New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-12-30
Bullets Cut Short Careers
of England Best Athletes
Somewhere in France the Flower of Britain Youth
Dying. While Track Field, Court and Course
Lie Deserted and Forlorn.

few games, but they were played be
tween -eame of schoolboys and soldlc-s
in khaki The recent death Of DR.. W.
X. Grace, the grand old man OF crlck-
Il, brought forth many eulogisuc &C
counts Of his wonderful career ana
many "reminiscences Of Britain's ma
tional game, but you will hunt IN VAIN
next spring for line about a regular
cricket match.
Thore will be no races on the Thames,
at Henley next summer. oxford ana
Cambridge will not meet IN their his
toric struggle for supremacy on the
river Chief interest centres now IN
frequent races between blind soldiers
guided by a coxswain who can see. II
is pathetic sight to watch these men,
formerly giants Of the river, pull an
oar in gig or a barge, and TO realize
that they have no knowledge OF the po-
sition Of their opponent except what
is furnished them by the ooxswain'
St;u. they STRUGGLE along with a. mucn
enthusiasm as if they were swinging q
sweep in a she'll for the Grand Chal-
lenge Cup.
On track and field there is more &C
tivity, but il is confined almost eA-
clusiyely 20 competitions between sol
diers who are still undergoing ram
ing preliminary 70 being sent 70 the
front. II is mighty keen competition
and. considering conditions undeF
which most Of these meetings arc hel",
strikingly good performances may Dc
seen. Though 'most OF the regular
events are held, such a. the dashes.
middle distance and long distance
races, others are substituted for tho
usual field competitions. Wall sealing,
trench digging. throwing Of bombs ana
set-up drills now take the place Of the
jumping and weight throwing events
found on the pre-war programme. Even
in the public and private schools less
attention is being paid to the cinder-
path and much more 10 militsry drills
and long hikes out into the country.
Track Athletes War Victims.
Perhaps in no other branch OF spor;
will England suffer more thar IN track
athletics. The only possible exception
may be polo. a sport in which she for
merly relied almost exclusively on her
dashirg military officers and their won
derful little ponies. War has taken
heavy toll Of both and il will be manv
years before Britain will be ready 20
defend the cup she won Just before
hostilities began. A frightfully large
number of her best track athletes have
fallen on the feld of battle and sti.
larger number have been injured IN
way which has ended Their days OF
usefulness on the cinderpath. In the
future she must look to the boys now
too young 10 take up arms.
Stars Of the lawn tennis court are
few in number. but even here the
enemy bullet has cut short the careers
Of several of the highest rank and
many others who had already begun 70
show great promise Of becoming the
Dohertys and Ropers of the future.
Tennis Is still played. but by the same
girls who are just at present hndinG
enjoyment and exercise in field hockey
and by few men who have passed the
fighting age.
Thoroughbred racing passed through
a trying season, and the prospects are
not bright for next year. The racing
association has just announced that the
purses in all the big stake races have
been cut i'm two, and $4,000 VIII be
the largest prize next season. VI
course. this compares most favornbly
with conditions in America. but II must
be remembered that over here before
the war racing was held practically the
wear round without a break and that
purses ran high. II is likely that next
season the same plan will be followed
several meetings at Newmarket OF
three weeks each, with racing three
days = week.
lust what the future OF English sports
will ne no one cares to state, SIMPLY
because no one feels qualified TO make
any kind Of forecast in these times.
Those men who escape shot ana smell
rheumatism and other trench ailments
will come back stronger and harder
than ever. The male population mas
undergone a system of training IN
known before. Weddings fall by the
wayside and are forgotten. Every effort
Is made to turn out soldiers who are
the last word in physical fitness. and
success has attended these efforts, as
the whole world knows. Possibly, when
the war is over, physically this will be
a greater nation. A long series Of de-
feats in sports prior to the war brought
out many stories of "dry rot and pro
ouced Kiplng's famous "muddied OATS
and Aannelled fools" But certainly
there will be no justification for similar
remarks for generations TO come.