Omaha Sunday Bee Magazine Pag
in Him Champ
n
A
iir LonA
ao FT
If Loomlt, with Hit 10-Foot Stride Takes 10 8trldss!
to Cover 100 Feet, He Will Beat a Runner with,
an' 8-Foot Stride 20 Feet In Thla Distance.
Gettinr Ready to Clear the High Jump and
Concentrating Hi Mind on
the Cross-Bar.
The Magical 7-League
IBoots of Fairyland
Outclassed in Reality
by the "Thoughtful9'
10-Foot Stride of the
Newest Athletic Marvel
1
7
'I
OUNO Mr. Joseph O. Loom Is lias a 10-foot stride. That Is,
whn be Is running, the distance between the place one
foot leares the ground and the place the other foot leaves
the ground Is exactly 120 Inches. He can do this mainly became
his legs are disproportionately long.
Because of the length of his legs and because also, he thinks,
of the "thoughtful" way It which he uses them, young Mr. Loomls
jhe baa only been out of school for a year and a half won four
.championships at the championship meet In Baltimore laat Bum
jiner. Winning this r.umber at one meet In Itself made him a fifth
j world's record.
I Young Mr. Loomls, In fact, has the nearest equivalent to the
.famous 7 League Boots of legend with psychology added. Thla
running stride of 10 feet should he reach the maximum of effl
jclency that would enable him to keep It up from start to finish
(of a 100-yard dash, for Instance, would enable him to beat every
'other average championship runner by about 20 feet
I The records Lis 10-foot psychological stride has won for him
.were the Junior and senior 100-yard dashes, the 220 yard hurdle
ace and the running high Jump.
Loomia's remarkable ability ta Intensified by the fact that he
not overburdened with muscle. Is C feet 2 'inches tall and
jweighs only 180 pounds. lie Is a a
Absolutely dlsproportloned human be
ing, ao far as the usual standards
go. He has extraordinarily long and -r' "
thin arms and legs, which give him
fthe appearance of a overgrown boy.
nirV
s
r
j'
j
In the following story he tells why
m -ln rhmnlfiBshli and lust how
psychology plus the long legs figure
tn his victories.
By Joseph G. Loomis
I'JT mother gives what Is, perhaps,
J" one reason for my success In
ithletloa. She tells the story that
when I waa quite a youngster and
ible to move around the house at a
lively rate, I would never go out of
fay way to walk or run around any
thing that tieppsned to be tn the
path of my progress. I Just stepped
fver or Jumped ever chairs or beds
ir tables Instead of walking around
bm. And If I happened to be sent
rpstalra on an errand. Instead of
f alklng, taking four steps at a time
.eemed to be my natural gait. This
vldently must have been my real
'filtUl training for hurdle raoing and
J'.gh Jumping.
: You see I am blessed with tre
mendously long legs. I don't think
aere's a sprinter now running whose
:ss are aa long as mine. My stride,
' hen I am putting my best efforts
Sto a 100-yard run. Is about 10 feet
eng. This seems Incredible, but I
tars often had my stride measured
n a freshly rolled track Just to ent
ity some of the athletic trainers,
-'eople marvel at my sprint per
crmances for, as a rule, a sprinter
4 a short, stocky fellow who does
ot take a stride aa long aa mine.
ut who worka his legs faster.
? I have figured out very carefully
he reason why I am a champion, and
bis is it: A hundred ysrds. of
;ourse, Is 200 feet Now with an
iigbt foot stride I hold my competi
tors eveu until near the tape when,
vlth my natural advantages of ex-
traordlnarily long legs, I am enabled
to Increase my stride near the fin
Mb. to ten feet and thereby beat
them to the tape, for the ordinary
fast sprinter In using an eight-toot
stride te at hla limit and cannot in
crease It to meet my unusual ad
vantage. In hurdle racing my long legs are,
of course, a distinct help, for !
merely step over the hurdles while
I am In my stride and I never have
to hesitate or lose a
fraction of a second
while clearing them. A
good . hurdler with
ehorter legs has to
make a perceptible ef
fort to clear the hur
dles. The Blowing up
he undergoes to gather ''
together hla feet for the
Jump U enough for mi
to beat him out.
High Jumping la one game tn which
I have added to my natural i ad
vantage of long legs by hard think
Jag. I mean by that I believe much
success in trsck work Is due to
concentration of my mind en the
event tn which I am competing.
When one doea this victory gen
erally follows, provided, of course,
that the ability Is also there.
Lota of fellows nave ability but do
not know bow to bring it out at the
right time. That la Where science
and psychology enter in. I have' of
ten talked to the cross-bar In the
high Jump; told It I wasn't afraid of
It, made up my mind it waa nothing
at all to clear It and by putting my
mind In auch a confident atate, to
gether with the good condition of
my body, I have been able to win
difficult contests that meant some
thing and were worth while.
Let me say right here that I have
always been in athletie competition
for, the sheer love of It I enjoy
every minute of It. I have the ath
letic instinct, and while I hsvent
got a iot of muscle I can control per
fectly every bit of what I have.
This, and my atrivlng for nerve
control, have been the great factors
in my successes.
I have been competing only .or a
short while, and I have continued to
Improve as I get older. I am told
. y
( I 1 if - Joe Loomu in Action. This Photograph Shows f'j " V-4
.4 ' . ;j V Y Hi 10-Foot Stride and Hi Tremendous Ad- I ,. V
i I ff , , igg;ea, oiocay buui sprinter. r - V ,
f 7 ( ) mmmm n
- ; him .
f ' , ;:. - : ,vw --W-Jw - .4 f i ?
Loomia on the Starting Mark in a Hurdle Race. His First Six Strides
Will Take Him Orer the First Hurdle. His Extraordinarily Long
Legs and Arms Enable Him to Do This.
that one gets better aa he gets older.
I am twenty-two years old and If I
continue to Improve I certainly ought
to set up certain marks in my spe
cialties that will surprise the world
and be hard to beat
My 11 rat appearance in the East
was at the John Wanamaker'a Mill
rose Athletic Club games at Madison
Square Garden, New York City, a
few weeks ago. I was successful in
demonstrating my theories of high
Jumping by clearing elx feet one
Inch from scratch. Jumping from a
very bad floor. I did not have to
Jump any higher, my competitors
all failed to clear six feet one Inch.
. I felt that night that I could have
broken the world's Indoor record,
but I wss entered in the 70-yard
hurdle race which immediately fol-
How to Tell Your Fortune with the White of An Egg
&y rroressor Bothnos Latimer.
The Well-Known French Astrologer.
THIS is one of the least known of all methods of
foretelling the future, according to the ancient,
eecret wisdom of prophetlo insight Yet It Is
one of the most interesting, and easy to perform
though, of course, like all methods of the kind, some
skill and practise are necesssry la order to Interpret
quickly and speedily the symbolic interpretations of
the signs presented.
In order to prsctise this part of cabalistic interpre
tation, you must procure a fresh egg as new-laid as
possible and carefully separate the white of the egg
from the yolk. Nearly nil a tumbler with cold water
and drop the white of the egg into it a drop at a time.
Now place thla glass carefully aside for twenty four
hours, being sure to cover the glass carefully, and that
the water doee not become warmed by proximity to a
radiator, etc.
When you again look at the glass, you will find
that your white of egg has congealed Into various odd
Shaped figures circles, squares, animals, trees, crosses,
etc. which are to be Interpreted according to the for-
Copyrlsht. J915, by tbUr Company.
roula that follows.
Long, wavy lines denote losses and troubles; straight
lines, on the contrary, denoting peace, long life, pros
perity and hspplness.
Squarea denote peace and happtneas; a crown signi
fies honor; a cross, news of a death; a ring, marriage. It
a letter can be discovered near the ring this will be the
first letter of the name of the peraon you are to marry.
If clouds are about the ring, think long and carefully
before accepting thla person, even if he offera marriage
If a leaf la aeen. speedy good fortune will come your
way from some unexpected source. If an anchor is
seen, fidelity in love is indicated. If a dog is seen,
this is a rood sign, if near the top of the glasa, denoting
faithful friends; It near the middle, doubtful ones; and if
near the bottom, enemies to be avoided.
A Illy or similar flower foretells happiness, if near
the top of the glass; disappointment It near the bottom.
If a number of smsll dots or spots are present money is
coming your wsy. unless clouds surround them, in which
case you will receive bad tidings and notice of losses.
A hert denotes a love letter which you will shortly
receive. The sun. moon or stare denote happiness and
succens.
Orcat Britain Itlibti Reserved.
lowed the high-Jump event and y I
did not want to disappoint niji new
made Eastern friends by staying out
of the hurdle event I had to for
go my desrre to try for a record high
Jump. But I am fully convinced that
had I tried I would have succeeded.
I figure my muscular development
from an entirely different stand
point of measurement than the phys
ical director usee. My Inside leg
measurement is 39 Inches. I attri
bute my strength and endurance to
the length of my muscles and not to
their circumference measurement
Instead of putting the tape measure
around the calf of my teg and around
my thighs I measure my muscles
length mlse. My thigh muscles from
the top of my leg to my knees meas
ure 23 inches long, and my leg mus
cle from my knee to my ankles
measure 18 Inches long.
'Muscles of this length are less
likely to get tired and seem to stand
the strain of continued exertion bet
ter than the over-developed knotty
muscles of the hort-legged stocky
built sprinter.
Another theory I have put Into
practise In my athletic competition
is to train for the events I Intend
to compete in at the same hour the
real competition is to take place.
For instance, if games are to be
held at the armory 1 figure out
about the exact time the event will
take place on the evening of the
games, say 0 o'clock, and I go to
the armory, if posaible, and prartUe
my Jumping at 0 o'clock, and I do
no other Jumping practise excepting
at this hour. I figure that a mau
doing the usual routine of a day s
work has about the same spirit and
vitality at about the aame hours each
day and if I am to compete at 9
o'clock at night I sort of get used
to Jumping at that hour, and so,
when the reel test comes in competi
tion, it is Just like ordinary practise
and there is less of a nervous s'-Ma"
on the system.
I also try to put this theory into
practise in my running specialties,
and I think It has helped me I at
least think so, and that is half the
battle my mind is satisfied to that
extent
Athletics with Its many branches
not only tend to bring out a man's
character and develop him physically
but they tend to put one's mind la
the clear and determined condition,
which I think is the secret of suc
cess In life. It is the same old ar
gument used by the greatest ath
letic men of the day: "Play aome
game." N0 matter how hard a man
works In his special line of business
he never will get his full pleasure
out or life unless his physical con
dition is good. Many a man has
made a success in . life financially
only to find he cannot enjoy this
success because of poor health. Tou
must do something la the line of
athletics, I don't care what it Is, to
enjoy life. Play aome game and you
will find that you will adapt your
self to a special line of athletics and
will play it yourself.
Taking my peculiar build into con
sideratlon. there la a chance for any
one successfully to play at athletics
of some sort. I have won more r'eas
ure for myself la track work than
one might think.
To Martin A. Delaney. the athletic
director of the Chicago Athletie As
sociation. I owe all my Inside knowl,
edge of athletics. He is a firm beJ
Uever in psychology applied to com
petition, end in conclusion I might)
"y ,ih1 no ,ttment from me
would be complete without a word
pf praise for hla help. In develop
ing my extraordinary physical ad
vantages he proved that no matter
how peculiar a man'a physique may
be. there is slways a chance that he
may go in for some sports, that an
-Irst seem foolish for him to take a
part in.