Why? The Science of Athletics

r88 WHY?-THE SCIENCE OF ATHLETICS August 7th, I933, and is made by a leading firm of chrorro– motor manufacturers who have been established since I858, and was again employed for timing the jumping at the International Horse Show, Olympia, London, in July I934 ; but so far it has not, to my knowledge, been tried out at any athletic sports meeting. This clock gives instantaneous timing in alternatively I I I oath, I I I oth or I lsth seconds and begins to operate immediately the starting gate, or starting unit, is actuated and stops instantly upon a light ray across the track being broken. By this means absolutely accurate timing can be guaranteed, while the fact that the dial of the clock can be 3, 6 or 7 ft. or even larger if required makes it possible for every spectator to follow the timed progress of a race. . The Western Union Sports Clock is the product of a year's work by Western Union engineers, is accurate to a split second, and introduces several basically new principles of electric time-keeping. This clock was used in America for timing football matches at the University of Chicago and at Rodeos held at Chicago, New York and Boston during I933-34· The operation of the clock is quite simple, since it is set in motion and stopped by the pressing of a button, so that only one timekeeper is needed, although with races starting and finishing at different points two operators and two control devices would seem to be better. The Mercer Clock has this advantage, that, being automatically started and stopped, it is not subject to human error. The Western Uilion Sports Clock has a dial from IO to I5 ft. in diameter, showing two -con– centric circles ; the outer circle graduated in seconds, is registered by the long seconds hand, while the smaller inner circle, graduated in minutes, is registered by the shorter minute hand. Apart from the value of sports clocks as accurate time-keepers one has to consider the psychological effect they have upon competitors and spectators alike. Round about 1920 Paavo Nurmi set the fashion of schedule time– running, and to check his times always carried a stop-