Democratic Sentinel, Volume 11, Number 52, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 January 1888 — Page 6

THE TUG OF WAR.

An Exciting Game that Calls for Great Strength and Endurance. / Interesting Chat with an Ex-Mem-ber of a College Team. Among all the sports of summer or winter, in-doors or out-doors, there is none that excites more popular interest, when it can be seen, than the tug of war, and there is hardly one that calls lor more strength and endurance than this game. It has experienced a peculiar evolution from a crude unrecognized game played by country boys, to one of those sports which take their places legitimately among organized pastimes by reason of their rules and systematic way of going about it It is a distinct feature to-day of college and regimental exercises, and the greatest emulation is aroused between the different institutions which are represented by tug-of-war teams. Although the sport calls particularly for strength of a peculiar kind, it is nevertheless necessary, to accomplish the best results in it, to utilize the brain to a considerable extent. People who have not indulged in sports frequently fail to recognize the influence of the mind upon success in a game, and do not think for a moment that there is any mental stimulus or training or exercise called for in it. Nevertheless it does exist to a great degree, and none the less in the muscular exercise known as the tug of war. The team has to be controlled and directed by a captain, and that captain has to exercise his mind in the keenest way, has to be on the alert to watch his opponents, and has to know a great deal about the distribution of force in order to do his work well. How this comes about may best be told in the words of a well-

THE DARTMOUTH STYLE.

known member of a tug-of-war team, Mr. Charles Morrill, formerly of the Dartmouth College team. He says of it: “In a well-contested tug of war weight does not count as much as is “ordinarily supposed; brawn and muscle, a good staying power, with coolness agd a shrewd anchor, are what Js required. The exercise has advanced a. great deal during recent years under the fostering influence of college athletes and regimental gymnasts. In the old days the method was a rough, irregular sport, wherein men caught hold of one end of a rope and tried to pull along a similar crowd of men who held on to the other end. Now, there" are very few places where the tug of war is pulled, that the game consists in dragging the other side at all. There are several ways of playing it, three of which may be considered as the most important, and in none of those three does the element of pulling the other crowd enter into it. It is now the aim of those who pull in the tug of war to get the rope away from their opponents, and not to drag them about Before taking up the American style of playing, I will describe the method recently adopted in Great Britain. There the Amateur Athletic Association has lately“drawn up a new code of rules to regulate contests of this nature. They are not all of them new, but they show the difference between the English and the American styles of the game. They prescribe first an equal number of competitors, so that the sides may be evenly balanced ; that the rope shall be long enough to allow a pull of twelve feet, and have twelve feet slack at each end, while four feet is allowed for each pull Sr. The rope must not be less than-four inches in circumference, and shall have no knots or anything which can - assist one in retaining one’s grip on it.

“A tape must be fastened to the center of the rope, and at six feet on each side of this center tape a side tape must also be fastened. “A center line shall be marked on the ground, and at six feet on either side of it two lines shall be made parallel to the center line. At the start the rope must be taut, and the center tape over the center line, the competitors being outside the side lines.

“The signal to start shall be by word of mouth. During no part of the pull shall the foot of a competitor be allowed to go beyond the center line. The pull shall be won when one side shall have pul’ed the side line of their opponents over their own side line. “No competitor shall wear boots or shoes with any projecting nails, springs or prints of any kind, nor shall a competitor be allowed to make a hole in the ground with his feet, or any other way. before the start. No competitor shall willfully touch the ground with any part of his person but his feet. If the teams have a weight limit each member of the team must be weighed before the contest. The tug shall be won by two out of three pulls. “Those who are familiar with the ■Mibod of playing this game in colleges

and regimental gymnasiums will see that these rules are npt followed closely here. In our games we only have one tape upon the rope, which is fastened exactly at the center, and the sidetapes and side-lines are not much used. And it will be noticed, too, that according to the English rule, the contestanri stand during the trial, and if they should lie down or touch the ground with any part of their body ex-

THE ANCHOR.

cept their feet, the other side could claim ‘foul.’ With us, on the contrary, in both our styles of playing, the contestants lie down upon the ground at the very start, and it is a signal that they are beaten if they are pulled up from that position. “The two methods of pulling in this country may be termed for convenience the ‘farmer’s pull’ or ‘cleat’ pull. The farmer’s pull is practiced at Dartmouth CoPege very successfully. There they do not pull upon a board or indoors, but upon the turf. A hole is dug in the ground for each competitor. It is in the shape of a right-angled triangle. The competitor is almost seated in this hole, his foot being braced against its perpendicular wall. This, of course, gives the strongest kind of purchase for the puller. “The strain in a tug of war contest really comes upon the whole body, but the muscles of the back are perhaps those which are most immediately in use in it. The hands have to grip the rope very hard in order that it shall not slip through, but there will be no danger that it will slip through if the muscles of the body are strong enough to prevent the other side from pulling harder. The muscles of the legs are of course very important in this exercise as upon them comes a great measure of the strain in bracing against the wall of dirt. The defeat or victory in this kind of pull is reckoned by the tape upon the rope, which originally is placed directly over a middle line between the two teams, and if it is pulled more than an inch to one side or the other during the time allowed for the contest the victory is won. This recalls another essential difference between the English style and the American. The English rules do not mention any time for the endurance of a pull. The old style of tugging on this side the water allowed an hour; if during that time one side or the other was not pulled a good distance actually along the ground the contest was considered a draw. The improvements of

PULLED OFF THE CLEATS.

to-day necessitate the exercise of so much more strength and strain upon the pullers that it is usual to limit the time of the pull to from four to ten minutes, five being the ordinarily accepted duration. In one of the best contests on record, the team representing the Massachusetts Institute of Technology pulled the crack Harvard team five inches only. This was very soon after the Harvard bad won in a tug-of-war against a team from the Seventh Regiment of New York. “The Harvard team tugs upon the third style which I purpose describing. A long board, plain and a yard or three and a half feet broad, is made of sufficient length to allow eight men to recline on it, with a space of a few feet between the two teams. Four men constitute a team. The one at the further end is called the anchor. The men are usually stripped to the waist, without any head-gear, with heavy shoes, and a leather pad is worn on the upper arm over which the rope passes. Trousers or knee-breeches are worn as the player’s caprice suggests, though the latter offers some little advantage, or at least comfort. The rope’s length is about that indicated in the English rules. The end of it is passed once around the waist of the anchor, which is protected by a strong leather belt, and is caught in a slip-knot in front of him. The anchor is not necessarily the captain of the team, but he is the one who directs the tugging during the contest, and upon whose skill much of the success of the team depends. • The captain may occupy any one of the four positions, but he usually takes the one just in front of the anchor, where he can advise with the anchor in case of necessity. The men, when they lie upon the plank, have their feet braced against cleats, and the rope is generally passed between the knees of each one, and the hands clasped about it just back of the knees. The contest is begun with both teams standing by their cleats; the anchor stands in such a way that he can sit

down at once, and the others, with one foot braced against the cleat and the hands in the rope, are prepared to fall at full length the moment the pistol shot is heard. The starter stands at the center line with the pistol in hand, his feet upon the tape around the rope, pressing it to the floor. This insures a fair start, but after the pistol shot his foot is raised, and the side that gets down quickest may therefore get an advantageous start. For the first few minutes after the drop there is always a tremendous strain on each side, each team hoping to get an advantage over the other from any confusion that may have resulted from the sudden drop. The anchor maintains a sitting posture during the entire game, unless, indeed, the strain from the opposing team is so strong as to bring him and his associates off the cleats. This does not often hanpen. After the first few seconds of strain, the anchor generally gives the word to his men to hold hard, and for a few seconds they actually rest on the cleats, for, excepting under a strong heave, the anchor himself is capable of holding the rope against an ordinary pull from the opposing side. When the anchor thinks that he sees an oppprtunity of pulling them off their cleats, or wishes to pull the tape over as far as possible, he gives the word to heave, and the men on his side straighten their legs and tug for all they’re worth, while the anchor leans forward ready to gather in the slack in case they get the advantage, and if the other side happens to pull the stronger and the rope seems to be going that way, the anchor has to loosen the slip-knot in front of him and let it go a moment, in order

TAKING TIME AND UMPIRING.

to prevent his men from being pulled over their. -cleats. If he should not let it go, such an event would be almost sure to happen, and it is, therefore, plain that a great deal of responsibility rests upon the anchor, who must be a man,pf the coolest nerve as well as of giant strength. One of the things which the team in a tug-of-war contest has to practice to attain is simultaneous action. If the four men drop to the plank at the pistol-shot, at exactly the same instant, they are almost sure t<j get aD advantage over the other team, and when the word is given to heave by the anchor, if they all pull at -exactly the same instant, the same result* ’ bound to follow. It usually happens, therefore, that the best trained team will win, and weight does not count as much as might be expected. ’’The limit of weight in a team is variable. In the Seventh Regiment it is six hundred and sixty pounds, allowing an average weight of one hundred and sixty-five pounds for each man. The anchor is in almost constant consultation with his men during the contest. He advises them by a quiet word just previous to any order that he proposes to give. “Concerning weight, I remember a contest pulled in lbß6 at Dartmouth. There was a fat team, each one of whom tipped the beam at over two hundred. The contest was pulled on the ‘ farmer’s ’ system, with holes in the ground, and the fat team were fairly pulled out of their holes by light weights whose combined avoirdupois was not more than six hundred and fifty pounds.

• “Gymnasium-made muscle does not tell so much in a tug-of-war contest as might be expected. A man whose biceps are developed from Indian clubs and ring work may not have the vigor of tough natural "strength. Foot-ball players always .make good tug-of-war men, and rowing is one of the best exercises that can be indulged to fit one’s self by training for a contest. “The Dartmouth style of digging holes for the foot and large enough for

DEFEATED.

the whole lower part of the body, for sometimes they are two and a half feet deep, makes their tug of war a very tough strain. This competition is of not much use as an exercise; it is more directed to exhibiting than acquiring strength, and is rough, hard, trying work; but it is also a very manly sport, and will doubtless continue to hold its well established if somewhat subordinate position in the realms of sport.”

Eating mince pies just before going to bed has been a custom of one man. of 93 in Maine.

THE PACIFIC RAILROADS.

Story of Jobbery and Robbery Not Fully Revealed by the Official Investigations. How the Schemers Lined Their Pockets at the Expense of the Government. A Plot to Defraud the Government of Its Dues—Policy of Charles Francis Adams. [From the Chicago Tribune.] The majority and minority reports of the Pacific Railroad Commissioners, startling as they are in their arraigment of the men that have mismanaged and wrecked these corporations, fall far short of revealing the actual condition of affairs. The history of both the Central and Union Pacific Companies is full of rottenness from the start. It may almost be said that they “were conceived in sin and born in iniquity.” The original idea of building a railroad across the western half of the continent, from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean, was a grand one, but if it had been left to the honest men that projected it, to accomplish the result, it would have been deferred many years. As originally chartered and surveyed, the Pacific Road was divided into two sections—the first, the Union Pacific, to run direct from Omaha to Ogden; the second, the Central Pacific, from Ogden to San Francisco. The enterprise was too heavy and costly and the results too uncertain to attract private capital to any extent, and Congress, to insure construction, voted aid at an average of $32,000 a mile. The sharpers soon ascertained that this would amount to more than the actual cost of building, and began to flock in, vulture like, to feast on the financial vitals of the corporations. The history of the Union Pacific from this point is peculiarly interesting, and a fair reflex of the operations of both sections during the construction period. The men who, attracted by the big Government bonus, had embarked in the work and virtually seized control of the company began to figure on a plan for securing all the plunder possible. They had little, if any, hope in the future of the road, and were in for what could be made out of the construction of it on the “addition, division, and silence” scheme. Prominent among these men were Dr. Durant, Vice President and General Manager of the company; the brainy but erratic George Francis James'Davis, and others more pr s less known to fame. Congress had wisely provided that the subsidy should be paid in installments only on the completion aid acceptance of the road in fifty-mile sections. Durant and his associates able and unwilling to stand the cost* of building the first section themselves, and' the whole affair threatened to “die a-born-in’.’’ At this juncture, George Francis Train, then the boss schemer and brains of the gang, came to the front with his Credit Mobilier, and showed his pals how to not only build the road without going down into their own pockets, but to shave off an extra share of the profits as well. It was under Train’s inspiration that the road, instead of being built direct from Omaha to Ogden, a distance as the crow flies of about nine hundred miles, was twisted in and out like an ox-bow, until an extra one hundred were covered and on which the government subsidy was demanded and paid. Every conceivable plan for the diversion of money from the treasury of, the government and pockets of innocent stockholders into the coffers of the construction ring was put on foot. Honest men, disheartened at the outlO'ok, either retired voluntarily from active participation in the councils of the company, or were rudely shoved aside by the managers. When the condition of affairs had become so notorious as to call for Congressional action the ring seem'ed to haye a death grasp on the morals as well as the finances of the country. Men in high places—Senators, Representatives, Judges on the bench—obeyed its behests with a readiness that caused surprise, even to their masters who issued the command.

And this ring was not always particular as to its methods of doing business. During the Durant dynasty, and when the road was getting well to the west of Cheyenne, one of the inside construction concerns, known as “Davis and Associates,” had a contract for furnishing all the ties, bridge timbers, and lumber needed, from Cheyenne west to Promontory Point, the real terminus of the road. This firm consisted of James Davis, M. B. Sprague, George Francis Train, and, as might be supposed, Dr. Durant. The latter’s share was in the name of his brother Frank, and Train’s was in the name of his beautiful wife, whose affections Durant is accused of having by that time alienated and transferred to himself.as well as the largest part of her husband’s property. This firm had sublet their contract to other parties at figures which insured an enormous profit to “Davis and Associates,” but, not contented with that, began to scheme for an additional dollar. When the work was about finished the Union Pacific was owing “Davis and Associates” $750,000, and the latter were indebted to the sub-contractors to the amount of $210,000. The laborers had been clamoring for their pay for some time, and the sub-contractors had made repeated demands on “Davis and Associates” for their money, but without result. Durant, as manager of the Union Pacific, claimed the company was bankrupt and unable to pay Durant, as head of the contracting firm, over 10 per cent of the $750,000, and the latter iu turn asked the sub-con-tractors to settle on that basis, hoping in this way to turn about $190,000 into the ring treasury. The cashier for “Davis and Associates” at that time was a nervy chap named Christopher, a character well known to Western and Southern railway men. Christopher, on becoming acquainted with the nature of the proposed steal, went to the sub-contractors and advised them not to settle, as he had a plan for getting their money in fuH. It was about time for the directors of the road to make an inspection, and Christopher arranged with a telegraph operator named Hilliken, then stationed at Echo City, to advise him as to the arrival of their train. This was done, and Christopher, gathering the subcontractors and their men, went to a siding six miies west of Piedmont, which was then the headquarters of “Davis and Associates.” When the train came along about sunrise it was stopped and switched off on the side-track. Christopher went into the car and explained the situation to Durant and his party, telling them plainly th at the men thought they were trying

to rob them, and that they could not proceed until the $210,000 was paid in full. Durant made all sorts of promises, but it was of no use. After fortyeight hours’ parleying Durant sent out $56,000 which he had in a safe in the car, and wired to Omaha for $50,000 more, which was forwarded. When the SIOO,OOO was paid over, Durant made fresh pledges and asked to be allowed to finish his trip. Under Christopher’s advice, however, the men refused. Then Durant began to rave and threaten them with imprisonment, saying he bad wired for help. The men in command were not fooled by this talk, as they had taken good care that no communicat on revealing the actual condition of affairs should go over the wires. Before morning of the third day a Mr. Wilson, of New York, who was with Durant, advanced the latter $50,000, and Henry Rogers, a Cheyenne banker, was sent ;or. When Rogers arrived Durant drew d-afts on New York for the remaining $60,000, which Rogers accepted and gave Christopher certificates of deposit for. Thus the men were paid in full, and the car pulled out in a hurry, Durant standing on the platform and swearing that he would have Christopher and his allies in the penitentiary for train robbery. The affair finally died out, however, and there was no prosecution. With the completion of the road the gang looked for new conquests, and turned their attention to the operating department. When President Lincoln, in conformity with the wishes of the original projectors of the road, located its eastern terminus on the west bank of the Missouri River he named Omaha as the initial point Thia did not satisfy the cormorants, who were hungry for fresh prey. Money was to be made in the construction and operation—particularly the latter—of a bridge across the Missouri, and in connection therewith of a union depot on the lowa side. In order to proceed legally with this work it was necessary to have a judicial decision naming the eastern bank of the Missouri as the intended and proper initial point of the road. This was obtained from Judge Dillon, then on the United States bench, and was followed, on the Judge’s retirement, by his appointment as counsel for the company at a fat salary. Under this decision the bridge and union depots were built, and are being operated to-day at an. immense profit, which goes only in small part to the stockholders of the railroad, the bulk being absorbed by the favored few who manipulate the “inside” construction concerns. These “inside” companies have always been a curious feature of Union Pacific history. The company stands sponsor for branch roads without number, for bridge corporations, for coal mines and stone quarries, all worked by “inside” organizations. Whenever one of these side issues is found to be earning a fair dividend a goodly share of the stock can bo trace’d to individuals, while the securities of the non-paying concerns invariably are classed among the assets- of the parent company. When Charles Francis Adams was elected President of lhe Union Pacific some three years ago, there was a terrible shaking up of the offenders in this line, and an honest and determined effort was made to put the affairs of the company on a fair and sound basis. That it has been only partially successful is not the fault of Mr. Adams. During the shaking-up process referred to, some startling disclosures were made, of which Mr. Adams is possibly not as ignorant as he would claim to be to an interviewer. One of these was a wellmatured plan, fathered by men high in Union Pacific management, to gobble the valuable portions of the road, and leave the Government “holding the bag,” after the fashion of the Southern snipe- hunters. The Government, as security for the aid advanced in construction, holds a secondmortgage on the. main line between Omaha and Ogden, and on the Kansas Branch west of the 350th mile-post. The eqmings of these mortgaged roads, instead of going into a sinking fund for the gradual extinction of the Government debt, have been used in the building of branch lines, feeders, etc., until now the company has a network of roads that, connecting links of a few miles put in here and there, would give it a satisfactory through route. It was the intention in case the Government pressed payment of its claim, to allow the old roads to be seized, and the company would then have a comprehensive system, free from Government debt and congressional interference. Thus the Union Pacific has for years been actively at work tacking, together its various branch lines until now a glance at its map will show that, by the dropping down of a few rails, it would have an independent and practical line from Missouri River points to Portland, aside from the regular road. Should the majority report of the Commission, recommending the extension of the time for paying the debt, be adopted this scheme wiM probably be sat upon still harder.

Mr. Adams and the men now associated with him in the management of the company are understood to have some ideas of their own in regard to financial matters which may be laid before Congress for consideration. Under its charter the Union Pacific is debarred from borrowing money or guaranteeing, thesecurities of other corporations. Much as it may need money for legitimate uses it cannot go into the market and borrow it like other corporations. For this reason many well-inten-tioned and necessary improvements have boen delayed, and territory which should have been gridironed by Union Pacific tracks has been seized by competing roads. The efforts of the company in the past have been directed to the securing of a link of outsiderpads rather than the invasion of paying territory. Many miles of branch lines in eastern Nebraska are needed, rather than costly and uncertain roads into thinly settled parts of Colorado and Idaho. But promising as these projected feeders may be, investors do not care to put money into them unless they are reasonably certain, under a guarantee, that the interest at .least will be paid. Mr. Adams is known to favor the granting of power to the Union Pacific to either borrow the money to build such roads or to guarantee their securities so they will find, sale on the market. The conroany’s surplus iu the hands of the authorities at Washington, drawing at the most per cent., could, he was heard to assert some time ago, be used just as safely and much more profitably in the building of branch; roads into the thickly settled agricultural regions of Kansas and Nebraska. Mr. Adams even goes so fay as to claim that the money ;thus invested wdtild earn 10 per cent, where itnow only brings 4|, and that in addition it would largely swell the profits of the Union Pacific, make the property a more valuable security for the Government mortgage, and insure the payment of the huge debt at a much, earlier period than by any other means.