Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-04-28
PADDOCK'S RECORDS
STIR Up INTEREST
Southern California SprInter
Declared Greatest of All Time
by Many Experts.

Los Angeles, Cal, April ES--lWenly
years old. keen-cycd and avowedly op-
timistic. Charles w. Paddock. holder Of
the worlds championship for the 100
meter dash. and the youth who at n
college meet at Berkeley recently broke
all existing worlds records for 220
yards. at 20 4-5 seconds. is not only a
good athlete. but. according to his IN
structors, ne is a good student.
Paddock is senior. maioring i'm
English in the school Of arts and
sciences az the University Of Southern
California. members Of the Delta Sigma
Rho tho national debating society. pos
SCISSOR ot "A medal for winning the South
ern California inter scholastic cham
piouship in debating. and scholarship
member Of the Phi Beta Kapp fratcr-
nifty.
Whom not training with his coach on
the athletic neld ne is in the university
library writing imaginative descriptions
Of that fair phantom land west ot the
Hesperidcs' which members of the writ
ing cult have from ages past sought
10 perpctuate in beautiful letters.
with him he says. racing is "Eood
exercise" but is not an ultimate goal.
Il run" declares youns Paddock he
cause il seems. and always has seemed.
perfectly natural for me. My father,
when ne was younger. did little sprint
ing for Michigan and ! cant remember
when | wasn't trying to beat my school
boy friends to the third telephone pole
or the corner store
In the Erammer schools Of GAINESVILLE,
Tex. where Paddock was born the only
son OF a middle aged couple it was
thought he was going to be a delicate
boy He was thin and frail ia an
pearanCc. hut realizing that STAYING
indoors leading his fathers fascinating
stock Of books would no. "he|p mat
ters" Paddock says he adopted run
ming as hobby primarily as means
of keeping himself part of the time out
in the sunshine. busy at some good
exercise.
During his racing DAYS Paddock has
run $50 major races cntaa5nE cham
pionshipe ~ creator or less degree. end
of this number has won I52, taking
second place III Eve and third n three.
He won the championship of the United
states II Boston IN the o2o yard event
in a20 and a week after this race,
a. Brooklyn. broke the worlds record
for the 1o0-mctc~ dash on grass. in
10 3-5 seconds AZ the Olympian games
he won the 100-meter race. in an event
for which $50 runners from all parts Of
the world entered. the eI!Ininat tons re-
sulting in only SIX participa ting in the
finals.
Paddock has an eight foot racing
stride and uses a sixteen foot leap 70
touch The tape H weighs $50 pounds.
and his training. ne says, consists chief
" in obeyinG his trainer. Dean Crom-
well, of the University of Southern Cali
forn5a.
Paddock denies the sports comment"
that he is superstItious or that that
IS why before q race, he raises his arms
aloft three times.
u do this" he says. not because I'm
superstiuous, but TO fiji my lungs with
fresh air. I don't raise my arms for
luck-I tap on wood Sprinting is an
uncertain game; it Is so short business
that anything may happen. Before a
race, I invariably tap on wood-chiefly
for the psychology Of the thing. It
keeps me from getting overconfdent,
and go in feeling squarely up against
my opponent
Paddock's athletic record stands be-
hind him. But with his artistic work,
he admits there Is q difference. With
that 50 far. ne confesses, he has prac-
tica cot no further than wearing his
hat on the back Of his head and putting
his ceet on his desk in the editorial
rooms Of a Pasadena daily paper and
irving Intellectually to look literary
when the boys insist on calling him
Charlie
People who Try 70 figure out exactly
how Paddock wins says that in dash
of 100 yards ne makes fraction more
than thirty FIVE eight foot strides in
addition 10 the great slXteen-foot leap
which is q feature Of his final squirt 70
the tape.
r. w. DAD Moulton. veteran trainer
of Stanford University athletes. recent
w described Paddock's running form
as very peculiar "a sort Of a bound OF
climbing -the-rope motion"
After Paddock broke the worlds rec
ord at berkeley by running the 220-yard
dash in 20 As seconds. he went to Stan
ford and smashed the existing official
record again by running the distance in
q seconds fiat. Moulton said he never
had seen a man run 50 fast before.