Olympic Cavalcade

PARIS, I924 129 there were rumours, too, of great athletes from the British Dominions, and the certainty of honours going to Italy in the Walk. · America, moreover, was determined that there should be no repetition of the tragedy of the Barharossa, such as took place when an American contingent took part in the intercalated series of Games at Athens in I9o6, or any mutiny such as characterized th·e voyage of the Princess Matoika, the old Army transport which had carried the Olympic team to Antwerp in I92o. So on I6 June, the S.S. America, which had been chartered for the trip over and return, set sail from New York Harbour with 320 personnel aboard including I IO athletes, 66 swimmers, 20 fencers, I 5 oarsmen, 25 boxers, I I gymnasts, I6 wrestlers, 12 coaches, 10 team managers, 10 trainers, 6 masseurs and various officials who had charge of the expedition. That, however, was not the full set-up. The Yale crew had been selected to J -represent the U.S.A. in the Eight-oar Olympic contest, but waited to contest their annual race at Harvard and so came on later in another liner. The U.S. Navy, as in 1920, sent its athletes over on a battleship. There are some points here which are mentioned for our personal British information and possibly instruction. The great S.S. America set sail with the legend 'American Olympic Team' painted in large letters on each side. She was fitted up de luxe for the convenience and £nal development of sportsmen who were to represent their country at the Olympic Games. The legend painted on the bows no doubt gave the team a real feeling that they were out to do the best they could for their.:country. A 220 yards cork-track for the runners was put down on the promenade deck. The swimmers, including a number of women, had a canvas tank rigged for them. Ship's accommodation is, however, limited, so the tank was only a small one; wherefore the swimmers had to practise their strokes while supported from above by a rope and belt so that they were, in reality, practising their strokes in the same spot all the time. There were a number of rings for the boxers, and the wrestlers were provided with all the mats that were required. For the shot putters, too, there were rubber– c?vered shots so that only the throwers of weights were, apparently, at a d1sadvantage, but for them there was always a certain amount ofP.T. · The team even had its own chaplain, the Rev. Ralph Spearow, a pole vaulter from the University of Oregon. He took Sunday services throughout the voyage. . In proof of the great keenness of the Americans to take part in the Olympic Games, it may be stated that M. H. Layton, the Nebraska hu-rdler, w.as ?iscovered as a stowaway. But he had not the luck of either Paul ~llgnm or Bobby Cloughen. The former went to Athens at his own expense 1ll 1906 and won the 400 and 8oo metres gold medals, while the latter, a red-headed school-boy from New York, had his passage paid by his parents, and was allowed to join the Olympic team when the U.S.A. coaches dis– covered him on his own in London in 1908. Cloughen justified the confidence I