Athletics of To-Day 1929

Athletics of To-day That runner gave one agonized shriek and streaked straight for the pavilion, with no thought of finishing the race. Ob– stacles of any kind he would have faced cheerfully, but showed a marked aversion from being shot at with r6 lb. cannon balls travelling at 50 to 6o ft. per second. I think it was in I9I3 that Flaxman at Prague, or Buda-Pesth, established the still unbroken Bohemian record, and in rgr4 he made the present Northern Counties Championship record of I40 ft. Then came the War, and he joined the battalion of the South Staffordshire Regiment, of which I was adjutant. The men simply adored him, and in the "Bull Ring" at Etaples he amazed every one by his prowess as a bomber. He was with u C" Company in France, and on one occasion when the Bosches blew up a mine close to the Company dug-out, Flaxman's bombing came in mighty handy. One man in the listening post vanished completely, and two others were fast embedded in duck-boards, wire, and chalk. Flaxman and another officer named Magrane dashed to the rescue, the former keeping the far edge of the crater clear with a perfect torrent of bombs, while the latter dug out the unfortunate soldiers, and both were recommended for the M.C. On another occasion the C.O., going round the front line trenches, found Flaxman seated on the fire step, sans boots, puttees, and socks, and apparently ruminating contentedly. It appeared that he had been prospecting up an old sap towards a crater some 8o yards in front of the line. It was pitch dark, and, to make matters worse, there were any number of mining galleries, made and occupied earlier by the French. Flaxman proceeded the deuce of a way before he heard a sound. Then suddenly, at a traverse, he was met by two men and challenged in German. His revolver stuck fast in its holster, but he had in his hand a hefty, loaded trench-stick, which we had bought together in London. With this weapon he laid out both men and bolted for his life. This all sounded pretty good until next day, when the C.O. was called upon to explain what the this and that some one under his command