before turning. The sixth picture shows this turn. When this act is
performed the hammer should be kept well behind, and the thrower should
try to move his feet around as fast as he can, and never under any
consideration should he allow the hammer to get ahead of the motion of
his body; he must keep it following on behind, or else the hammer will
throw him, instead of his throwing the hammer. The reason given for
jumping around on the last turn is that a man, when proficient in this
trick, can gain about twenty-five feet on his throw. It is the Irish
method of throwing a hammer, and has been in use over there for several
hundred years. The Scottish way of throwing, still in use in Scotland,
is to stand still. This used to be the method in vogue in this country,
but within the last ten years the A. A. U. adopted the Irish method, and
two years ago the Inter-collegiate Association followed suit. A man who
has become accustomed to throw from a standstill has some trouble in
getting accustomed to the turn, but as soon as he has caught the knack
of the twist he will greatly prefer it over the old method.
The seventh picture shows the moment just previous to the final heave
when the hammer is to be let go. This should not be done with a jerk,
but the stick should be allowed to slip from the hands at the proper
moment, otherwise any jerking will destroy the momentum obtained. The
last picture shows the attitude of the thrower after the hammer has left
his hands, the weight of his body being thrown backward so as to prevent
him from stepping out of the circle.
The hammer is thrown from a restricted circle in the United States in
order to make the event more scientific. A strong man with very poor
form might make an excellent throw some time if he were allowed to
follow it and go where he liked in his efforts. The circle prevents this
go-as-you-please method, and makes it necessary for athletes to acquire
form; it also gives a definite place to measure from, so that there can
be no dispute as to the exact distance for the measurer to lay off. In
England amateur athletes use a thirty-foot circle; this gives them a
great advantage, for the more turns you can take before throwing, the
greater momentum you can get into your throw. The Englishmen use a
3-foot-6-inch handle, which is a disadvantage to them, since the
centrifugal force is lessened as the square of the distance from the
centre. If athletes used a longer handle than the one accepted in
America, which is 4 feet long, they could not throw the hammer so well
as they do now, unless the performer were of unusual stature, because
the head of the hammer would touch the ground in the first few turns and
at the final lift.
Mr. Hickok throws better in games than he does in practice, although he
practises hard and continuously when training for an important match.
His record for throwing the hammer is 135 feet 7-1/2 inches. At an early
date we shall devote some space to comment and illustration on putting
the shot.
The Constitution of the National Interscholastic Athletic Association as
printed in these columns last week is incomplete in many minor details,
as I stated at the time, for the copy sent to the ROUND TABLE
immediately after the convention of December 28th was merely a rough
draft. The Executive Committee are now copying and revising this first
draft, and as soon as their work has been finished we shall try to offer
it in its completed form to the readers of this Department.
It is very probable that a great many flaws will be found in the
constitution, even when it has been completed and revised by the
committee. It should be kept in mind, however, that when the delegates
gathered last month at the first convention, they had no material to
work on; yet they succeeded in establishing themselves. Now, we have an
organization and a constitution. We have something to go by, and a goal
in view. Wherever experience shows that the makers of the constitution
have been at fault, let us make a little mark, and at the next meeting
let us suggest remedies. A year from now the association ought to be on
such a firm basis that nothing can interfere with the success of its
aim. It is very gratifying to feel that so very much indeed has been
accomplished.
While speaking of suggestions, it may not be out of place for this
Department to make one at once. At first thought, it seems as if the
date for the field meeting--the last Saturday in June--has been placed a
little too late in the season for the general convenience. This may not
be so; the makers of the constitution may have discussed this question
thoroughly, and may have concluded that the last Saturday in June is
best suited for the occasion. The schools of this city close late in May
or early in June. That is one objection for New York and Long Island. A
second and more important objection is that the college examinations are
usually held the last week in June, and unless I am greatly mistaken,
the final ones come on that very Saturday. This is at least a matter for
the executive committee to investigate. It is fortunately, too, a matter
that can be very easily remedied.
It is deeply to be regretted, just as we are congratulating ourselves
over the formation of a National I. S. A. A., that we must also announce
the failure of the plans made for an Eastern trip by the Oakland
High-School, of California. One of the officers of the California
Association writes to me as follows concerning it:
"We have had a lot of trouble with the faculty in regard to that
trip, and as they are opposed to it for several reasons, we have
reluctantly desisted from raising money, and, I am sorry to say, we
will not come East next summer. We should have had in the bank
about a thousand dollars by Christmas if we had been allowed to
proceed with our plans. As it is, we have several hundred dollars,
which we will doubtless find some use for."
And so end, for this year at least, the hopes and ambitions of our
California fellow-sportsmen. We all regret that this must be so, and
knowing how great the interest of Eastern scholastic athletes has been
in this proposed visit, I feel warranted in devoting space to the letter
from the O.-H.-S. faculty to the Oakland Board of Education which put an
end to the trip. It fully explains the situation:
"In view of the fact that quite recently a new phase of athletics
in the High-School has made its appearance, and as the results are
already proving detrimental to the interests of our pupils, we
consider it to be our duty to express to you our views upon this
subject.
"We deem it to be not only unwise but positively injurious to the
proper prosecution of the studies of our pupils that they should
give repeated entertainments for the purpose of raising a fund to
defray the expenses of some of their number to visit Eastern cities
to engage in competing athletic games. As we are informed, at least
two entertainments have been given already, and others are in
contemplation. All this requires considerable time and thought, and
if an argument were necessary to convince you that this means a
serious interference with the school duties of all who engage in
these entertainments, either in taking an active part in their
public performances or in selling tickets for them, we have in
evidence the statement of some of our number that already several
of the pupils thus actively engaged have materially deteriorated
within the last three weeks.
"We fully realize that the relation we sustain toward the citizens
of Oakland who so generously support the High-School, and toward
the pupils we are required to instruct, demands that we zealously
guard the interests of those placed under our care. Deeply
impressed with this fact, we cannot see anything, however important
it may be in itself, precede that for which the High-School is
organized and supported.
"The High-School is part of the educational department of our city,
and is under the supervision of the Board of Education. We believe
it should be fully recognized that neither the name of the
High-School nor any of its interests should be used for any purpose
whatever without the sanction of the supervising board.
"We furthermore wish to express our entire disapproval of having
any one visit the East, for the purpose contemplated, in the name
of the Oakland High-School.
"We do not wish it to be understood that we are in any degree
opposed to athletic sports when kept within reasonable bounds; on
the contrary, we encourage them, and are pleased to see our pupils
interested in them. We believe, however, that their place in our
school should be secondary. When they aspire to a first place and
seriously interfere with the proper work of the school, we consider
it to be our duty to enter an earnest protest."
Our nearer neighbors in Iowa, however, have as yet met with no obstacle
to their joining the N. I. S. A. A., and the president of the
association writes to me from Clinton that "the people of Clinton are
awake more than ever since the article in HARPER'S ROUND TABLE of
December 24th. It came just at the right time. Our first entertainment
will come off about the last of the month, and we expect to clear $400.
The State Delegates' meeting is to be held at Muscatine, Iowa, Friday,
January 3d, and at that meeting our interests in the National
Association will be talked of. I was greatly disappointed in not being
able to have a delegate at the National Interscholastic meeting, but the
notices came too late to hear from all the schools of the Association.
You may depend upon it, however, that if everything goes on as smoothly
as it does now, Iowa will have a team at the National Meet." It cannot
be urged too strongly upon the officers and the Executive Committee of
the National Association to enter into communication at once with all
the associations that they can reach.
The standing of the Junior League of the New England Interscholastic
Football Association, as given in these columns on December 31st, shows
the relative positions of the teams before Dedham High played off the
tie with Hyde Park High. To make the record complete, the final standing
of the teams is here added:
Games Games Points Points
won. lost. Tied. won. lost.
Somerville High. 5 0 1 106 10
Newton " 4 1 1 69 32
Chelsea " 3 2 0 66 74
Dedham " 3 2 0 24 42
Roxbury Latin 3 3 0 82 41
Hyde Park High. 1 5 0 22 92
Roxbury High. 0 6 0 6 70
The formation of an Interscholastic Polo Association in Connecticut puts
an additional event on the list of competitive sports for the winter,
and for that reason it should be welcomed. It is a healthy exercise
out-of-doors, and is the best kind of sport to develop good skaters. The
schools that have thus far joined the League are the Hill-house High,
Bridgeport High, New Britain High, Hartford High, and Meriden High
schools, and it is probable that the New London schools will come in
too.
The game of ice polo is a simple one, and ought to find favor wherever
there is a frozen pond or river. The rules of the sport may be found in
almost any book of sporting regulations, but, briefly, the principle of
the game is as follows: There are two teams, of five men each, playing
against each other. The players are called first and second rushes,
centre, half-back, and goal. There is usually no limit placed upon the
size of the field (ice-field, of course), although commonly it is marked
off from fifty to seventy-five feet in length, and about half as wide as
it is long.
The officials consist of an umpire and a referee, or frequently of an
umpire only. The referee has duties similar to the official of the same
name in football--that is, looks after the ball, calls goals, brings the
ball in when it is driven out of bounds, etc. The umpire looks after the
men, calls fouls, etc. The ball is placed in the centre of the field,
and at a signal the first rush of each team skates toward it, the second
rush following immediately. As soon as one of the first rushes touches
the ball it is in play, and every other man has the privilege of
knocking it.
The object of each side is to get the ball into the opponents' goal.
Each goal counts one for the side making it. As a general thing the
aggressive work is done by the first and second rushes, and the
defensive by the half-back and goal. The regulation ball is three inches
in diameter; the polo sticks are about 3 feet 6 inches in length, or
according to the taste of the players. Fouls consist of tripping,
hitting, and pushing an opponent, kicking the ball with the foot by any
player except goal-tender. The penalty for fouling is a goal added to
the opponents' score. Space prevents giving a more detailed description
of the game, but I shall cheerfully answer any questions that the
readers of this Department may wish to ask.
In the All-New-York Football Team, published last week, I committed the
error of mentioning Mr. Carey as a member of the Columbia Grammar School
eleven. Mr. Carey played with the Hamilton Institute team.
THE GRADUATE.
* * * * *
YOUNG MOTHERS
should early learn the necessity of keeping on hand a supply of Gail
Borden Eagle Brand Condensed Milk for nursing babies as well as for
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=A Complete Set=, Embracing the above five figures, will be sent to any
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charges. These figures are perfect in every particular, and suitable
souvenirs of our twenty years as positive leaders in the manufacture of
everything that is essential for outdoor or indoor sports and pastimes.
The figures represent the different athletes in correct positions, with
the proper implements and clothing, and contain as well a short
educational story as to how the different sports are played, making in
all the most complete series of athletic figures ever issued in the
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home dining-room, club-room, reading-room, or office, nicely mounted and
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Sent by mail upon receipt of 10 cents, to pay charges.
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Good Music
Franklin Square Song Collection.
GOOD MUSIC arouses a spirit of good-will, creates a harmonious
atmosphere, and where harmony and good-will prevail, the disobedient,
turbulent, unruly spirit finds no resting-place. Herbert Spencer puts
his final test of any plan of culture in the form of a question, "Does
it create a pleasurable excitement in the pupils?" Judged by this
criterion, Music deserves the first rank, for no work done in the school
room is so surely creative of pleasure as singing. Do we not all agree,
then, that Vocal Music has power to benefit every side of the child
nature? And in these days, when we seek to make our schools the arenas
where children may grow into symmetrical, substantial, noble characters,
can we afford to neglect so powerful an aid as Music? Let us as rather
encourage it in every way possible.
_Nowhere can you find for Home or School a better Selection of Songs and
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Sold Everywhere. Price, 50 cents; Cloth, $1.00. Full contents of the
Several Numbers, with Specimen, Pages of favorite Songs and Hymns, sent
by Harper & Brothers, New York, to any address.
THOMAS W. KNOX.
[Illustration: COLONEL THOMAS W. KNOX.]
There are people with whom we never associate the thought of death, and
whose bright, genial lives seem meant to go on and on to extreme old
age. When they are taken away we hear the tidings with surprise and
regret, and looking over the work they have done we realize how much we
are in their debt for hours of pleasure and profit. Such a man was
Colonel Knox, whose _Boy Travellers_ are in every village library, and
whose name is a household word wherever bright young people meet. He was
well known to the readers of the ROUND TABLE, to which he has often
contributed. A cheery comrade, a genial friend, he possessed the rare
art of telling a story and imparting information at the same time, so
that his books of travel are not only entertaining, but of permanent
value. He wrote a great many books, but among them there is not one
which has not a claim on the attentive reader; and now that he is gone,
we are glad that he will still live, and teach, and amuse, and charm a
great audience in his pleasant volumes.
Colonel Knox was born in New Hampshire in 1835. His was a typical
American life. Born of plain people, he learned the trade of a
shoemaker, having previously gone to the district school and worked on a
farm, as many a bright lad is doing to-day. Shoe-making was not to be
his occupation, however, and when twenty-three years old he undertook
the more congenial task of teaching, and presently was at the head of a
school. Later his love of adventure took him to the gold-fields of the
West. But for the breaking out of the civil war it is probable that
young Knox might have gone on either as an explorer or a preceptor, but
fate decreed otherwise. When the war rallied the young men of the
country on one or the other side, the most promising in every avocation
enlisted, and as a matter of course such a man as Knox entered the Union
army. Here he served in two campaigns, was rapidly promoted, and finally
received the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel on the staff of the Governor of
California. That he could write as well as fight was shown by the fact
that he became a war correspondent, sending stirring letters from the
front to the New York papers.
All this proves the pluck and versatility of the man. He was generally
successful in his undertakings, bringing to bear on them the force of a
clever and quick mind which could grasp a situation and did not neglect
details.
There must have been a roving drop in the blood of the New Hampshire
boy, for after the war he could not contentedly settle down and enjoy
life at home, but started off on a journey with a scientific object.
Organizing an expedition to establish a telegraph line through southern
Asia, he entered on the life of a traveller, with all the hardships and
the pleasures which combine to make such a life interesting and full of
excitement. On sledges in Siberia, in palanquins in India, up and down
rivers in China, wherever his fancy or business led him. Colonel Knox
travelled, and wrote books about his experiences. The Emperor of Siam
was so pleased with the story of _Boy Travellers_ in his country that he
conferred on the author the "Order of the White Elephant," a great
distinction, which Colonel Knox was the first American to receive.
Colonel Knox was very practical, not specially imaginative, a
clear-sighted, straight-forward man, noted for common-sense and energy.
As the boys whom he has so often entertained turn the pages of their
favorite volumes, they cannot do better than remember that the man who
wrote them was in every throb of the pulse an American, simple-hearted,
patriotic, and sincere. He loved his country, he studied other
countries, and he spent his life in doing honestly and manfully whatever
his hand found to do. A good example for us all.
Some Interesting Questions.
Last year I bought three of the dancing or jumping beans, which
were then a great novelty. With them came a circular describing
them and their habits, which, unfortunately, I have thrown away.
However, it was to the effect that the beans were hollow shells
which were found on some tree or shrub in Mexico. Each shell
contained a small white worm, which would live, the circular said,
about six months.
If one of the beans was placed on the palm of the hand, or on a
slightly warmed surface, it would begin to move around in little
jerks or jumps which were caused by the worm inside. One theory was
that if the shell remains stationary in its native home something
will destroy it. The worm has no desire to leave the shell. If a
hole is bored in it he will straightway patch it up, and if removed
from the shell entirely he will try to cover himself up, but cannot
make a new shell.
My part of the story is different. Last spring, the beans being
still alive, I put them in a small box and packed them away for the
summer. When I unpacked them, what do you suppose I found? Three
shells, each with a hole in it, the dried skin of the worm, and
also a perfect specimen of a strange moth. I cut one of the shells
in half, and there were a number of eggs as yet unhatched. Will the
Editor please have these specimens conveyed to Mr. W. Hamilton
Gibson, who writes such interesting articles for young folks about
natural history, so that he may write on this subject if he thinks
it of sufficient interest.
Why did the moth or worm bore the hole and lay the eggs? Did the
moth die of hunger or suffocation; if so, why did not the worm die
in the shell? How could it be a cocoon if the worm did not make it?
Why did it lay _all_ the eggs in one shell? All are questions
which, when answered, will surely be interesting.
JOHN HAWKESWORTH, R.T.F.
NEW YORK.
* * * * *
Writing One's Name.
Not a few persons fail to stick to one signature. Especially is this
true of young persons. They sign their name in all sorts of ways--a
practice that is most confusing to those of their correspondents who do
not, through personal acquaintance, happen to know that "John A. Smith,"
"J. A. Smith," "J. Albert Smith," and "John Smith" are one and the same
person.
Young persons coming into the world of affairs should select a form for
their name and always use the same. It is a matter of fancy, probably,
but we prefer the first name spelled out, since it tells something about
the writer. A correspondent replying to a letter signed by initials only
is often uncertain whether to begin his letter "Dear Sir," or "Dear
Miss," or "Dear Madam."
* * * * *
Competition in Raisin Growing.
California is a great raisin country. Immense quantities of raisins
from this valley are exported annually to all parts. The muscat is
the raisin grape generally grown, but there are several other
varieties. The Sultana and the Thompson seedless are small grapes
without seeds. During grape-picking-time the country presents a
lively aspect. Men, women, and children find employment during the
grape season, and a quick worker may earn good wages. One may often
see whole families having come from a distance to pick grapes on
some large vineyard, camping out in light tents either in the field
or beside the country road-side.
The grapes are picked in rows and placed upon trays. The bunches
are detached from the vines by a sharp knife, and any injured or
decayed grape is removed. A grape-picker is paid, generally, two
and a half cents a tray. A good picker sometimes fills seventy-five
trays in a day. But they will assure you it is no light work to
pick grapes in the hot sun, the thermometer over one hundred in the
shade. When the grapes are partially dried they are skilfully
turned over into an empty tray so that the under side will be
exposed to the sun.