*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 47254 ***

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  [Illustration: HAND BOOK of SUMMER SPORTS

  PEDESTRIANISM
  RUNNING & JUMPING
  BICYCLING
  ARCHERY
  HARE & HOUNDS
  &c.

  BEADLE AND ADAMS--NEW YORK

  The American News Co., 39 & 41 Chambers St. N.Y.]




STANDARD BOOKS OF GAMES AND PASTIMES

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DIME BASE-BALL PLAYER FOR 1880.

Containing the League and National Club Averages for 1879, together
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  HANDBOOK

  OF

  SUMMER ATHLETIC SPORTS,

  COMPRISING:

  WALKING, RUNNING,

  JUMPING, HARE AND HOUNDS,

  BICYCLING, ARCHERY, ETC.

  _WITH COMPLETE AMERICAN AND ENGLISH
  ATHLETIC RULES._

  EDITED BY CAPT. FRED. WHITTAKER.

  NEW YORK:
  BEADLE AND ADAMS, PUBLISHERS,
  98 WILLIAM STREET.




  Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1880, by
  BEADLE AND ADAMS,
  In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.




  [Illustration: Spectators Seats.]




  CONTENTS.


                                    PAGE.

  PEDESTRIANISM,                        9

  WALKERS VS. RUNNERS,                 11

  SCIENTIFIC WALKING,                  14

  SCIENTIFIC RUNNING,                  19

  DRESS FOR PEDESTRIANS,               23

  TRAINING FOR A MATCH,                25

  LAYING OUT A TRACK,                  30

  CONDUCTING A MATCH,                  35

  RECORDS OF PEDESTRIANISM,            38

  JUMPING AND POLE-LEAPING,            43

  BICYCLING,                           46

  AMERICAN ATHLETIC RULES,             49

  ENGLISH ATHLETIC RULES,              56

  HARE AND HOUNDS,                     57

  ARCHERY,                             60




HANDBOOK

OF

SUMMER ATHLETIC SPORTS.




PEDESTRIANISM.


A wonderful increase of popularity has lately attended the art
of walking. The steady improvement made in speed and endurance
by professional and amateur walkers and the introduction of
international contests have brought this about within a few years.

When the firm of BEADLE AND ADAMS published their first Dime book
of Pedestrianism, the only American walker of reputation was Edward
Payson Weston. The record of professionals and amateurs had then
developed nothing greater than the performances of Captain Barclay of
England, who first did a thousand miles in a thousand hours. Weston's
famous walk from Portland to Chicago caused the only ripple of
excitement in the sporting world on the subject of walking from the
time of Barclay up to 1870.

Since that period, things have changed greatly. Weston's achievements
have inspired others, and those others have not only equaled but
excelled Weston on many occasions. The names of O'Leary, Rowell,
Corkey, and "Blower" Brown, all men born in the British Islands,
have been recorded above those of Weston at different times; but it
remains to the glory of the American pedestrian that in 1879 he beat
them all.

All these changes and ups and downs in pedestrianism for the last
ten years have made the old books obsolete, and the publishers of
the former Dime Book of Pedestrianism have determined to issue a new
edition, fully up to the times in all respects.

Besides practical instructions in walking, founded on the different
styles of noted professionals, we shall annex much matter never
before put in a handbook, concerning the preparation of tracks,
measurements, timing and scoring, for the information of that large
class of people living in country towns and villages, who have plenty
of walkers, but no experience in the conduct of matches, and no
opportunity to see how things are done in first class matches.

Every one can walk, but not every one can become a great walker. Any
young man of good health and strength can learn to walk five miles
in an hour, but the number of men who can walk twenty-five miles in
five hours is very small, and will always remain so. If we take the
population of any town or village we shall find that out of every
hundred young men from eighteen to twenty-five years of age, there
are about sixty more or less given to athletic sports, twenty who are
very enthusiastic about them, and six or eight who would make _good_
walkers, runners and general athletes. Of this six or eight, there
is generally one who is better than his fellows, and he becomes the
village champion in one sport or another.

This is about the true proportion--one per cent--of the young male
community, that is capable of being taken at random and converted
into good professional walkers. A general system of early physical
training would soon increase this proportion, but as we are never
likely to see any such system adopted we must be content with what we
can get. Out of those capable of becoming great walkers and striving
to become so, the proportion of second rate men is quite large.

There have been great long-distance walkers before, and probably will
be again; but a man of the peculiar constitution of Edward Payson
Weston is very seldom met with. Other men have, at times, beaten
him; but he has outstayed them all at last in endurance. No other
athlete on record has remained among contestants of the first-class
for so many years, for be it remembered that Weston's career as a
walker began on Thanksgiving Day, 1867, the day on which he arrived
at Chicago from Portland, and that so late as 1879, twelve years
after, he was able to do 550 miles in a week against the best men of
England, at a time when his latest rival, O'Leary, had utterly broken
down. Ten years after his first appearance on the track, he was able
to give O'Leary, in his prime, a tough battle, making 510 miles in
six days, and none of his antagonists can say as much for themselves.

The average duration of a great long-distance man, whether walker or
runner, seems to be about two years. It was in 1876 that O'Leary came
to the top of the wave, and in 1879 he went under. Weston alone keeps
on, apparently as fresh at forty as he was at twenty-six.

All this argues in Weston very great physical power and strictly
temperate habits, and he possesses both in a remarkable degree.

There, however, the praise ends. As a scientific walker, Weston
is inferior, not only to O'Leary, but even pitted against such
amateurs as Harry Armstrong, of Harlem, C. Bruce Gillie, of the
Scottish-American Club, or a dozen others we could name. When he
was in his best form, about 1874-5, it was the remark of an English
trainer, that Weston was "a mystery to him; that he didn't see how he
could walk at all on the bad system he used, and that any other man
would have broken down utterly in the attempt." Weston used to get
through his tasks, and does still, but only at the cost of terrible
fatigue, which he might have saved himself on a better system.

O'Leary, on the other hand, is an example of how the best training,
constitution and system may be neutralized and overthrown by
over-confidence and dissipation. As a scientific walker, O'Leary has
no equal, and were he of the same temperate habits as Weston, he
might still head the list as world's champion. As it is, the rows of
empty champagne bottles that were taken from his tent at Gilmore's,
when he broke down in the Rowell match, were the evidence and symbol
of his ruin.

It was not in his case, as he said in the _Spirit of the Times_,
that "runners can beat walkers." O'Leary, himself, in four or five
matches, had beaten all the time ever made by runners, save that of
"Blower" Brown; but the O'Leary of those days had succumbed to high
living, and a poor excuse was better than none.

Yet, the man's system was, and is, magnificent, and enabled him to do
respectable work against Hughes and Campana, when he really was not
fit to go at all.

Had he possessed Weston's temperate habits, or had Weston possessed
O'Leary's science as a walker, the result would have been a
pedestrian wonder that would have lasted many years longer than
O'Leary.




WALKERS vs. RUNNERS.


The success of Weston and O'Leary in their long-distance walks in
England surprised the Britons greatly. Up to the time of Weston's
appearance in that country, Englishmen had been accustomed to
consider themselves the best walkers in the world; but the two
Americans--the native and the naturalized--soon took the conceit out
of them. The best English long-distance walkers were Peter Crossland
and Henry Vaughan, who had both done excellent work in matches of
the kind then practiced in England. But the introduction of six-day
contests, first started by Weston, put these professionals on
unfamiliar ground, and they found that a man who could walk a hundred
miles in one day was not able to cope with these American wonders,
who could finish five hundred miles in six days. The Englishmen laid
their defeat to the right cause--unfamiliar methods; and Sir John
Astley, a rich sporting baronet, to put both parties on an equality,
introduced the six-day "go-as-you-please" match, soon to supersede
all others. It was thought that runners would have the advantage over
walkers in this match. Their backers claimed that by going over the
ground faster they would gain more time for rest, and so in the end
go further. The first Astley Belt match falsified all their data. In
the famous contest at Agricultural Hall, London, from March 18th to
March 23d, 1878, Daniel O'Leary covered 520 1-4 miles, in 139 hours
6 minutes 10 seconds, confining himself to walking after the first
fifty miles. He had against him the great English long-distance
runners and the best long-distance walker, Vaughan, all of whom he
defeated decisively. Vaughan stopped at 500 miles--a score he has
never since equaled--"Blower" Brown retired at 477, and "Corkey,"
who had things all his own way for the first three days, broke down
utterly on the fourth; while Hazael and Rowell were earlier satisfied
that they had no chance.

In the same year O'Leary defeated with ease John Hughes and Peter
Napoleon Campana, surnamed "Sport," both runners, and seemed to be
secure of holding the Astley belt for life. Indeed, had he not,
like most sporting men, been deceived by the exaggerated reports of
Campana's prowess, he might be champion to-day.

The reason for this statement is simple. Campana's Bridgeport record,
as it turned out from after investigation, was a deliberate fraud,
got up by some low sporting men, who probably did not at first dare
to hope for the success which it attained. They began by running
their man on a short track, and when that fraud was discovered made a
merit of having the course publicly remeasured by the city surveyor.
The more important part of the fraud was not discovered till after
"Sport's" ignominious defeat by O'Leary, and then only by the
confession of his Bridgeport scorers and time-keepers. It turned out
that they had been crediting him with laps never run, and that they
had employed men to personate him, late at nights, when he was really
asleep, these men running for him. By means of these fraudulent
representations they rolled up such a score for Campana that he was
credited with 521 miles in a six-day match.

O'Leary, who, besides his Hughes match, had been giving several
400-mile walks, knew that he was no longer in condition to walk
against a good man for the championship, and therefore made the match
one for money alone. Had he allowed the belt to be in the stakes
there is no doubt that he would have won it for the third and last
time, when he would have become its absolute possessor.

In the meantime, however, the runners in England had been improving
their style immensely, for in the second Astley match, beginning
Oct. 28th, and closing Nov. 2d, 1878, William Gentleman, (_alias_
"Corkey,") made 520 2-7 miles in 137 hours, 58 min., 20 sec.; thus
beating O'Leary's distance by a trifle, and his time by more than an
hour. This match it was that raised the spirits of Sir John Astley,
and induced him to send over Rowell (who made 470 miles in the same
match) to beat O'Leary. Sir John knew what he was about, and had kept
O'Leary in view all the year.

The scores of the American champion's matches with Hughes and
Campana, showed that the man was failing, and if so, Rowell was good
enough to beat him, as there was no other really formidable walker in
America; so Astley judged, and correctly, too.

The victory of Rowell over the American walkers caused an
instantaneous revulsion of public sentiment in favor of runners, a
revulsion artfully increased by O'Leary's widely-published dictum
that the runners were always "bound to beat the walkers." This,
however, was not by any means proven at that time. The real truth was
that champagne, not Rowell, beat O'Leary; and Rowell's record in the
race was twenty miles short of the champion's best walking record.
The other competitors in the match were simply not first-class men.

The cause of the runners has, however, received a fresh impetus since
Rowell's victory by the still more remarkable feat of "Blower" Brown
(always a "good man") who in the third Astley belt match, April
22d-27th, 1879, made the amazing distance of 542 miles in 140 hours.

Finally the veteran Weston beat even Brown's record by the
superlative score of 550 miles over the same track, opposed to Brown
himself and Hazael.

Since that time Brown has made 553 miles over the same track, and a
negro lawyer from Boston named Hart has made 565 miles in Madison
Square Garden, finishing April 10, 1880.

As the record now stands, in contests where almost super-human
endurance and speed are required, ordinary runners may win, but
only at the expense of a waste of physical energy that a scientific
walker does not suffer. They go faster and manage to live through
the contest, but that is all. The introduction of "go-as-you-please"
contests, has, however, given rise to a new style of long-distance
running, which is as strictly scientific as professional walking,
and to these two branches of pedestrianism let us now devote our
attention.




SCIENTIFIC WALKING.


Every one walks more or less, but very few understand the principles
of scientific walking. The science consists in two things: 1st. How
to acquire the longest stride practicable to the physique of the
walker; 2d. How to distribute the weight of the body so that the
greatest effort shall be made with the least possible exertion.

[Illustration: THE UNSKILLED WALKER.]

Many walkers acquire the first part of this science, and some
understand the second division of the subject, but very few can
combine the two, like O'Leary. For short-distance matches, in
which contests up to twenty-five miles are included, the number of
scientific walkers is reasonably large, both among professionals
and so-called amateurs. They almost all walk on a correct system,
similar to that of O'Leary, but inasmuch as their exertions do not
last so long a time, they can afford to make them more vigorous. If
their stride be no longer, proportionately, than that of O'Leary,
the number of steps per minute taken by them is greater, and they
cover the ground at a rate that no untrained person can equal without
breaking into a trot.

The rate at which the best of them can go is shown by the marvelous
feats of Perkins, the English champion, who has the record of a mile
walked in _six minutes and twenty-three seconds_, and eight miles
walked in _an hour, less fifty-five seconds_. Such performances show
that Perkins can out-walk any ordinary road-horse going on a trot.
Even an amateur of our own country--T. H. Armstrong--has walked seven
miles in fifty-six minutes. It is needless to say that no untrained
person could equal this, four miles an hour being very sharp walking
to most people; and it becomes a matter of interest to know how the
professionals do it, and how their walk differs from that of an
unskilled man.

[Illustration: THE PROFESSIONAL.]

The sight of a walking-match does a good deal toward explaining
the mystery, and the foregoing cuts will show the main points of
difference between the skilled and unskilled pedestrian.

The unskilled amateur, who sets out to walk fast, generally makes
several grave mistakes. He leans his body forward, bends his back,
lowers his head, swings his arms at full length, and allows his knees
to bend. The consequence is that when he is doing his very best his
attitude is very much like that in the first cut, depicting the
unskilled walker.

There is no question that the poor fellow is doing his best, and
very little doubt that he can not last long at the rate he is going.

Contrast with this figure that of the second cut, showing a
professional in full stride. You are at full liberty to laugh at the
figure, for there is no question that it has strong elements of the
ludicrous; but for all that it is not exaggerated, and such attitudes
may be seen in every last short-distance match.

Now it is time to note the points of difference between the two men
and to show where the professional has the advantage over the other.

First note that a perpendicular line dropped from the center of each
man's chest between the shoulders to the ground, and continued upward
through his head would represent the line in which his weight falls.
Draw such a line and you will find that in the case of the unskilled
walker it strikes the ground close to his forward heel, while his
head is in advance of it. Consequently he has to support the weight
of his head, with all the disadvantage of leverage, by muscular
exertion, and the strain must fall on his back.

In the professional, on the other hand, the weight falls on a nearly
perpendicular column through the body, which is in balance, striking
the ground midway between the points of support--the feet. If the man
were to stop just where he is, he is in a position to resist a shove
either forward or back. A smart push from behind would infallibly
send our unskilled friend on his nose.

Note also that the professional's body, if anything, inclines
backward, and think of the reason. Remember that when in rapid motion
there is always a strong tendency to fall forward with the upper part
of the body, a consequence of its weight and momentum. The balance
of the body can therefore be sent a little back of the line which
would be proper when standing still, to counteract the force of this
momentum.

So much for distribution of weight.

Next note that the professional has both legs straight, and can
therefore take a greater stride than any one with bent knees. Note,
moreover, that he plants his heel first at the very extremity of his
stride, and thus gains on every step the whole length of his foot,
for after the heel is planted the toe comes down in advance by its
own weight without labor. If he were to point his toe downward, as in
the military "goose-step," he would lose all this advantage as soon
as the foot was planted.

Our next remark is that whereas the tyro swings his arms full length
with open hands the professional clenches his fists and bends his
arms double.

With this same action of the arms comes another of the shoulders,
which is of great importance. The working of the shoulders in fast
walking is a natural and almost ineradicable habit. A fast walker
_will_ swing his arms, no matter how he is cautioned. We have seen
many a drill master driven to despair by the swinging of arms of a
marching squad, after all his cautions. The fact is, the swing is
right and the drill master wrong. The faster a man walks, the more
his shoulders swing, by an effort of nature to lift the weight of
his body from the rear foot and to let it down on the front heel as
lightly as possible. The usual way of accomplishing this result is
to swing the arm at full length, but this fatigues the walker in two
ways: first, by the resistance of the air to the arm, cutting it;
second, by the leverage of the hand at the end of the arm, which has
to be counteracted by the shoulder muscles. Both these effects are
obviated by the simple expedient of bending the arm in proportion to
the speed, and clenching the hand. When at top speed, the forearm
of the advanced shoulder should be perpendicular, that of the rear
shoulder horizontal, and as the speed decreases so should the angle
of the arms become less acute. The difference in speed and ease of
movement between a walker who holds up his arms and one who lets
them swing full length is very striking, and our readers can try
for themselves the experiment of walking in both ways, noting the
advantage given by holding up the arms. In a race, it is a point that
soon tells.

Lastly we must give one special caution with regard to taking the cut
for an exactly accurate representation of what a man should do in
order to become a fast walker. As the artist has finished the figure,
many people might imagine that he had just made a _spring from the
toes of the left foot_, which is in rear. This should not be done, as
any weight sent on the toes soon tires out the walker, and although
the foot is bent as in the cut, the weight is taken off the toes by
working the shoulders. In fact as an English writer has well said,
modern professional walking is a series of springs from heel to heel.

There are some other points in scientific walking which require
the assistance of diagrams to explain them, and these concern the
position of the feet best calculated to secure a long stride at the
least expense of physical exertion.

If there is anything in scientific walking that is puzzling to a
civilized beginner, it is the things taught him in childhood which
he is now compelled to unlearn. A young savage who has never had
any lessons in "deportment," walks correctly enough, though he does
not generally care to exert himself sufficiently to make good time
at that pace, preferring the "dog-trot." But so far as he walks, he
always walks correctly, with a hollow back, stepping from heel to
heel, his arms bent, his head thrown back, his toes turned in. The
civilized boy, on the other hand, has a bad lesson given to him as
soon as he can talk. He is told to "turn his toes out."

Now it so happens that if you take two men, equally good walkers, and
let one turn his toes out, the other in, the "parrot-toed" man is
sure to beat the other in the long run.

The reason for this statement will be made plain by looking at the
following cut and reflecting on a few facts in connection therewith.

[Illustration: TWO METHODS OF WALKING.]

In the upper figure we have the foot tracks of a man walking with
his toes turned out; in the lower one the same foot takes the same
stride "parrot-toed." Note that both start with heels on the same
line, and that before a step is taken, the man who turns out his toes
has lost nearly an inch of forward progress, his toes not touching
the same line as that reached by the other, who carries his feet
straight. With the close of the first step the difference increases,
_both parties taking the same stride, measured from toe to toe_. The
parrot-toed man sets his heel down in advance of the other's heel,
and gains a further advantage by the greater reach of his toe at
every step.

The gain of the parrot-toed man is thus shown to be constant when
both parties use the same exertion, and must always give him the
race, other things being equal.

But there is another loss in turning the toes out, which is not less
important, and which is shown by the position of the large black
spots in the cut. These spots represent the point on which the weight
of the body falls in the middle of each stride, and a very important
difference will be noted in their position. In the case of the man
who turns his toes out, this spot comes under the joint of the great
toe, while in the other foot it lies between the second and third
toes.

In other words, when a man turns out his toes he places _all
his weight on a single joint_; when he walks parrot-toed it is
_distributed among five joints_. This difference in strain is
sure to tell in a long race. It is the experience of many a tramp
in moccasins and bare feet that makes the Indians and other wild
tribes walk parrot-toed, because any other way would soon lame
them. Our civilized stiff-soled boots, by distributing the weight
of the body over a large surface, permit us to go on walking in a
vicious fashion, as long as we do not have to use much exertion,
but when we come to serious pedestrianism, we must return to savage
_i.e._ natural ways, or the strain will tell in lameness, inside of
twenty-four hours' work.

The celebrated Indian-painter, George Catlin, gives in his "Travels"
a striking instance of the difference of the two systems. He was
a large, powerful man, and counted himself a good walker in the
old times. Therefore, when, in company with a number of trappers,
fur-traders and Indian employes of the Fur Company, he set out for a
hundred-and-fifty-mile tramp over the prairie in moccasins, he made
up his mind to lead the caravan and outwalk every one.

For the first day he did so, but then found himself lame; and next
day, in spite of all he could do, he fell behind inferior men and
became a straggler. At the evening camp-fire, the second day, an
old trapper noticed his condition and told him the secret of his
non-success.

"You are walking in moccasins," said the hunter, "and you must learn
_to turn in your toes, as the Indians do_."

Catlin took the advice, went to the head of the line next day, and
had no more trouble in keeping his place.

The moral of the story is obvious. If you wish to last to the end of
a match, _turn your toes in_.




SCIENTIFIC RUNNING.


If there is anything which the records of modern pedestrianism
settles, it is that we have yet a good deal to learn from savages.
Here we have been walking matches and running other matches for
the last fifty years, only to settle down into the regular Indian
lope, or dog-trot, for long distance traveling, as faster and less
exhausting than the fastest walk.

This pace, introduced for the first time into civilized contests
by "Blower" Brown, Hazael, Corkey and Rowell, is the very same
which the Indian runners of the forest tribes have used from time
immemorial. It is the same with which the Hindoo palkee-bearers swing
through the jungle for mile after mile under a tropic sun without
apparent distress, and the universal method adopted by savage and
semi-barbarous people whenever they wish to journey fast on foot. The
civilized untrained man when he tries the same pace commonly makes a
mess of it. "Old Sport," _alias_ Campana, was a good exemplar of the
civilized idea of a dog-trot--that of the old volunteer fire-brigade
of New York city. It was a fair trot, but it would not last forever.
Campana put up both arms, working his shoulders as in a walk, and
lifted his feet high before and behind, with a weary-looking, lagging
step. It entailed about the same exertion as a fast walk and got over
the ground no faster. Too much work was _wasted in perpendicular
motion_.

[Illustration: LONG-DISTANCE RUNNER.]

A model of truly scientific long-distance running is found in little
Charley Rowell, whose style is an exact imitation of Brown, Corkey
and Hazael. All four are men of about the same size and weight,
standing five feet six inches, and weighing from 130 to 140 lbs. The
probable reason for their taking to running was their small size,
which debarred them from success as walkers against men with six
inches more stride. As runners they have all glided into the same
system, which is fairly represented in the cut above, taken from the
attitude of Rowell.

The first thing that one notices about this figure is its ease, and
the absence of all appearance of effort. The professional walker,
in the cut in preceding chapter, looks as if he was walking hard,
but this fellow seems trying to run as slow as he can. The fact is
that, while not actually trying to go _slow_, he is trying to _save
himself_ as much exertion as is compatible with getting over the
ground a little faster than the fastest walk. Such a pace is from
six to eight miles an hour, and such a pace can be maintained by a
well-trained man like Rowell after he is unable to walk over three
miles an hour.

There are several points to notice about the attitude, especially
the position of the head and the way the nose is elevated in the
air. When Rowell started after O'Leary on his dog-trot with his nose
in the air, people laughed at him and thought he was playing monkey
tricks; but when Rowell kept his nose in the air for six days it
began to be seen that he had a reason for so doing.

If any of our readers will try the experiment of running for a
distance with the head down and then change to Rowell's plan, nose
in air and teeth tightly clenched, they will be surprised at the
difference in ease of respiration. Throwing up the head makes the
passage from nose to windpipe nearly straight, and the air has no
corners to turn before reaching the lungs. In fast running, or any
long-continued exertion, it is necessary to keep the mouth closed,
to prevent the rapid evaporation that takes place when the air comes
in through the open mouth, parching up the throat. But if we try to
breathe _through the nose alone_, with the head bent down, we find
that the air does not come freely enough, and distress soon compels
us to open the mouth, after which we are speedily at the end of our
tether--and wind. Holding up the head in the fashion depicted in
the cut renders a two hours' run a matter of comparative ease to a
well-trained man, and enables one like Hazael to run his 137 miles in
26 hours.

The next point to notice about our long-distance friend is the
position of his arms, which are slightly bent and held rigid by
the sides, to steady the walls of the lungs and thus let the chest
be kept fully dilated as long as possible. If the man in the cut
were running a "sprint race"--that is for any distance inside of a
furlong--his arms would go up to the same angles as those of the
professional walker, because then he would be at top speed. As it is
he is going _as easily as he can_, and does not run fast enough to
be able to keep his arms up, _without a conscious muscular exertion,
which would tell in a race_.

The art of long-distance running is one of real value to any one
who wishes to increase the size of his legs to shapeliness, and to
be able to go long steps rapidly with the least fatigue. This pace,
alternated with walking whenever the breath fails, can be adopted
by any person with advantage to health. The strain comes on the
muscles of the front of the thigh and calf of the leg, and a return
to walking rests these more completely than actual standing still.
The combination of the two forms the "go-as-you-please" contest.

[Illustration: SPRINT RUNNER.]

We have thus fully noticed long-distance running before treating of
"sprint" races and other short dashes, because it is a more important
branch of athletics. The correct system is one that can be readily
acquired by all, old and young, and will be found of great value
whenever one is in a hurry to go to a certain place. The regular
long-distance trot will take a person further and faster than any
other known method of unaided progression.

A few words about sprint running will appropriately close this
chapter.

By the term "sprint" races are meant all those dashes at full
speed which are not over a furlong in length. Seventy-five and
one-hundred-yard dashes are the most common, and the question of
excellence as a sprint racer, or "sprinter," depends on single
seconds or fractions thereof in time, while the benefits derived from
the practice are nothing like those of the mile or ten-mile runner.
The form required, however, merits observation.

Sprint running is only an exaggeration of the system displayed
in long-distance work. The arms rise as in fast walking, and for
the same reasons, till they are doubled up. The work, being fast,
requires that the lungs be kept expanded, therefore the arms are
kept stiff and rigid to aid the chest muscles in holding out the
walls of the thorax to give room to the lungs. The distribution of
weight, on account of the rapid motion, comes to be much the same
as in fast walking, but the knees are bent of necessity; because in
running the progression is made by springs from toe to toe, instead
of heel to heel. The same cause admits of the upper part of the body
falling forward, though the elevation of nose and hollowing of back
is even more important than in long-distance work, inasmuch as the
exertion is more severe while it lasts. The cut on preceding page
will illustrate the difference between the sprint runner and the
long-distance man.

Having thus treated of scientific walking and running simply with
regard to their mechanical action, we can next turn to the subject of
the proper dress to be adopted to make both easy for the pedestrian.




DRESS FOR PEDESTRIANS.


The first question of importance both to walkers and runners is how
they shall be shod, and too much attention cannot be paid to this
matter. We will begin with the needs of a walker.

It is not our intention to advertise any particular firm of
shoemakers as unequaled in the manufacture of walking-shoes; for the
fact is that the very best of the crack firms will turn out botch
jobs if you do not watch them sharply.

There are four points to be attended to in the selection of
walking-shoes:--First, the sole of the shoe must be _under the whole
of the foot_; second, the uppers must be soft and flexible; third,
the fit must be snug around the ankle and heel, but easy at the toes;
fourth, the heels must be low and broad.

To secure the first of these points there is only one certain way,
which is to stand in stocking feet on a piece of paper, and have the
outline of your sole traced on the paper, the actual sole of the shoe
being cut to this pattern, and never coming inside of the line.

The second and third points depend on your own vigilance and
determination not to let the maker put off a stiff, ill-fitting pair
of shoes on you. As for the last point, low broad heels, no heels at
all would be better. Very low heels of India rubber would, however,
diminish the jar of fast walking, and are worth more trial than they
have yet had.

The only reason for having a heel on a walking-shoe is to enable
it to resist the unequal wear that comes on that spot, and not to
elevate the heel of the natural foot.

With regard to the first point, that of the sole being under
the whole of the foot, this cannot be too much insisted on, for
shoemakers _will_ make them narrower, with the idea of giving an
appearance of smallness to the feet. Your only remedy is to refuse
to take all shoes where the maker does not follow exactly the paper
pattern of sole.

The softness and flexibility of the uppers are more easily secured,
as also the fit round the ankle, where walking-shoes should be
_laced_. Buttoned boots or "Congress gaiters" with elastic sides are
not fit to walk in, as neither can be accommodated to the size of a
foot that is swelling during a severe match. Laces can be relaxed or
tightened; buttons are inflexible; while elastic webbing always keeps
the same pressure.

A professional walker, or one who is ambitious of excelling on the
track will need six pairs of shoes in a long race, beginning with
those that fit close and changing to those that are old, worn, and
easy to the foot, as it becomes sore and inflamed. The man who
rests his hopes of fame on mile-walks, needs a different foot-gear,
analogous to that of the sprint runner, whom he resembles. Strong
shoes are thrown away on him. He needs the very lightest kind of
slipper that can be made, consistent with enough leather to preserve
the foot from bruises, and the running slippers that are sold in all
sporting warehouses are just the thing for this kind of work. Those
that are furnished with spikes are well enough for running on turf,
but to be avoided on hard tracks.

Next after the shoes, and equally great in importance, come the
socks. There is only one point necessary to be observed about these:
they should be of soft woolen and as thick as possible. Hand-knit are
preferable to woven socks, but the thickness and softness are the
great points, as these secure the absorption of the perspiration.
Cotton socks would be sure to work into hard wrinkles in a match-walk
and cause severe blisters, though it must be owned that these will
sometimes occur in spite of all imaginable precautions.

About the rest of a pedestrian's dress there is but little to say;
as it depends almost entirely on individual fancy. There is no
doubt that the best dress for active work of all kinds is a suit of
common white cotton tights, which cost less than two dollars, while
trunk-breeches can be made at home at an almost nominal cost.

But whether the walker rejoice in silk tights and velvet trunks, or
remain satisfied with the homely flannel drawers and cardigan jackets
of Rowell, is a matter of indifference to his speed. The only things
he CANNOT wear if he hopes to do good walking, are ulster overcoats
and trowsers. In a word, his dress may be anything he likes, so long
as it leaves his joints free; and this is why knee-breeches have
never given way to trowsers on a walking-track.

Trowsers are in fact the worst dress possible for all active
exercise. They cramp the knee and prevent its free action in a
manner which, while it does not interfere materially with walking at
ordinary rates of speed, affects a runner seriously by the time he
has passed over a few yards at top speed.




TRAINING FOR A MATCH.


The word "training" in modern times has come to comprise two separate
branches of athletic science. The first is a system of practice on
a special feat till the trained man accomplishes it with ease and
certainty; the other and more important branch aims to bring the
trained man to the highest pitch of health and strength.

When he has attained this point he is said to be in "condition."

It is plain therefore that a perfect system of training cannot afford
to leave out either of these branches. A man may be trained to walk
or run in the best possible style and fail in a race on account of
poor condition; or again he may be in the finest physical condition
and fail on account of defective system of walking or running.

The many races of the late champion Daniel O'Leary illustrate both
these facts very sensibly. When he went to England to meet Weston and
the great pedestrians, he kept himself in good condition, and used
the best system of walking known. The consequence was that he was
prepared at all points and beat all comers. When he came back to the
United States he was pitted successively against Hughes and Campana,
men whom he despised as opponents. Hughes was in excellent condition,
but did not understand the science of either walking or running;
and so tired himself out early in the race, which was easily won by
O'Leary on a small record.

Next the champion met Campana, a man who began to run too late in
life, and who then understood nothing but the jog trot for a day or
two. As a walker he was nowhere, his system being so bad that he
tired himself out when going at only four miles an hour. Here also
O'Leary had an easy victory; but it is worthy of remark that he was
more distressed to do four hundred miles in the Campana match, than
he had been to accomplish five hundred and twenty in the first Astley
belt match.

The whole reason was that he had allowed himself to get out of
condition, and so found his system feverish when it should have been
vigorous; while blisters that should have yielded to care rapidly
increased in size and made the greater part of the walk a positive
torture to him. It became evident that if he were to be pitted
against a man in good condition with a good system, he would go
under, and the next race realized the expectation. Coming against
Rowell, Harriman and Ennis, all in fair condition, he broke down
utterly and left the track for good.

Rowell, the winner of the match, is an example of the success which
is sure to meet a man who combines perfect system and perfect
condition. His opponents, Harriman and Ennis, while not in bad
condition, were not models in that way. Harriman was too much of a
vegetarian, and Ennis was always cursed with a rebellious stomach.
The little Englishman on the other hand was in perfect condition and
used a system of progression that exactly suited him. His short legs
made a long walking stride impossible; therefore he took to trotting;
but by dint of long practice acquired a trot which he could keep up
for hours at a time, with no more fatigue than that involved in fast
walking, while it covered more ground.

Later matches have but emphasized these points. The records of
distance made in six-day contests have gradually risen, as man
after man has acquired a better system of traveling, while all have
kept themselves in better condition; and thus we see men who began
like Merritt, Krohme, Hart, Panchot, Fitzgerald and a dozen others,
gradually bettering their performances, till the American track has
fairly beaten the English in the number of "five hundred mile men" it
has turned out.

One thing has been demonstrated in all these races beyond a doubt;
which is, that no man can safely train _himself_ for a great feat. He
may do it during preliminary practice and at small matches where his
opponents are not dangerous; but when it comes to a supreme effort,
he must put himself into the hands of others, if he hope to make a
good record.

The men who do the training for matches in large cities are generally
retired pugilists or professional athletes of other kinds and
there's not much choice between them. The special work of the old
pugilistic trainer is to bring his man up to the highest point of
health and strength, besides sustaining him during the match. He
is generally a careful and experienced nurse, who understands the
efficacy of rubbings and baths to take the pain out of tired joints;
and will often perform wonders in the way of restoring a jaded man to
comparative freshness.

His weakness as a special trainer for pedestrians, lies in the fact
that he is not an expert in systems of walking, and so cannot give
his man much valuable instruction during his training.

The weakness of a professional pedestrian, on the other hand, lies
in the direction where the pugilist is strongest, that of general
physical training. His best point will probably be his ability to
criticise and improve the style of his pupil before the match. If
such a trainer can make his man go more miles in an hour with less
fatigue than he has ever done before, he will be worth a good deal of
money; but as a sustainer and imparter of strength he is not always
as successful. He is apt to let his man eat things that are not only
not beneficial, but often positively injurious; a mistake which the
pugilistic trainer never commits.

These facts render the selection of trainers a matter requiring a
good deal of judgment, and indicates different men for different
kinds of races.

If the object of ambition is to beat the world in a mile, five-mile
or twenty-five mile walk, square heel and toe, a professional
pedestrian is the man to employ as a trainer; as style and swiftness
are his special points, and the efforts required in short contests
are not so severe as to cause an exhausting drain on the physical
powers.

When the trial is changed to a sprint race, where great speed is
required and a severe temporary strain comes on heart and lungs, the
pugilist would answer the purpose better, as condition is the great
point in such a match, style being secondary.

For longer running contests up to twenty miles, where economy of
strength is everything, style becomes a valuable adjunct; and here
the professional runner is indicated as the proper trainer.

For twenty-four-hour walks and runs the professional pedestrian is
also the man to employ, as such efforts are not above the capacity of
men in fair condition.

Even as far as three-day contests, a moderate amount of physical
condition will take a man through without breaking down under the
strain, and a pugilistic trainer may be unnecessary.

When it comes, however, to the supreme efforts required to accomplish
five hundred miles in six days, two trainers are almost imperatively
required; one a pedestrian, to train for speed and style; the other
an old pugilist, who understands every point involved in putting a
man into first-class condition and nursing him under the tremendous
strain involved in a match. These men must be in constant attendance
on their pupil before the match, and will be obliged to lose as much
sleep as the competitor during the trial itself, unless they can be
relieved by others as good as themselves.

We have said this much on the subject of training, although
experience shows that trainers are not made by books. We recommend
every reader, ambitious to become a crack pedestrian, to put himself
into the hands of an old trainer whenever he can, paying his price
if he can afford it. If, however, this be impossible, and it be
absolutely necessary for the aspirant to train himself, a few safe
general rules may be laid down, which can be followed without danger,
and the observance of which is sure to give an easy victory over
_untrained_ men, such as attend country matches.

We will take them in order, beginning with sprint-racing.


HOW TO TRAIN FOR A SPRINT RACE.

If it be for a seventy-five-yard dash, find some place where you can
lay out a straight track, just that length. In the country this is
easy, in the city more difficult, the public parks being the only
places where it is practicable. Having laid out the track, take a
friend to time you, and run the course regularly three or four times
a day, one or two trials each time, keeping a record of the average
for a week. Do this in your ordinary clothes and shoes. You will
probably find your first week's average about eleven seconds, if not
more.

During this first week there is no special diet to recommend, save to
eat as few vegetables, and as little sweet stuff as may be. If the
bowels become free, as they are apt to do under the running exercise,
no medicine need be taken, but if the system is much clogged, a
succession of three doses of epsom salts or citrate of magnesia,
taken every other morning, will remove waste matter and restore a
healthy tone.

The second week begin to run for time, and to improve the wind.
Increase the number of dashes to five or six a day, and run the
course at least twice each trial. You are pretty sure now to get your
record below ten seconds, if you throw off your upper clothes and
run in shirt and trowsers. During this week eat lean meat, mutton or
beef, with stale bread, and drink as little as possible. Remember
that to keep the bowels regular, there is nothing like regular
habits; and that the system should be cleared out twice a day.

On the third week try the track at top speed, once every hour, and
begin to practice in running costume. You will find that your record
has now come down below nine seconds. Your appetite will become
furious during this week, and you will find it hard to stick to your
temperate fare of bread and meat, but this is essential to success,
as a sprint runner can hardly be too thin and hard for his work. If
the aspirant be at all fat, he should run in heavy clothes to sweat
himself down, or else try a Turkish bath, which takes off the fat
quicker than anything else.

The fourth week should be that of the race, and the previous exercise
should be increased by running the track once every half hour in
the morning, and returning to the previous week's practice in the
afternoon.

If any young man out in the country will try this method of training
faithfully, beginning four weeks before the match comes off, he will
be able to beat all his untrained competitors by one and perhaps
two seconds; for sprint running depends on the capacity to take the
greatest possible number of steps inside of twenty seconds, and so
does not require the elaborate training necessary to accomplish more
exhausting feats.

Hundred-yard dashes require the same training as seventy-five-yard
spurts; and so do hundred-and-twenty-yard races. The longest sprint
race, and the most severe of all, is the furlong dash--two hundred
and twenty yards. This kind of racing is a tremendous strain on the
lungs and heart, as the same pace which carries the runner over the
hundred yard track has to be kept up and even increased. It requires
a broad deep chest in the runner, with little flesh, and that hard
and firm. To train for such a race requires at least a year's
practice, and amateurs would do well to leave it alone altogether.


TO TRAIN FOR MILE OR TWO-MILE WALKS.

Here the first requisite is a track for practice, and the directions
for sprinter's training will serve in all respects as to diet and
medicine. The period of training however needs to be longer, the mile
walker needing more time to perfect his style and speed. The margin
of difference between a green sprinter and a trained one is only a
few seconds, but the green walker has to overcome a difference of
several minutes before he can hope for success in a mile match. His
exercise has one great advantage about it, that it aids him to train
himself into first class condition. If he will study to acquire the
walk of the professional, described in previous chapters, he will be
able in six weeks to cut down his mile record from twelve minutes to
less than nine, and will have a fair chance in any amateur race. When
he can do a mile in eight minutes, he can enter with a fair degree
of confidence almost anywhere, and can travel round to country races
carrying all before him.


TRAINING FOR MILE RUNS.

Here the training should be long and severe, and no amateur can hope
to do very much in mile runs in the way of time. It is true that
there are some young men, calling themselves amateurs, that have made
fine records at mile runs, but they were in reality professionals;
that is, they made a business of running, even if they did not take
money prizes. Begin with sprint racing if you hope to become eminent
as a mile runner, and keep on extending the length of your trials
gradually. It takes a good year's hard work to make a respectable
mile-runner.


TRAINING FOR LONG RUNS.

Here it is difficult, if not impossible, to give any fixed rules
beyond those indicated at the earlier part of this chapter. The best
way is to get a good trainer, put yourself in his hands and follow
his instructions faithfully.




LAYING OUT A TRACK.


Nothing is so common a cause of spoiling a walking or running record
as "a short track." This is peculiarly the case in the country,
where pedestrian contests are apt to be conducted in a rough manner,
unaccompanied by the guards found to be essential in the first-class
matches held in large cities. Too much care cannot be exercised in
measuring a track; and it is always best to secure the services of
the official engineer of the county or town as a measurer to make
sure of the proper length. The reason for securing an engineer rather
than trusting to your own measurement is that engineers can always be
depended on to use _standard measures, made of metal, which do not
stretch_. Common measuring tapes, being made of woven materials or
leather, are liable to many errors from stretching or shrinking; and
though these may not amount to more than a few inches in a fifty-foot
tape, they make a serious hole in a record of five hundred miles.

Sometimes these mistakes will occur in the best regulated contests,
as became evident after the Astley belt match of 1879 in Gilmore's
Garden. There was a great deal of litigation and dispute between the
representatives of the Astley and O'Leary parties before this match
came off; and the O'Leary people, who took possession of the Garden
the week after the match, in their eagerness to find some fault with
their predecessors, had the track remeasured. The result showed that
the track used in the Astley belt match lacked several feet of being
a full furlong, and the difference spoiled all the records, taking
six or eight miles off Rowell's excellent performance.

The commonest cause of country records being bad is that country
pedestrians too frequently use horse-racing tracks, which are
measured in a peculiar manner. In a horse-race, especially in a
trotting contest with wheels, the mile or half-mile line runs in the
middle, or near the middle of the track, to equalize the chances of
horses starting abreast. The advantage of "hugging the pole"--keeping
to the inside of this line--on a circular or elliptic track, are
too obvious to be enlarged upon, but the ardor of the horses
seldom permits one to hold this advantage long, and the animals
are continually crossing the line of distance, thereby making a
serpentine course which equalizes the chances of all.

In pedestrian contests, on the other hand, each man hugs the rail
as close as he can, and therefore the track must always be measured
_close to the inside rail_.

In a hall or theater, where most walking tracks have been laid, the
length must be suited to the capacity of the building; but when an
open air track is available, there is no question as to the necessity
of making it some simple multiple of a mile. A quarter-mile open
air track would be the beau-ideal of a place for summer pedestrian
contests, but if a half-mile or mile track is to be used, where one
already exists for trotting contests, it will be necessary to lay
out a second railing at the proper distance from the horse-rail, to
enable the record to be made in the only way it can count.

Open air tracks, however, are not fit for six-day matches, on account
of the liability to rain, and dew, which would spoil the track for
walkers by making it muddy. Moreover, such tracks are seldom found
near enough to cities to admit of the crowds that are necessary to
make a foot-race pay. Horse racing is the pastime of rich people,
who can afford to enjoy their amusement without regard to cost;
but pedestrian matches are dependent on large crowds of spectators
who must be tempted to drop in at any and all times. Therefore it
is that pedestrian matches are almost always, and six-day contests
invariably, held in large buildings, under cover; and the average
length of track is either 110 or 220 yards, so as to make either
eight or sixteen "laps" to the mile. The word "lap" has now become
so familiar that few people reflect that it is merely the revival of
an obsolete word meaning "to turn," and that so many "laps" mean so
many "turns." If the building is large enough to hold an eight-lap
track, it is to be preferred; but failing that, one must be satisfied
with a ten, twelve, or sixteen lap track. For the convenience of our
readers, we furnish a table of lengths of tracks, making so many laps
to the mile:

  A track 660      feet long gives 8 laps to the mile.
  "   "   586  2-3  "    "    "    9  "     "     "
  "   "   528       "    "    "   10  "     "     "
  "   "   480       "    "    "   11  "     "     "
  "   "   440       "    "    "   12  "     "     "
  "   "   406 2-13  "    "    "   13  "     "     "
  "   "   377  1-7  "    "    "   14  "     "     "
  "   "   352       "    "    "   15  "     "     "
  "   "   330       "    "    "   16  "     "     "

This table shows the kind of tracks to avoid as difficult to measure.
They are the thirteen and fourteen-lap tracks, which contain
fractions that involve a division of inches and are so far improper.
All the others are easily measured.

Next to the length comes the question of the best shape of track and
the size of the building which controls it. The greatest possible
length to be secured in any given building would obviously be in
a line which should run against the outer wall all round, leaving
the seats for the spectators in the center. This plan is open,
however, to two objections. First, the spectators could only see
the men when they were on their own side of the track; and, second,
the pedestrians would have to turn four sharp corners in every lap
round an ordinary building. These things must be avoided somehow.
The pedestrians must at all times be visible from every point of the
house and the corners of their track must be rounded for them to make
the going easy.

The next form of track which would suggest itself is a circular
one, in the middle of the building, but this has its own objection.
A circular track is sure to produce dizziness, especially if it be
a small one. The experience of the past few years has therefore
dictated the use of the largest buildings only, with tracks where
straight lines and curves are blended into a sort of ellipse; and
the proportion of each adopted in Agricultural Hall, London, and
Gilmore's Garden, New York, has proved itself capable of giving the
best results in time to the men and comfort to the spectators.

These now famous tracks have a center formed by a parallelogram,
with the upper and lower ends rounded into semi-circles. This center
is longer than it is broad, and leaves about two-thirds of the
track--the sides--in nearly straight lines, the circular parts at the
ends being each one one-sixth of the whole distance. If only two men
are competing, as in the O'Leary matches with Hughes and Campana, the
path is broad enough to lay out two tracks, on which the men can walk
without interfering with each other's movements. This is the fairest
plan; but if there are more than two competitors they use a single
eight-lap track, where the man who wishes to pass his opponent has to
do so on the outside, before he can take the rail in front of him.

The center around which the track runs is a good place for spectators
who wish to see the men closely; and is always occupied by a crowd of
people, moving from side to side, and cheering vehemently at the more
exciting portions of the race.

To reach this center visitors have to cross the track; but this,
though objectionable, has not yet been found to have any very bad
effects. All round the other side of the broad pathway are the rows
of benches and private boxes where are seated the great mass of the
spectators who do not care to stand. The only objection to Gilmore's,
now Madison Square Garden, as a place for pedestrian contests, is the
fact that the building is cheaply constructed, with a large number
of wooden pillars which interrupt the view of portions of the track;
but this defect is not serious in a race, where the point of view is
constantly shifting.

We give on the frontispiece a diagram of the general arrangement of a
building on the same principle as Madison Square Garden.

The model hall is of the largest size used, but gives a longer track.
The inside path, shortest of all, measures eight laps to the mile,
while a track laid out on the dotted line will give only seven laps
to the mile. This line is fifteen feet and a quarter of an inch
from the inner rail. The eight-lap track is five feet wide, to give
ample room for each competitor to pass the other on the outside if
he can. Each track has two straight stretches of 220 feet each, and
a semi-circular turn at each end. The diameter of the eight-lap
semi-circles is seventy feet three inches, and that of the seven-lap
tracks is one-hundred feet and half an inch. In each case the actual
measurement of the track will be a trifle over, rather than under the
calculated distance, which must be tested by the measuring tape when
the rail is set up. If it prove long, the rail is bent in, if short
pushed out, till the tape just fits.

Those who cannot secure an engineer or official surveyor to measure
their tracks are advised to use brass chains or steel tapes,
especially the last, which are very handy.

A hall of the size given will hold thirteen thousand spectators when
the whole of the ring is crowded with standers, as it was at the
close of every Astley Belt match in New York, while there are good
seats for seven thousand people outside the track, in a building 400
by 200 feet. The main path on which the different lap tracks are
constructed, is twenty-five feet wide, to accommodate races where
the starters are numerous, such as sprints of seventy-five yards or
upward.

This size of building and track will be found the best for large
cities, on account of the advantages it gives for the meetings of
athletic clubs, who always have two or more sprint races and handicap
mile or two-mile walks. Hundred-yard dashes on such a track are
made down one side, with the least possible turn; and by laying the
finishing line on a slant across the curve at the end, the outside
men can be favored enough to make all run just the same distance.
There is no trouble about starting five or six men at a time on such
a track.

The following estimates will show how, by following the same general
outline and proportions, smaller buildings can accommodate the
greatest number of spectators and the greatest length of track.

A building 100 feet by 50 will hold a railed inclosure 72 feet 6
inches long by 17 feet 6 inches across, giving a track 155 feet 3
inches long, 34 laps to the mile, and 8 feet wide, with accommodation
for 800 spectators inside and outside the ring, 400 having seats.

A building 200 by 100 feet will hold a 16-lap track and nearly 3500
people, seating 1600.

A building 150 by 75 feet will hold a 24-lap track, and 2000
spectators, 1000 on seats.

With these general data and the diagram, a calculation of the
capacity of any given building is easy. The main point is to have as
long a track as can be squeezed in, consistently with securing a good
view for the largest number of spectators.

Having treated of the best shape for a pedestrian track, the next
question comes as to the materials of which it should be made.

Bearing in mind that the broad twenty-five foot track is to be a
permanency for the use of athletic clubs and sprint races, it will
have to undergo a great deal of wear and tear, and requires a firm
smooth surface. Simple dirt will get trodden into ridges or become
loose and heavy, while a stone pavement is too hard. An asphalt
pavement, laid on the bare earth, gives a mixture of elasticity and
firmness that suits sprint races very well, and has the further
advantage of being easily repaired. For the main track, a thick
covering of asphalt can hardly be bettered.

For six-day walks, however, the main track is altogether too hard.
The long continuance of such walks makes the feet of the pedestrians
very tender, and they require something softer.

Tanbark and sawdust are the agents used to build a special walking
track, and the latter is far the most common. The best kind of track
that has been laid in the United States, and one that has served
as a model for all others since, was that used in the Astley Belt
match, won by Rowell in 1879 from O'Leary, Harriman and Ennis. This
track was bordered on both sides with planks, and filled with some
three inches of dry sawdust, smoothed with rollers. After O'Leary's
retirement, the track was sprinkled with water and rolled all the
time, the roller having to keep out of the way of the pedestrians.
This path, thus rolled and wetted into firmness, was the perfection
of a walking track. The dry sawdust was too soft and slippery, but
the wet rolled path was perfection. It made no dust, was always
springy and elastic, soft and cool to the foot, and conducive to good
time. Such a path can hardly be bettered by any means with which the
sporting world is now acquainted, and it is so easily made anywhere
that we can heartily recommend it. Open air tracks for summer
sprint-racing can hardly follow a better model than a common trotting
track, but if a turf surface, level and free from stones, holes or
roots, can be secured, it is still better except in a long drought,
when the turf becomes very slippery.




CONDUCTING A MATCH.


The management of a pedestrian match of whatever kind is by no
means an easy matter, and one that increases in difficulty with the
magnitude of the prizes involved. Large prizes are sure to attract
numerous competitors, and large crowds of spectators generally follow
the athletes. Every year sees a number of athletic games held in
our large cities, such as New York, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia,
Cincinnati or St. Louis, but it is safe to say that not ten per cent.
of these are even fairly carried out, while most are sad scenes of
confusion. In New York city the only club that gives thoroughly
satisfactory exhibitions is the New York Athletic, and the only
well-conducted six-day matches involving more than two competitors
have been the Astley and O'Leary Belt matches.

This statement involves a short account of the difficulties incident
to a large pedestrian match or athletic meeting.

The troubles arise from two causes, numerous competitors and numerous
spectators. These require a numerous staff to attend to their wants
and prevent disorder and waste of money.

Let us first take the spectators. To bring them in is the ambition
of every man or club that gives a match. To do so requires that
the entertainment shall be well and plainly advertised; and it is
not every one who can draw up an advertisement properly. The daily
papers must be visited by the managers to secure notices in the
news columns; and the walls of conspicuous buildings must be lined
with show-bills, setting forth the _place_ and _date_ of the show,
with the _price of admission_. Every bill _should_ contain this
information, but a great many amateur club bills do not contain it.

Having attracted the people, the next thing is to admit them
in such a way that no one shall get in without paying or on a
complimentary ticket, and that the tickets shall act as a check on
the money-takers' accounts. We have seen amateur shows where the
man at the door took money and tickets indifferently, so that the
managers were entirely at the mercy of his honesty. It is therefore
absolutely necessary that two persons should be at the door, one to
take the tickets, the other to sell them, and no person should be
admitted except by a ticket of some sort. The tickets should, as fast
as received, be dropped into a box with a slit at the top, the box
to be locked and the manager to have the key. The tickets sold at
the office should be of different color from the complimentaries, of
which the manager should be sole custodian.

At the "counting of the house" the ticket-box is unlocked, the
tickets carefully counted, and the result shows how much money ought
to be in the box-office. In a six-day match, where the receipts are
very large and constantly accumulating, it is usual to have two sets
of ticket-takers and box-office men, and to count the house morning
and evening.

In large matches, too, the managers are sometimes obliged to change
the shape, color and appearance of their tickets from day to day, to
avoid the introduction of forgeries, while detectives are necessary
to watch the ticket-takers for fear they may be in collusion with the
box-office man.

Within the house, if there are any reserved seats, it is necessary to
have ushers to direct the holders of coupons to their proper places,
but reserved seats are not much in favor at walking matches.

In large matches where there is a great mixed crowd, the attendance
of the police is frequently advisable to prevent attacks on
competitors by the backers of men opposed to them. Had it not been
for the police, Rowell and Hazael would have both probably been
severely hurt, if not disabled for life at the last Astley Belt match.

With regard to the competitors, the duty of the management is
confined to giving them a good track, air as pure as possible, with
responsible scorers and timers. Their quarters and diet are matters
for their own attention, and depend on the finances of each. It has
become customary to set up tents for all competitors in a six-day
match round the inside rail and opening on the track. These tents
are in fact preferable to huts of board, unless the weather is very
cold indeed, but they should be provided with camp stoves in case it
becomes necessary to give the competitor a warm bath, as frequently
happens.

The duties of the management as regards a good track for a six-day
match have already been explained. It is also their duty to see
that a sufficient force of scorers and timers is on hand. Where the
competitors are few this is not difficult, but where there are fifty
or more it demands great care to prevent confusion. In a six-day
match it is usual to have twelve relays of scorers, volunteers from
the various athletic clubs who take every alternate twelve hours from
Monday to Saturday inclusive.

The system of scoring adopted and used at the late great walk in
Madison Square Garden was a great advance on all previous efforts
and could hardly be excelled for simplicity and accuracy. There were
sixty competitors, and each had to be recognized and scored eight
times for every mile, or four thousand times in five hundred miles,
in such a manner that there could be no mistake as to his identity.
To effect this result the following were the arrangements:

Each competitor carried the number of his entry in figures a foot
long on his left breast, and they were started in sets of four or
six, to each of which was given a special timer and scorer. It was
the timer's business to watch for his numbers and no one else's, and
to call them out every time they came by the stand. Behind him sat
the scorer with his book, and it was his business to make a mark
against each number as called by the timer, columns being ruled for
that purpose in the book. Thus each man attended to his business,
without any temptation to increase or diminish his scores.

Besides attending to the scoring of the competitors, the management
owes a duty to the spectators of announcing the results of that
scoring through the varying fortunes of the race. This is generally
done by means of a large blackboard, whereon the names and scores of
the leaders are chalked up, so that every one can see them; but where
the competitors are numerous this will not serve for all, and another
method is taken at the scoring stand where each man has his name on a
placard two feet long, underneath which are placed two more placards
one bearing the word "miles," the other the word "laps." Before each
of these is a vacancy where a number can be hung, and each name has
a man to attend to it, whose duty is to move the "mile" and "lap"
numbers as they change. In the last match dials with pointers were
substituted for the cards, with the advantage of increased simplicity.

So much for six-day professional matches, which are the best managed
as a rule. Something remains to be said about amateur walks and runs,
because they are subject to much mismanagement. The New York Athletic
Club is in fact almost the only organization in the metropolis that
gives thoroughly enjoyable entertainments, because they are properly
managed.

The reason of the trouble at most amateur matches is that the
competitors are not kept in proper discipline, but are allowed to run
over the management, violate rules, interfere, argue, protest and
grumble, till the managers lose their heads in the confusion. The
first thing for the managers of an athletic meeting to do is to make
a set of rules that will cover all conceivable cases, and then to
stick to them, and no better example of such rules can be given than
those of the New York Athletic Club, which will be found in a later
chapter.

The troubles generally arise in questions of time and precedence
among a large number of walkers, for it is in square walking contests
that the dispute generally occurs. There may be fifty or more men at
the scratch and all or most have walked fairly enough till near the
finish, when they have tried on their most knowing tricks to cover
up a run and get in first. It is here that the experience and temper
of the judges are most severely tried. They may have to rule out
as many as three or four men and give the first prize to a man who
crosses the score third or fourth, and this is a difficult thing to
do without appearing unjust.

The competitors in such matches must always wear numbers to save
confusion, and the scorers and timers have less work than in a
six-day race.

"Timing" a man _correctly_ requires two men; one to hold the watch
with his thumb ready on the stop looking at nothing else; the other
to watch the man and call out "stop" as he crosses the line. No
man can do timing single-handed. He is sure to make mistakes from
disturbance of mind on account of divided attention.

For the convenience of those without practical experience in
conducting athletic meetings we print an additional chapter
containing the most approved rules, to which we refer the reader.




RECORDS OF PEDESTRIANISM.


The first reliable record that we have of modern pedestrianism bears
the name of Captain Robert Barclay. Of course there had been walkers
before his time; but he was the first to bring walking, as a means
of locomotion, into general notice. The first public match of this
remarkable man took place in 1806, when he is said to have walked
from Ury to Craithynaird, Scotland, and return, a distance of 100
miles, in 19 hours. Three years later, we find his most notable
record. During the interval he had taken the name of Allardice in
addition to his own, and is described on the records, as Captain
Robert Barclay Allardice, who made a match of two thousand guineas
at Newmarket, England, that he could walk 1,000 miles in 1,000
consecutive hours, and did it, too. This was the first of these
endurance matches publicly attempted, and was walked in the open air
on the high road, where two inns were found, just a mile apart, near
the town of Newcastle. Captain Barclay favored himself in this match
by walking a mile at the end of one hour and going on with the next
mile at the beginning of the succeeding hour, thus giving himself an
hour and a half clear sleep or rest between each two miles. He won
his bet, beginning June 1st, and ending July 12th, 1809.

This feat remained unexcelled till 1877, when William Gale beat it
all to pieces. Starting on August 26th of that year, and ending
October 6th, he succeeded in walking 1,500 miles in 1,000 hours, a
mile and a half each hour, commencing on the stroke of the hour. This
feat was done at Lillie Bridge, England, and was followed in November
of the same year by 4,000 quarter miles done in 4,000 consecutive
periods of ten minutes each. This Gale was the same person who
trained Madam Anderson to bring the quarter-mile match to the United
States; and that lady made a great monetary success out of it, though
her feats were not remarkable, save as being executed by a woman.

The first flutter of interest in pedestrianism excited in the United
States, was when E. P. Weston started, Oct. 29, 1867 to walk from
Portland, Maine, to Chicago, Illinois, which he reached November
28th, (Thanksgiving Day) having successfully accomplished the task he
set himself.

Up to that time, while there had been some races, where good runners
had contested, walking was at a discount in the United States; but
from the date of Weston's feat, pedestrianism became a fashionable
amusement, and rich club-men were found who would walk matches on
foot, instead of lolling in carriages, or trotting their horses.

The professionals during that time had been chiefly confined to
England, where the best records had been made.

The best 100-yard sprinter of his day was George Seward, of
Hammersmith, England, who made the amazing time of 9 1-4 seconds,
Sept. 30, 1844, and did 120 yards in 11 1-4 seconds, May 3, 1847.
These records have not yet been beaten.

The other early records that are still unexcelled are those of W. G.
Scarlet, Newcastle, England, Sept. 7, 1841, who ran 140 yards in 14
seconds; Charles Westhall, Manchester, England, Feb. 4, 1851, who did
150 yards in 15 seconds, and Seward's unapproachable record of 200
yards in 19 1-2 seconds, made March 22, 1847.

Seward was one of the very few men who could keep up the rate of ten
yards a second for a distance over a hundred yards.

Since his day, records of all other distances have improved greatly.

The best 125-yard record is American; that of J. W. Cozad, made Nov.
23, 1868, at Long Island Fashion Course, in 12 1-2 seconds. The year
before, William Johnson, at Fenham Park, England, did 130 yards in
1-4 second less time.

The best 180-yard record is 18 1-5 seconds, made April 27, 1878, by
L. Junker, at London. Junker was an amateur, and his performance is
below that of Seward before referred to, not quite reaching 10 yards
a second, while Seward beat that average.

The best furlong records are made by amateurs in the same year; W.
Phillips doing the distance in 22 2-5 seconds, in London, England,
Sept. 28, 1878; and L. E. Myers at Mott Haven, N. Y., making it in 22
3-4 seconds, Sept. 20, 1879.

Beyond a furlong, no man has yet succeeded in keeping up the rate of
ten yards a second, the nearest approach being that of R. Buttery,
Newcastle, England, Oct. 4, 1873. This runner did a quarter of a
mile--440 yards--in 48 1-4 seconds, beating the best English record
by two seconds and the best American by four seconds.

The best half-mile record was made in New Zealand by Frank Hewitt, of
Lyttleton, in September, 1871, in 113 1-2 seconds, beating the best
English records by four and the best American by ten seconds.

The best mile record was made in a dead heat between Richards and
Lang, at Manchester, England, August 19, 1865, in 4 minutes 17
1-4 seconds; seven seconds better than had ever been done before.
Lang had previously made two miles in 9m. 11 1-2s., in Manchester,
England, August 1, 1863.

The best records from three to seven miles inclusive were all made by
John White, at London, May 11, 1863. They were as follows: 3 miles
in 14m. 36s.; 4 miles in 19m. 36s.; 5 miles in 24m. 40s.; 6 miles in
29m. 50s.; and 7 miles in 34m. 45s.

The best records for eight and nine miles were made June 1, 1852, by
James Howitt, of London. He ran 8 miles in 40m. 20s., and 9 in 45m.
21s. This same Howitt, next year, March 20, 1852, ran 13 miles in
70m. 31s.; 14 miles in 76m. 12s.; 15 miles in 82m.; and 16 miles in
88m. 6s.

The best times for 10, 11 and 12 miles are 51m. 26s.; 56m. 52s.; and
62m. 2s.; all made by L. Bennett (_alias_ Deerfoot) at London, April
3, 1863.

From 17 to 19 miles George Hazael is the champion, having done 17
miles in 1h. 38m. 53s.; 18 miles in 1h. 45m. and 19 miles in 1h. 51m.
14s. Hazael also made the best 20-mile record up to 1879, when his
time was beaten by P. Byrnes at Halifax, Nova Scotia, Oct. 4. Byrnes
ran 20 miles in 1h. 54m.--three minutes less than Hazael's best time.

Beyond twenty miles the running records are scanty and not remarkable.

The best records of walking are credited to William Perkins, the
present English champion, as far as 22 miles. This Perkins is as
remarkable in his specialty as was Seward in his sprinting, easily
passing all competitors. He made his first great effort in London,
June 1, 1874, when he left the best on record up to eight miles.

He did his first mile in 6m. 23s.; the second in 13m. 30s.; the third
in 20m. 47s.; the fourth in 28m. 59s.; the fifth in 36m. 32s.; the
sixth in 44m. 24s.; the seventh in 51m. 51s.; the eighth in 59m. 5s.;
thus making over eight miles an hour.

Three years later he beat his own record July 16, 1877, and placed
his name at the top of the list all the way up to 22 miles. The
records were as follows:

Ninth mile, 1h. 8m. 7 2-5s.; tenth mile, 1h. 15m. 57s.; eleventh
mile, 1h. 23m. 49s.; twelfth mile, 1h. 31m. 42 2-5s.; thirteenth
mile, 1h. 39m. 42 1-2s.; fourteenth mile, 1h. 47m. 53s.; fifteenth
mile, 1h. 56m. 13s.; sixteenth mile, 2h. 4m. 35 1-5s.; seventeenth
mile, 2h. 13m. 11 2-5s.; eighteenth mile, 2h. 21m. 55s.; nineteenth
mile, 2h. 30m. 45s.; twentieth mile, 2h. 39m. 57s.; twenty-first
mile, 2h. 49m. 18s.; twenty-second mile, 2h. 58m. 52s.

The best records from thence to twenty-five miles Perkins did not
beat. He had done the greatest distance on record in three hours and
the miles above twenty-two remained credited to John Smith of London,
sixteen years before. This pedestrian Nov. 10, 1851, finished his
twenty-third mile in 3h. 20m. 39s.; his twenty-fourth in 3h. 30m.
58s.; and his twenty-fifth in 3h. 42m. 16s.

The difference between him and Perkins is shown in the difference of
time between the 22 and 23 miles, which is 21m. 47s., whereas the
average of each of Perkins's miles was 8m. 6 3-5s.

From twenty-five up to fifty miles the best walking time on record
is credited to William Howes, who on March 30, 1868, made 26 miles
in 3h. 54m. 18s., 23 minutes ahead of all others before or since.
He made a record of 50 miles in 7h. 57m. 44 seconds. We omit the
intermediate times as unimportant; but the average of each mile was
8m. 26s. From thence to 77 miles Daniel O'Leary takes the palm, his
76th mile having been accomplished in 13h. 37m. 26s. at Chicago,
Illinois, Nov. 10, 1877.

Beyond that distance, Howes again takes the lead, with the best
records up to 129 miles, made Feb. 22 and 23, 1878, at London.
O'Leary made the best American records up to 100 miles in his Chicago
walk. Howes's record for 77 miles is 13 hours, 56 minutes and 5
seconds; while his 129th mile was walked in 24 hours 20 minutes and
30 seconds.

From thence to 173 miles Henry Vaughan takes the lead at square
walking, having accomplished that distance in 38 hours, 28 minutes
and 13 seconds.

Beyond this point Daniel O'Leary comes again to the front, in his
matches with Weston at Agricultural Hall, London, and with Crossland
at Manchester, both in 1877. His time for 174 miles was 39 hours, 5
minutes, 48 seconds, and from thence to 241 miles he made the best
walking time on record, the last distance being accomplished in 58
hours, 48 minutes, 37 seconds.

Peter Crossland then passed him and led for 46 miles, making 287
miles in 69 hours, 22 minutes, 22 seconds.

From this point upward Daniel O'Leary still remains the king of the
square walkers, having accomplished 519 miles in 141 hours, 6 minutes
and 10 seconds.

The longest distance ever walked without a rest is 120 miles, done by
Crossland Sept. 11, 12, 1876.

Our own Harriman did 160 miles with only 17 minutes rest in New York,
May 10, 1878.

Howes leads the record for one-day walks with 127 miles, and O'Leary
tops all the rest up to six days.

Perkins leads the records for one, two and three hours.

Since these records, the "go-as-you-please" race has been introduced,
where walking and running are used _ad libitum_, and the distances
gone in given times has steadily risen. George Hazael leads the
record with 133 miles in 24 hours, not likely ever to be beaten, and
Frank Hart has passed them all, by running 565 miles in six days.

The general excellence of records in these matches steadily improves,
and where there were only two men in the first match who made 500
miles or over--Vaughan and O'Leary--we have lately seen no less than
eight men beat 500 miles out of a field of sixty starters, and nine
men beat 450 miles in the same time.

The total distance made by O'Leary when he won the first match of
this sort was 520 miles and a fraction, most of it walked, but since
then the runners have passed him beginning with Corkey, who made
a fraction of a mile more in less time. Then Blower Brown did 542
miles, and people called him a marvel, till a few weeks later Weston
ran 550 miles in the same time. Since that, the limit has been passed
by Brown, in the last English match, where he made 553 miles, and by
Hart as above. Rowell, the luckiest of lucky pedestrians, who has
made an independent fortune out of his two muscular legs, has not
had to make any very remarkable records to win the $40,000 that he
carried away from Madison Square Garden. He won his first race by 500
miles and his second by a nominal 530, which proved to be only 523
on account of a short track. An overrated man; his successes have
arisen from the fact that he has always taken better men than himself
at a disadvantage in point of condition, and so has won an easy
victory. Before he can be rated as the foremost pedestrian, he will
have to beat Hart's best record.

This brief sketch of the records of pedestrianism is given to furnish
our readers with a standard of comparison by which to estimate the
value of their own performances, and a short abstract of the shorter
distances will be found convenient for use.


ABSTRACT.

Ten yards per second has been done by sprinters up to 220 yards.

A mile has been run in 4m. 17s.

Ten miles has been run in 51m. 20s.

Twenty miles in 1h. 57m. 27s.

A mile has been walked in 6m. 23s., but only once, by the same man
who walked 8 1-11 miles in one hour, 15 1-2 miles in two hours, 22
1-4 miles in three hours.

These records should be kept in the memory as convenient, so that the
amateur may gauge his own powers correctly by the best professional
work.




JUMPING AND POLE-LEAPING.


The sport of Jumping is one of those most beneficial to the health
and muscles of any commonly practiced. It is divided into three
branches: 1, Standing Jumps; 2, Running Jumps; 3, Pole-Leaping.

Standing jumps are either high or broad, the latter being the most
common. The secret of making a _high_ standing jump consists in
standing _sidewise_ to the bar or tape, and throwing the body over
as if vaulting with one hand, arching the back inward as much as
possible. The best standing high jumper on record is E. W. Johnson,
a Toronto man, now keeper of the Baltimore Athletic Club Gymnasium.
He jumped a bar 5 feet 3 inches high, at the Caledonian Games, at
Baltimore, May 27, 1878. This beats the best English records 5
inches. In jumping, Johnson leaves the ground with the right foot
first, as in the cut on next page, which shows the direction in which
his feet go over the bar. The cut also shows the common leaping-bar
and standards furnished with holes three inches apart, in which pegs
are stuck to support the bar on the side opposite the jumper. If he
strikes it by accident it falls without hurting him, being merely a
light strip of pine scantling.

The standing broad jump is made straight forward into a piece of
soft earth which has been dug up for the purpose. It is made with
or without weights in the hands, and depends on the strength of the
thigh and calf of the jumper, and on long practice.

[Illustration: STANDING HIGH JUMP.]

The best standing jump on record was made by James Emerick, Oil City,
Pa., Sept. 19, 1878. It was 13 feet 10 inches, with weights; besides
which, 13 feet 7 inches have been done by an English professional,
and 12 feet 2 1-2 inches by a California amateur.

There is but little to say about the standing broad jump except that
practice makes perfect.

Running jumps are also high and broad. The high jump is made over the
bar figured in last chapter, but in a different manner. We have seen
Johnson try to go over it sidewise, as in his standing jump, but not
with enough success to justify his method. The running high jump then
must be made square to the bar, beginning with a slow run, quickened
in the last twenty steps, till both feet spurn the ground with their
utmost force and the leaper goes over the bar. Here, also, there is
very little to be said as to proper or improper methods of leaping.
Instinct teaches the right way for a high leap better than anything
else, and nothing but constant practice will strengthen the muscles
to enable the leaper to make a good record.

The best high jump on record was made by an English amateur, M. J.
Brooks, an Oxford student, April 7, 1876. He topped a bar 6 feet
2 1-2 inches, passing the best English professionals by 3 inches
and Johnson by 4 inches. The best American amateur jump was made
by a Columbia student, Conover, in 1878, and is only 5 feet 6 3-4
inches--not much compared with the English record.

The running broad jump is made with or without a spring board,
the only official records being those made without the board, and
off level ground. The best on record is English, or rather Irish,
amateur, John Lane, of the Dublin University Athletic Club, having
made 23 feet 1 1-2 inches, June 10, 1874. The best American records
are nearly two feet behind this performance.

Pole-leaping is either high or broad, and in either case is a very
valuable accomplishment to acquire. With a pole, a practiced athlete
can make light of a six-foot wall, for its hight is well within his
powers. The art takes some time to acquire, and is one that exercises
every muscle of the body.

It calls first for a pole from six to nine feet in length, made
preferably of ash, as that is both light and tough.

To begin learning on this, the pupil rests one end on the ground,
and grasps the pole with both hands above his head. Then, jumping
up, he raises his body with bent arms, and swings as far as he can.
With a week's practice almost any young man can learn to take a jump
of eight or ten feet in breadth from a standing position. To cross a
broad ditch a short run is taken and the pole is held differently.

The right hand grasps it above the head, _thumb uppermost_, while
the left hand holds it, _thumb down_, as high as the waist. The pole
is grasped higher up in proportion to the distance to be cleared,
beginning with small ones and slowly increasing the length of pole,
till it can be taken by the very end.

This becomes still more necessary in the high pole leap, where eleven
feet and an inch have been cleared in England. To take such a leap
requires at least a thirteen-foot pole.

In pole-leaping the weight of the body on the pole is sustained by
the arms, and the whole office of the legs is to enable the body to
go high enough to carry the pole to a perpendicular. The hight leaped
is only limited by the possible length of pole carried.

Pole-leaping is coming into fashion but slowly in America; the
best records being nearly a foot behind those of England, where
there is more practice of the kind. For a sportsman in the country,
pole-leaping is a very valuable accomplishment, as it would save him
many a ducking in ditches and climb over fences.

In the chapter on athletic meetings will be found all the rules that
govern leaping contests for prizes, to which we refer the reader.




BICYCLING.


The sport of Bicycling is one that has come into rapid favor in this
country since the advent of the English riders, who have accomplished
a thousand miles a week; and the only drawback to its universal
adoption is the first cost of the machines. When that is reduced,
as it will be, to about fifty dollars, payable in installments like
sewing machines, the bicycle will become a favorite with the whole
American population as it is in England with the majority of middle
class young men.

Even now the fever is spreading rapidly thanks chiefly to the efforts
of Mr. Wentworth Rollins, the present king of bicyclists in America.
He sells machines to people he can trust on installments and has a
large stock of goods on hand which he sells below the usual prices to
beginners.

The pioneers of bicycling in the United States were the Pope
Manufacturing Company, who started factories and schools in the
cities of Boston and San Francisco, where the fever started almost at
the same time, but since that period bicycling has spread to most of
the large cities, and has training schools in all.

There is but little information that can be given to an intending
bicycler except to recommend him _not to buy a machine till he has
been at the school long enough to know the good and bad points of
every bicycle in the market_.

The prices of bicycles range from $80 to $100, according to size
of wheel; the smallest being 42 inches in diameter, the largest 60
inches. The best way to get enjoyment out of the sport is to form a
club of congenial spirits who will ride together. A single bicyclist
is apt to attract too much attention in country places, and would
often be insulted, where two or three together would meet with a
hearty welcome. Moreover, company is elevating to the spirits.

For the use of bicycle clubs we subjoin the model rules of the San
Francisco club, which can hardly be excelled for completeness and
care. They are printed on strips of cardboard, and carried by each
member of a club for reference, till he is perfectly familiar with
them.


BICYCLING RULES.

SECTION 1.--The time named for a club excursion is the exact time of
_the start_, which will in all cases be punctually observed. Members
are therefore urgently requested to be at the spot named at least
_ten minutes before_, that they may arrange themselves in order for
the start and receive the instructions of the leader as regards
signals, and any other directions that may be necessary.

SEC. 2.--At the sound of "Fall in," the members will arrange
themselves side by side upon the right of the road, with bicycle
facing inward, leaving a space of at least eight feet between each
man. At the sound of "Mount," the machines will be turned in the
direction of the proposed run, and the company will mount, beginning
at the front, each man before he starts, being careful to see that
the rider immediately in front of him has safely reached the saddle,
and proceeded at least two revolutions.

SEC. 3.--As a general rule the company should ride two abreast; but
in towns and villages; in meeting and passing vehicles (unless the
road is broad); in riding up and down hills, and where the road
is bad and requires picking, single file should be taken, _the
right-hand man_ always _quickening_, and the left-hand man dropping
in behind him.

SEC. 4.--When in single-file, an interval of at least _four_ bicycle
lengths should be kept between each rider, and in double-file, eight
lengths between each pair. In approaching a hill, whether up or
down, the leading files should quicken and the rear files slacken,
so as to allow of the company extending out to double distance, and
on reaching the level they should slacken and quicken respectively,
until the original interval is attained.

SEC. 5.--Dismounting should always be commenced from the rear, each
man passing the word forward as he reaches the ground.

SEC. 6.--It is undesirable for a company to ride down a long hill
with a curve obstructing a view of the bottom. It is better for the
leader to advance alone until he sees that all is clear, and then
whistle the others on.

SEC. 7.--The ordinary rules of the road as regards the passing of
vehicles, etc., should be rigidly adhered to, as follows:

A--In meeting a vehicle, always pass to the right.

B--In overtaking a vehicle, always pass to the left.

C--The ground in front of a horse should not be taken until the
bicyclist is at least ten yards ahead of him.

D--A horse should _never_ be passed _on both sides_ at once.

E--A _led_ horse should always be passed on the same side as the man
who is leading it.

F--Before overtaking a rider, it is well to give some sort of a
warning. When alone, a short cough will generally suffice. In
company-riding, a word to your companion will attract the necessary
attention. The mere sound of a human voice is often all that is
wanted to prevent a horse from starting at the sudden passage of the
noiseless machine.

G--If a horse on meeting a bicycle, shows signs of restiveness, the
leader should order a dismount at his discretion (even if he himself
has passed the horse), and should invariably do so on any signal or
request from the driver or horseman.

H--In company-riding, the leader, on passing any one (whether
driving, riding or walking,) should announce that _others_ are
following close after, and the rear man should in the same way
signify that all have passed.

I--Inattention to these and other rules and courtesies of the road
will cause annoyance to the public, and create prejudice against
bicycling.


SIGNALS.

SEC. 8.--The following signals will be used when on a run in company,
to preserve order and insure against accident:

_Fall in_--One long whistle.

_Mount_--One short whistle.

_Dismount and Halt_--Two short whistles.

_Dismount and Walk_--Two long whistles.

_Form Twos_--Two short whistles three times.

_Form Single File_--Three short well separated whistles.

_Extend Line_--One short and one long whistle three times.

_Close Up Line_--One long and one short whistle three times.

_Quicken Speed_--Three short whistles three times.

_Slacken Speed_--One long whistle.

_Ride at Ease_--Two short and one long whistle three times.

_Danger_--Look out when signaled from front to rear--six or more
short whistles; accident when signaled from rear to front--six or
more short whistles.




RULES FOR ATHLETIC MEETINGS.


To make this work as complete as possible, we have resolved to insert
the best models of rules for athletic meetings of all kinds, founded
on those of the N. Y. Athletic Club. This association is the largest
in the country and has always been successful in its meetings, which
have passed off without a single fiasco on record. Its rules can
therefore hardly be unworthy of imitation and have in fact been the
model for those of all successful athletic clubs.

These rules we therefore print below. They cover, as will be seen,
all sorts of athletic sports which do not need other description.




American Athletic Rules.


MEETINGS.

_Officers._--The officers of an athletic meeting shall be: One clerk
of the course, with assistants, if necessary; one starter; one
judge of walking, with assistants, if necessary; one scorer, with
assistants, if necessary; three timekeepers; three judges at the
finish; three measurers; one referee.

_Clerk of the Course._--He shall record the name of each competitor
who shall report to him; shall give him his number for each game in
which he is entered, and notify him, five minutes before the start,
of every event in which he is engaged. The assistants shall do such
portions of his work as he may assign to them.

_Starter._--He shall have entire control of competitors at their
marks; shall strictly enforce Law 3, and shall be the sole judge of
fact as to whether or no any man has gone over his mark. His decision
in such cases shall be final and without appeal.

_Judge of Walking._--He shall have entire control of competitors
during the race; shall strictly enforce Law 8, and his decision as
to unfair walking shall be final and without appeal. The assistants
shall do such portion of his work as he may assign to them.

_Scorer._--He shall record the laps made by each competitor, and call
them aloud when tallied, for the information of the contestants. He
shall record the order of finishing and the times of the competitors
in walking and running races. The assistants shall do such portions
of his work as he may assign to them.

_Timekeepers._--Each of the three timekeepers shall time every event,
and in case of disagreement the average of the three shall be the
official time. Time to be taken from the flash of the pistol.

_Judges at the Finish._--Two shall stand at one end of the tape, and
the third at the other. One shall take the winner, another the second
man, and the other the third man; they shall also note the distances
between the first three as they finish. In case of disagreement the
majority shall decide. Their decisions as to the order in which the
men finish shall be final and without appeal.

_Measurers._--They shall measure and record each trial of each
competitor in all games whose record is one of distance or hight.
Their decision as to the performance of each man shall be final and
without appeal.

_Referee._--He shall, when appealed to, decide all questions whose
settlement is not provided for in these rules, and his decision shall
be final and without appeal.

_Competitors._--Immediately on arriving at the grounds each
competitor shall report to the clerk of the course, and receive his
number for the game in which he is entered. He shall inform himself
of the times at which he must compete, and will report promptly at
the start, without waiting to be notified. No competitor allowed to
start without his proper number.

_Inner Grounds._--No person whatsoever allowed inside the track
except the officials and properly accredited representatives of the
press. The authorized persons will wear a badge, and intruders will
be promptly ejected. Competitors not engaged in the game actually
taking place will not be allowed inside or upon the track.


LAWS.

1. _Attendants._--No attendants shall accompany a competitor on the
scratch or in the race.

2. _Starting Signals._--All races (except time handicaps) shall be
started by report of pistol fired behind the competitors. A miss
fire shall be no start. There shall be no recall after the pistol is
fired. Time handicaps shall be started by the word "Go."

3. _Starting._--When the starter receives a signal from the judges
at the finish that everything is in readiness he shall direct the
competitors to get on their marks. Any competitor starting before the
signal shall be put back one yard, for the second offense two yards,
and for the third shall be disqualified. He shall be held to have
started when any portion of his body touches the ground in front of
his mark. Stations count from the inside.

4. _Keeping Proper Course._--In all races on a straight track, each
competitor shall keep his own position on the course from start to
finish.

5. _Change of Course._--In all races on other than a straight track,
a competitor may change toward the inside whenever he is two steps
ahead of the man whose path he crosses.

6. _Fouling._--Any competitor shall be disqualified for willfully
jostling, running across, or in any way impeding another.

7. _Finish._--A thread shall be stretched across the track at the
finish, four feet above the ground. It shall not be held by the
judges, but be fastened to the finish posts on either side, so that
it may always be at right angles to the course and parallel to the
ground. The finish line is not this thread, but the line on the
ground drawn across the track from post to post and the thread is
intended merely to assist the judges in their decision. The men shall
be placed in the order in which they cross the finish line.

8. _Walking._--The judge shall caution for any unfair walking, and
the third caution shall disqualify the offender. On the last lap an
unfair walker shall be disqualified without previous caution.

9. _Hurdles._--The regular hurdle race shall be 120 yards, over 10
hurdles, each 3ft. 6in. high. The first hurdle shall be placed 15
yards from the scratch, and there shall be 10 yards between each
hurdle. There may be (by special announcement) hurdle races of
different distances and with different number and length of hurdles.

10. _Jumping._--No weights or artificial aid will be allowed in any
jumping contest except by special agreement or announcement. When
weights are allowed there shall be no restriction as to size, shape,
or material.

11. _Running High Jump._--The hight of the bar at starting and at
each successive elevation, shall be determined by a majority of the
qualified competitors. In case of a tie the referee shall decide.
Three tries allowed at each hight. Each competitor shall make one
attempt in the order of his name on the programme; then those that
have failed, if any, shall have a second trial in regular order,
and those failing on this trial shall then take their final trial.
Displacing the bar and nothing else, counts as a "try." A competitor
may omit his trials at any hight, but if he fails at the next hight
he shall not be allowed to go back and try the hight which he omitted.

12. _Pole-Leaping._--The rules for this game shall be the same as
those of the running high jump.

13. _Hitch-and-Kick._--The competitors are allowed unlimited run,
but must spring, kick, alight, and hop twice with the same foot. The
hight of the object at starting and at each successive elevation,
shall be determined by a majority of the qualified competitors. In
case of a tie the referee shall decide. Three tries allowed at each
hight. Each competitor shall make one attempt in the order of his
name on the programme; then those who have failed, if any, shall have
a second trial in regular order, and those failing on this trial
shall then take their final trial. Hitting the object, and nothing
else, counts as a kick, and kicking higher than the object without
hitting it is not a kick. Springing from the ground counts as a try.
A competitor may omit his trials at any hight, but if he fail at the
next hight he shall not be allowed to go back and try the hight which
he omitted.

14. _Standing High Jump._--The competitors may stand as they please,
but must jump from the first spring. The hight of the bar at starting
and at each successive elevation, shall be determined by a majority
of the qualified competitors. In case of a tie the referee shall
decide. Three tries allowed at each hight. Each competitor shall make
one attempt in the order of his name on the programme; then those
who have failed, if any, shall have a second trial in regular order,
and those failing on this trial shall then take their final trial.
Displacing the bar and nothing else, counts as a "try." A competitor
may omit his trials at any hight, but if he fail at the next hight he
shall not be allowed to go back and try the hight which he omitted.

15. _Running Wide Jump._--The competitors shall have unlimited run,
but must take off behind the scratch. Stepping any part of the foot
over the scratch in an attempt shall be "no jump," but shall count as
a "try." Each competitor allowed three trials, and the best three men
have three more trials each. Each competitor shall be credited with
the best of all his jumps. The measurement shall be from the scratch
line in front of the jumper's feet to the nearest break of the ground
made by any part of his person. The same rules govern running hop
step and jump, and all similar games.

16. _Standing Wide Jump._--Competitors must jump from the first
spring. Stepping any part of the foot over the scratch in an attempt
shall be "no jump," but shall count as a "try." Each competitor
allowed three trials, and the best three men have three more trials
each. Each competitor shall be credited with the best of all his
jumps. The measurement shall be from the scratch line in front of the
jumper's feet to the nearest break of the ground made by any part of
his person. The same rules govern standing three jumps, standing hop,
step and jump, and all similar games.

17. _Putting the Shot._--The shot shall be a solid iron sphere
weighing 16 lbs. It shall be put from the shoulder with one hand,
from between two parallel lines, 7 ft. apart. Touching the ground
outside either line with any part of person, before the shot alights,
shall make the attempt "no put," which counts as a "try." Each
competitor allowed three trials, and the best three men have three
more trials each. Each competitor shall be credited with the best
of all his puts. The measurement shall be from the nearest break of
the ground made by the ball, perpendicularly to the scratch line,
extended, if necessary, to meet this perpendicular.

18. _Throwing the Hammer._--The hammer-head shall be a solid iron
sphere, weighing 16 lbs., the handle shall be of hickory wood, and
the length of hammer and handle, over all, shall be 3 ft, 6 in.
The competitor shall stand at and behind the scratch, facing as he
pleases, and throw with either or both hands. Touching the ground
in front of the scratch with any portion of the person, before the
hammer alights, shall make the attempt "no throw," which counts as
a "try." Letting go of the hammer in an attempt counts as a "try."
Each competitor allowed three trials, and the best three men have
three more trials each. Each competitor shall be credited with the
best of all his throws. If the head strike first the measurement
shall be from the nearest break of the ground made by it. If the
handle strikes first, one length of the hammer shall be allowed from
the mark made by the end of the handle toward the mark made by the
head of the hammer, and the measurement shall be from this point.
The measurement shall be to the scratch line half-way between the
thrower's feet.

19. _Throwing the Hammer with a Run._--The hammer-head shall be a
solid iron sphere, weighing 16 lbs., the handle shall be of hickory
wood, and the length of hammer and handle over all shall be 3 ft.
6 in. Unlimited run is allowed, and the competitor may deliver the
hammer as he pleases. Letting go of the hammer in an attempt counts
as "a try." Each competitor allowed three trials, and the best three
men have three more trials each. Each competitor shall be credited
with the best of all his throws. If the head strikes first, the
measurement shall be from the nearest break of the ground made by
it. If the handle strikes first, one length of the hammer shall be
allowed from the mark made by the end of the handle, toward the mark
made by the head of the hammer, and the measurement shall be from
this point. The measurement shall be to the nearest footprint at the
delivery. The footprints of the competitors shall be effaced after
each throw.

20. _Throwing Fifty-six Pound Weight._--This shall be of solid iron,
and any shape of weight and handle is allowed, provided the whole
weighs 56 lbs. The competitor will stand at and behind the scratch,
facing as he pleases, grasping the weight by the handle, and shall
throw it with one hand. Touching the ground in front of the scratch
with any portion of the person, before the weight alights, shall
make the attempt "no throw," which counts as "a try." Letting go of
the weight in an attempt shall count as "a try." Each competitor
allowed three trials, and the best three men have three more trials
each. Each competitor shall be credited with the best of all his
throws. The measurement shall be from the scratch line (in front of
the thrower's left foot), to the nearest break of the ground made by
the weight, exclusive of handle.

21. _Tossing the Caber._--The length of the caber to be 16 ft., the
diameter at the thick end not more than 8 in., and at the small end
not more than 4 in. The caber must be held by the small end, and
tossed over so that the small end shall fall and remain beyond the
butt. The competitors shall have unlimited run, but must take off
behind the scratch. Stepping any part of the foot over the scratch
in an attempt shall be "no toss," but shall count as "a try." Each
competitor allowed three trials, and the best three men have three
more trials each. Each competitor shall be credited with the best of
all his tosses. The measurement shall be from the small end of the
caber perpendicularly to the scratch line, extended, if necessary, to
meet this perpendicular.

22. _Throwing the Ball_ (_Lacrosse_, _Cricket_, _or Base-ball_).--The
lacrosse ball shall be thrown from the lacrosse, the cricket and
base-ball from the hand. The competitors shall have unlimited run,
but must take off behind the scratch. Touching the ground in front of
the scratch-line with any part of the person before the ball alights,
shall make the attempt "no throw," which shall count as "a try." Each
competitor allowed three trials, and the best three men have three
more trials each. Each competitor shall be credited with the best of
all his throws. To facilitate the measurement, a line shall be drawn
parallel to and 300 ft. in front of the scratch-line. The measurement
shall be from the nearest break of the ground made by the ball,
perpendicularly to the measuring line, extended, if necessary, to
meet this perpendicular.

23. _Tug-of-War._--In tug-of-war the following rules will be
observed: (1.) The side creases to be 12 ft. from the center crease.
(2.) The mark on the rope to be over the center crease when the word
"heave" is given, and the team hauling that mark over the crease on
its own side to be the winners. (3.) No footing holes to be made
before the start. (4.) The contestants to wear socks, slippers,
boots or shoes without spikes. (5.) The rope to be 1 1-2 in. in
diameter. (6.) Immediately before the contest the captains of all
the contesting teams shall draw their numbers. (7.) Not less than
five minutes shall be allowed each team between heats. (8.) Captains
shall toss for choice of sides before each pull. But if the same two
teams pull more than once during the day, they shall change ends at
each successive pull. (9.) With two teams, they shall pull best 2 in
3. With three teams, one and two shall pull, then two and three, and
three and one. With four teams, one and two shall pull, then three
and four, and the winners pull the final. With five teams, first
round, one and two, three and four, five has a bye; second round,
winner of first heat pulls with five, and the winner of this heat
pulls the final with the winner of second heat of first round. With
six teams, first round, one and two, three and four, five and six;
second round, winner of first and second heats. Winner of this heat
pulls the final with winner of third heat, first round. Where more
than six teams are entered, the arrangement of trials shall be on the
same principle as in the above examples.

24. _Bicycling._--When ordered into position for a start the men
shall mount their machines, and one assistant for each competitor
will hold his machine with its front wheel at the mark; at the
starting signal the attendants are allowed to push the machine
forward but not to follow it up. Riders must pass each other on the
outside, and be a clear length of the bicycle in front before taking
the inside; the inside man must allow room on the outside for other
competitors to pass. Any competitor infringing this rule will be
disqualified. In a race without using the handles, competitors must
ride with the arms folded, or the hands and arms otherwise kept quite
off the machine. Any competitor touching any part of his machine with
his hands or arms will be disqualified. The Laws of Athletes govern
all points not above specified.

In case there are any of our readers who think the above rules too
long and complicated, we recommend for their use the much simpler and
almost equally comprehensive English rules which follow.




English Athletic Rules.


1. No attendant to accompany a competitor on the scratch or in the
race.

2. Any competitor starting before the word, to be put back one yard,
at the discretion of the starter. On a repetition of the offense, to
be disqualified.

3. All races to start by report of pistol.

4. In hurdle-races each competitor to keep his own hurdles throughout
the race.

5. In sprint racing each runner to keep his own course.

6. Jostling, running across, or willfully obstructing another, so
as to impede his progress, to disqualify the offender from further
competitions.

7. All cases of dispute to be referred to the committee of management
at the time.

8. The decision of the judges in all competitions to be final.

9. In pole leaping and high jumping, three tries allowed at each
hight. The hight at each successive elevation to be determined by the
majority of the competitors. Displacing the bar only to count as a
try.

10. In broad jumping and weight putting, three tries allowed. In
hammer throwing, two tries allowed. The three best competitors of
the first trials to be allowed three more tries each for the final.
The furthest throw of the five attempts, and put or jump of the six
attempts, to win.

11. In hammer throwing and weight putting, the length of the run to
be limited to 7ft. The weight to be delivered from the shoulder.

12. In broad jumping and weight putting, crossing the scratch-line
in the attempt to count as "no try," and in hammer throwing as "no
throw."

13. "No tries" and "no throws" count as tries.

14. The weight of the hammer and weight to be 16lbs. each.

15. The length from end of the handle of the hammer to the bottom of
the sphere to be 3ft. 6in. over all.

16. No put or throw to count if the weight or hammer be delivered or
followed with any part of the body touching the ground over the mark.
All puts and throws to be measured from the edge of the pitch nearest
the scratch-line to the scratch-line, and at right angles with the
same.

17. In hurdle races, the hight of the hurdles when fixed to be 3ft.
6in., measured perpendicularly from the ground to the top bar.




HARE AND HOUNDS.


Inasmuch as this game has become a popular pastime in America we
have thought it best to make our handbook complete by giving a short
account of the sport and its success in this country.

Hare and Hounds is an old pastime of English schools, and it is
essentially a healthy game, good for boys and young men. It requires
only one thing, plenty of good runners; and all young fellows are
fond of running. Two of the fleetest of the club are chosen for
"Hares" and provided with a sack full of scraps of paper for "scent."
The rest of the club are "Hounds." The Hares are allowed ten or
fifteen minutes' start, and set off across the country, dropping
scraps as they go, throwing a handful behind them every hundred feet
and scattering gradually. It is their object to get out of sight as
soon as possible. The Hounds are put on the trail at the sound of a
horn, and have to catch the Hares if they can. This is the whole of
the game.

The first Hare and Hounds Club in America was organized in 1878
in Westchester county, New York, and held its first meeting on
Thanksgiving Day of that year.

The idea of the club originated in a conversation on the Harlem
boat, and the members were carefully chosen. The officers elected
for 1878-9 were: President, J. J. Brady; First Vice-President, W.
W. White; Second Vice-President, E. Nelson; Secretary, G. Heilwig;
Assistant Secretary, G. Dolde; Treasurer, F. N. Lord; Executive
Committee, L. A. Berte, W. S. Vosburgh, W. C. Hamilton, W. I.
K. Kendrick, and J. B. Haviland; Field-Captain, W. S. Vosburgh;
Lieutenants, F. H. Banham and W. Smythe.

The field-captain of the club is also called the "pace-maker;" and
he and the lieutenants--who are denominated "whippers in"--keep the
Hounds together and prevent the pack from straggling. The "Hounds"
must follow the "scent" and are not allowed to cut off corners after
the "Hares."

Since the organization of this club several others have been started,
but the Westchester club continues to be the most successful, holding
meetings on all holidays when the mud is not too heavy for good
running.

As practiced, Hare and Hounds clubs generally have a uniform suitable
for running. That of the Westchester club is a scarlet jacket, black
knee-breeches or Knickerbockers and black cap. This is a good running
dress and should be followed in its general features, though any
colors are admissible. Knee-breeches are preferable to trowsers on
every account, as they do not cramp the knee in running.

[Illustration: HARE AND HOUNDS.]

The latest improvement in the game is the introduction of two colors
in the paper thrown for scent. The Hares drop white paper when they
go out, and red paper on the return home.

The game is an excellent one for young men and boys, and can be
followed anywhere, with or without uniforms. The less frippery they
indulge in the more will Americans like the sport.

Red jackets can be replaced by red shirts, which cost less and are
lighter to run in. If the members of the club cannot afford to buy
knee-breeches, they can probably alter old pantaloons into the
necessary shape, and in the case of boys below twelve the common
fashion of Knickerbockers saves all trouble.

In forming Hare and Hounds Clubs, as in Walking Clubs, it is
advisable that the members should be equal in physical strength,
when selected, to insure good runs and general satisfaction. If a
hundred boys at some public school should wish to form clubs, it
would be better to make at least two--one of large, the other of
small boys--than to consolidate them. If both run together, the
little fellows are sure to drop out in disgust when the others force
the pace beyond their abilities, while the large boys will grumble at
having to wait for the little ones. Clubs of small boys can be called
"Beagles" to distinguish them from the larger "Hounds," and can enjoy
a run as much as any one.

We repeat here--the less frippery indulged in by way of uniform, the
better, though all should dress alike, so as to be recognized a long
way off. A white band round the cap, with the letters of the club
name, is enough to show out at a distance; and the captain could
have a different colored cap to distinguish him. The Westchester
club is composed of young men in good circumstances, and they can
afford velvet collars and gold tassels. The less of these that our
schoolboys affect, the better for the success of the club.




ARCHERY.


The pastime of archery, once the national sport of England, has in
late years experienced a sudden and remarkable revival, both in that
country and the United States. In England, as a revived amusement it
became popular about the beginning of the reign of Queen Victoria;
but in that country it has never been more than the pastime of a
few dilettanti, the ladies forming the greatest portion of every
gathering. In the United States it has only become a recognized sport
within the last few years, the archery fever dating from the month of
July, 1877, when Mr. Maurice Thompson issued his first illustrated
article on the subject in _Scribner's Monthly_. Since that time this
gentleman and his brother William have roused a great interest in the
subject, and have superintended or instigated the foundation of a
number of archery clubs in the various sections of the Union. The new
sport spread so rapidly that in 1879 these clubs sent delegates to a
grand archers' congress in Chicago, where they held a successful and
well-attended meeting which bids fair to be repeated yearly and has
roused enthusiasm for archery all over the Union.

The secret of this success lies in the fact that the brothers
Thompson have appealed to the practical side of the American
character in their plea for archery. They have shown that as an
amusement it is cheap and healthful, giving the best of exercise in
the open air. They have further shown that as a means of sport in the
pursuit of game it has many advantages over the shot-gun, and these
advantages are so well stated by Maurice Thompson in his first paper
that we cannot do better than to reproduce them.

He says: "If you can keep the shot-gunners away, three or four miles
of a well-stocked stream will afford two archers plenty of sport
for a whole season. Hunting them with the bow does not drive the
birds off to other haunts; but the sound of a gun soon depopulates a
stream, whether any duck be killed or not. * * * * * * * *

"I do not wish to put in a special plea for archery, but I venture
to say that no man or woman who cares at all for out-door sport
can resist its fascination after he has once mastered its first
difficulties. I have yet to find a person so grave and dignified
that archery could not coax him into a bending humor. Indeed the bow
is the _natural_ weapon of man, and it affords him the most perfect
physical and mental recreative exercise that can be conceived of. It
is to the mind and body what music and poetry are to the soul--it
trains them to the highest degree of healthfulness and strength.

[Illustration: ARCHER'S POSITION.]

"I do not decry angling and gunning, except that the latter is too
destructive of game. I am an enthusiastic "disciple of the rod,"
but whenever I cast a fly or troll a minnow my long-bow is near at
hand, and a well-filled quiver at my side. You cannot combine gunning
and angling on account of the weight of the gun and accouterments,
and still more because the noise of firearms is sure to render timid
fish sullen. I have known the bass in a well-stocked pool utterly to
refuse the most tempting bait through an entire day, for nothing
more than a pistol-shot fired close by. The twang of a bowstring
seems to frighten nothing. It was the old first note of music made by
Apollo."

Nothing that we could add to this little abstract of the advantages
would tell the story more neatly and clearly, therefore we shall at
once proceed to the practical part of the art.

The first thing necessary for archery practice is to secure a good
bow and arrows. Till within a year, Philip Highfield of London was
known as the best "bowyer" or bow-maker in the world; but since the
advent of the American archery fever, Horstmann Brothers of New York
have succeeded in making a line of archery goods that are pronounced
by the Brothers Thompson to be equal in every respect to the best
English make; and Peck and Snyder of New York have also turned out
good work. The best bows of lemonwood, yew, or snakewood, cost $10;
while the best target arrows are worth $9 a dozen; and Thompson's
model hunting arrows are worth $3 a dozen. The other paraphernalia
(targets, quivers etc.) may be home made; but it is poor economy to
buy cheap bows and arrows. The targets are made of plaited straw,
covered with canvas, and contain four rings, which count as follows:
Bulls-eye 9; first ring 7; second ring 5; third ring 3; outside ring
1.

In archery meetings two targets are used, facing each other at any
distance: the archers stand by one target and shoot at the other, any
number of arrows agreed on. When all have shot, they walk over to the
target, pick out their arrows and shoot back at the first target,
combining walking and shooting. The maximum distance is eighty yards
between targets, the minimum twenty.

The dress for an archer should be close, with no fluttering skirts
to entangle the bowstring, and the secrets of position and accuracy
are thus laid down by archery authorities. Roger Ascham, who wrote in
Queen Elizabeth's time, says:

"The first point is, when a man should shoot, to take such footing
and standing as shall be both comely to the eye and profitable to his
use, setting his countenance and all other parts of his body after
such a behavior and port, that both all his strength may be employed
to his own most advantage and his shot made and handled to other
men's pleasure and delight. A man must not go too hastily to it, for
that is rashness, nor yet make too much to do about it, for that is
curiosity; the one foot must not stand too far from the other, lest
he stoop too much, which is unseemly, nor yet too near together, lest
he stand too straight up, for so a man shall neither use his strength
well, nor yet stand steadfastly. The mean betwixt both must be kept,
a thing more pleasant to behold when it is done, than easy to be
taught how it should be done."

Maurice Thompson says:

"A little care at first will save you a great deal of trouble and
annoyance. When you begin to shoot, learn at once to stand firmly on
your feet, the left slightly advanced, the head easily poised, the
upper portion of the body gently inclined forward, and the shoulders
neither lifted nor drooped. Hold the bow vertically with the left
hand, the arm extended straight. Nock the arrow well on the string,
draw with all the fingers of your right hand till you feel your right
ear, fix your eyes steadily on the target and let fly. The arrow
rests on the left hand, and is drawn to the head. The nock end of
the shaft is held between the first and second fingers of the right
hand and upon the string, which is drawn to the right ear by all the
fingers being hooked stiffly over it. The release must be smart and
clear, giving the arrow a strong, even flight.

"Never try to take aim when shooting, but fix your eyes steadily on
the mark, and guide your arrow by your _sense of direction_.

"_Squeeze_ the bow-handle with the left hand. You cannot hold it too
fast. Draw quickly and evenly. Let go without, 'bobbling' or tremor."

In a little story written by William Thompson (the brother of
Maurice and the champion archer of the Union) there is a still more
valuable piece of advice as to how to take aim. He makes one of the
characters, who has hitherto always been unsuccessful at a target,
hit on the secret, which he tells his friend. It is virtually as
follows:

"After nocking the arrow, _draw it up to the right ear with the right
hand, and hold it there as if it was screwed fast_. Think no more of
your right hand, but _point your left fist_ at the target and let
fly."

This tells the secret of archery better than an elaborate treatise.
The aim is taken _with the left arm, not the right_. Target shooting
is, however, a bad school for learning to shoot at game, and here
again Maurice Thompson comes in with his invaluable practical hints
on the subject. He says:

"One who is trained to aim at a large, graduated target, either with
gun or bow, can rarely shoot well at game. The reason is that in
target shooting at a fixed distance he gets used to a certain size,
color, and condition of _background_, and when he gets into the woods
and lifts his bow to draw on a bird or a hare, his accustomed rings
and dark background are not there. His vision is blurred, he draws
waveringly and shoots indifferently. A black rubber ball four inches
in diameter, suspended in mid-air by a string fastened to the low
limb of an apple-tree, makes a first-rate substitute for a bird, and
a small bag of straw, placed flat on the ground and shot at at about
twenty-five yards, makes good hare practice. You will soon learn
the great advantage of not using the same distance all the time, as
in the game of archery. For, after all, a bowman's skill is scarcely
worthy of admiration if it is confined to a fixed range."

A few words about the strength of bows, and we have said enough for
the purposes of a little handbook.

Bows are graduated by the number of pounds' weight required to bend
them. Ladies' bows range from fourteen to thirty pounds pull, while
gentlemen can take from forty to sixty pound bows. The heaviest bows
should be used for hunting purposes, but for target practice at short
range a bow under your strength is recommended, as it is easier to
take aim with such a weapon than with one that tasks all your force
merely to bend it.


THE END.




STANDARD

DIME DIALOGUES

For School Exhibitions and Home Entertainments.

Nos. 1 to 21 inclusive. 15 to 25 Popular Dialogues and Dramas in
each book. Each volume 100 12mo pages, sent post-paid, on receipt of
price, ten cents.

Beadle & Adams, Publishers, 98 William St., N. Y.


These volumes have been prepared with especial reference to their
availability for Exhibitions, being adapted to schools and parlors
with or without the furniture of a stage, and suited to SCHOLARS AND
YOUNG PEOPLE of every age, both male and female. It is fair to assume
that no other books in the market, at any price, contain so many
useful and available dialogues and dramas of wit, pathos, humor and
sentiment.


DIME DIALOGUES, NO. 1.

  Meeting of the Muses. For nine young ladies.
  Baiting a Live Englishman. For three boys.
  Tasso's Coronation. For male and female.
  Fashion. For two ladies.
  The Rehearsal. For six boys.
  Which will you Choose? For two boys.
  The Queen of May. For two little girls.
  The Tea Party. For four ladies.
  Three Scenes in Wedded Life. Male and Female.
  Mrs. Sniffles' Confession. For male and female.
  The Mission of the Spirits. Five young ladies.
  Hobnobbing. For five speakers.
  The Secret of Success. For three speakers.
  Young America. Three males and two females.
  Josephine's Destiny. Four females, one male.
  The Folly of the Duel. For three male speakers.
  Dogmatism. For three male speakers.
  The Ignorant Confounded. For two boys.
  The Fast Young Man. For two males.
  The Year's Reckoning. 12 females and 1 male.
  The Village with One Gentleman. For eight females and one male.


DIME DIALOGUES, NO. 2.

  The Genius of Liberty. 2 males and 1 female.
  Cinderella: or, The Little Glass Slipper.
  Doing Good and Saying Bad. Several characters.
  The Golden Rule. Two males and two females.
  The Gift of the Fairy Queen. Several females.
  Taken In and Done For. For two characters.
  The Country Aunt's Visit to the City. For several characters.
  The Two Romans. For two males.
  Trying the Characters. For three males.
  The Happy Family. For several 'animals.'
  The Rainbow. For several characters.
  How to Write 'Popular' Stories. Two males.
  The New and the Old. For two males.
  A Sensation at Last. For two males.
  The Greenhorn. For two males.
  The Three Men of Science. For four males.
  The Old Lady's Will. For four males.
  The Little Philosophers. For two little girls.
  How to Find an Heir. For five males.
  The Virtues. For six young ladies.
  A Connubial Eclogue.
  The Public Meeting. Five males and one female.
  The English Traveler. For two males.


DIME DIALOGUES, NO. 3.

  The May Queen. For an entire school.
  Dress Reform Convention. For ten females.
  Keeping Bad Company. A Farce. For five males.
  Courting Under Difficulties. 2 males, 1 female.
  National Representatives. A Burlesque. 4 males.
  Escaping the Draft. For numerous males.
  The Genteel Cook. For two males.
  Masterpiece. For two males and two females.
  The Two Romans. For two males.
  The Same. Second scene. For two males.
  Showing the White Feather. 4 males, 1 female.
  The Battle Call. A Recitative. For one male.


DIME DIALOGUES, NO. 4

  The Frost King. For ten or more persons.
  Starting in Life. Three males and two females.
  Faith, Hope and Charity. For three little girls.
  Darby and Joan. For two males and one female.
  The May. A Floral Fancy. For six little girls.
  The Enchanted Princess. 2 males, several females.
  Honor to Whom Honor is Due. 7 males, 1 female.
  The Gentle Client. For several males, one female.
  Phrenology. A Discussion. For twenty males.
  The Stubbletown Volunteer. 2 males, 1 female.
  A Scene from "Paul Pry." For four males.
  The Charms. For three males and one female.
  Bee, Clock and Broom. For three little girls.
  The Right Way. A Colloquy. For two boys.
  What the Ledger Says. For two males.
  The Crimes of Dress. A Colloquy. For two boys.
  The Reward of Benevolence. For four males.
  The Letter. For two males.


DIME DIALOGUES, NO. 5.

  The Three Guesses. For school or parlor.
  Sentiment. A "Three Persons" Farce.
  Behind the Curtain. For males and females.
  The Eta Pi Society. Five boys and a teacher.
  Examination Day. For several female characters.
  Trading in "Traps." For several males.
  The School Boys' Tribunal. For ten boys.
  A Loose Tongue. Several males and females.
  How Not to Get an Answer. For two females.
  Putting on Airs. A Colloquy. For two males.
  The Straight Mark. For several boys.
  Two ideas of Life. A Colloquy. For ten girls.
  Extract from Marino Faliero.
  Ma-try-Money. An Acting Charade.
  The Six Virtues. For six young ladies.
  The Irishman at Home. For two males.
  Fashionable Requirements. For three girls.
  A Bevy of I's (Eyes). For eight or less little girls.


DIME DIALOGUES, NO. 6.

  The Way They Kept a Secret. Male and females.
  The Poet under Difficulties. For five males.
  William Tell. For a whole school.
  Woman's Rights. Seven females and two males.
  All is not Gold that Glitters. Male and females.
  The Generous Jew. For six males.
  Shopping. For three males and one female.
  The Two Counselors. For three males.
  The Votaries of Folly. For a number of females.
  Aunt Betsy's Beaux. Four females and two males.
  The Libel Suit. For two females and one male.
  Santa Claus. For a number of boys.
  Christmas Fairies. For several little girls.
  The Three Rings. For two males.


DIME DIALECT SPEAKER, NO. 23.

  Dat's wat's de matter,
  The Mississippi miracle,
  Ven te tide cooms in,
  Dose lams vot Mary haf got,
  Pat O'Flaherty on woman's rights,
  The home rulers, how they "spakes,"
  Hezekiah Dawson on Mothers-in-law,
  He didn't sell the farm,
  The true story of Franklin's kite,
  I would I were a boy again,
  A pathetic story,
  All about a bee,
  Scandal,
  A dark side view,
  To pesser vay,
  On learning German,
  Mary's shmall vite lamb,
  A healthy discourse,
  Tobias so to speak,
  Old Mrs. Grimes,
  A parody,
  Mars and cats,
  Bill Underwood, pilot,
  Old Granley,
  The pill peddler's oration,
  Widder Green's last words,
  Latest Chinese outrage,
  The manifest destiny of the Irishman,
  Peggy McCann,
  Sprays from Josh Billings,
  De circumstances ob de sitiwation,
  Dar's nuffin new under de sun,
  A Negro religious poem,
  That violin,
  Picnic delights,
  Our candidate's views,
  Dundreary's wisdom,
  Plain language by truthful Jane,
  My neighbor's dogs,
  Condensed Mythology,
    Pictus,
    The Nereides,
    Legends of Attica,
  The stove-pipe tragedy,
  A doketor's drubbles,
  The coming man,
  The illigant affair at Muldoon's,
  That little baby round the corner,
  A genewine inference,
  An invitation to the bird of liberty,
  The crow,
  Out west.


DIME DIALOGUES No. 26.

  Poor cousins. Three ladies and two gentlemen.
  Mountains and mole-hills. Six ladies and several spectators.
  A test that did not fail. Six boys.
  Two ways of seeing things. Two little girls.
  Don't count your chickens before they are hatched. Four ladies
    and a boy.
  All is fair in love and war. 3 ladies, 2 gentlemen.
  How uncle Josh got rid of the legacy. Two males, with several
    transformations.
  The lesson of mercy. Two very small girls.
  Practice what you preach. Four ladies.
  Politician. Numerous characters.
  The canvassing agent. Two males and two females.
  Grub. Two males.
  A slight scare. Three females and one male.
  Embodied sunshine. Three young ladies.
  How Jim Peters died. Two males.

==> The above books are sold by Newsdealers everywhere, or will be
sent, post-paid, to any address, on receipt of price, 10 cents each.


BEADLE & ADAMS, Publishers, 98 William St., N.Y.




Popular Dime Hand-Books.

BEADLE AND ADAMS, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK.

_Each volume 100 12mo. pages, sent post-paid on receipt of price--ten
cents each._


STANDARD SCHOOL SERIES.

DIME SPEAKERS.

   1. Dime American Speaker.
   2. Dime National Speaker.
   3. Dime Patriotic Speaker.
   4. Dime Comic Speaker.
   5. Dime Elocutionist.
   6. Dime Humorous Speaker.
   7. Dime Standard Speaker.
   8. Dime Stump Speaker.
   9. Dime Juvenile Speaker.
  10. Dime Spread-eagle Speaker.
  11. Dime Debater and Chairman's Guide.
  12. Dime Exhibition Speaker.
  13. Dime School Speaker.
  14. Dime Ludicrous Speaker.
  15. Carl Pretzel's Komikal Speaker.
  16. Dime Youth's Speaker.
  17. Dime Eloquent Speaker.
  18. Dime Hail Columbia Speaker.
  19. Dime Serio-Comic Speaker.
  20. Dime Select Speaker.
  Dime Melodist. (Music and Words.)
  School Melodist. (Music and Words.)

DIME DIALOGUES.

  Dime Dialogues Number One.
  Dime Dialogues Number Two.
  Dime Dialogues Number Three.
  Dime Dialogues Number Four.
  Dime Dialogues Number Five.
  Dime Dialogues Number Six.
  Dime Dialogues Number Seven.
  Dime Dialogues Number Eight.
  Dime Dialogues Number Nine.
  Dime Dialogues Number Ten.
  Dime Dialogues Number Eleven.
  Dime Dialogues Number Twelve.
  Dime Dialogues Number Thirteen.
  Dime Dialogues Number Fourteen.
  Dime Dialogues Number Fifteen.
  Dime Dialogues Number Sixteen.
  Dime Dialogues Number Seventeen.
  Dime Dialogues Number Eighteen
  Dime Dialogues Number Nineteen.
  Dime Dialogues Number Twenty.
  Dime Dialogues Number Twenty-one.


YOUNG PEOPLE'S SERIES.

  =1--DIME GENTS' LETTER-WRITER=--Embracing Forms, Models,
  Suggestions and Rules for the use of all classes, on all occasions.

  =2--DIME BOOK OF ETIQUETTE=--For Ladies and Gentlemen: being a
  Guide to True Gentility and Good-Breeding, and a Directory to the
  Usages of society.

  =3--DIME BOOK OF VERSES=--Comprising Verses for Valentines,
  Mottoes, Couplets, St. Valentine Verses, Bridal and Marriage
  Verses, Verses of Love, etc.

  =4--DIME BOOK OF DREAMS=--Their Romance and Mystery; with a
  complete interpreting Dictionary. Compiled from the most accredited
  sources.

  =5--DIME FORTUNE-TELLER=--Comprising the art of Fortune-Telling,
  how to read Character, etc.

  =6--DIME LADIES' LETTER-WRITER=--Giving the various forms of
  Letters of School Days, Love and Friendship, of Society, etc.

  =7--DIME LOVERS' CASKET=--A Treatise and Guide to Friendship,
  Love, Courtship and Marriage. Embracing also a complete Floral
  Dictionary, etc.

  =8--DIME BALL-ROOM COMPANION=--And Guide to Dancing. Giving
  rules of Etiquette, hints on Private Parties, toilettes for the
  Ball-room, etc.

  =9--BOOK OF 100 GAMES=--Out-door and In-door SUMMER GAMES for
  Tourists and Families in the Country, Picnics, etc., comprising 100
  Games, Forfeits, etc.

  =10--DIME CHESS INSTRUCTOR=--a complete hand-book of instruction,
  giving the entertaining mysteries of this most interesting and
  fascinating of games.

  =11--DIME BOOK OF CROQUET=--A complete guide to the game, with the
  latest rules, diagrams, Croquet Dictionary, Parlor Croquet, etc.

  =12--DIME BOOK OF BEAUTY=--A delightful book, full of interesting
  information. It deserves a place in the hands of every one who
  would be beautiful.

  =DIME ROBINSON CRUSOE=--In large octavo, double columns,
  illustrated.


FAMILY SERIES.

  1. DIME COOK BOOK.
  2. DIME RECIPE BOOK.
  3. DIME HOUSEWIFE'S MANUAL.
  4. DIME FAMILY PHYSICIAN.
  5. DIME DRESSMAKING AND MILLINERY.


==> The above books are sold by Newsdealers everywhere, or will be
sent, _post-paid_, to any address, on receipt of price, 10 cents
each. BEADLE & ADAMS. Publishers, 98 William Street, New York.




PECK & SNYDER

124 & 126 Nassau St., New York


[Illustration: (Sports Shirt)]

We are now manufacturing a complete line of

CLUB UNIFORMS,

In Flannel or Cloth, also

Knit Cotton and Worsted Goods.

Estimates for Special Styles furnished on application.


[Illustration: (Rugby Ball)]

ENGLISH LEATHER FOOT BALLS.

  Nos. 1,      2,      3,      4,      5,      6,
     $2.00.  $3.00.  $4.00.  $5.00.  $6.00.  $7.00 each.


AMERICAN RUBBER FOOT BALLS.

  Nos. 1,      2,      3,      4,      5,      6,
     $1.25.  $1.50.  $1.75.  $2.00.  $2.25.  $2.50 each.


PECK & SNYDER'S

Patent Palm Boxing Gloves.

This line of Gloves are the best Glove on the market.

[Illustration: (Boxing Glove)]

  Nos.        A.      B.      C.      D.      E.      F.
  Per Set.  $2.50.  $3.00.  $3.50.  $4.00.  $4.50.  $5.00.

  Nos.        G.      H.      I.      J.      K.      L.
  Per Set.  $5.50.  $6.00.  $6.50.  $7.00.  $7.50.  $8.00.

Trade discount 25 per cent.

For a full description of these Gloves see page 103, our catalogue.


We have issued a complete list of

Base Ball Goods, Fishing Tackle, Archery,

LAWN TENNIS, CRICKET,

And all Sporting Goods, which we mail on application. Address all
orders to

PECK & SNYDER, 124 & 126 Nassau St., N. Y.




  TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE

  Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.
  Bold text is denoted by =equal signs=.
  The 'pointing hand' symbol has been replaced by ==>.
  The form of fractions in this book, for example  '9 1-4' for 9¼,
  has been retained.

  Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been
  corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within
  the text and consultation of external sources.

  Except for those changes noted below, misspelling by the author,
  and inconsistent or archaic usage, has been retained. For example,
  trowsers; hight; inclosure; unexcelled; employes.

  Pg 10. 'outstaid' replaced by 'outstayed'.
  Pg 19. 'as man turn out' replaced by 'a man turns out'.
  Pg 23. 'throax' replaced by 'thorax'.
  Pg 35. 'Cincinnatti' replaced by 'Cincinnati'.
  Pg 45. 'best Engglish' replaced by 'best English'.
  Pg 51. 'he placed' replaced by 'be placed'.
  Pg 54. 'of the the ground' replaced by 'of the ground'.






End of Project Gutenberg's Handbook of Summer Athletic Sports, by Various

*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 47254 ***