The Cruise of the Branwen

THE WREATH OF OLIVE and living together at a moderate cost, the Greek Government arranged a kind of common hostelry for all competitors in the Zappeion, a fine white building in a park near the stadium. But this kindly plan did not prove a , practical success. Men who had finished their contests came home late and made a noise. Men who still had their work before them could not get enough sleep. The necessary arrangements for feeding so many persons at once did not always suit competitors who had any little idiosyncrasies of appetite or health. The Americans took a hotel and lived there all together, under supervision. Mr. William Henry was wise enough to keep the English swimmers at the Aktaeon, in Phalerum Bay, close to the scene of their races, where they were joined by other British athletes who thought it advisable to leave the Zappeion. In future years it would be found both more economical and more healthy from a training point of view to charter a good steamer from London or Southampton, take all the British athletes out in her, anchor in Phalerum Bay about a week before the Games begin, and make her the permanent headquarters of the English team, both for food and sleep. Half a guinea a head for the whole trip, there and back, ought to be a liberal estimate of the daily cost of each athlete. We shall never either desire or obtain the £5000 which was in 1906 cheerfully placed at the disposal of the American team, but it is not essential for another English party to start from home with less than £200 towards their legitimate expenses, and it is 95