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SURE – Pro Wrestling is Honest!

It’s as honest as any other legitimate show on Broadway— and what’s more, doesn’t claim to be anything else! But it’s still killing the reputation of amateur wrestling.

By Clive Howard

A GROUP of prominent amateur wrestlers was trying to place wrestling on the sports program of New York City high schools. Arrangements were made for the members to be heard by a special committee of educators and the prospects looked good.

But when the final meeting came about and the topic was broached, the head of the school committee threw up his hands in horror. “Wrestling? Never!” he exclaimed. “We’ve seen that on television!”

Amateur wrestlers, a unique brand of sportsmen who claim that pure wrestling is as scientific as chess and as grueling as football, are very bitter about the professionals who are responsible for wrestling’s poor reputation today. They say that what goes out over the television cameras isn’t wrestling at all but an exhibition of tumbling, acting and a few holds that could be learned out of any ten-cent book on the art of self-defense.

What the amateurs really object to is that what goes on in the pro ring is called. wrestling at all. They claim it has damaged what is most certainly the “purest amateur sport on earth.”

In part, at least, the promoters of professional wrestling deny little of this. One of them is Joe (Toots) Mondt who never calls the bouts contests, matches or even exhibitions. He calls his product a show—and he plans hundreds of shows for 18 important arenas from New York to Florida.

“Anytime we put on a show,” Mondt explains, ‘”we want all the emphasis to be on offensive moves. We want wrestlers to belt each other around good. That’s what people pay to see happen. We don’t want any defensive wrestling in the professional arena.”

This is the root of the whole question of wrestling’s honesty. It has box office integrity, to be sure. But the mere thought of a wrestler refusing to use defensive tactics merely because they are dull, appalls the amateur. “Why,” one amateur wrestler said, “that would be like an outfielder standing aside to let a fly ball fall into the stands just because people like to see home runs.”

But just how phony can a professional wrestling match get? One answer lies in the ruling by the New York State Athletic Commission. Neither the promoter, the television announcer nor anybody else connected with a pro match can advertise it as a contest. The Commission recently issued an ultimatum to promoters to stop implying that what goes on in the professional ring is a contest—it’s an exhibition and it can be called by that name only.

Are the pro matches rigged in advance? Dan Parker, the sports columnist who has battled into oblivion every attempt by professional wrestling to reinstate itself as a competitive sport, once proved an important point in print. Every Monday morning for several months, Parker announced the scheduled winners of matches to take place the rest of the week. He was hardly ever wrong.

Wrestlers who take part in preliminary matches ordinarily get the same amount of money whether they win or lose. This is usually between $75 and $100. Probably, they are also instructed as to how and when they should win or lose. The big-timers don’t appear to be so thoroughly held in reign. Take the case of Primo Camera who lost to Antonino Rocca at the height of his wrestling career. Since that time, Camera’s earnings have dropped and Rocca’s risen—winners demand the big money in exhibitions. The question is, knowing what the wrestling business is like, would Camera have obeyed orders to lose?

Are the matches rehearsed? Well, come with me down a short flight of steps into a basement gym just off Times Square in New York.

The afternoon I wandered into this gym, two wrestlers were working out together on the mat. Both weighed around 240 pounds and both had cauliflower ears. They looked alike except that one had a black beard.

Beard and No-Beard took positions about a foot apart, facing the same direction. No-Beard, standing in front of Beard, reached back and got his arms locked around the back of Beard’s neck. He hefted him onto his own back in about the same way an iceman picks up a huge cake of ice. He bent his knees a little, pushed against Beard’s middle with his own back and yanked down with his arms. Beard sailed out through the air into a half-somersault. He landed on his rear. It sounded like a sack of grain dropped from a third-floor window.

An older man, also dressed in wrestling trunks, got up from a bench along the wall. “No loud enough,” he said in a thick accent.

“Here, I show you.” He took Beard’s place and No-Beard began to yank him up and forward. The man stopped the action at this point to show Beard how to get more height by springing upward as No-Beard yanked. He went sailing through the air and his hands, feet and back all hit flat, at the same instant. This time it sounded like a sack of grain dropped out of an airplane.

Beard and No-Beard rehearsed this version of the Flying Mare until the man with the accent was satisfied it was loud enough. They went through a whole series of holds ending always in loud and spectacular falls.

The match between Beard and No-Beard came off that evening in a small arena in New Jersey. Except for a few standard holds ad libbed as they went along, the whole thing went as rehearsed. Beard, of course, was the Villain. In moments of great anguish he could approximate the piercing squeals of a small pig caught in a concrete mixer.

He lost. For the last several minutes, he allowed himself to be picked up in the Flying Mare and tossed all around the ring. He gave a pretty convincing performance of a man taking a bad beating. The audience loved it.

But this match didn’t go out over television and its promoter was a shoestring operator. The bigtime promoters insist televised matches aren’t rehearsed. After all, they point out, the average professional wrestler goes into the ring as often as five times a week. There wouldn’t be time both to rehearse and wrestle that often.

Back in the days when wrestlers really wrestled, the sport could get horribly dull. Our promoter, Toots Mondt, recalls some matches around 1905 which lasted four or five hours. “All that time,” he explains, “one wrestler would be on the defensive, just countering his opponent’s move and waiting for an opening. The opening would come only after the man on offense got tired out. Then the other fellow would go on the offense. There would be maybe five minutes of action in five hours of wrestling.”

Mondt insists that any wrestler going into one of his shows must have two abilities. “He’s got to be able to wrestle,” Mondt says, “and he has to have showmanship.” Neither, in Mondt’s book, is any good without the other.

Once in a while, Mondt hears of a man who is supposed to be a better wrestler than anybody else in the business. Always in the hope of turning up another Gorgeous George, he scouts every one of them. “They seldom turn out to be any good,” he says. “No color.”

On one lucky ocasion, however, Mondt did turn up a real sensation. In South America while on a tour with Primo Camera he kept hearing about an Argentine wrestler named Rocca. Mondt went to see Rocca wrestle one night and what he saw sent him running for an interpreter. Rocca had developed a tremendous leap and with it a kicking attack that is pure murder. Mondt brought Rocca back to this country and ever since, the Argentinian has been kicking opponents into the audience and dollars into the cash register. In fact, last December an all-time record gate at Madison Square Garden was set by Rocca when he beat Gene (Mr. America) Stanlee—17,854 fans paid out $50,639.28.

Mondt casts his shows carefully. “Say a wrestler is big and slow and maybe not too colorful,” he explains. “We match him with a fast, rough-and-tumble guy with plenty of color. The idea is to get two men into the ring with opposite appeals.”

The acts fall into a set pattern. A clean-looking wrestler almost has to be a hero; he can add crowd appeal by assuming a definite character—the inspiration for which usually comes out of the comic strips. Or, lacking pretty features he can become a villain or figure out something really eccentric.

Look over the list—there’s Gorgeous George with long platinum locks and an English butler who sprays his corner with an atomizer before every match. Then there’s The Bat who dresses like one of the blood-sucking creatures and makes like a vampire throughout his act. He probably got the idea from one of the all-time wrestling showmen—Count Dracula. Dracula always lost—but in the most spectacular way possible. He’d take out a bottle of chloroform and pretend to empty it into his handkerchief and then cover his opponent’s face with it. As the act went, the opponent would fall to the floor, the referee would disqualify Dracula and proclaim the now-conscious opponent the winner.

Because he once caused a near-riot in La Grange, Ga., the town council barred Dracula from appearing there. Did that stop him? It just meant that whenever he played that town he had to change his character. He’d wear a mask and perform as the Masked Marvel!

Some wrestlers have demonstrated fantastic imaginations. Possibly the most vivid belonged to Leo (Lion Man) Savage, a huge bearded man who made the rounds of arenas in the Southwest for several years. Leo’s press agents swore he was discovered in the mountains where, they claimed, he wrestled bears and pulled trees up by the roots. Naturally, his specialty was a bear hug.

Leo did a good job of living up to his advance notice. He’d enter the arena carrying a lighted lantern and leading a coon dog. His cape was a tattered blanket full of moth holes. He claimed he had always wrestled in the mountains by the light of a lantern so he always tried to get the referee to douse the house lights.

Once the match was under way, Leo would try to work his opponent over to his corner, where the coon dog was tied. The dog would sink his teeth into whatever part of the opponent showed up first.

Once, another hillbilly wrestler worked a reed coon into his act and challenged Leo to a match. It wound up with Leo, his opponent, the coon dog and the coon all in one pile in the middle of the ring.

There’s a rumor—no doubt spread by some promoters—that an occupational hazard of professional wrestling is glaucoma, an eye disease nearly always resulting in permanent blindness. It comes, according to the story, from eye gouging.

Well, in the middle ’20′s, there were a few cases of glaucoma. The disease came, not from eye gouging, but from the filth in sweat-and-dirt saturated wrestling mats in arenas and gyms around the country.

Just how much punishment do wrestlers actually take in the ring? Those terrific body falls don’t mean much because the average wrestler is an expert tumbler and knows how to make it look good without hurting himself. Most of the gruesome-looking holds you see are really very mild and gentle if you examine them closely. And, if by some accident, a wrestler is actually hurting his opponent, there’s always the high sign, recognized in every arena. Two quick squeezes on the forgetful wrestler’s arm or leg, a showmanly groan and the hold is relaxed immediately.

If you want to find out what real wrestling is like, drop in at the West Side Y.M.C.A. in New York City. For the last 15 years this “Y” has turned out some of the best amateur wrestling teams in the country. Henry Wittenberg, present Olympic heavyweight champion, is coach of the team. Walter Steinhilber. a top advertising illustrator, is assistant coach. Most of the members are doctors, dentists, lawyers, bank executives—men who wrestled in college and learned to love the sport.

Steinhilber, who weighs 200 pounds, called out a 125-pound amateur to demonstrate to me why some of the standard pro wrestling holds aren’t necessarily good wrestling. They took the starting position of the Flying Mare —the stunt that Beard and No-Beard had so carefully planned before their match.

Steinhilber got his arms around the little fellow’s neck and pulled. Nothing happened. He pulled again and still nothing happened. It soon became evident that nobody could have pulled the slight, 125-pounder into a forward somersault unless he cooperated a little. When the youngster jumped as Steinhilber pulled, the trick worked fine.

Next, Steinhilber demonstrated the stranglehold. Applied by “Strangler” Lewis, this hold could be murderous. But there isn’t anybody in the ring today who can, like Lewis, depress the steel spring supporting a railroad coach in the crook of his arm. Moreover, the hold is applied in a different way.

When Steinhilber tried it on one of the youngsters, he was dumped hard on the mat. There were several ways to break this hold and all were quick and simple.

One by one, using members of the “Y” as demonstrators, Steinhilber ran through the other standard holds used in the pro ring. Against an amateur they resulted in fast falls for the pros Steinhilber showed me that it’s nearly impossible to deliver a forearm or shoulder punch—two favorite pro punches— without leaning forward so far as to go off balance. In amateur wrestling, a man even slightly off balance is headed for trouble.

Gene Tunney, a guy who ought to know, has his own ideas on those murderous-looking blows to the jaw. He says the blow loses most of its force on the shoulder, where the forearm strikes first.

If any further proof is needed of exactly where the pros stand on the question of the sporting aspects of wrestling Henry Wittenberg, the Olympic heavyweight champion, has a story that’ll end all doubts.

He was introduced to a professional heavyweight wrestler whose name would be known to anybody who ever sat for long before a television screen. Naturally, they had a long conversation about wrestling and in parting Wittenberg said: “Stop by the gym sometime and we’ll work out together.”

“Work out together,” said the professional. “What do you mean by that?”

“We’ll wrestle, of course,” said Wittenberg.

“Wrestle?” exclaimed the pro in the tone of a man invited to swim in the Arctic Ocean on New Year’s Eve. “Are you nuts?”

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A Dome Grows in Brooklyn

The Dodgers’ home games may soon be played under this huge plastic bubble.

By Frank Tinsley

Mechanix Illustrated takes pride in being the first to show what the Brooklyn Dodgers’ new baseball park may look like—if the 20th century’s most daring architect gets his plan accepted. Buckminster Fuller has already earned the gratitude of the armed forces and the taxpaying public with his plastic igloos that can be helicopter-toted from air base to air base to serve as hangars, barracks, warehouses, administration buildings.

Fuller’s ball park plan is at present simply a proposal to employ his geodesic dome on a truly grand scale. The dome would be 300 feet high and 750 feet in diameter. How many fans it would hold has not yet been figured, but a smaller dome design submitted by architect Theodore Kleinsasser would seat 55,000—some 23,000 more than Ebbetts Field, the Brooks’ hallowed but decaying home park. Kleinsasser’s design is more detailed than Fuller’s and includes such novelties as a small sightseeing tramway over the top of the dome.

The dome design makes feasible the demand for a ball park big enough to hold the enormous Dodger following. It would also be an all-weather, year-round sports palace capable of pulling in big money as a showplace for every kind of sporting event and exposition. The New York State legislature has created a $30,000,000 authority empowered to create such a center and the dome design helped convince the lawmakers that it could be made to pay its own way. Mere Dodger sentiment could not have done that.

Mi’s drawing of the dome as it might look on completion includes details that originated in the MI office—details that in our opinion argue strongly in favor of adopting the basic Fuller design. The numerous entrances, corridors, escalators and other facilities are MI notions. At the top of the dome a small extension houses the air venting arrangements and the shadowless lighting fixtures that will light the field only, leaving the stands in comparative darkness. A huge underground car park under the stands and field leaves only a small central area for heating and air conditioning plants.

Four automobile entrances open off intersecting streets and are provided with three-lane ramps to the level below. Circular roads surround the main parking sections with radial access drives to the individual rows of car stalls. These are separated by sidewalks leading to the promenade above. This “concourse runs completely around the building at street level, with escalator bridges over the automobile entries leading to the grandstands above. The inner wall of the promenade is lined with shops, restaurants and other facilities whose rentals would help defray the building’s maintenance costs. A 24-hour parking service, operating independently of scheduled sporting events, provides another steady source of income.

Using the authorized 500-acre plot to the best advantage, Mi’s arena building is set in the center of a four square block area. This placement permits generous loading and unloading space for buses and taxi-cabs without interfering with the flow of through traffic around the sides of the square. Numerous safety islands and cross-walks lead to extra wide sidewalk areas were ticket lines form. Subway and train connections emerge inside the building’s promenade. (The site of the dome will adjoin the Long Island Railroad’s Brooklyn Terminal.) The whole project is laid out to handle the maximum number of people safely and to facilitate the flow of vehicular traffic peaks that sport centers are bound to generate.

The Dodger Dome would certainly become an object of pride in Brooklyn. It might even rival the borough’s ball team in public esteem. In any case, no club could be more deserving of such a fabulous park than that Fabulous Flock.

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Sailing with Skates is Great Winter Sport

For real thrills there’s no sport like skate sailing, says Mr. Brown—and he goes ahead and proves it in this article. Moreover, he gives you plans for building your own sail and full directions on how to operate it when it’s finished.

By SAM BROWN

HERE he comes—there he goes!

Just like that! Like saying “Jack Robinson!”

And thrills. . . Man!

Maybe you’ve felt the smooth gliding swiftness of skating. And the flying sensation of skiing. And the speed of ice yachting. And the fun of tobogganing. But if you’ve left out skate sailing, then you’ve missed the grandest sport ever dished out by Old Man Winter.

You don’t have to be a wonderful skater, or a good sailor, either, to go skate sailing. All you need is the equipment, the necessary expanse of slate gray ice, and a moderately strong pair of ankles; and then if you hold the sail—any way you please—you are bound to glide off in one direction or another.

The first thing required for skate sailing —supposing that you already have the skates—is the sail. Ready-built sails can be purchased at moderate cost at any large sporting goods store, but you can make one of your own from the directions which follow. You don’t have to be an expert sail maker to do a good job, and the only tools required will be found in even the most scantily equipped home workshop.

You’ll get a good idea of the size and appearance of the sail from a glance at the photo of the sailor, above, and the sail itself on the page opposite. Dimensions for a good-sized sail you will find on page 107. Before we go into detail on how to make the sail, it will be well to get a clear idea of what you’re going to make. The fabric is cut in the shape shown in the dimension diagram. Lengthwise through the center will be run a wooden backbone; at the bottom of the sail a cross piece will be needed, and a cross spar will be placed two feet from the tip of the sail to support it at its broadest part. The cross-spar will be built in two pieces, adjustable to varying lengths to keep the sail taut as a drum. Now let’s begin.

The very first operation in making the sail has to do with the making of the backbone. This is a piece of 1-3/4-in. Half Round (you can get this stock cut at any lumber yard), 9-ft. 6-in. long. To one end of this, and on the rounded side, screw a 1/2″in. eye-screw. Two feet from this eye, nail a 10-in. leather strap. Take another strap and cut it in two a short distance behind the buckle; then nail the plain portion to the other end of the sail backbone. The strap will be your means of securing the cross-spars to the backbone.

Now, consider the sail! Material for this can be either three-ounce zephyr cloth, three-ounce duck, Egyptian cotton, balloon silk, or any other light, strong material. The sail can be made in one single piece or it can be ribbed together from three or four smaller pieces. At any rate, the shape of the finished cloth should be as shown in the diagram—hemmed all around as shown. Get a 5/8-in. washer and sew it to the top of the sail, reinforcing it on either side with a triangular piece of heavy canvas or light leather, as pictured on page 106. Punch out the cloth or leather in the center of the washer so that it can be fitted over the screw-eye at the tip of the backbone.

Jumping down to the other end of the sail: Take a 3-ft. 9-in. length of 1-1/2-in. Half Round and insert it into the wide hem, tacking it firmly in place. To the center of this spar, nail the buckle end of the strap mentioned a few paragraphs back.

The cross spar for the sail is made from two pieces of 1-3/4-in. Half Round. One of these pieces is 3-ft. 6-in. long; the other 5-ft. 2-in. long. Bore a 1/4-in. hole through the center of the shorter piece. At one end of the longer piece, bore a similar-size hole, and then another, and another, and another —each spaced 1-1/2 in. apart. All of this hole-drilling business has to do with one thing—they figure in the stretching of the sail.

Like this: Take the two pieces and fasten them together with a bolt and wing nut, running the bolt through, say, the next-to-the-end hole, as shown in the photograph at the top of page 106. Now you can get the whole business—the finished sail and how this cross spar serves as a stretcher. Hook the washer at the top of the sail over the screw-eye at the end of the backbone. Pull down the cross spar so that the two pieces cross, and then insert either end into reinforced canvas pockets which should be sewn to either side of the sail. Hook up the secondary stretcher at the bottom of the sail, pulling; it as tightly as possible; then bring the cross spar into line, fastening it securely at the center with the leather strap. You can readily see that the spar stretcher is adjustable. By inserting the bolt into the various holes you can make the cross bar either shorter or longer as you desire. The sail must be drum tight —it is only with a “drum” on your shoulder that you can get the true “slap” of a brisk breeze set loose by the Old Man up north.

Now, with the sail all made, you’re ready for the real fun. If you’ve ever sailed a boat you’ll know just how to get best results, for the sailing technique is the same. Your skates have just about the same effect as the rudder on a boat. All ready, now: Skate out on the ice, holding the sail at arm’s length over your head, both hands grasping the cross spar, so that the sail presents the smallest possible area to the wind. Then, bring the sail upright against your right side, resting the long backbone spar on your right shoulder. Your right hand should grip the long spar, while your left takes hold on the cross bar. The sail is between you and the wind.

Away you go, directly across the wind, your skates biting into the ice and preventing you from “drifting” sideways. If you want a bit more speed, simply swing around so that the wind is more to your back. And listen: Never hold the sail as a point blank target to the wind. And why not? Simply because the skate sailor travels faster than the breeze.

F’rinstance: Supposing there is a seventeen mile wind blowing. The inexperienced sailor, thinking to take full advantage of this, holds the sail directly at his back, presenting a point blank target to the breeze. The result is that he is swished off, and gradually increases speed until he is going about twenty-one and one-half miles per hour. What happens, then, to Mr. Seventeen-mile-an-hour breeze? It cannot keep up with the sailor, and there is a sudden vacuum behind the sail which is often of such intensity as to cause the sailor to lose his balance. The correct way to sail before the wind is to hold the sail at a slight angle away from the breeze, so that you zigzag down the wind instead of scudding directly before it.

Now, let’s imagine that you want to get back to your starting point. The first thing to do is to change the position of the sail, as this must always be carried between you and the wind. To do this you swing around into the wind, which frees the sail from your body, then quickly lifting the sail flat over your head you lower it on the opposite side of your body.

In beating into the wind, as illustrated by the diagrams, you will notice that the push of the wind tends to send the sailor toward the bottom of the page—in other words, in the same direction the wind itself is traveling. What, then, gives him his motion almost directly into the wind? His skates? They bite into the ice and act in the same capacity as a centerboard on a sailing canoe in holding the sailor on his course.

Suppose you want to sail directly into a north wind. You’ll have to do it by “tacking,” as sailors term it. First cover a fair distance on a northeast course. Then, swinging the sail to the opposite side of your body, start on the opposite tack— that is, to the northwest. By alternating these two directions, you will eventually arrive at your destination—due north.

From this you can readily see that the type of skates you use has a great deal to do with your success in this maneuver, for the greater the “bite” the skate runner has on the ice, the easier it will be to sail into the wind. Long skates have the preference. Many Canadians use the huge Norwegian skate with its 24-inch blade. American choice leans toward the 15-inch speed skate. The individual’s choice is more or less a matter of “what have you?” You can enjoy great skate sailing sport on a pair of semi-hockeys or on even shorter skates if they are sufficiently sharp.

Why doesn’t the sail blow you over, you ask? Maybe it will, until you learn the trick of balancing yourself by leaning against it. Perhaps you’ve seen sailboats heeled over by sudden gusts of wind, and the same thing can easily occur to a skate sailor—but that’s where much of the sport comes in. The knack of holding the sail at the proper angle to get best results comes with a little experience. When you want to stop, swing about facing the wind and bring the sail flat above your head, a position in skate sailing which might be said to correspond with neutral in an automobile. In case of a collision with other sailors you can always let go of the sail.

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How do you cool a ballpark and 46,000 red-hot fans? Houston does it by putting a clear-span dome on their new Harris County Stadium and applying the efficient energies of modern cooling systems. Friday, April 9, the Houston Astros inaugurate the new indoor field with an historic exhibition game against the New York Yankees.

Gas Energy supplies 4,200 tons of the total 6,600 ton cooling system.

Outside, temperature and humidity can race each other for the 100 mark. Inside, when the stadium is packed, Gas cooling will help provide a crisp, 72 atmosphere. Why was Gas Energy chosen for a large share of this important job? For the same reasons Gas provides 80% of the cooling at the New York World’s Fair: flexibility, economy, reliability.

Whenever you have a big cooling (or heating) job, think of Gas first. Call your local Gas Company Sales Engineer.

AMERICAN GAS ASSOCIATION, INC.

Gas cooling scores again

Stockings Protect Golf Clubs

A DISABLED ex-service man at the Soldiers and Sailors Home in Eastbourne, England, has created the latest in head coverings for golf clubs. They are knitted woolen stockings, with the customary tassel and are especially serviceable for warding off rust attacks. The covers are made by veterans of the home.

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Paper Houses for Olympic Contestants

MORE than 3,000 young men athletes, representing over fifty nations at the Tenth Olympiad, at Los Angeles, in 1932, will be housed in two room structures built of paper composition on wooden frames. A minimum of 800 of these unusual houses is now being erected to form “Olympic Village,” which will be the home of the contestants while they are attending the ancient games.

This is the first time since the Greeks sheltered themselves in tents during the first of the Olympiads, centuries ago, that an effort has been made to bring the housing and feeding of all the contestants at any of the Olympic games into one centralized locality.

Feats of Ancient Japanese Taught to Modern Swimmers

Swimming stunts handed down through the centuries are still taught to young swimmers in Japan. One of the ancient feats was to shoot an arrow from a bow while in deep water, this trick requiring extreme discipline and practice if any accuracy is developed. Another stunt is to wield a fan out of water in each foot while swimming.

Girls Dive Into a Pool of Oranges in Fete Competition

THREE tons of oranges recently floated in the municipal swimming pool of Anaheim, California, for the obstacle race put on in preparation for the selection of its representative in the annual Valencia Orange show held there. Almost a score of girls from Anaheim high school swam 200 feet through the floating fruit in the competition.

Unless a swimmer knows the correct manner to enter the water in a dive, he can receive a stinging slap from the impact of his body hitting the surface at the wrong angle. How good, then, must a diver be to hurl himself headlong into a pool of oranges without getting a black eye or a bruised nose? These girls shown above are doing just that. And none of them was hurt. They made up one of the heats of the race.

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THE BASEBALL – A Precision Product

IF YOU’RE a big league slugger and “hot,” you may loop that baseball against the stands, burn it over third base or sock it out of the park. But hot or cold, you still won’t “knock the cover off.”

For the baseball is a precision product, solidly designed by fine workmanship to take the hardest swat. The official baseball’s core is made of topgrade cork and rubber carefully cushioned in three windings of wool and a binding of cotton. But the greatest care goes into the ball’s precise wrapping-up. Two hourglass-shaped pieces of finest horsehide must match in thickness to 55/1000ths of an inch. Each ball must get exactly 108 hand stitches.

Edward Hubbert has put Perkasie, Pa., in every big ball game. Thirty years ago he moved to Perkasie and began covering baseballs in his kitchen. Today 200 of the town’s 4,100 people help him “cover” baseball so precisely that even a Ted Williams can’t wallop “the Perkasie” off that pill.

Golf Cup Ejects Ball Up Into Air

A new golf cup recently invented which automatically ejects golf balls makes it unnecessary for players to stoop and soil their hands in picking up the ball. All that is necessary is to touch a button in the bottom of the cup with a putter and the ball flies up into the hands of the player. The cup has a hole beneath which is a hammer which is thrust upward by a spring when the button is pressed, throwing the ball three feet into the air, as shown in photo.

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Beachward Ho!

By Frank N. Stephany

Spending the summer at a private beach or driving the family to the seashore for a day’s outing is twice the fun if you have the right equipment. Whether you enjoy relaxing in the sun or rigorous water sports, here’s everything you’ll need to have a wonderful time.

OF THE various beach items described on this and the next three pages, the diving raft, knockdown pier and lounging chair are the only ones which require a considerable amount of work. Most of the remaining articles can be built in a few hours and feature simplicity of construction along with maximum portability. For example, the floating playpen detailed above comes apart merely by removing the pins which hold the rails in place. After the rails are pulled from the netting, the inner tubes deflated and the pipe uprights unscrewed from the floor flanges, the hinged platform can be folded and the entire unit then packed neatly in the trunk of a car.

Archery and Poker Game in One
POKER and archery are combined in a new game that has a target on which are painted all the cards of the poker deck, as shown in the photo above. Points are scored by shooting five regular arrows into the cards to make four aces, a full house, three of a kind, or whatever your shots draw. The young lady in the photo above, Miss Helen Thompson, wintering at Ormond Beach, Florida, has just shot three aces and a pair of kings—a winning hand.

From Rubber Tree to Tennis Balls

NEXT time you drive a well-placed tennis shot just out of reach of your opponent’s racket, give some of the credit to the expert craftsmen who made the ball. How men and machines can turn out an endless stream of the white spheres, each an exact match for its predecessor in weight, balance, and liveliness, is shown in the unusual series of views reproduced on this page. Starting as a formless mass of doughy consistency, sap from the rubber tree passes through tubular and cup-shaped molds that gradually form it into the finished product. When the balls are smoothed and covered, they are as nearly uniform as human ingenuity can make them—and the rest depends upon the skill of the enthusiast who puts them in play.

Armored Pushmobile Guards Caddies From Golf Balls

AT a practice golf course in Detroit, time and revenue was formerly lost while an army of caddies swarmed on the field to retrieve the balls. Now caddies harvest the balls during the play, being protected against the barrage of driving shots by a chicken-wire enclosure mounted on three wheels. One boy pushes the moveable crate while others in the rubber-tired coop pick up the balls. On a busy day when all the 36 players’ booths are occupied, 8000 balls have been scattered over the field so that it looked like a snow scene. For each unit of play, the player is furnished with 100 balls, which lie will shoot in about 45 minutes.

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THESE SIMPLE HINTS WILL HELP YOU LEARN SURFBOARD RIDING

WHERE the sea throws itself shoreward in smooth, powerful swells, you will find the wave riders— bronzed, muscular swimmers who have studied well the whims of Father Neptune and know how to hitch their buoyant surfboards to the bounding water. Their shouts ring out above the thunder of breakers, as they stand upright on the polished planes of wood and rocket along on the forward slope of a swiftly advancing wave.

Merely to witness a masterful performance of wave riding imparts some of the delicious thrill known to these aquatic artists. And, if you are at all addicted to water sports, you will feel a commanding urge to duplicate their feats. Before you do, however, it will be well to learn from the beginning some of the fine points in the ancient art of hitching a ride on the waves.

Most surfboards range from ten to twenty-one feet in length, by eighteen to twenty-four inches in width, and weigh anywhere between thirty and 165 pounds, depending upon the material and type of construction. For wave riding, preference is given the shorter board, generally under thirteen or fourteen feet, since it is more easily handled. Boards of greater length are usually to be associated only with veteran riders, who are likely to own a number of surfboards of varied design. The longest boards, twenty or more feet in length and only eighteen inches in width, are used more for paddling races than for actual surf riding.

Choose your board according to your size and weight. A youngster may find an eight-foot board quite adequate, while a tall, 200-pound man may have his best success with an air-chambered board not shorter than twelve feet. The average person will not be making a mistake if he practices with a surfboard somewhere between ten and twelve feet long, approximately twenty-two inches wide, and weighing not more than fifty pounds. In this classification you have a choice between the traditional ten-foot board, usually built of light balsa wood, and the more modern cigar-shaped hoard, which contains an air chamber throughout its entire length Once you have selected a good surfboard, it is advisable that you first become a competent paddler. Prone upon your stomach, balance your weight on the board so that the deck is almost level with the water. A choppy surface will require a slight uptilt to the bow. Now, arch your back and raise your shoulders with face forward, and start to stroke with extended arms, as though they were the oars of a boat. Most paddlers, especially beginners, prefer to stroke simultaneously with both arms, although an alternating, over-arm stroke, similar to that used in swimming the crawl, also can be employed. It is interesting diversion, too, to paddle Indian-style on the knees,, or in a sitting position.

But whatever the method, the stroke is made with the wrist and arm tensed, and fingers cupped together. Relax as the arm is being carried forward. On the hollow racing boards, practiced paddlers can sprint at approximately twice the speed of champion swimmers. Distance also is possible on the paddle board. Beach guards of Santa Monica, Calif., recently paddled from the mainland to Santa Catalina Island, a distance of more than twenty-six miles, in less than six hours. The paddle board also suggests adventure on lakes and broad rivers. When resting, merely sit upright on the board, astraddle near the point of balance.

When paddling, you have two methods of guiding your thin craft. To negotiate a slight curve, it is necessary only to vary the power of your strokes, or to dip one hand shallowly as you increase the force of the other. But in order to turn sharply, it may be advisable to drag one foot as well.

Most buoyant boards will carry two persons on a favorable surface, and you and a companion may paddle tandem fashion, timing your strokes rhythmically like members of a rowing crew. The more experienced person should ride behind and act. as steersman.

The paddle board can be used to advantage in accomplishing a water rescue, particularly where a swimmer has become tired and is unable to return to shore without assistance. Should the subject be helpless, it is recommended that you sit astraddle the board when attempting to drag his weight into an advantageous position.

The beginner should exercise caution when taking a surfboard through the breakers. Always keep the bow headed squarely into the incoming waves, and time your progress so that the curling water will not crash down upon you. You may buck through breakers that are largely spent, but watch out for those which still have a forceful rumble. Where waves are breaking is the real danger zone. When attempting to pass a breaker at “this point, it generally is advisable to slip from your board and, holding it firmly by the stern, drive it deeply into *the rolling water, ducking as the crest of the wave sweeps over you. Should you happen to lose hold of your craft, remain submerged until the breaker has passed, and even then come up with your arms above your head. Strong men have been knocked unconscious when struck by a runaway surfboard. Now that you have become familiar with the buoyant surfboard, you must learn to judge waves. Except when swells are uncommonly high and steep, the best point to catch a wave is just outside the area where local breaks begin. Where there are shoals you will find the first crests of white water. Heavy ground swells generally run in series, and most riders prefer to let the first one or two go by, since the later waves usually are smoother and better for riding. It is the habit of these largest waves first to break locally, and the white crests will gain breadth in accordance with the shallowing water. It is on this smooth “shoulder” beside the foam that surfboards slide to the greatest advantage.

In hitching to a wave, it is important that you keep your board at right angles to the advancing slope of water. Keep well back on your water sled, so that the bow will ride fairly high, particularly if the wave is steep. Try to paddle at approximately the speed of the swell. As the stern lifts, throw your weight slightly forward in order to gain a final impetus for the slide. If all is well, you now will start to glide down the slope of water, just as a toboggan speeds down an icy hillside.

Once under way at a pace that drives wind and spray whistling by your ears, your first maneuver is to “slide,” or angle to one side, away from the break of the wave. This may be accomplished simply by shifting your weight and, if the board fails to respond instantly, using a foot as a rudder. Failure to come into a slide sometimes causes a board to dive, especially on steep waves. On this initial ride you probably will be content to maintain a prone position, but continued practice will eventually find you standing on the speeding plane.

Many riders come to their feet in a single movement, holding the board steady with their hands. The beginner, however, probably will feel more secure if he first draws his knees beneath him. An erect wave rider generally has one foot slightly in advance of the other, in some cases standing almost sidewise to the direction of travel. Like a tight-wire artist, you may have to use your arms vigorously in balancing.

GUIDE your sensitive craft by shifting your weight from side to side. If the bow appears to be dropping, take a short step backward to alter your balance slightly. Conversely, a step or jump forward will tend to lower the bow and send you farther down the slope of the wave. A zigzag course can be maintained by careful steering. Expert wave riders have been known to dart in and out among the mussel-crusted pilings of a pier while standing erect and steering solely by balance.

At length, you approach shallowing water and the point where all waves must break. To prevent any mishap in the breakers you will “cut out.” Step well back on your board and, as the bow lifts, lean sharply to one side. This will allow the wave to pass on beneath you. Once you have escaped a wave, however, be quick to paddle seaward again, lest you be mauled by the following breaker.

Sometimes a rider is able to survive the break and continue his ride clear to the glistening sand, but no matter how experienced he may be, there always is considerable danger when passing the break. Short rides can be had on waves that already have broken. In fact, this elementary form of surf riding has a considerable following, especially among younger swimmers and persons with small, improvised boards. In catching a half-spent breaker, keep well back on your board and paddle strongly as the water rolls against you. Sometimes you may be carried to the beach.

On the greater swells before the break, tandem riding is gaining popularity. The additional weight makes a wave more difficult to catch, and a steeper slope is preferable. The steersman, who rides behind, first rises to his feet, and then assists his companion to an upright position very close to him. A sturdy rider sometimes is able to hold a passenger on his shoulders.

Those who have years of wave-riding behind them are able to perform sensational feats on the speeding surfboard. It is not unusual to see a man balancing on his head and hands while the craft is in full swing. Others are able to ride backward, turning around by a single quick movement. Two persons riding parallel may change boards in midflight. Such trick riding requires a smooth, clean wave.

Another stunt that catches the eye of the visitor is free-board aquaplaning. As practiced on the hollow board, the rope attached to the power boat is held in the hands of the rider, who maintains his position on the board solely by the friction of his feet on the smooth surface. Sharp turns with the free board are deadly, but in case of a spill you still will have your craft near at hand for support, even though the boat speeds on.

IN “BODY SURFING”—riding waves without a board—the technique varies from that practiced on the surfboards. Although very steep swells may be taken in this manner, most body surfers elect to catch a wave just as it is breaking and then travel with their heads and shoulders just ahead of the “suds.” Where the breakers are not strong, you may find it a help to kick the feet while under way, or to bend one or both legs at the knees.

Some “body surfers” prefer to extend their arms forward, but you will note that under most circumstances the most proficient performers will keep their arms close to their sides. This position allows the chest, which is the body’s region of greatest buoyancy, to be as far as possible in advance of the rolling water.

And now, as we rest upon our surfboards, awaiting a green swell which moves silently toward us, let us hail the cradle of the wave rider — Hawaii. May we salute, also, that ancient island conquerer, King Kamehameha I. Legend tells us that, even when old in years, he was a skillful wave rider. But surely no man is old who can hitch his surfboard to the untamed waves. To him, and to those other sunny-souled people of the islands, let us be grateful for at least one secret of prolonging youth.

Machine Paints Golf Balls
THE above photograph reveals a dime-in-the-slot machine which gives a new finish to old golf balls, returning the pellets dry in less than two minutes. The machine is weather-proofed for outdoor use at golf clubs.

Champ Cuts Cigarette in Two to Show His Skill With Fly
BILL VOGT, world’s champion fly fisherman, is so skillful at casting flies that he can cut the tip from a cigarette with a number 10 trout fly and fly rod at a distance of 75 feet.

He performs this amazing stunt with the same ease and skill with which
he extinguishes the flame of a match held in a man’s hand, cuts bananas in two, or lifts the cork from a bottle. In a recent test he performed the feat of hooking a 28 pound test line into the belt of a swimmer 100 feet off shore.

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Scientific Sport – Six-Man Football

Here are the directions for playing a thrilling new game, as explained —
by Ken Strong
In collaboration with Cecil Carries

MECHANICAL perfection in play execution, with added thrills in spectacular open-style running formations, safety and economy are the themes of America’s newest sports craze—-six-man, or stream-lined football.

And every gain the game makes up the side-lines of the nation’s popularity is deserved. The main idea in sports is to develop the players and to thrill the spectators. Six-man football will do both in a manner to supplement its big brother, the full-sized game, but it will do more; it will bring a new universality to football. It will develop thousands of new players and it will bring their money’s worth to millions of on-lookers who otherwise, conceivably, could never enjoy it.

But first I must explain what six-man football is. The teams consist of two ends, a center, a halfback, a quarterback and a fullback. This tends to eliminate heavy linesmen and bone-crushing, power-plays.

Players wear sneakers, or basketball shoes, and this keeps down injuries. Since there are fewer men on the field, there quite naturally are fewer pile-ups in tackling. Everything about the game is designed to eliminate injuries, and although there are already more than 2,000 teams playing the capsule-size version of football—more than the number of colleges playing the regular sized game—there have been no fatal injuries yet as far as I can learn. This is highly significant, when you consider 11-man team “casualty lists.”

Of recent years there has been a tendency in collegiate football to commercialize the sport. Consequently, the smaller schools have had to take a back seat. The “gate” has become the all-important thing, instead of the original, primary purpose of the contest: to develop the players and provide clean sport.

Then, too, an emphasis has been placed on strength and endurance in the big game. Here in the six-man contest strength will not be important. But brain-work and well planned strategy are paramount. Since there are fewer men on the field, every play will be more individual. A single man will block a defensive player, where in regulation football two, and sometimes three men are used.

Thus we find that players will be developed both physically and mentally. And not just a score of highly trained specialists, either, but the whole male enrollment of the school can benefit by the competitive spirit. Boys who attend an institution where money is not available for equipping a full team, or buying impressive stadia, now may know the thrills of carrying the ball on a long run, or catching the winning pass. And they can know another excitement, too: that of making a dramatic play before the home town folks.

From my own gridiron history a story can be brought out which will perfectly illustrate a pertinent point. At West Haven, Connecticut, High School, when I was there, we had seventeen or maybe eighteen men on the football squad. Consequently, we had to bring in towns-folk in order to scrimmage. We could have had a well-rounded six-man football team, able to practice plays to perfection.

Joseph P. Doakes, out in Four Corners, Iowa, an 120-pound boy with plenty of courage, might never be an All-American. But he now can gain athletic fitness, leadership, self-confidence and co-ordination on the football field, through this new game. Now let us go with Joe down to the gridiron behind the school, and I’ll tell you where his game, the only one his small school can afford because of lack of man-power and finances, differs from its parent.

First thing, of course, you will notice that the field is only eighty yards long and forty yards wide, with the markings five yards apart. Then you will examine the goal posts, which are wider and have lower cross bars This makes field goals easier. Joe’s teammates, who will not necessarily be husky fellows, will be kicking the ball around, with rubber shoes.

When scrimmage starts, the teams line up in a manner unique to followers of the orthodox game.

The defensive team puts the ball into play by kicking it off from a line twenty yards in front of the goal they are defending. The Sixes who are receiving may line up anyway, just so none of them are less than ten yards from the ball at the kick-off. The lineup on both sides looks pretty thin at this point, which makes you understand why the field has been narrowed. As it is, each player has more space to play in than a man in the full-sized game. There are 267 square yards for each man i n stream-lined football, to 242 square yards per man in the big game.

Here is the kick. The receiver is dropped in his tracks and you note that this is no sissy’s game, that there are plenty of man-sized tackles. Now both teams line up, with three men on each side of the line. There is a penalty of five yards and loss of the down for non-compliance of this rule. After a few plays we note one very important change from the larger game. It is true that the plays in general are approximately the same as the “elevens” use, but a ball carrier, receiving the ball from center, must pass it to a team-mate before it can be advanced past the line of scrimmage. In other words, there can be no direct line bucks.

It can be a forward, or backward, or lateral toss, but it must be a pass. The ball must go through the air at least two yards after leaving the passer’s hand and before entering the receiver’s hands. If the ball is downed back of the line before the pass, there is no penalty, but if the carrier is stopped at the line before passing, the ball is returned to the place at which it was put into play and there is the loss of a down. If the ball does not travel the prescribed distance in the first pass, the penalty is the same.

A forward pass is okay from anywhere back of the line of scrimmage, which is a take-off from the rules of professional football. In the eleven-man type the passer must be five yards back of the line. The Sixes are all eligible to receive a pass except for the center. It has been suggested recently that this rule be changed so that anyone on the field may snare a pass at anytime.

After eight minutes of exciting play, during which no one was injured and there were many exciting passes and excellent running back of punts, the quarter ended for Joe’s scrimmage session. There are only 32 minutes of actual play in the game, another radical departure which will stave off injuries. It is after a player is exhausted that he is most likely to suffer injury.

We have noted, by this time, that there are no unsung and unnoticed “plow horses” on the team, that everyone gets a chance to shine. There are no fellows who get all the scoring breaks, because of the variance necessary for succesful surprise passes. I hardly need mention that in 11-man football the linemen get the jolts and the backs get the headlines.

We see, too, that there are few hidden ball plays, since the rules provide that a two-yard pass is necessary to start the play, and there are too few men to screen such an attack. So we find lots of double and triple passing behind the lines and many short run- ning passes to the ends. Then there are hair-raisers galore, such as starting the play with a backfield lateral pass and a sweeping run to the right, with the left end blocking and then dashing to the extreme left of the field to catch a field-wide lateral while free of any opponent.

After such an observation we become convinced that zone defense against passes will not be effective, that a man-to-man defense: such as is employed in basketball, is necessary.

Because of the size of the field, punting must be very accurate and can be made a powerful weapon; the team with an accurate kicker has an important advantage. The kicker has more time, because there are fewer men to rush him. When his team is backed up against its own goal line he can always place the ball so far down the 80-yard field that he snatches the advantage away from his opponent.

I have heard a bit of skepticism from other football devotees over punting with sneakers, or basketball shoes. But I have absolute proof that these rubber brogans may be used to good advantage on the football field. In December, 1934, when I was playing halfback with the New York (Football) Giants in the game with the Chicago Bears for the professional football title, we were behind 13 to 3 at the half. But we changed to sneakers because the ground was frozen and cleats were of no benefit, and I punted, kicked off, made points after touchdown, all in rubber shoes. We won 30 to 13. I have always credited those sneakers with the victory.

Now I have pointed out just where the Sixers’ game differs from the regulation one. Remember that the fundamentals are the same, that blocking and tackling, passing and punting must of necessity be learned and perfected, the same as in the larger game.

But the basic activities must be learned better than in the big brother contests. Tackling, for instance, must be cleaner. More of them will be in the open, and cases where a carrier is stopped by general congestion in the line of scrimmage will be extremely rare.

On page 39 you will notice three play formations, which are simple enough and will suggest many other possible attacks to any boy with a quarterback complex.

After a few wide-open plays function perfectly in the field you and your “Sixer” teammates will probably sing the praises of Stephen Epler, the Nebraskan who thought the game up and promoted it, in 1934.

And so I give you the “Sixer” game and I know you will like it. Perhaps, in time, colleges will promote such contests to give a chance for fast track stars and basketball luminaries to participate—and still not seriously risk their valuable legs. What a thrill such a game would be!

Atlantic City Successfully Stages Indoor Football Game

ELECTRICAL engineers made possible the playing of the first indoor football game in the vast Atlantic City auditorium. The 20,000 thrilled spectators had no difficulty in enjoying the night game, thanks to the use of a white football and the powerful lighting system which assured the best visibility. A battery of more than 600 floodlight projectors, spaced 14 feet apart in the trusses arching across the curved ceiling, poured artificial light down on the large field.

Engineers transported 48 cars of dirt from the interior of New Jersey to provide an earthen playing field.

Grass Coil With Spiral Trough Measures Golf Drive
GOLFERS can practice driving to their hearts’ content, and win the additional satisfaction of knowing just how far the ball would have gone on an outdoor course if they use the target recently invented by an Englishman. It is shown at the right. The ball is driven through a funnellike opening leading to coiled runways which hold it until it has lost its momentum. There are nine circuits arranged spirally, as shown in the photo. If the ball completes the nine circuits, it represents a drive of 300 yards. Strength of the drive is automatically indicated.

SELF-PROPELLED SKI-DOG

Form is everything in this most exhilarating of water sports. Back straight. Limbs tucked tight. Tail leveled out. Now a quick blast of power and away you go in a foamy streak. Once the basics are mastered, any old dog can turn the trick. In fact Peanuts, the enthusiastic Miami water buff introduced here, eschews the usual requirements of skis, tow line and high-speed towboat. When the urge strikes, he simply sprints to the water’s edge, splashes through the shallows, hurls himself into the air and puts on a show of skiing that would earn applause even at Cypress Gardens.

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BOOMERANG throwers Show Amazing Skill

Deadly primitive weapon, a flat crooked stick, is still thrown by native tribesmen with remarkable accuracy and properly hurled the weapon will fly back almost to the feet of the thrower. Bushmen make more than 20 forms of boomerangs and the home shop worker can with little difficulty construct his own weapon.

by SAM BROWN

AGES ago, when life on earth was a thing of elemental strife, one of primitive man’s first weapons was a stick. From the humble cudgel he evolved other weapons. By lashing the opposite ends of the stick together with gut. he fashioned a bow; by tipping the point with a sharp piece of flint, he made a spear; by bending the stick at an obtuse angle, he created the boomerang.

It was a strange weapon, this boomerang, and a deadly one in the hands of one accustomed to its erratic moods. With the flat, crooked stick, primitive man could bring low the fleet-footed antelope; he could let fly at birds on the wing with full confidence that his magic stick would find a mark. Occasionally he missed, and when this happened the stick rose like a vulture in flight to the height of about one hundred feet, and then, wheeling, it would hurtle back to the thrower, landing almost at his feet.

The present generation finds people in various parts of the world retaining the boomerang as a weapon, both for defense and for the hunt. In Australia, especially, where the flat, plain-like country makes an ideal arena for their manipulation, boomerangs abound. Many native tribes depend on them almost entirely. The little brown Bushmen of the Arunta tribe manufacture no less than twenty forms of boomerangs, ranging all the way from a fourteen inch bird stick to the heavy, four foot war boomerang.

The average boomerang as used by the Australians is in the shape of an obtuse triangle, flat on one side and convex on the other, measuring about two and one-half feet from tip to tip. The brown men use acacia wood in their construction; yours can be fashioned from a piece of straight-grained and well-seasoned hickory or ash, about 2 feet long by 5 inches wide and % inches thick. From this board cut out a piece of the shape shown in figure 1. This is, roughly, 19 inches long from the tip to the center of the bend, and tapers from 2-1/4 inches wide at the center to 1-3/4 inches at the end. Cut a second piece like that shown in figure 2. Fasten the two pieces together with a lap joint, as shown in figure 3, using plenty of good glue and two or three small brads.

In nailing the two pieces together, you must confine yourself to a narrow strip down the center, so that the brads will not interfere with the final step in making the boomerang. This consists in rounding one of the sides. Do this with a sharp knife or spoke shave, keeping the center portion of the boomerang the original 3/8 inch thick, and shaving the edges down to about 1/8 inch thick.

After roughly fashioning this convex surface with your knife, take a rough grade sandpaper and finish the job. Once the wood has been smoothed to your satisfaction, insert the final brads in the joint and give the whole thing a coat of varnish. Your finished boomerang should look like figure 4.

In throwing the boomerang, the missile is held with the rounded side inwards—to the left side of a right hand thrower. It is gripped firmly at one extremity and thrown away with a straight overhand jerk of the arm, spinning so rapidly that it is practically reduced to a circular plate of wood of a diameter equal to a line joining the two ends.

Skimming swiftly to the point of object and meeting no obstacle, it will rise like a bird seeking a place to alight, until it has risen a hundred feet or more, and then, wavering for a moment, it will turn and come swooping back toward the thrower.

The boomerang is invariably thrown against the wind. It is against the wind only that the magic stick is self-retrieving.

The parabolic flight of the boomerang is a beautiful thing to witness. Although the slick leaves the thrower’s hand in an almost vertical plane, it gradually changes to approximately horizontal, then swerving to the left, it soars skyward and then volplanes back to the ground again.

Some idea of the flight on a Lilliputian scale can be gained by sailing a midget model. Make this from a piece of very stiff paper or thin card, about 3 inches long and crescent shaped. In propelling this tiny boomerang, it is balanced on the extended left forefinger and snapped with the forefinger of the right hand.

WORLD’S BEST TOP-SPINNERS

Malayan top makers and spinners are heroes. As they wind up their 12-pound tops on spinning ropes people watch their gestures and expressions with reverence. A crowd of Malayan gamblers waiting for a top to wobble—something that may not happen for 20 minutesis a-quiver with excitement. A famous top, tipped with a diamond, once spun an hour and five minutes on plate glass. Experts show their skill by transferring tops from one precarious perch to another as the minutes spin away.

Lifeguards Use Surfboards

LIFEGUARDS at Los Angeles, Calif., have been equipped with new surfboards and new inhalator machines to facilitate their task of patroling five miles of beach. The surfboards are constructed like airplane wings, being of hollow construction, and are said to be much faster than the old type lifeboats.

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Toboggans on Pine Needles

THOSE who have wandered in the woods know how difficult it is to walk up a slope covered with pine-needles. Some have even slid down such slopes, when young, on a barrel stave, which was lots of fun. Just such an idea is embodied in this “Pine Needle” toboggan slide. It makes use of a smooth bottomed sled, an artificial slide covered with pine-needles and a good slope of land.

The sled is the first part of this affair to construct. It is built upon two light timbers curved up in front and about 4 ft. long. These timbers can be admirably matched by two old buggy shafts. Remove all iron work and fastenings so the wood is clear. Then cover them across with boards, nailing them in place solidly as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The bottom should then be covered with a piece of smooth sheet iron, free from holes or kinks. Use metal signs, stove board covering, pieces of tin roof— any kind of sheet metal that can be smoothed off well.

Use no nails at all on the bottom, but fasten the metal by cutting it slightly larger than the bottom* of the sled and bending around on the sides and back. Use flat headed nails and drive well home. When completed rub the bottom down with emery and oil to take off any rust or paint. Then fit in two sides of wood and cut hand holes near the top edges.

The slide should be built on a good slope of land, near or on a pine-needle supply. The exact contour of the slide will, of course, be determined by the natural contour of the land. Build the slide as close to the ground as possible at all points to play safe. Where the rises come use stout posts and brace them at the sides to prevent side sway, as illustrated in accompanying drawings.

Each section of the slide consists* of a sufficient number of 12 ft. boards laid close together to completely fill the 25 in. space, running the direction of the slide. Lay the boards at the bottom of the slide first, working back towards the take-off. Nail cross pieces 18 in. apart across the boards to serve as riffles which hold the pine-needles in place.

The side boards consist of wide boards nailed to the bevels of the posts, their ends lapping in the direction of the sled’s mo- tion. Fill the slide from top to bottom with a three or four inch layer of dry pine-needles. Mat them down by walking on them and see that they are well distributed. Take the sled to the take-off and get aboard. Grab the hand holds and shove off. Away you go!

The more you use the sled the smoother the bottom will become.

Take Long Swimming Cruise in New “Body Sailing Yacht”

WANT to take a nice long swim without exerting any muscle power? Then hook yourself up to this new “Body Sailing Yacht” which has just been introduced in Germany. A special bucket board that straps around your body holds the mast upright, your carcass acting as the hull of this unique windjammer.

You have full sail equipment. You can tack, luff, and do anything else that a sailing ship can do except put out to sea on a year’s voyage. The photo at the left shows the inventor, Dr. Schoneman, of Berlin, taking a cruise in the Spree, which flows always through Germany.

Golf is Now Played Like Roulette

A SCRAMBLING of the ancient Scotch game of golf and the somewhat less Scotch game of roulette has resulted in the creation which beats all for novelty—golf played on a roulette wheel. In the center of a circular pit a gaming wheel, marked like the table variety, spins merrily, while the golfer attempts to knock a golf ball into the winning compartments.

Introduced recently in Los Angeles, the new game is winning increasing favor among West Coast golf fans seeking the thrills of both roulette and golf. The putting tee is located in a recess in the side of the pit, and the ball, shot from there, flutters around the wheel and finally settles into some compartment. Located out of doors to give full health benefits, the wheel is cleverly decorated with flashing lights and illuminated numbers for night playing.

WHEN BENNY WATTENBERG, star half back of the University of Chicago football squad, discovered that he was hampered in executing forward passes because of near-sightedness, the coaches decided that Wattenberg was too good a man to lose and they devised a method of fastening special shatter-proof lenses to his football gear. The photograph shows the half back wearing his helmet with the spectacles that have corrected his defect of vision.

UNIQUE USES FOR AIRPLANES
THE ONLY commercial plane equipped with charcoal foot-warmers is said to be the ski-shod “Queen of the Yukon,” which makes a daily flight of 560 miles from Whitehorse to Dawson, Alaska. The plane is a passenger and mail carrier operated by a private company which issues its own air mail stamps. The “Queen of the Yukon” has flown 100,000 miles. One of the largest sheep raising firms in Australia uses an airplane for inspection work and for transporting company officials across the tremendous ranges. The plane used is a Mahoney ship, built by the makers of the “Spirit of St. Louis.” An airplane of the same type was recently delivered to two Italian noblemen who plan to conduct daily sightseeing trips from the banks of the Tiber River.

Walking on Wheels is the Latest European Sport

THE newest aid to the pedestrian is the “paticycle,” invented by a Frenchman as an easy and inexpensive means of getting from here to there. The device consists of wheels attached to the walker’s feet and legs by means of braces. It is operated by swinging the legs forward as if walking on the ground, but the feet never touch the road. A staff is carried in each hand to steady the walker and help him steer a straight course.

A paticycle race was recently run from Versailles to Paris. Charles Samuel, the winner, is shown crossing the finishing line.

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Science Sets Pace for 1932 Olympic Games

Athletic sports are no longer merely a purely physical matter, for science and inventive ingenuity each year bring forth new equipment which enables the trained athlete to clip seconds or add inches to the world’s records in all events, until now it is a rare athletic meet when one or more records fail to fall.

by FREDERICK W. RUBIEN

Secretary of American Olympic Committee – As told to ALFRED ALBELLI

WILL sport records ever stop falling? When will human speed, endurance, prowess and ingenuity reach the saturation point in athletic events?

In the past thirty or more years that I have been associated with amateur athletics, I have had those queries facing me constantly. Sport records will never stop falling as long as the spirit of rivalry burns in human hearts.

The vanishing point of record performances will never be reached so long as there are mechanical and scientific minds to devise instruments whereby the -athlete’s energies and talents are more efficiently utilized.

The sport annals are replete with instances where the athlete’s every atom of muscle, skill and vitality have been exhausted, only to have science point the way to new records. The human make-up has not changed, perceptibly at any rate, but science has improved the athlete’s tools appreciably during the past twenty-five years.

Only last February we saw a record which we supposed might have remained permanent go flitting into oblivion and a new one set up by an obscure dark horse in the indoor high jump event at the Millrose Games in Madison Square Garden.

George Spitz, 19 years old and just out of high school, to the amazement of 15,000 spectators, came out of nowhere and sailed gracefully over a thin and untrembling bar poised 6 feet 7 inches above the take-off. His feat became the world’s record, surpassing the mark of Harold Osborn, the college professor-athlete, who hung up a record of 6 feet 6-1/4 inches back in 1925.

The performance of Spitz is not an isolated one. Hardly a big athletic meet passes these days without some record being annihilated. I happen to know that the remarkable performance of Spitz resulted not only from the wonderful training he underwent, but also from his use of mechanical aids to strengthen his body and muscles.

George Spitz uses two forms of equipment for his training, aside from his major instrument which is composed of the poles and the bar over which he lifts himself. He uses a specially-made gymnasium bicycle with a clock in front of it to register the amount of energy expended. That is for his legs. For his arms he concentrates on a piece of rowing apparatus. It is like the section of a rowing shell, with two oars.

This youth flaring suddenly and spectacularly out of the athletic firmament, promises to be America’s best bet at the 1932 Olympics to be held at Los Angeles from July 30 to August 14. The outdoor high-jump mark is 6 feet 8-1/4 inches, held by Harold Osborn, and although I am not given to predictions, I would not hesitate to say that Spitz could look that one straight in the eye without flinching. Perhaps another dark horse will appear in this event at the Olympics. With science setting the pace these days, there is no telling where a brilliant dark horse is hiding.

In the 1912 Olympics at Stockholm, Sweden, Ted Meredith won his place toward posterity by his victory in the 800 meters run. I can still recall vividly how he was tossed into that race as a sort of “work horse” for Mel Sheppard and Ira Davenport, shining luminaries of the day. Meredith wasn’t considered a winner by anyone.

To the great astonishment of the multitude, it was noticed that his more illustrious team-mates were being hard pressed. Suddenly, like a flash out of the blue, Ted Meredith spurted ahead to make a record of 1:51 9-10, which remained unassailed until 1928 when D. G. A. Lowe of England clipped a tenth of a second off it.

Johnny Hayes was another famous dark horse. He fell into fame when he beat the celebrated Italian marathoner, Dorando, in the 1908 Olympics. There were at least twenty others in that noted marathon race who outshadowed Johnny Hayes. Some sporting gentleman even thought his entry was a foolhardy move. They said he didn’t have a ghost of a show.

But today I know of no more dazzling chapter in the annals of the revived Olympic Games. I cannot recall in all my years of affiliation with sports a more dramatic triumph than that scored by Hayes over Dorando. The Italian baker was the first to reach the stadium. But once on the track there, he collapsed. Several of his fiery countrymen helped him to his feet and hauled him across the finishing line.

In another second Hayes came dashing into the arena, fresh and peppery under his own steam. He finished strong, to the utter amazement of the bewildered spectators. Dorando was disqualified. Hayes was proclaimed the victor. Since that memorable triumph no other American has ever won that event. We are apt to be optimistic too easily in America, and yet I would not be totally surprised if a dark horse won the marathon for Uncle Sam.

The 26-mile marathons have lost favor with American runners since the days of Johnny Hayes. The gruelling grind does not appeal to our young athletes of the cinder path. Yet every now and then a runner steps out who promises to take the olive-branch in the marathon.

Clarence DeMar, the so-called grandpa of the marathon, whose native heath is Boston, will wind up two decades of foot-racing by taking part in the 1932 Olympic marathon event. Science cannot do much for the longdistance runner beyond the athlete’s natural attributes of speed and endurance. Mind and body work with faultless mechanical precision. Beyond the co-ordination of these two to their fullest capacity, mechanical aids or scientific treatment cannot go far in helping to set records. In the pole-vaulting event, science has come bountifully to the aid of the athlete. Not only is there an advantage in the use of a bamboo pole, but also in the matter of the take-off has the vaulter gained advantage through scientific progress.

The ingenuity of sporting guides has improved the hammer throwing event from the crude days when a blacksmith’s 12-pound sledge-hammer was used, making a 78-foot throw at the best then, to the present mark of over 180 feet. In the coming Olympics a 16-pound hammer will be used, with a head consisting of a lead or brass shell filled with lead or cast-gray iron and spherical in shape. The handle will be of spring steel wire, and the grip may be either of a single or double loop construction.

Frank Connor of the New York A. C. looks as if he might monopolize the honors in that event, although Matt McGrath, four times an American Olympic team member and now a deputy police inspector in New York, threatens to appear at Los Angeles next summer. His Olympic record hurl of 180 feet 2 inches still stands. Matt McGrath is 53. Using the modern hammer, he may set new records.

In the sprints and middle distance events I can confidently state that it will be science at the starter’s pistol in the Olympic Stadium at Los Angeles. We are planning to give the runners the best starts science has been able to devise in these events. The holes will be firm, the surface around them will be solid and substantial. A start may possess that split second which may mean a new record and victory. That goes for the hurdles as well.