The Night Seattle's Athletes Took On Tacoma and Found a Champion

The indoor meeting of the Seattle Athletic Club last evening at the Armory was a crowning success. The building was filled to overflowing and many people were turned away. The audience was sprinkled with Tacoma people, and a large number of women were noticeable, who were really more enthusiastic and took a deeper interest in sports than the men.

The features of the evening were the relay race between Tacoma and Seattle, which was won by Tacoma amid much enthusiasm; the half-mile handicap, won by E. Larsen Blancke of the S.A.C. with fifteen yards handicap; the quarter-mile handicap, won by H. H. Connor of the Seattle Athletic Club; and the one-mile handicap, won by A. H. Fiskin of the S.A.C. The exhibition proved that Seattle has an all-around athlete in Connor that it will be very difficult for anyone on the Coast to beat. His running and vaulting especially were performed with ease and grace which brought forth magnificent applause.

The relay race between the Tacoma Athletic Club and the S.A.C. was the most exciting event of the evening, and the most spirited contest of the kind ever witnessed in the city. One great advantage the Tacoma club had was in sending its best men into the race comparatively fresh, while the home contestants had been taking part in almost every other event and were in no condition to put up a strong race. Outside of Connor and Blancke, the other home representatives were weak men. It is a matter of pride to the S.A.C. that one of its members, Connor, won the handsome Hansen gold medal set with diamonds as the champion all-round amateur athlete.

Great interest was taken in the pole-vaulting contest. Although there were six entries, it narrowed to three: Connor, with a handicap of eight inches; Ostrom, with eight inches; and Atkins, with two inches. Finally Connor vaulted eight feet six inches, and Ostrom, who came next, could not clear the stick, and Atkins was out some time before. It was the opinion of all that Connor could have jumped several inches higher, as he was not at his best, but he vaulted without apparent effort. The exhibition of vaulting given by him was a revelation to lovers of athletic sport, nothing of the kind ever having been seen in the Pacific Northwest. What made it all the more surprising was that Connor won the contest without boasting or saying anything, but his complacent, self-satisfied smile made the other contestants feel nervous.

In the 220-yard hurdle race, scratch, Connor played with his competitors. After clearing each hurdle he would look around and laugh and yell out: "Come on, you fellows. What's the matter? Asleep?" And then he would slip through the rest of the hurdles, clear, nimble, and as fine as a gazelle.