The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-07-18

l New XOTk, 1S.--NtlLn LnS CAOSC | of the professional baseball season1ess ithan two months away the pennaut ra-
 ces in both major and minor leagues are tightening up in remarkable
 manner when the scores Of assoc1a- l.ttons are considered. as a whole. With
 a few exceptions here and there the
 struggles for first places are far clos CT than has been the rule for several years. If the claim that this is poor financial season in baseball is correct it is certain that the charge
 cannot be laid to one-sided. flag races. l In the major leagues at least six lc1ubs have pennant chances. Phila l delphia, Detroit and Washington are I all in the American League race and the first four clubs in the National or. ganization all figure as possible win ners. The same situation exists in the Federal and International Leagues.
 The race in the Glass A organiza-s lions is also close. The Southern As
 sociation pennant struggle ts one of l thef most interesting in ye9rs, less than
 one hundred points separating the dyst
 six clubs. In the Western League, Denver, St. Joseph, Lincoln and Sioux City are all punched and as the season does not close until September 27th any one of these clubs may prove the
 flag winner. Among the Glass B lea
 gues the average is not so close New. London has a good lead in the East.
 ern Association; Dayton in the Gen. l tral League; {WiIkesbarre in the New York State League, and Davenport in l the Three League. In the Texas I League Beaumont Houston and Wa
 co are all in the race while Worces- ter. Portland. Lawrence and Lynn
 have pennant chance in the New
 England league
 I The Class O. races are also proving
 of much interest to the baseball fans < of the respective league territories. l Charleston leads the South Atlantic
 race with Albany having fair
 chance if the leaders slow up for any
 reasons The Virginia contest is fat
 closes for Norfolk, Newport News
 and Richmond are closely grouped
 Further north in the Wisconsin-Il Illin- ots League five clubs are in the flag Eaces there being hardly a hundred I points between the first and fifth teams Bay City appears to have a
 safe lead in the South Michigan lea s que while Winnipeg, Grand Forks and I Virginia all have chance to win out
 before the season closes on Labor Day. l The same can be said of Fall River,
 New Bedford and Pawtucket in the < Colonial League while London and Ot- ftawa are leaders in the Canadian L.ea- Igue.
 i. The InternationaI ChaIIenge Cup
 canoe races being sailed to-day in I Gravesend Bay, New r orks while Of
 much interest to canoeists, have been
 rather oyershadowed this year be-
 cause of the more famous trophies fgt
 uring in the international schedule I for 1914. This cup, however, has a
 history fully as interesting as either I the polo, yacht or tennis trophies all
 trough not so widely hera1ded. It began with the formation of the New
 Y ork Canoe Club in 1871. Some fourteen years later the club received an intimation that the champions of England would be glad to enter a con l test for sailing canoes In answer to this suggestion the club offered an In- Eternational Challenge Cup ms a per- l petuaI challenge sailing trophy, the Tconditions Of which were drawn in ] substantial accordance with that es- I tab1ished for the Americas Cup for I larger yachts.
 The first challengers were Messrs. l Baden-Powel1 Cbrother of the distin-
 Euished general of that name) and I Walter Stuart of the Royal Canoe Club of London and the English canoeists were defeated during the season of I1S85. Two years later the challenge was repeated without success and lsince that date. the competition has
 been between American and Canadian
 canoe racing experts. Beginning in I189O five attempts have been made by northern canoeists to lift the cup but in each attempt the challengers have
 been defeated by the trophy defend CTS
 The sailing canoes used in these
 contests are perhaps the most perfect sailing craft in existence, for they
 have been so developed as to permit l of carrying a larger sail spread in proportion to their size than any ot1l- Eer craft in existence The canoes are
 decked over so as to be water-tight
 with but a small cockpit left above the water line Across the deck is
 rigged a sliding seat twice the width
 Of the canoe permitting the sailor to
 reach his entire length beyond the
 windward side of the canoe, thus forming a counter-balance to the kpressure on the sails. In some of the previous contests a sail area of over 180 feet was used but recently
 the Canoe Association limited the
 sail area to 90 square feet. Capsizes
 are frequent but the canoes, being un- 'sinkable, are soon lighted and s-the race continued.
 can athletes in the English track and
 field championships again demon
 strates the fact that in this parucu- lar department of sport the United
 States performers can hold their own
 against the world In an entry list of close to 24O there were seven 1 American competitors, three of whom l participated in two events giving this
 country a total entry of ten. ThfH l little band competed in nine Of tHa 1 nineteen events composing the pro- l gram winning two first, two second, 1 and two third places, five of the seven
 entrants being placed in the finals against a field which included ath-
 letes from all parts of the British
 Isles, South Africa, Sweden, Austra- Iasia and Canada
 These entries were either personal