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

JOHN GEORGE, OF CROMAR. J ORN GEORGE was born near Tarland, in the parish ofCromar, on the banks of the Dee, in Aberdeenshire, in 1846. His parents were well off, his father being a contractor and builder doing good business. After leaving school, John was sent to the College at Aberdeen, where he studied for some time, but finally his father took him home and put him to learn the mason trade. This seems to have been distasteful to John, as we find him journeying south soon afterwards, and joining the Dumbartonshire police. He still remained a rolling stone, however, as later on we can trace him to the Renfrew, the Glasgow, and the Grangemouth police forces, in all of which he seems to have served. As an athlete he was in the front rank. At Aboyne, in 1868, he won the putting with both the heavy and light stones, the former with a distance of 35ft. IIin., and the latter with 43ft. 1in., and on the same day also carried off the palm for heavy and light hammer, and tossing the caber, while he came second at the long jump and second at the high leap. In the two latter Tom Carruthers, one of the finest jumpers of that time, was first. The distances being, long jump, Carruthers, 19ft. 5in.; George, 16ft. 1oin. High leap, Carruthers, 5ft. 1in. ; George, 4ft. r rin. In the hammer-throwing the distances were :-24flb., 68ft. 3in., and the r6k!b., 9oft. 2in. In 1870 George again won the heavy hammer, this time with 72ft. 2in., and also came first with the caber. The following year he won the heavy hammer with 72ft. 9in., and the light with 99ft. The hammers at this time had thick heavy handles, and George sometimes threw in the pendulum style, which cannot 38