The Detroit times., 1914-08-11
STARTED TO RUN
DURING WAR; HAS
NOT STOPPED YET
Colonel Smith, Who Races lO
Men During Encampment,
Is Fiend For Flight
SHOESTRING HAD A LOT
TO DO WITH HIS CAREER
When Old Soldier Found He
Couldn't Tie 1t, He Began
Taking More Exercise
BY RALPH l.. YONKER.

xHEN did you start running,
Nv Colonel?'
The question was fired as
soon as I saw the whites of those
kindly blue eyes OF Col. j. l.. Smith
as he peered over the desk knew
that he had come In to talk about
running. Running Is his hobby horse,
as 1t were, his method OF loccmotion
and his fad. He runs to work In the
morning and he runs home at night.
He runs for exercise and Tor pleas
ure. He runs for street cars ana
next September, while his fellow vet
Grams are here, he Is going TO run for
an automobile. But that's another
story and will be told later.
.-'.When did start running? he
repeated the question to himse1.
why, my boy. started during the
war. / haven't stopped yet
He didn't smile. He was serious
Either the humor was too trite or
his mission was too solemn.
The story OF the veteran army man
and his running Is one that Is OF
especial interest in view OF the fact
that he has his greatest race sched-
uled for the coming month during the
3 visit Of the Grand Army of the Re
public veterans In Detroit.
AT that time Smith, white. haired
man OF 20, will race 10 other veter-
ans at the state fair grounds. He
will run 10 miles continuously while
each OF the other 10 men Is running
one mile. And best of all he hopes to
beat them.
II he does beat them brand new
Limousine will be his. II he falls TO
beat them, the limousine, donated by
one OF the big automobile manufac-
turers in the city. will be given TO
the 10 men and their manager.
f.. A. Pierce of No. 924 Cass-ave.,
Detroit, Is the man who has under
!, taken to collect 10 men who can stop
the colonel. Two years ago at the
Grand Army encampment at Los An.
geles there were three teams or ~
men each organized to beat the
colonel. They failed to do SO but
Smith admits that II they had taken
the 10 best men Of the 80 In the
teams, they could have given him
tough struggle and perhaps beaten
him.
This Is exactly what Mr.. Pierce
has done. He has gathered the names
OF 15 OF the best runners Of the past
and he will pick 10 OF these to com
pete against the colonel. Col. Smith
admits that he Is very dubious about
his being able to win against such
gang, but he is not going to back
down now.
He got into. the habit of racing 10
men through a bit. OF hasty temper.
At Rochester three years ago he was
entered in the 10-mile race against
the field. But the field wouldn't race
IL Smith was going to be In 1t. They
said that he was too good. In his
peevishness at what he thought
raw deal, he cried out that he would
race any 10 of them, by heck, and
they took him up. He won the Tenn
pie cup that year and he has been
racing 10-men teams since.
Col. Smith Is man 20 years old.
His birthday was on st. Patricks
day. Thirty years ago his physician
told him that he would have TO give
up running because his heart was
bad. He loved the game so much he
couldn't give II up, however, and he
stuck to II. The physician who gave
him that warning has been dead many
years now.
From his youth, when he entered
the army az a drummer boy at 10
years OF age. until the present time
!. the army man has been a profession
( al runner There was a lapse In his
running, however. when he missed his
usual laps on the track, and threat
ened to lose his lap. You will under
stand this when you know that the
rugged old man found one day not
SO very many years ago that ne
couldn't bend down to tie his shoe.
! He was getting too fat.
He was walking along the street
when shoe-string became united,
He tried to stoop to tie II. He
couldn't reach Il. He had to go to
: the nearest step and lift his foot to
sthe step to tie the shoe-string. He
had serious talk with himself then
and there I'm which he came to the
conclusion that he had to stop the