Athletics and Football (extract)

A MODERN CHAMPIONSHIP MEETING 65 jumper, E. J. Walsh, Nuttall and Purves, two old Cambridge blues,and Rowdon, from Teignmouth, in Devonshire,are the competitors. They jump off turf over a lath placed between upright posts, and not off cinders, as is sometimes done at sports, and as is better on wet days when the grass is slippery. The Devonshire man, a slim, boyish-lookingathlete, takes but a short run and then goes straight over the bar. He easily beats his opponents, and wins with 5 ft. ii|- in., the exact height being afterwards measured from the centre of the lath to the ground. The Weight Putting takes but a short time, There are twocompetitors,and Mitchell,whowonthe Hammer Throwing, wins the other heavy weight competition with a 'put' of38 ft. 2 in. The weight (16 lbs.) is 'put' fromthe shoulder, the men beingplaced in a seven-feetsquare of cinder, marked off by boards projecting an inch from the ground. Within that square they can swing their bodies as they like, but if they ' follow' their throw outside the charmed square the judge cries 'No throw,' and no measurement is taken. The Long Jump is also a moral for one jumper— J. Purcell,of Dublin, last year's champion. The men have a long run of fifty yards or so (if they like to run so far) over cinder, and the 'take off' is from a board about an inch wide fixedlevel in the ground. Beyond the board the ground is hollowed out, so that if they over-run the mark the jump is sure to be abortive. It requires, however, much skill and practice not to ' take off' before the mark. Purcell, who in his six tries four times gets over 22 ft., wins with 22 ft. 4 in., E. Horwood,of Brackley, being second with 21 ft. 7^ in. These last three events have been going on in the centre of the ground, while the long walking race is being held on the track. Next comes the Steeplechase,an event which did not appear in the championship programmeuntil 1879. Two countrymen—Harrison from Reading, and Dudman from Basingstoke—oppose Painter, the best representative of the metropolis. There are four circuits, over hurdles,mounds, and a water-jump, to complete the two miles. This contest also