Athletics and Football (extract)

ATHLETICS winner had cleared 21 feet, this being in 1868; and at that time A. C. Tosswill, the hero of the performance, was considered an absolute phenomenon. In 1872, however, Davies, whohad by this time developed into his true form, threw all the pre­ conceived notions of jumping abilityinto the shade by show­ ing himself capable of clearing 22 feet almost any day he liked. He won the Inter-'Varsity jump, in 1872, with 21 ft. 5 in., and the championship of the same year with 22ft. 7 in. In the championshipof 1873 he did not compete ; but in 1874 he again covered 22 ft. 5 in., having, in the Inter-'Varsity jump of that year, a few days before, cleared 22 ft. 10^ in., then the record at the sport. Up to that time, indeed, Davies wasas much the superior of the jumpers who had preceded him as was Brooks a few years later in the kindred sport of high jumping,and his case was like that of Brooks in another point, that the first man w T ho rivalled his great reputation came from Ireland. In the Irish CivilService sports of 1874 Davieswas beaten by J. Lane, who cleared 23 ft. i| in. We never saw Lane jump, but gather from a sporting annual that he was 5 ft. 8 in. in height, and weighed 11 st. 2 lb., a good weight for a man of that height. It is still somewhat a moot point whether Lane's jump ought to be received as a genuine performance, as it has been averred with vehemence, and denied withequal vehemence, that there was a fall in the ground. In truth, however,it is very difficult indeed, when it comes to an inch or two, to judge between one jump and another, as a little wind more or less behind the jumper, or a slight drop in the ground, may make a good deal of difference. It is seldom, also, that the run for the jump is on perfectlylevel ground, as it is impossible to place the jumping ground, with its prepared surface and hollowed pit, in the middle of the levelled running path. For several years, therefore, and we might almost say up to the present day, the question must remain undecided as to which of the pair was the best of all jumpers. Their performance was never even approached for several years.