Evening star., 1927-03-26
By the Associated Press,


USTIN, Tex. March 26.-Un-
~ able to understand the white
II mans interest in athletes able
4 to run more than so miles
with little outward indication
of fatigue, six Tarahumara Indians
rested here today satisfied with hav'
ing upheld tribal traditions in a
marathon which featured the Texas
University relays.
Although but two OF the three In
dian youths and only one of the trio
of dusky maidens Of high school age
finished their respective SO and 2S
mile grinds yesterday. the others ad-
mitted defeat only after unusual ex-
hibitions of endurance.
Tomas Zafiro. 38 years old. senior
athlete from the Sierra Madres Mount
aims OF Mexico, and Jose ToSes, "a
year-old star from a rival viliake. COW
cred the 89.4-nile course from San
Antonio to Austin in IL hours and 50
minutes. In reaching the 82n1ile
mark in 13 hours and 80 minutes they
were within about 10 minutes of the
only recognized record for the dis
tance, established by i. Saunders of
New York, 45 years ago. Augustin
Salido, %, dropped out after covering
81 miles. due to an attack of collie
AT the 33-m1le mark.
Demonstrates Stamina.
Lola Cuzarare. IA, demonstrated the
stamina of Tarahumara women when
she finished the 281s mile course for
the women in hours and Sc minutes.
Juanita, her 16-year-old married Sis
ter was forced out within sight of
the goal The pavement proved too
r..
26 miles before giving up.
The mems race was scheduled as
81 miles, but the route used to the
university stadium increased the dis
tance more than seven miles. An
error in measurement caused the
women to run further than the reg
ulation &c miles planned
Inability Of the men to set a new
worlds record, was accepted without
hint of an alibi, although automobiles
were SO numerous on the last 20-mile
stretch that the runners were forced
to decrease their pace from an aver
age of more than six miles an hour
to about four. The carbon monoxide
gas from the cars also seemed to ir-
ritate them and they experienced
difficulty In breathing.
Torres, who speaks a little Eng
lish, explained to his own satisfac-
tion why such marathons are pos
sible. OF course, he said, Tarahumara
means runner with the ball" The
tribal game is called "Palillo." 1t
consists of kicking or knocking a
wooden ball about with cup shaped
sticks.
Legend Of Event.
The game was introduced, accord
ing to tribal legend, by strange men
with gray eyes, who appeared among
the Tarahumaras many years ago.
They intermarried with the Indians
and taught them the game CT knock
ing the ball about with stick. Tney
were thought to have been English
men wrecked off the coast OF Mexico
when a brigantine was caught in a
storm.
Every San Juans day, whole vii
lagos competed. The new fad became
mixed up with the native foot ball"
and wholesale gambling resulted. Bets
of huge piles of blankets and corn,
soon grew to induce the Indians 10 sell
themselves into slavery If they lost.
Then the feasts with yenison end
"pinoie'' and 'tehuino'--original tri-
bal liquor, made the gambling wilder.
The Mexican government then put
a stop to the ruinouS "palillo" games
and the Indians resumed the ancient
sport of running with the ball. Ehe
tall bronzed men run for miles on
mountain trails, wearing only loin
cloths, kicking a wooden ball high into
the air as they run. The "palillo"
game eventually sreturned to favor In