Rowing and Track Athletics (extract)

The jumps and the Pole-Vault 365 finally cleared the bar at the then unheard-of height of 6 feet 4 inches, he was hailed on all sides as a phenomenon. Page commenced jumping when he was four– teen years old. His legs at that time were unusually weak, and he was advised to try jump– ing to strengthen them. He followed the advice, and, as often happens when a man has some such incentive for physical exercise, he had soon made himself stronger than those who, being naturally possessed of normal strength, were not impelled specially to develop it. When he had attained his growth and his championship jumping form, Page was 5 feet 6f inches in height and pretty well built. He first appeared at Pennsylvania in the fall of 1884, when he won the high jump with a jump of 5 feet 5 inches. It was on the grounds of the Young American Cricket Club, in Philadel– phia, on May 14, 1885, that Page first demonstrated he could clear 6 feet. The actual measurement of this jump, according to some authorities, was 5 feet 11 t inches, but there was a mound of loose earth directly under the bar which those who saw it declared took away at least an inch and a half from the actual height which Page cleared. He had jumped 6 feet a few days previous to this occasion. On the record-books of Pennsylvania this jump is given as 6 feet t inch. Page, repre– senting the University of Pennsylvania, won at