ATHLETICS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1704, 22 March 1913, Page 12

ATHLETICS.

.; IBt "Mszc-nm. . THE CONFESSION OF THORPE, Tho, Doings of Dormer. '■■ The. biff .'event "of the v.ee!c from the athletio standpoint happened in Auckland on Mouday(St. Patrick's Day), and it was a.big event—no less than tjiu breaking of an' Australasian, record. In this connection, onb naturally thinks of Dormer. Kightly so in this case '' The lengthy Aucklander set out to break the record held jointly by Hector Burk and himself of lniin. 58 l-ssec, and succeeded in. a striking manner. Hβ was clocked to clip two seconds oC' this, covering the half-mile in lniin. 5G l-pjcc.', eo not only attaiaed his immediate object, but actually established now figures for Australasia. The previous best has stood since March, 1910, to the credit of G. A. Wheatl.ey. , • It was lmin. 66Jsec. : These figures are goad, but.'even so, they fall somewhat short of the world's best, viz.; E. linin. 52.4-ssec, Still thero'isno ltnowing quite what-Dormer is'capable of, and, seeing that he has not "arrived'' yet, we can look for something better in the future. At tho timo of writing no details are availablo, , but it is' to be presumed that everything in. connection -with, the newfigures was in order. If so, this meane that'Pprmer Tvill'now .have two records 'coining up.for endorsement—this one and his , recent lOOOryaTd performance.

For Purposes of Comparison. ' Apropos of '100 yards ficures, p.' cable message received in Sydney last . ..week notified ' tj»t at the annual meeting of the American A.A.TJ. in New York this distance was won by A. R. Kivjat, the Olympic representative, in 2min. 15 4-ssec. This gives a good line on Dormer's performance, since tho American crack's run. was deemed worthy of-a special cable, and it makes tli& Auctlander's 2min. 16 3-ssec. look very respectablo indeed. Shot Putt|ng In Excolsis. At tho- same meeting in New York a splendid performance with tho. 241b. shot was registered' by P. J. Macdonald, the Olympic Games, winner. He won the event witha/'piitt" of 39ft. 3Jin. . How maiiy shot exports in. New Zealand or even in Australia are capable, of reaching these figures, even with'tho 161b. Eliot? N<)t m^r.y. The Record 4 Sensation , ' The Tecent upheaval' in the amateur iithletio world caused by tho news that James Thorpe, the great Indian athlete, had been convicted >of professional practices, will ho fresh in tho minds of readers. The sensation caused by the publication.of this intelligence was perhaps the greatest that American, and probably even the world's, athletics has known, and the situation was the more dramatic from tho fact- that the exposure came in the form of .a, confession' from Thorpe himself. '■ •'> .' At the Confessional. Some question, had arisen as to his bono fides, but before any official investigation could'.be made tlie delinquent handed in hi? own committal, and this 'is now to hand by the American mail. It is worthy of publication in full, and runs: ■ - . ' : Department of the.'lnterior. , united States Indian Service, /Carlisle. Pa,., January .26; 1913,' ■ ■

James E. Sullivan, New York, N.Y. . Dear. Sir,—When tho interview with' Mr„ Clancy stating that I had played baseball on tho Winston-Salem team was shown mb.l told Mr. Warner' that it-was'not true, and in fact I did not play on that team. But so muoh has been said in tlie papers sinco that I went to the school authorities .this morning and told , them just what' there'.was in the stories. , ' 'r'played baseball at Rocky Mount , and at Eayetteville, N.C., in the summer of 1909 and 1910 -under my own natae. On the same teams I played with . were /several college men from the north who were earning money by ball-'playing dnring their yacatinns, and who were regarded ns amateurs at home. I did not piny for tho money there was in it, becauso my property me in enough money" to live on. but because I liked to play ball. I was not very wi6o to the ways of the world, and did tjofc realise that this was wrong and it would make mo a professional,in, track -sports although I learned from the other ! players thaf. it would bo better for me not . to' .lei;. anyone know that I was : playing, and for that. Teason. I never told anyone at tlitf school aboiit 'it until to-day. In tho fall of 1911 I ■ applied, for veadmission to, this school and came

-back to continue my studies and take 'part iri tlio school sports, and. of course, I wanted to get .on tho Olympic team and take the, trip i:o Stock;holm.;''l hadVMr. .Warner send in my application for -registering in tho A.A.TJ. after I had answered tho nuestions and signpd it, and I received ray •cord allowing,mo to .compete in. the winter-' and other track sports. Tnover realised until now what a biff mistake I made by keeping it a* secret about my ball-nlaying. and I ani' sorry I did so. I"hope I will bo partly oxciisod by tho fact tjiat I was sirtiply an Indian schoolboy and did not know all about such things. In fact, I did not. knpw that I was doing wrong, because I was doing what I know several other collstre men )md done, except that they did not use their own names. 1

.' I havo always liked sport, and only played or ran races for tho fun of ' tho thing and never -to earn money. • I have received offers amounting to , thousands of dollars sinco my victor- - ins last supimer, hut I havo turned them all down because I did not care' ' to make money from my athletic skill. I am very sorry, Mr. Sullivan, to have it all spoiled in, this wav, .' •find I hope'the Amateur Athletic l . Tjnimi and tho peoplo will'.not be too , hard in judging me; JAMES THORPE. , Stamped Out. • - Naturally this thunderbolt placed tho American Athletio Union in a very awkward position, owiug to Thorpe's Olympio successes, but the■executive roso to tho occasion at once. An official statement was immediately issued setting forth its attitude and intentions, thus: ■ . ' "Thorpe's act of professionalism was in sport over which the Amateur Athletic union has no direct control; it was na it member of a baseball team in n minor league, and in games which were not j ported in tho important papers of I country. That he played under his own liamo would givo no direct notice to n one concerned,- as thero aro many of lr name. Tho reason why ho himself not give notice of his acts is explained by him on, tho ground of ignoranco. somo justification of this position, it should be. noted tl\at Mr. Thorp© is aIndian, of limited experience and education in the ways'of other than bis npeople. Tlio American Olympic Conimitteo and tho Amateur Athletic Union feel that while Mr. Thorps is deserving of the severest condemnation for concealing tho fact that ho 'had professionalised 'himself by receiving money for playing baseball, ■ they also feel that thoso who know of his professional acts aro deserving of still greater censure for their silence. Tho American Olympic Committee and tlio Amateur Athletic Union tonder to tho Swedish Olympic Committee, and through tho International Olympic Committee, to tho nations of the world, their apology for haying ontorpd Mr. Thorpe, and hatr ing permitted him to compete at tho Olympic Games of 1912. Tho Amalour Athletio Union regrets that it permitted Mr. Thorpe,to compete in ppiatepr contests during tho piist several years, and will do everything in its power to secure tho return pf prizes find tlio readjustment of points won Ivy him, and will immediately eliminato his records from tho books.

Honours YVh«re Du», The immediate result o? Thorpo'a di&* a tUflsrenfio- la tin

personnel of the Toll of Olympio winners, but does not affect America's position at tho top of tho nations. Thus tho Decnthlon now goes to H. Wedslander, of Sweden, whilo P. R. Bio, of Norway, becomes tho now Pentathion winner. _In tho all-round championship of Amcricn, ill tlio competition for which, the discredited Redskin piled up his record score of 747G points last September, .the then second man, John Brcdemus, of Princeton, now takes first place. Tho Wages of Sin Is .? Thorpe's solace in his disgrace lies in tho fact that within a day or *two after tho exposure referred to, it was published that Thorpe had signed with a Pittsburg baseball club to play first base, and his salary was to bo 7001) dollars a year. Later, however, an announcement was made to tho effect that the "Giants" Baseball Club of New York had secured tho Indian's services for 6000 dollars for the first year, and a bonus of 500 dollars for signing. It is said that Thorpe now has the distinction of being tho highest salaried untried major league player in tho history of the game. There is thus apparently no moral to this story.

Our Swoop on Westport. At noon to-day three of our local Now Zealand champions, Ashley Duncan, "Jimmy" Wilton, and L. M'Kay, sail for. Westport, to assist the new-formed club on tho Coast in its second sports meeting on Monday. 1 ' Tho presence of tho three craoks will help materially in making a success of tho gathering, and it is to be hoped that the handioappers will' not, as too often the case, set them tasks beyond tho capacity • even of New Zealand ohampions. Accident to "Lon" Mackay. • ' Apropos of our pole-vaulter, his eervioes were very nearly lost to the athletio community for good last week when ho encountered an obstacle that proved too high even for his ability of rising to the occasion. He was being towed on an ordinary bicycle behind a motor, when an unexpected swerve unseated him, and. he came down hard, sustaining rather severe injuries to his head and. ono elbow. Fortunately, his injuries yielded to pTompt treatment, and although, at present the possessor of a certain amount of fluid jn the elbow joint and various contusions too numerous to mention in detail, he is sufficiently himself to be confident of making a good showing on Monday for the edification of the good people of Westport. .