Athletics of To-Day 1929

The Growth of Modern Athletics In 1844 the first great American sprinter was George Seward, of New Haven, Connecticut, who came to England and made some remarkable records; there was also Billy Jackson, known as the " American Deer," and, in r863, we were visited by L. Bennett, a full-blooded Seneca Indian, whose pseudonym was'' Deerfoot," and he is said to have run rz miles in r hour 2 mins. zt secs. In r878 the Canadian, C. C. Mcivor, sprint champion of America, came to England, but failed to beat the best of our professional talent. During the history of American athletics there have been two periods of remarkable activity. The first, but a brief one, was from r87o to r878. The early troubles of the United States in matters of administration seem to have borne a remarkable similarity to our own. The Inter- ollegiate A.A.A.A. was founded on December 5th, r875. Its first meet was in June, 1876. For two years prior to this, however, there had been a meet of colleges associated with the Inter-Collegiate owing Regatta. These meets were held at Saratoga, .Y. Colonel G. Creighton Webb was the found r and first president. For many years the m ets were held inN w York ity, but since 1904 have alternated b twe n hiladelphia and oston. In 1876 the ational Association of Amateur Athletes of Am rica and also the W st rn Inter-Collegiate Association were formed. In that year both the American ational and the American Inter-Collegiate Championships were founded, and new clubs sprang up almost every week in the neighbourhood of ew York City. More than a doz n ports m ting w re held weeklyfromWashington'sbirthdayup to Thanksgiving Day, and on one occasion each of two meeting h ld n the sam day num– bered nearly Boo ntri s, repr sentativ of upwards of rso clubs. This pace of progre s was too rapid to b maintain d, many clubs died a natural d ath, oth rs w r absorbed by their neighbours, and in r8 o th r wa tr ubl , which, a in England, caus d the holding of two hampionship me tings. This r sult d in the d ceas of the .A. .A.A. and th formation of the Amateur Athletic Union of th United tates, which is allied with the Canadian A.A.A., although the two countries