ATHLETICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1900, 3 July 1890, Page 29

ATHLETICS.

POINTS ON ATHLETIC GAMES. How to Hobdlb, Broad Jump, High Jump, Pole Vault, Speint, and Practise Starts. (Br Malcolm W. Ford in Turf, Field and Farm,) Running High Jump. To clear 6ft 4in in a running high jump off level ground without artificial aid seems almost impossible for a man to accomplish, bat that is the best amateur record in the world at this game, and it was done at Philadelphia on October 7, 1887, by W. B. Page. This celebrated athlete also holds the best English amateur record of 6ft 3Jin, made at Stourbridge on August 15, 1887. These two far-famed performances were made on ground different from each other, The English jump was accomplished on smooth, closely-cut turf, while the American jump was done on well-rolled hard clay. The turf in Great Britain is famous for its closeness and velvety appearance. The cricket fields are so old and well kept that the grass on them is said to be the finest in the world. The roots are aotually tangled with each other in closeness, and the surface stands a great deal of wear. There is a certain amount of elasticity to English turf which is not found in this country. Jumping from or on such an elastic surface brings about a certain ease to the muscles, and is also apt in the long run to produce better performances than the same efforts would allow one to do on harder ground. All the English running high jump records above 6ft have been done on turf, for the athletes prefer it far more than even cinder paths. Well-rolled sun-baked clay is almost like a board floor, so far as jumping from or on it is concerned. There is, however, just a little more elasticity to it than can be found on the average gymnasium floor. It is the favourite substance to jump ou in this country, for graßS cannot be found good enough to stand the wear, and as the irregularities on a clay surface caused by wear can be repaired much better than on turf, track masters, when they lay a jumping path, generally have nothing but the bare ground, with perhaps a little cinder sprinkled around where the take-off in a running high jump or pole vault is made. Running high jumping is indulged in more often *at athletic games than all the other field events put together, except tug-of-war. It is a popular game with both athletes and spectators, and there are so many different styles in negotiating the different heights that the limit of the variety will hardly ever bo reached/ Very often exhibitions of high leaping are given at a circus or in & regular theatrical company, where great heights are cleared, but, as a rule, artificial aid enters largely into the performances, and, so far as actual merit is concrrued, the majority of them are nothing compared with a sft Bin running high jump off dead level soil. Artificial aid in clearing heights includes jumpiug from a springboard, or from an inclined block, or with dumb bells. Perfectly fair conditions, or without artificial aid, is to jump from a level surface, where the ground directly underneath the bar, where the measurement is made, is at the same level as the ground sft, 6ft, or 7ft in front of where the jumper springs from. It can readily be seen that if there happened to be a mound or hillock in the ground, 2in or Sin high, just where the jumper would spring from, and the measurement of the bar made to the average ground, whioh would really be 2in or 3in lower than where the jumper took off, that although a measurement would show a certain height it would not actually be cleared, for the jumper had leaped from a raised portion. This happens very often at games where the jumping uprights are put out in a field where no special path has been made. The measurers ask the competitors where they would like to jump, and the uprights generally eventually land sft or 6ft in front of a mound, such as described, for it causes the records to look large on paper. Tbere have been cases where competitors have been done injustice by not receiving credit for heights which they had actually cleared. The place allotted ft>r high jumping it. generally just in trout of a dug-up portion of ground, so that the jumpers will land in the soft part and not jar themselves, The loose earbh sometimes spreads over the adjoining solid ground, and if left for any period will become hard and a fixture. A case happened on the grounds of the Young America Cricket Club, at Philadephia, in the spring of 1885, where W. B. Page did nob get credit within about an iach and a-balf for what he actually cleared. At that time ho had just begun making great records, and a few days previous to the ( ccasiun iv question ho had cleared 6ft in public, and few believed it, for

nothing within 2in of it had previously been done. His later performance confirmed all those who are acquainted with high jumping that be had cleared the disputed 6ft, for although his jump on the cricket grounds measured sft lljin, a mound which happened to be just underneath the bar, made by the scattered loose earth decreased the actual jump about an inch and a-half, and the measurers did not consider it their duty to scrape the unjust elevation and measure the jump to a surface at a corresponding level to where Page took off. Many who have never seen rnnning high jumping imagine that the athlete clears the bar perfectly straight, or what is known as landing with the back to the bar. When they see an expert jumper perform they are surprised at the style displayed, and consider that it is not quite fair to wriggle and twist so much in making the jump. Whenever a dog or a horse leaps an obstacle the movement is straight ahead, for the head is always pointed in the direction the animal is travelling ; but a man in negotiating a height pursues far different tactics, as can be seen by the following illustration. . . ,

This shows W. M. Norris, who has a record of sft 9in, well over the bar. His style is excellent. His left leg is extended preparatory to alighting, and the fact of his right side being toward the bar shows that he took off with his right leg. He lands with his face to the bar. It must not be imagined that the great distance he appears to be from the bar is a sign that he cleared the latter by a corresponding distance. An instantaneous photograph of R. K. Pritchard &t this point would show about the same position that Norris assumes. A general impression prevails that an athlete's height has a great deal to do with making big records at the running high jump. The claim has been made that where height would not have much to do in the running broad jump where simply distance is cleared it controls one's confidence a great deal in clearing heights, for at sft Bin, for instance, it would seem that an athlete sft lOin tall Bhould clear it much better than one sft 6in tall. In one case the bar would be just above the athlete's eyes, while in the other it would be several inches over the top of his head. It has also been said that weight has much to do with a successful per* former, and that a light man can negotiate a great height much better than a heavy one. To show that height and weight have not so much to do with controlling an athlete's future in high jumping, as many think, a few statistics in regard to some who have made great records at the game may be mentioned. W. B. Page is sft 6|in tall, and weighed, when he made his records, 1401b in athletic costume. His best record is 9£in over his head. P. Davin, of Ireland, who has a record of 6ft 2|in, weighed 1651b, and is 6ft Jin tall. M. J. Brooks, of England, who holds the Oxford-Cambridge record of 6ft 2§in, weighed at the time 1571b, and is sft Him tall. P. J. Kelly, of Ireland, who tied Page in 1887, at 6ft If in, is 6ft 2in tall, and weighed 1901b. The next best English jumper is J. W. Parsons, who has a record of 6ft lin. He is sft 9in tall, and weighed 1601b. For the Americans next to Page there is Guy Richards, who has cleared sft llgin. He is sffc Bin tall, and weighed 1601b. I. D. Webster, the intercollegiate champion, who has cleared sft llfin, is sft lOin tall, and weighed 1381b. R. K. Pritchard, the present American and Canadhn champion, whose best figures are sft llgin, is 6ft £in tall, and weighed when he made his best record 1621b. The next best figures are sft llin by myself. I weighed at the time 1641b, and stand sft Bin tall. Running high jumping is essentially a game in which a great deal of improvement can be made, and the records show that athletes who have made a point to stick to it have increased their performances a great deal. There is so much science to it that after one has acquired a good style, a height can be cleared with much less effort than in former years.