Rowing and Track Athletics (extract)

The Organization of the C tubs 2 s 7 have been regarded as a Mercury by his class– mates, little crowds of young fellows working in the cities, who had no time to spare, and no motive except love of exercise and sport, were getting to– gether in the clubs which succeeded so tremen– dously for many years, and whose members made so many of the records now down on the books. It was the plain, ungilded crowd -young fellows who had to work all day behind a counter or a desk, and train at night-who brought track ath– letics into this country and put the sport on its feet. Of these clubs, the New York Athletic Club was in many ways the pioneer. It was the New York club which built the first cinder path, and brought the first spiked shoes into the country, which held the first real track meet, and which acted as the pattern and the stimulus for similar organizations in various parts of the country. The New York Athletic Club was organized in 1868. William B. Curtis, - "Father Bill " Curtis, - now dead and gone, and his friends and fel– low-athletes, were behind the movement. It was "Father Bill" who, with John C. Babcock, drafted the circular which was sent out to give the ath– letic public an idea of what was proposed. There had been desultory running going on for years, of course, the formation of athletic clubs in Eng– land had been watched with interest over here, and there was a considerable body of what one s