The Detroit times., 1915-01-14
Training For Competitive Sport
Likely To BE Taken Up by
Governments
MILITARISTS RAPIDLY
LOSING OLD PREJUDICE
French Officer Indicates His
Conversion in Letter To
This Country
RY HAROLD Y. WILCOI.

There Is no reason 10 doubt tha'
db of the q countries that sent teams
10 the Olympic games OF 1912 VIII play
little part in international athieucs
for several years TO come. These 10
countries are involved in the Euro
pean war, and the conflict IS taxing
heavy toll OF the strong men OF the
belligerent nations. Not until ne"
generation OF athletes is developed
will these warning nations again De
come factors In the sport world.
i = But when they do. they will be FAC
| tors TO be reckoned with, for unless
| the signs OF the times are wrongly
| interpreted and the newly formed
opinions OF military men falsely re-
| ported. the European armies OF the
/ future will be armies OF athletes
skilled in every sort of compeutVe
sport. European officers are reported
as being astounded at the etnciency
as soldiers of the recruits VINO were
! formerly prominent In the atnieuc
world.
| So strongly are they becoming con
yinced that In athletics there Is IN
valuable training that develops the
|, endurance and daring needed for war,
that II Is now confidently expected
that the governments of Europe viii
make Ii their business to lend every
4 aid possible TO competitive sports as
soon as the conflict is over and the
time for reconstruction arrives.
Germany and France we're partially
convinced two years ago, and what
government support has been lent 10
athletics in those countries since then
has been more than JUSTIFIED, on mill
tary grounds, at least The increas-
! ing favor with which athletes are be-
ing regarded in army circles abroad
is indicated by the letter below.
which was sent to a prominent Ameri-
can sportsman by French offcer,
now at the front. Incidentally, the
letter includes some gossip that will
interest American boxing fans. IL
reads In part as follows:
"You were right when you told me
that what we needed was athletics,
and especially boxing. | would not
have believed IL were il not for the
fact that the demonstration has been
brought home to us. Formerly | was
opposed to boxing, but now IL will be
my endeavor, providing | live through
this war, to encourage IL in all coun-
tries. You will probably be surprised
to know that Eugene Solderville, who
at one time did a lot OF boxing in
Paris and also in England and Austria
has been proving himself quite hero.
He was in one of the hardest charges
along the Aisne river IL Is surpris-
ing 10 know the number OF boxers
who have enlisted In the army over
here. There are hundreds >of them
and every one has been in the thick
est of the fights.
Il went out TO see Georges Carpen-
tier, the middleweight champion, who
was supposed 10 have been injured
quite badly. | found him TO be feel
ing quite well, indeed. and content
with his lot. When left he was pre-
pairing TO go on a mission with one OF
the aviators, so the stories about him
not being at the front are untrue.
There have been different reports
about Charles Ledoux being killed.
and tried TO investigate. From what
could learn he is at Alencon. and
is well. Whether he has met with
an accident since then / cannot say.
Stuber. Clement and Brochet. all we'll
known boxers, we're with Ledoux. and
every one OF them has been injured
severely.
1t may surprise you also to hear
that Tom, Linton. at one time fam
GUS bicycle rider. who raced in New
York several times. was killed in one
OF the battles. hope this war will
soon be ended, and that we will be
able to get back to our regular lives
II we do, rest assured that athletics
and boxing will always have a warm
spot In the hearts or all army officers
In Eranaa