Eugene daily guard. (Eugene, Or.) 1904-1924, October 21, 1911, Image 16

Historic Oregon Newspapers

Eugene daily guard., October 21, 1911, Image 16

Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR

About Eugene daily guard. (Eugene, Or.) 1904-1924 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 1911)

Prev Page of 16 Prev Issue Next Text PDF JP2 (2.4 MB) Clip/Print Image

Return to Top

Prev Page of 16 Prev Issue Next

Newspaper Page TextHP HE GST- m GOOD TR.UIT GUARDING THOUSAND COLLEGIAN ISE of the Neiu Enaland School of Coached of Whom "Mike" Murphy Is the Dean, and How Its Members Have Discovered and Developed Athletic Marvels. THIRTY MICHAEL C, MTJJREHX Pack In Ffeoto, , (Cnrriltt. 1911. br lit New Tor Henlo Co. ill rlsbti rnorrmi ON the Massachusetts athletic trust the track and field destinies of more than thirty thou nand collegians balunce. Another ten thou sand or moro members of amateur clubs look for their physical betterment, for personal or mblte competition, to offsprlnKs of Uils organization tht xlst without papers of Incorporation or any thing more binding than the quietly announced slo gan. "He' one of us." ' In an eastern district of the May Btnt, that a ro bust man could cover In a dny'a walk, the athletic trust was born thirty years ago. It Is still growing. Its potency now draws to the headquarters of the trust glories of athletic achievements from coast to coast, and from Now Orleans to the Cnnndlnn lino. Through Its agents the trunt's power ins been felt abroad In Olympic and other gnnics. Originally a one man power, with "Stocky" Mur phy,, of those days the present "Mlko" Murphy ns Tsar, It has never loosoned Its grip on the amateur athletic situation. An aspiring coach may pass mus ter without the "O. K." of tbo trust, but If ho tins It there Is higher hope for tho future. To gain that Barer falling Indorsement "Ho knows tho game" an applicant must first weather tho chills of tho trust ' and warm the roasters that control It by "showing something." That "something" Is real ability. But betaf a New Rnglander gives the applicant an l Jowanc of fifty percentage points before he Is put to the test It Just happens so" was an expert athletic advis er's answer when the writer naked why that district within forty-five minutes from Uoston produced the world's foremost athletic coaches and (minora, Iltit there's' a atory of loyalty (o tho deau of coaches, Michael C. Murphy, of the ynlvoinlty of Pennsyl vania, and of much bard work along ambitious lines In the carrera of the chief figures. ' In the early eighties New England was the homo of the professional athlete, and nearly every one of the members of (he trust has been a money chaser with bis own borrowed splkos. rrofesslonnl sprinters wero more plentiful thoro than lu any other section of the country, barring, possibly, portions of Pennsylvania. For a decado .the sport thrived. But the specula tive: interests eventually brought about It; decline. At the height of the foot racing era for cash, "Stocky" Murphy, 'Tooch" Donovan, now coach nt Harvard; "Johnny" Mack, of Yale, and scores of others who do not have any standing with the trust were active. (Working In hayflelds for weeks to establish n resi dence In some smnll town where hoso races with rival fire companies wero tho leading attractions to tho sport loving natives; driving a conl wagon and eventu ally being Invited by somo "unknown" friend to get off the sent and run against some nthleto with moro backing than sprinting power; keeping right on run ring and going over the high fenco enclosing somo track after defeating the local sprinting Idol are ex periences that some ( tho members of the trust have forgotten lu the more dlgullled careers Hint opened to them. . On the Natli'k (Mass.)' Hook and Ladder team of the early eighties wero "Mlko" Murphy. 'Tooch" Don ovan, Keene FHspatrlck, ''Johnny" Mnek, "Sid" I'eel, now trainer at Andover; "Sieve" Knrrell, conch at the University of Ohio, and "Piper" Douovnn, fastest of all professional sprinters when nt his best. That team was a world's champion, l'roiu It Murphy went to Yale as traluer, bringing with hlin as an assistant 'Tooch" Donovan. Perseverance, coupled with (he hardest of work, made this coterie of muscular New Knglandera valu able from thrlr first nttempts ns conches. There Is nut a man In the list who tins not trained harder nu more conscientiously than a majority of present day champions. In the professional ranks there was no lonflng In (he camps. Near the town of Nnilek wns a road house where several of (he money seekers trained belween races. There tho dnlly routine wns a ten or twelve mile walk before breakfast, more rond work and outdoor exercise until noon. Then a light lunch and a handicap meet In the afternoon. The handicaps were mutually agreed upon and each man pu( up his own money anil run for It ns If there was not auolber chance for "eats" In Icht. When some of this little group entered the college nthlellc world as coaches they did not Instruct from n bttok or give advice from an arm chair. They continued to work and have been st it ever since. In one of the largest of the Lnsfcin universities Is coach who would not address student upon the subject, but who could tell of one small da's vtmk ths( he did as a professions! nthictc. led nnlW' In Boston by a follower of the sprinters who was faster on the "getaway" with coin 1 1 t-t 11 tin runner himself, (his now famous coach vtent ,u the l'tim-tul Hall market and worked from seven o'clock In t' inonilng until noon as nn assistant handlci of side pf beef. Ho needed the dotlnr that was promised, bersuse that sftcrnnon he had nn engagement In s IAS ysrd handicap In n town forty. odd miles a.t. But the butcher had none for the day, null Instruc tions tn have lhs( "young fellow Willi the sunburn, arms" come around the next morning. Travelling "Incog" precluded the chances for a "touch" on iO f (he sporting men In llmton. st that time more numerous than now. so this deter mined athlete pleaded with a fireman on a (rata for permission to "stoke" his way. And he won i tint chance. Xbes he had tittle else to do but walk ln 4 I " x WILLIAM "F. DONOVAN Kctortat KiwsCft Fbetcv 1 Want Pied" Insisted Chase;. and one Hnlf miles to the fair grounds nnd borrow spikes and trunks from nn awed ninnteur. Ho lln lshed second from tho four ynrd murk, pocketed $75 and was lu tho market In Boston next morning to earn another dollar. "Hiiinll wonder that men of tlint spirit can succeed," commented n kindly collego In structor, who, up to the tlnio of hearing that story of sheer grit, "never had much use fur those runners and Jumpers." N "Alike" Murphy's Start. Of the returns that have been written and the count less stories told of "Mike" Murphy's stun ns a coach (trainer they termed hi ill then), none ever gnve a ver sion that was (old Ihe writer by the lute "Pal" Hurley, of Worcester, Mass., one of the noblest of men and a devotee of sports, who was In the thick of all contests an a backer of professionals, n friend of amateurs In nil lines and a veritable encyclopaedia of facts. In those dnys of more than twenty years ugo, "Mike" Finn, now a minor lenguo baseball manager and scout for big league tennis, including tho Ulnnts. wns the fleetest professional sprinter In the New Knglnnd sec tion from which tho present nthlellc trust sprained, One day ho displayed a letler from New Haven asking 111 n to act ns trainer and Instructor there, l'lnu laughed derisively when lie rend the llgurcs. nnd then, Jokingly lurnjiig to a group of nlliletes, said: "Let's send 'Stocky' Murphy." Because Murphy wim not n champion among them there were rounds of Jeers. 'Never mind that," retorted l-'liin, "that fellow hns got a head on him that will get him more some day limn our legs will." And thnt set .Murphy on his way BERNARD WEFERS Ifclorlil Newt Co. Fholo. JOHN F. MOAKLEY. Chase. T got ft for you!" Is one thnt gives an Insight to his tact. Of course, Chnse came back and was a world beuter, nnd on pie, too. Duo of the cnrdlnal points In Murphy's system of conchlug Is his never falling system of getting thor oughly nciitinlnted with every athlete In his care. Ho Is the originator of the now generally accepted belief that nn athlete Is only human. Under his system the old Idea of nthleles being steamed and worked like saved the day for the Amirlcuu team. Wefers was the most consistent one hundred and one hundred and twenty yard sprinter Ihe world hns over known. He never had "off 'days.". More than thirty times he covered one hundred yards In IMos. On the solicitation of his fellow townsman "Patsy" Dono vau, then manager of the St. Louis .National League baseball team, Wefers tried, almost on his speed alone, to be n big leaguer. But Wefers was quicker than his malinger to recognize the difference between running on n diamond and ou a track. On tho theory that "It takes n great sprinter to oinko one," Wefers' output should be n large oue. There are two features that hamper Ihe currying out of this. In the New Vorlt Athletic Club n ma jority of tho athletes hnve been in other conches' hands and nro practically matured in athletics. At Columbia, where he has more than seveu thousand students to drnw upon, conditions uro not conducive to best results. Uoiug to the college Is one big event In a man's life, and visiting New York for the first time is nnolher, neither of which mnkes for best athletic effort. This may not apply to natives who nre students, but tho white lights nro burning every night for nil. "Pooch" Donovan, brother of "Piper" Donovan, who wns credited with one hnudred yards in 3 os. ns n professional, was himself a splinter of money earning powers. Before being drawn to Harvard Donovan coached many minor organizations nnd military teams. At Worcester Academy he had in nittl..a It.. ., Idltml 'I Vi, In f It ,r nH t It wnlflltoil shoes i i i.. ... ..i ni w a cnarce Armor e. liunev. a nnv nr snort a nvn i-i lV.VirM,S!.r'o?h,ti.h.err n1,,."""''!,l,y """lllloiu-r and thllt ,.,, ptll ,, , (iKrd. Light shoes for sprint ""'l high," as coaches say In referring to the length racing and heavier ones for workouts are enniign. "" i'""; sijie was ennngeu in.. . V.i..ii,,n-nrrt iimi moot f..w ve.irs nco. Minpietoly by Donovan, and upon advice that Douo- Jaines K. Sullivan, then president of the Amateur van hammered into him daily Puffey became the nir-n-ai iiuiiiicui uiiit'r iii me worm. 1'onovan Is one of the keenest men In athletics. His own temperament suggests action. lu conditioning nthh'Jes Donovan hns nn ndvnntnge over coaches whose personal experience has been in track nnd held events only. "Pooch" played football end can still ilou togs nnd speed around the ends In a way that mnkes some of the younger fellows envious. Instructor of nthleles In all brunches. In a house presented to him by men who appre ciated nil that ho has done for college ahlletlcs. espe cially for the University of l'enusyl nnln. .Mlko" Mur phy can now recall early dnys with the grim satisfac tion of realising that he gained by hard work unap pronched eminence lu Ills profession. He prescribes the same kind of medicine fur ambitious nthleles. hue he knows the doso best ndanted for each. As a nt. Athletic Tnlon nnd referee of the games, asked college authority what he considered the most strik ing feature of the meet. "The way that man Murphy handles his nthletes." was the answer, "Did you notice thnt after being 1 , ..I.I ,1... , It Cllt lit tilt j rultlng officer In the army of young nthleles Murphy r,1(1 H(nnd . Mrpi,v went to Ihe training qunr Is supreme. Material, partially moulded. Is mined llf llW twll7 .n,nt , ,,m b(. training big col over to - him annually because nthleles want him to ,,,,, om5 , i, vvnnts to." put on Ihe finishing touches. The other coach Is no longer connected with Inter- " ."t,M ,,- itiiiiii viiiii'iic i inn .Murpny ccllcttlnte sports showed his rnre tnleut ns a miner, which In nthlellc In his ilrst ve Mfiiiiiiice is uickiuu up a ltiii. ,iiiu uwen. a mem- .t.i berof the oliili. wns playing tennis one nfiernuon when i-oMchlng. He mndo It plain to everv athlete who .Murphy, In his methodical way, leaned over to watch r, ,m,icr him Hint a clean bodv nnd nmid had as the movements of the players. The action of Oweu Mx ,,:u.ri,, success ns muscles. When members of looked promising to Murphy. ,,, .,, , ,,,,,. i,roK p In nn earlier era Mr. Owen, wjiy don t you be a sprinter?" he asked. nf conchlnc renllzeilShal their laws were being bet- wane t lie pmyers were wiping oil perspiration be- .,,mi mornllv ns well us nhvslcallv turuliv's power He played baseball professionally as n New England leaguer. As a professional sprinter Donovan did not possess the wonderful Sliced of Ills brother "Plrtor " i his ilrst year out Murphy removed from college bin. ns many old lime followers of sprint racing often ellcs nil the objectionable features of professional said, "inn can't bent that Donovan combination In a ipers legs and roociis head. I ween acts. "IV returned Owen. "Why. I couldn't run n lick." But Murphy Insisted, nnd from thai seeming guess work selection of a future great was developnl John Owen, the first ninnietir sprinter to cover one hnmlrci yards under (en seconds. Owen's time was IM S oc onds. While (raining the American team at Travers Is! ami In ISPo for the International games with Kng hind's best athletes, "Mike" Murphy received as pupil "Steve" Chase, of Dartmouth College, a hustler whoso records still adorn athletic almanacs. Chase reported just In time for the exenlni: meal and confessed (hat he was hungry. After all ihe other athletes had left Hie training table. Chase lingered, plnally "Mike" Murphy asked, "Wlua's the mailer? Are von still hungry! ' '! want pie." Insisted Chase. "We don't race. "Piper s le"s and 1'roui Donovan's home, Nat Irk. Keene Pltznntrleic migrated Into the Hold of professional coaches. He was nnolher protege of "Mike" Murphy, nnd when Murphy left the Detroit Athletic Club to take op duties nt Yale It wns Fiizpalrlck, nnotlier sprinter. cnuie to be recognized. And then came all these sue- wno took charge of the Michigan nthletes. On Mur- cesses nt Yale nnd Pennsylvania which the public nt phy's move from New Iluven I'itzpnlrlck ngain fol- laige knows of. probably without r.ivtug a thought to lowed In the path of the veteran coach and became the calibre of the man who made It possible for alh- Yale's man behind the athletes. I.nfer nt Michigan letes to be hard lighters nnd gentlemen through it alL JTupafrlok put that university on the athletic map " , - i" ".' ucti-iopiiiciu oi imcK ana Held Loyalty in the Trust. This leads up to Ihe loyalty to "Mike" Murphy that other members of the trust have shown. By being the pioneer In the clean-cut system of professional coaching. Murphy became the man to whom all seek ers for trainers or coaches looked for advice. Nat urally enough, he remembered ids comrades of pro feanonnl fcot racing days. To Ihose he considered tillnucd, for the handling of thousands of growing young nwn he gave no advice excepting, "I could not athletes and careful conditioning that "Uurry lp" Yost coached. of football teams h ue it here." snid Ihe trainer as he walked aay to gle yon a recommendation until you showed me that laugh In fcelltude. In a Hash Murphy rcatlrod what few of the old s';ool of trainers ever would. Chsse hail undoubtedly been ontlng pie In New Hampshire and btvaklng li cords on It. titling tit the kitchen. Murphy gut a ittt'gi) cut of apple pie nnd reiunitsl to the dining room. Ct'iise had disappeared, but on the club house veran da there nnsa common, m Murphy hurr:l there and mv member of that condemn athletic comlnuattou imploring Chase to stay, but that insistent cuiig ath lete hud nlrrililv putOis baggage aboard the 'bus run ning to the railroad station ami was Importuning the tit si er I i uurry. The s(Mvtacle of the world's greatest nthlellc coach running down the roadway with a piece of pie deftly balanced on a plate, all the time calling, "Here It )., , you could handle yourself. Knowing aNnit athletics is not everything a coach ought to possess." Thus the nthlellc trust becomes a character buiblj Ins JhHluc'gcr in the nation. "Ilcrnlo" Wefers. who as coach nt Columbia nnd the New Yolk Athletic club probably Is brought Into contact with more vo.ing men than nny other roach In the country, was developed by Murphy. In !SP, a ran honed youth from Laurence, Mass, wl;h a letirr of Introduction to "Mike" Murphy, J.id the American athletes nt Trnvers Island it As Wefers sail he was greeted v,i:li "rube" talk by his team males, fit-irphy knew In a dat's ob-erva". flea that Wefers ,iad the stuff in him" nml despite criticism kept at work on him. On the d ,v of the meet it was Wefers' victories In the dasl.Q that Prom nn lu "'"SMtVS,WAVS '"VlMvMMSM . "Jack" Moakley. of Cornell. l'ltzpntrtck Is very discreet In speech nnd In train ing. He never overworks nthletes, but when he give-; orders, there Is no one to doubt whether he really means what svs. In taking up the responsibilities attendant upon coaching Princeton. Pltzpatrick did so with the full confidence of the alumni. "He may not do wonders In one year or two. but eventual!) there mil be a system nt Old Nassau that will count for som-tliing lu the Intercollegiate metis." declared a prominent alumnus. He had in mm, I Fil.patrlck's reend at Michigan, one Item in that lis! of achieve ments being especially conspicuous the development oi .lotui t.nrreis ns one of the greatest all around ath letes and football players Xf recent vears At Cornell there have been many student debates in the Omttorns on the O n-silo,, whether "Old Man" toiiriney, .rowing fame, or "Jack" Moakley his Hon.- more to bring the Itha.-aiis into the front YanKS f the o,v.,.ge world of sports. Moakley Is a South Loston 1-n. vtho nbhed f.t racing lo-e and was a 'cry cr,,,itab:e middle distance runner, but never 'ro:n::i."t a, a professional. nc had that admiration .. r .m:.,o Murphy which seems to crow up with all .... ...... n.wt,, imii.K-u . section. MVVVlSVVwWM, JOHN H. Mack. Plctorlit (Mil U. Photo. Next, "Genesis of Football and Its Wildfire Spread." stnic(or in public playgrounds he blossr med Into 4 largest dower of a great gathering of athletic "posJ when he put Cornell ni ine top year arter year i leader In cross country and other distance niniJnj. When Moakley was asked to what method h trlbuted the success of Cornelllans In ,'istancs rl ning. ue promptly answered, v ny, me very loca: of lthncn tends to make young men ragged. Climbl those hills is the best Kina or training. But thei-e's more than that to the Cornell system, J the big hub in the wheel Is Moakley. He his i i tlnctlve plan. All the yenr round .his cross comj runnei-s nre Deing groomea. uuring a anal rpeet I lthncn a few months ago nn official from Ne vj who was on Cornell field for the first time was ml titled to see half a dozen men Jogging out of Unci house and awny from the grounds. '"What are those fellows doing?" he asked. those nre some of the cross country runners gett ready for next full," volunteered a native. And while the intercollegiate cross country eta plonships are being decided next fan likely ns notthl will be a group of young wearers of the red a white plodding over the hills of Ithaca In a prellmlii workout for the distance runs of wiz. Monkley's athletic sensation of the recent colls year was John Paul Jones, the mile runner, trbo tabllshed a new world's amateur record of 4m. 15 21 lowering by one fifth of a second a mark nude Thomas P. Conneff In 1805. Of Jones It has been si that he was advised never to run because of t dency to frailness. But once In Ithaca the build up process began and Jones was strengthened cross country running that started with the slowest jogs. To-day Jones can run the last quartet o gruelling mile race at a pace that would make t c quarter miler who picked him up at the three-quit pole cave In before reaching the tape. The Murphy system was established at Tale si "johnny" .Muck stepped in, but no conch outside trust could have taken un the work and carried It along the original lines as well as Mack hat ii He Is one of the professional sprinters who came i after -Murphy's time, but he bad the same little trict schooling in athletics. .Mack was a sprinter who believed that a hnodi ynrd nice wns never over uutll the tape had bj breasted. Although an adept at starting, on sevj occasions, owing partially to an injured tendon, il wns a trifle slow In getting in motion. Then sota the men in front considered the race already won. that last nerve pulling, muscle piercing fifty n Mack would bound to the front and make a rare tlie tape thnt usually brought Mm Inside the moi That same kind of spirit Is credited to Yale, wJ uccounts lor the present snoir of confidence in Mad methods. "Tommy" Keene, at Syracuse, and Frank M. nnly, at Massachusetts Institute of Technoloer. others of the Bay State group of successful coacj Keene wns n professional sprinter who competed hi and in the Shettleld handicap lu England with lal measures cf success. Knnaly s personal dabble competition was as a distance runner, and henai to a few years ago one of America's best. As om the younger members of the trust Kanaly Is growl rapidly in power. Frank Gormley, a Boston man, Is at the head of loung Men's Gymnastic Club, of New Orleans, lending organization In the South In athletics. coach there lie handles hundreds of athletes from Southern colleges. "Joe" Riley, another man ft the Hub, Is couch of the Kansas City Athletic ii cintion. The city of Worcester, in which "Mike" MurpbJ known to every one who ever had even the allgli touch of the athletic fever, has a little group of coit that have been remarkably successful. J. Powers, one time holder of the all round aim: championship, has concued Notre Dame Dolrera and Holy Cross. He Is now at .Worcester Acadij "lorn Holland, one of the old guard of professw loot runners and a pupil In the Murphy scnooi, been a winner at Northwestern University la cngo, at Notre Dame and nt Holy Cross College. Martin Delnnev. brother of "Jere." a profess! disftinco runner of note and a skilled conch at Eisj and Iowa University. Is himself deep into atnletid the Middle .West, being In charge of the track Ifj or cuicago Athletic Association and many con?, during the summer months. Uue O'Connor brett '"Chnrlic" nnd "Eddie," both clever and fleet 11 i: tour sprinters and both fast up to the half mile, ti made the rounds of the minor colleges of o" H lauu. "Nothintr But Praise." When the nttentlon of James E. Sullivnn, Ih figure in the Amnteur Athletic Union, sndbjw of his jiosltion n man who has always been ident:. with Intercollegiate sports, was called lo lieitlu irust ne said: ... "If Ihnt U fl trime It la t-hrt onlw one In the WOfW there Is uothiug but praise for. A fine body ' 1 lu that list. 1 tell you! Why, every one of tbeB been n worker from hnvtiofwl Their moral IddBM has been so grent that l know personally at 1J Scire nt futltnra whn hnt a n, thit men bite made out of their boys by the training they bi under some of these coaches. '"Yes. thev nre all round conches, not aperi Ynle has grent pole vnulters because athletes oh groups, a sort of follow the leader style. ' bert and others were at Yale they were looted up"' younger nthletes, and the lalter aimed to ween tlclent pole vnulters. Thnt accounts for the pre'1' of Yale noint winners In thnt event ia recent V Ab Harvard there wns a time when fa?t quarter5-' came forward yenr after year; at Dartinonin, '" ill,. Iha r.,t,-.,itr ftf rl,tiaA Mnu nthr crelt Cornell has been without a peer as a develop-' distance runners. r "When Dartmouth College scoured nil Nw lor a concn wno naa not been contraeieu - til tier ertlliti.n ft nieinltnl- nf the Athletic tOffl asked me lo recommend a conch. 1 had xt" mind, but conditions surrounding others bnw Issue down to Harry L. Hlllman. 1 told my engage him, not with the Idea of having biaj n n-l,tntit.r Indnt in o t-n.i r nr ttViV bllt thought iiiways In mind bf bulldlnj? T the Mf ,. ..... ..... ..... . ...j ur "lite ' sauj luni, tLiiimau naa Deen conciieo i. . .,,.) I....1 l..A L-A., tnrieiit Of I" 1 . . . .." '. . tn toe 07 in snori. I sniu luai ne CHine urntt-i a i..... .i kin in vourl"1 any man available. Remarkably strance tbjll all the Interest in athletics, the fnct t"ai " si lead In the doveloprntflt of college at V 'tea esw j ...... . Si . ,. ,t..in,h nlU.d I'l inni one utue spotsiviat a mans iuui.it-- -a cover on a wall mm has rO er been noted "