The hammer is thrown from a restricted circle in the United States in order to make the event more scientific. A strong man with very poor form might make an excellent throw some time if he were allowed to follow it and go where he liked in his efforts. The circle prevents this go-as-you-please method, and makes it necessary for athletes to acquire form; it also gives a definite place to measure from, so that there can be no dispute as to the exact distance for the measurer to lay off. In England amateur athletes use a thirty-foot circle; this gives them a great advantage, for the more turns you can take before throwing, the greater momentum you can get into your throw. The Englishmen use a 3-foot-6-inch handle, which is a disadvantage to them, since the centrifugal force is lessened as the square of the distance from the centre. If athletes used a longer handle than the one accepted in America, which is 4 feet long, they could not throw the hammer so well as they do now, unless the performer were of unusual stature, because the head of the hammer would touch the ground in the first few turns and at the final lift.
Mr. Hickok throws better in games than he does in practice, although he practises hard and continuously when training for an important match. His record for throwing the hammer is 135 feet 7½ inches. At an early date we shall devote some space to comment and illustration on putting the shot.
The Constitution of the National Interscholastic Athletic Association as printed in these columns last week is incomplete in many minor details, as I stated at the time, for the copy sent to the Round Table immediately after the convention of December 28th was merely a rough draft. The Executive Committee are now copying and revising this first draft, and as soon as their work has been finished we shall try to offer it in its completed form to the readers of this Department.
It is very probable that a great many flaws will be found in the constitution, even when it has been completed and revised by the committee. It should be kept in mind, however, that when the delegates gathered last month at the first convention, they had no material to work on; yet they succeeded in establishing themselves. Now, we have an organization and a constitution. We have something to go by, and a goal in view. Wherever experience shows that the makers of the constitution have been at fault, let us make a little mark, and at the next meeting let us suggest remedies. A year from now the association ought to be on such a firm basis that nothing can interfere with the success of its aim. It is very gratifying to feel that so very much indeed has been accomplished.
While speaking of suggestions, it may not be out of place for this Department to make one at once. At first thought, it seems as if the date for the field meeting—the last Saturday in June—has been placed a little too late in the season for the general convenience. This may not be so; the makers of the constitution may have discussed this question thoroughly, and may have concluded that the last Saturday in June is best suited for the occasion. The schools of this city close late in May or early in June. That is one objection for New York and Long Island. A second and more important objection is that the college examinations are usually held the last week in June, and unless I am greatly mistaken, the final ones come on that very Saturday. This is at least a matter for the executive committee to investigate. It is fortunately, too, a matter that can be very easily remedied.
It is deeply to be regretted, just as we are congratulating ourselves over the formation of a National I. S. A. A., that we must also announce the failure of the plans made for an Eastern trip by the Oakland High-School, of California. One of the officers of the California Association writes to me as follows concerning it:
"We have had a lot of trouble with the faculty in regard to that trip, and as they are opposed to it for several reasons, we have reluctantly desisted from raising money, and, I am sorry to say, we will not come East next summer. We should have had in the bank about a thousand dollars by Christmas if we had been allowed to proceed with our plans. As it is, we have several hundred dollars, which we will doubtless find some use for."
And so end, for this year at least, the hopes and ambitions of our California fellow-sportsmen. We all regret that this must be so, and knowing how great the interest of Eastern scholastic athletes has been in this proposed visit, I feel warranted in devoting space to the letter from the O.-H.-S. faculty to the Oakland Board of Education which put an end to the trip. It fully explains the situation:
"In view of the fact that quite recently a new phase of athletics in the High-School has made its appearance, and as the results are already proving detrimental to the interests of our pupils, we consider it to be our duty to express to you our views upon this subject.
"We deem it to be not only unwise but positively injurious to the proper prosecution of the studies of our pupils that they should give repeated entertainments for the purpose of raising a fund to defray the expenses of some of their number to visit Eastern cities to engage in competing athletic games. As we are informed, at least two entertainments have been given already, and others are in contemplation. All this requires considerable time and thought, and if an argument were necessary to convince you that this means a serious interference with the school duties of all who engage in these entertainments, either in taking an active part in their public performances or in selling tickets for them, we have in evidence the statement of some of our number that already several of the pupils thus actively engaged have materially deteriorated within the last three weeks.
"We fully realize that the relation we sustain toward the citizens of Oakland who so generously support the High-School, and toward the pupils we are required to instruct, demands that we zealously guard the interests of those placed under our care. Deeply impressed with this fact, we cannot see anything, however important it may be in itself, precede that for which the High-School is organized and supported.
"The High-School is part of the educational department of our city, and is under the supervision of the Board of Education. We believe it should be fully recognized that neither the name of the High-School nor any of its interests should be used for any purpose whatever without the sanction of the supervising board.
"We furthermore wish to express our entire disapproval of having any one visit the East, for the purpose contemplated, in the name of the Oakland High-School.
"We do not wish it to be understood that we are in any degree opposed to athletic sports when kept within reasonable bounds; on the contrary, we encourage them, and are pleased to see our pupils interested in them. We believe, however, that their place in our school should be secondary. When they aspire to a first place and seriously interfere with the proper work of the school, we consider it to be our duty to enter an earnest protest."
Our nearer neighbors in Iowa, however, have as yet met with no obstacle to their joining the N. I. S. A. A., and the president of the association writes to me from Clinton that "the people of Clinton are awake more than ever since the article in Harper's Round Table of December 24th. It came just at the right time. Our first entertainment will come off about the last of the month, and we expect to clear $400. The State Delegates' meeting is to be held at Muscatine, Iowa, Friday, January 3d, and at that meeting our interests in the National Association will be talked of. I was greatly disappointed in not being able to have a delegate at the National Interscholastic meeting, but the notices came too late to hear from all the schools of the Association. You may depend upon it, however, that if everything goes on as smoothly as it does now, Iowa will have a team at the National Meet." It cannot be urged too strongly upon the officers and the Executive Committee of the National Association to enter into communication at once with all the associations that they can reach.