The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-02-12
NEW YORK COP MAKES RECORD
 JUMP AT MEET

New York, Feb. 12.-Seven thous- and persons who thronged Madison Square Garden at the annual games of the NTi1lrose A. A., Tuesday night saw Earl Thompson, of Dartmouth, equal and then break the American
 indoor T0-yard low hurdle record. They witnessed Johnny Sholz, of the University of Missouri, as fleet a sprinter as America has had since the
 paImy days of Arthur Duffy, equal
 the American mark for the 70 yard
 dash. They saw Earl Eby, whose
 blond shock of hair was the first
 over the line in the 44o yard event
 at the interallied games, fling his
 feet in the face of the field in the
 Millrose 500, and watched Jote Ray
 step to victory in the Rodman Wana-
 maker mile and a half.
 But after all the real hero of the
 Mf1lrose meet was a stalwart, clear eyed New York policeman, Egon Erickson. The finest has boasted sorne
 of the greatest athletes in the world, among them the late Martin Sheri-
 dan-may his memory ever be green; John Flanagan, Matt McGrath, Jack
 Filler and many more, but the feat performed by Erickson is worthy of the greatest police champions who
 preceded him and, in fact, stands aI- | most unparalleled in the annals of athletics.
 | Eleven years ago the national track ! and field championships of the A A 1 U. were held in a natural amphithea- tire hollowed out in the hills at Se- l attle, Wash, in conjunction with the Lewis and Clark Exposition. There 1 Erickson won the junior champion
 ship of the country with a leap of feet Il inches and took the na- tional senior championship of the United States with a leap of 5 feet | Il 3-4 inches.
 Yet last evening in the crowded Garden Erickson had enough of his | old spring and suppleness left to clear the crossbar in the running | high jump for the metropolitan in door championship at the remarka bIe height of feet inches. three and
 a, quarter inches better than the leap 1 that made him high jump champion of America in 1909!
 What made the performance all the more remarkable was that the yeters an accomplished it after patrolling his post in the Tenderloin precinct
 all day in the snow and slush. After defeating with his leap of 6 feet inches a field of the country's greatest Jumpers including LangdoR
 of Yale, the intercollegiate champion. and Watson, the metropolitan out door high jump title holder, the bar war raised to feet 4 7-S inches and 1 the New York copper was asked to 1 try for the worlds indoor high jump | record of feet 1-2 inches. set by | Sam Lawrence of Harvard back in l 1912 Only the proverbiaI Whisl<er prevented him from turning the trick 1 successfully, for on his third attempt
 he just grazed the bar enough to roll
 it gently from the pins on which it
 rested.
 1 Considering all conditions remem- l berlng that Erickson is a veteran of | more than IS years of competition | that he is no parlor cop and had to
 run the risk of tightening up his
 muscles by standing around in the snow and slush yesterday and that he had to raise more then 1SO pounds l over the crossbar, We know of no athletic feat performed in the last de- 1 cade more worthy of the commendA.-
 ton of all those who know and un- derstand athletics
 | Of Egon Erickson, plain New York | copper, athletic America can well be proud. He is the type of athletic
 manhood that brings Iustre to the i New York Police Department and
 makes the Finest worthy of it's name