Men of Muscle, and the Highland Games of Scotland, etc.

II4 IEN OF ;\lUSCLE. land but has its trong man. In Gla. gow, particularly, the sport is most popular, and quite a number of men here are much above the average, the Brothers Bothwell, Alf Stone, and Alec Holmes being among the best. The two latter, Stone and Holmes, are, at their respective weights, as good as any perhaps in the whole world. But it is not in favour of any particular man or style we wish to speak, but to place before the public a plain statement of fact culled from up– wards of twenty years' experience of all kinds and styles of weight-lifting. The great difficulty in testing the strength of the men i'l the variety of methods, which differ so much from each other that, even after engaging in a contest, the loser may– and often does-do feats which the winner cannot accom– plish. This may seem paradoxical, but we will explain how it becomes quite logical. Among the many styles of getting heavy weights to full stretch of arm above the head, that known as "lever-push– ing" is the method in which the greatest weight can be accomplished. This style has been most successfully prac– tised by Sandow, Saxon, etc. Then there i the "jerk," adopted by John Marx (John Grun), Hercules (Henry M'Cann), and others, while Donald l innie, in adJition to "jerking," could "one-motion" or "snatch" a very hea y dumbbell. Of course, there are many hundreds of other men perhaps stronger than tho ·e named, but :Marx, Sandow, etc., are the best known to Glasgow readers, who will under· stand the methods spoken of more readily. "Jerking" is a feat requiring more strength than "lever pushing," while lifting a dumbbell with "one motion" is the strongest feat of all-that is, providing that the men are near each other's weight and size. In feats of strength, a short, thick-set man has a great advantage over a tall, thin man. In the "one motion," which is sometimes called "snatching," a tall man who is strong is not at a disadvantage, as he can get a