The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-09-29
For Fifty Years Mercury Foot
Has Pointed Way on Track
and Field.
ORGANIZED SEPT. 8, 1868
From Howell to Palace Climbed
Club Once Content With Lock-
or Room in MARS Gym.
~ GEORGE b. UNDERWOOD.

Il..Aw
ss.sd reminiscentIy across the track and
over the sveen Of CREAM lawn leading
10 ths c,ubbouse. The track Enclosure
wa. alive With a.hIetes the white OF
their running shirt. and trunks con-
trastine with the blue and khaki uniforms
of their brothers in service reealia
Surrounding tho track and clusterins in
rroups on lawns and terrace were the
apecta tors. hundreds of them. II was
ladies' day. and the fair sex. af,are with
Ali the colors milady likes to dlsplay in
hsr autumn nnerv made lawn and ter
race look like fields of California pop-
MES waving in the wind.
But Mr.. Buermeyer saw little OF IL.
Memories were Ieadln.x him back 10
other DAYS and other scenes for when
Judge jeremiah #. Mahoney' taking in
the vista the veterans raxe apparently
was encounterine. remarked on the
bNautv OF the .cene. Harrv gave a sud-
den start. drew his hand acros, his eve,
ana answered:
yes. Il rertain,v does nressnt n nre,tv
picture. now my attention is called to II.
hut almost was forgetting where I was
l. was thinlxin, NJ the first pames the
club held way back in 1865
,.
q. The Club,s rirst Meet.
7-,,
fou know IT was on November IL.
ieos. tnat we held our hrst games. In
ao september previous "ii'am b. Cur
-Fsther Bill VINO perished In
pnsHsro on nount washington IN 1900
Sohn u baoeock ana myself after
more tnah TWO years OF endeavor among
our atnietcaliy Inclined friends finally
.ucceeaeo IN Organising the New York
Atnieic C!uo. Being fuil hedged
etnietio ciuo Al last, we had TO arrange
tor An open annette meetinz. Finley's
Track. a half mile circuit at the corner
OF Seventy-second street and Blooming
dale road. was pleasant enough to prac-
tise on, but was hard to get to and had
no accommodations for spectators
Fortunately, however, Babcock was
5ust then building for the Third Avenue
Railroad Company the structure known
a. the American Institute Rink, and II
was in that barnlike affair at sixty
third street and Third avenue tina. the
CIub we're h.Id ''N I>'N'euc
1T was on cold, clustering wednes-
any evening the meet took place. It
Seems to me but yesterday. but there
osrtainly have been some changes since
then. The club has made wonderful
strides and athletics in this country has
advanced stride BY stride with the New
York A c."
Commenting upon the first games OF
the New York A. c., the meet which Mr..
Duermeyer referred to. a leading sport
ing journal of the time said:
y Contractor and builder were dIa.
tory. as usual; the morning of No
vember IL broke cold and stormy: the
building was not yet half rooted and
the committee, securing West and
South streets with wagons. accumulate
I'd a quarter acre OF tarpau,,ns and
made a temporary roof. under which
the games were successfully contested
The central section of the rink had not
been hoored. and an eighth OF a mile
track was staked out on the smooth,
wet clay surface.
And It was in that first meet OF the
New York A. c. that spiked shoes were
used here for the first time by Curtis
OF those first spiked shoes the late
James z. Sullivan once wrote:
First Pair OF Spikes.
IN Anar,c,n .n.,sur .,h,.,,, o,ro,os
there was ar thst live onI,, ono mir
of spiked shoes. and they belonged 10
W. B. Curtis. A professional Splinter
named Davis told Curtis about the ad-
vantage OF wearing spikes in athletic
contests, so Father Bill" decided to
have q pair constructed. Thereupon
Davis found an Irish shoemaker, who
brought over some English spikes, and
he made the pair Of now world famous
shoes for the father of American ath-
letics. They were clumsy. long toed
and of such general proportions as
best fitted their owners ample feet
No one then knew anything about
those newfaneled weapons. but every
mon use by English athletes they
nus. % aes .,sne tor nieni t.i 90
'ouy ~. ~. p"m, 49,
Douy o 49, s soou
snsr,,hoSv v,shad 80 borron, ,hann
49,, ,a,.s. - 49, a.. 20.
80. ~ Ia s',ao.asaa T., a,.,-,S,,s'ns,
,h... go. ouita u,id.Iv Aftsr he
NJ 49, ,hsun a. TX vard onS
soo ward run. VI Maprane nsed
th.,, In ,ha o,sr t.r roi,a and baI, ,nI,s
80. IT r Rnsrmever In the abot
n,ttine ana anailv stranaest NJ All
thev csrrIed 7 ~ Russell no victory in
ths ons mile walk.
-r,. LII "a. o,a.,,, u.,,,o.
Ane 49, .. 81 'uS'
rs au .triSs Nv str,ds VIII the Ssr
vanceo s'I.ae w e..ue WIN Tue Ne~
York A. e, rghtiy says Mr buer-
meyer, .ne seoIy vi .ne view ioIN
A.me.ic SiuD 10 ehe esoIy ol Aher'sa ga,
stnieus Inc ua. a'lie.ieS has ioi-
foweo IN TINS country was oiazeu by
Spo sun 10 pehs o'"Aeu Wy ~'e INC"
iorK A.
Ferhaps prlei inenlioh Oh inc cary
eays OF inc poweIlul, wealthy, worio
famous cup whien to-moIrow hlsnt VIII
esieorate ns ntt,e'n snn,'ersary at inc