dressed i'm a work.
ing blouse and overalls, just as he had
come out of the shop. where he was learn
ing a trade. Warner was preparing to
shoe the buck" away and tell him to
stop bothering the athletes, when the
youngster approached the standards, and,
springing from the ground, sailed easily
over the crOssbar.
Warner knows an athlete when he sees
one. Say, you" shouted the coach.
go to the gymnasium and tell Mike to
give You an athletic suit and a pair of
spiked shoes. Then come out here and
get to work. You're a member OF the
track team now
-Four years later the same Indian stood
before the king of Sweden, i'm the huge.
white-walled stadium in Stockholm. where
the pick of worlds athletes had been in
competition. The Swedish ruler clasped
his hand and said:
You. sir, are the most wonderful ath-
iete in the world"
The young Indian lad. who was dis
covered by Warner at Carlisle in 1903.
and Jim Thorpe. the greatest athlete in
the world. are one and the same person.
Just now the world is ringing with praise
of the great work Thorpe has been doing
on the gridiron. Last fall 1t was the
same thing. and Thorpe earned the covet-
ed football honor. a place on the all
eleven. What he did in athletics last
sunlmer-he won both the pentathlon and
the decathlon. the two all around events
at the Olympic games. and the all around
championship of the United States. and
shattering the worlds record held by
Martin S~heridan-is fresh in the minds
of all followers of sport.
Thorpe pitched for the Carlisle base
ball team and showed such class that
the scouts of several big league teams
calnped on his trail, we'll founded rumors
having 1t that he has signed for a big
league debut. Thorpe has played almost
every position i'm baseball, but likes pitch
ing the best.
He is a star basketball player and can
play any position on the five. He is a
member of the Carlisle lacrosse and
hockey teams, and is known as the best
tennis and handball player in the school.
He shines at indoor baseball just as brill
liantly as he shines III the outdoor games.
Among other things Jim is q great gym
mast and is proficient at swimming. skat-
ing. snowshoeing. rowing and other ac-
.~tivities.
About the only things Thorpe cannot do
are play the piano and dance. His utmost
desire seems to be to master those accom-
plishments. Upon his return to the Car
lisle Indian school after the Olympic trip
he told Warner he wanted to quit work
until he could learn to dance, sing and
play the piano."
Warner had to compromise by letting
Jim take some time from his athletic
work and practice music, singing and
dancing under competent instructors.
Jim is about ready to break into So
ciety.' laughed Warner. in telling his lat
est gossip about Thorpe. while coming
dow on the train from Providence after
the Carlisle-B Brown game last Thursday.
James Thorpe was born Is years ago on
the reservation of the Sac and Fox In
dams in the middle west, and when the
tribe moved to Oklahoma. he went Will,
1t. His early life was spent mostly in the
open. and his love of sports was born In
him. When he was a boy he showed UNI
usual skill in the sports of the red man,
and the story is told in Carlisle of how he
chased a rabbit for 10 miles. ran it down
and captured 1t. Even the stoical red
skins like a joke now and then.
Hunting and fishing were Jim's voca-
ton and ~avocatfon before he went to Car
Isle. Thorpe's early environment laid
the foundation for his splendid physique.
He was normal when he entered the Car
lisle Indian school. He was a youngster
then-he has spent more h 10 years in
the institution-and his entrance
ton showed he was five feet one-half inch
tall and that he weighed 116 pounds.
Figures at the school show that In 1908
he had jumped to Ave feet 11A inches and
his chest measurements at inspiratiOn and
expiration. respectively, were Al and rs
inches. He then weighed ISL pounds. Three
years later. or on September II. 1911. he
was six feet ~ inches tall. weighed 1885
pounds and his inspiration and expiration
measurements were 4211a and ssh inches.
In capturing the pentathlon and the
decathlon at the Olympics, Thorpe be-
came possessor of the two most valued
trophies of the meeting. Both now rest
in the trophy hall at Carlisle. One is the
massive bronze Dust of King Gustav, of
Sweden, which was presented to Thorpe
by the king himself for winning the
pentathlon, and the other is the car of
Russia's decathlon trophy. q silver gem
studded model of a viking ship.
After his return to this country Thorpe
further showed his wonderful athletic
versatility by capturing the national all
around championship of America. rolling
up a total Of 1916 points and smashing by
" points the worlds all around athletic
record, held by Martin Sheridan.
Ar idea Of Thorpe's wonderful athletic
versatility can be gained from the fol-
lowing. He has run 100 yards in 10 1-5 Sec
onds. has done the l20-yard high hurdles
in Is IS seconds and the 220-yard low
hurdles In Is seconds, has turned a quarter
Of a mile In So SIS seconds. has put the 16-
pound she IS feet I inch, has scaled the
discus 18 fest 8 inches. has thrown the