Chums No. 785, Vol. XVI — page 15: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

vers of enduranee, yet. he can keep pretty resh throughout the most tiring of games. He is of medium height and slim of build, d, strange to relate, does little oreno special raining, He eats what he pleases, arfd actually kes a practiee of spending the evening before he day on which he has a match at a theatre, On returning home from the play he has a first- rate supper, and reads in bed until about two in the morning. ‘This system, he says, enables him to avoid attacks of nerves. He is a cheer- fnl fellow, and one who never puts on “side,” By securing the amateur championship he eratified one of the dearest ambitiohs of his life. Had he been defeated this year he in- tended to keep on trying for it until luck came his way. He is a non-smoker and a teetotaler. Ben Jones, who won the one mile and the ten miles bicycle championships of the British Umovire the other day, isa Wigan lad anda real wonder with the wheel. He is a little fellow, but extremely muscu- lar and as hard as nails, while, in ad- dition, he is pos- sessed of the rarest grit. Something must also be said for his judgment. He seems to be able to size up the capacity of an op- ponent on the in- stant, and there is no doubt that this remarkable gift MR. BEN JONES. {Photo Doughty, Stretford.) has enabled him to achieve more than one victory which without it he ¢ might not have been able to claim. Jones takes to the saddle s a duck does to water. Ie is absolutely in his clement when pedalling in a hard race, and never by any chance loses his head. He won the mile eham- pionship in 2 min, 48% and the ten miles in 23 min. 242 sec, Jones a modest young fellow, id very popular. Of late has come on rapidly. \rnaud Massey, who has ken the Open Golf ampionship to France, ‘s been a follower of the me of which he is such distinguished ornament _ irly all his life. As a % emall boy it was the great- t joy of his life to walk the wake of the players the links, and when. he : to. wield a club. himself he was in seventh heaven of delight, Even as a youth howed great promise, for he had consider- able natural skill and was painstaking. ; \assey learnt some of his golf in Scotland ; | both the land of the thistle and the Emerald ‘ave claimed him as their own, but he be- rightfully to France, Biarritz being the where he really mastered the sport. He exceptionally reliable player, and, though omed to favourable climatic conditions, s quite at home in the somewhat rough that raged when he battled for the pionship. Massey ig very popular, and is ted to do even better than he has done up resent. 5 may add that in a subsequent issue of 13” we purpose to deal with some other mpions and give their portraits. —— _—<—$—<———$ vas able vane on the church steeple says the Bast that is pretty high authority.” MR. ARNAUD MASSEY, (From a Photograph.) Puzzled Him. : Dwerine the holidays a youth happened to be visiting at a country house near the scene of one of Cromwell's historic battles. Strolling out one day by himself he met the village + naga returning from a shoeing tenets ion, “T say,” he said, genially, “I understand cals was a big battle fought somewhere about here!” _ “Well—er,” stammered the blacksmith, eye- ing the stranger in amazement, “I did ‘ave a round or two with Bill Blythe, but I don't know how you came to bear of it.” Chums Should Note. Presipent Roosrverr advises young men to make a note each day of the answer to the question : “What have I done this day to better myself ?” He declares that it requires a considerable amount of courage to persevere in the practice honestly, because we hare so often to fill up the day’s record “Nothing.” But it is the fact that we are likely to get annoyed at seeing such an unsatisfactory an- swer day after day that will help us. Lawyers attach enormous importance to having agreements between persons set down in black and white. A good deal of virtue attaches to having matters relating to one’s self also recorded in the same grim fashion. One cannot “wriggle” out of them so easily. ’ In Reply. Aw astonishing advertisement appeared some time back in a_ provincial news- paper. It asked for a ‘Smart Oflice Boy,” at a wage of two shillings a week. In one of the replies the writer, who was evidently older than the average office boy, said : “T beg to offer you my services. I am fourteen years of age, aud understand the French, German, Spanish, and Rassian languages, and am at the present time studying the ch language. I also under- stand shorthand, and can write 100 words per minute. Iam a fair knock - out at window- cleaning, being in possession of three medals for same, I havea fair know- ledge of all the local reformatories. [ would commence at Is. 10d. per week, aud be willing for the 10d. to remain in the business (at interest to be arranged at interview.) Should you deem my applica- tion worthy of a reply, I shoul! be happy to put in an appearance with my boots well polished, ‘ P.S.—Should you require a pyeminum, 1 could put down £100, and also provide a gnarantee of £1,900. Would the 1s. 10d. include tea on Sunday? and should | have to work on that day?” As He Saia. Tne talk had turned to the subject of present-day giants. “The biggest man I ever saw,” said the host’s son, “was a, really Why, he stood eight x “Ob, cut it short!” cried the others in chorus. “Come down a little from that height.” “J am telling you nothing but the truth. He stood eight feet six——” “Now, look here!” exclaimed the young man’s parent, “you can’t get us to believe that, and there’s no sense in talking such nonsense.” “Tf you will be kind enough to wait till T finish, you will all acknowledge that I am telling nothing but what is perfectly true. The man stood eight feet six inches——” “Qh, nonsense!” “Pioht feet six inches away from me,” con- cluded tho misbelieved youth, with a calm smile, as he walked off amid the groans of his listeners. 2 Soroormaster : ‘‘Now, who can tell me which travels the faster—heat or cold? Johnny Bright: ‘‘Heat; anybody can catch cold.” Jack: “I think a horse knows more than a dog.” o |.) > hn: “I don’t.” : Teak: “Quite likely. I was speaking of a horse.” —~— Girls as Well.—The headmaster of Wton, Canon Lyttelton, recently suggested that in the year 2006 the grat secondary schoels of Englend, with Bton at thelr hesa, night take charge of boys end girls together, ——— Not to be Satisfied,—' Nothing seoms to satisfy him,” was the remark mae ‘to 4 magistrate concerning a. offender, The magistrate recommended the epplication of the birch, but probably that also failed to satisfy the discontented youth. — But it Failed,—Ingeniors was the plan of @ youthful eyclist, who ranuing shortof Iemp oi! after dusk placed glow-worms in his lamp, Onfortunately it “didw't work,” for he was stopped Dy a policeman and eventually fined. —- They All Passed,—At tie recent “passing ut? examination at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, fifty-six eadets passed, and left the colfege for a farther period of training in the cruiser Cumberland. Not a single candidate failed to pass, , ae” — Harassed by Hairpins.—Boy bothers at Wands- worth Public Baths have had their feet badly forn by Indies hairpins. The attention of lady bathers has been called to the fact, with a view to their hair bang secured in a lees dangerous way -—— Chose Danger Before Fruit.—Even the oppor- unity of robbing an orchard possesses less attraction for inany boys than a chanee of breaking their necks. A comniry policeman, for example, told a vepresentative of “ Cryss”” that he had far more trouble in preventing willage lads from walking over a dangerons railway parapet than from keeping them out of the local fruit. gardens. — With Drawbacks,—We are so accustomed to have the Germans held np to us as models of industry and efficiency that it is interesting to learn, on the authority of © a German scientist, that the nation is paying a heavy price for its superiority. In short, owing to the way in which the brains of German schoolboys are taxed by excessive study, cases of nervous breakdown are alarmingly on the inerease. — Marked for Future Reference.—A curious discovery was that recently made by a boy named Sampson, who discovered a huge turtle bearing, carved on its shell in two places, the dates 1840 and 1316. Further inquiry re« vealed the strange fact that ‘the dates (and other markings) had been made by the lad’s grandfather and great-grandfather, each of whom had marked the turtle for identification in fis years mentioned, — ; : — Schoolboys on Tramp.—A band of nearly fifty Manchester boys and teachers spent several days this summer on a splendid walk through the hills and dales of Derbyshire. Twelve miles a day was the rule, and while on the ramble they visited places of interest en route and stadied the animal aud plant life. This is the seventh yeay in which this pleasant programme has been.carried out under the direction of Mr, B. South, for thirty years headmaster of Bank Meadow School, Ardwick. . —— Asked and Granted.—“ Sir,—We boys could play cricket if we bad bats and stweps. Wehavea ball. There are nine of us, Will you give them to us? Respectfully yours ——" Such was the letter which reached the chairman of a Board of Guardians the other day from the workhouse boys. Much amusement was caused at the Board by this cool request, and being gencronsly disposed, the giiardians made a collection amongst themselves, realising sufficient to provide the boys with the bats and stumps, —— Dived into a Whirlpool.—John Craig, of Oswes- try, has an especial claim to honour as a boy hero; for, in the attempt to save the life of a drowning Jad, he actually dived into a whirlpool in the river Dee, near Ruabon. The ~ drowning boy had been drawn into the whirlpool by the tremendously strong current while he was bathing, and young Craig dived no fewer than five times into the perilous waters after him, unhappily without snecess. The plucky youte swimmer deservedly won high praises from the coroner and the jury. a Why Not Write for “Chums” ? For insertion in OUR STAMP COLUMN, letters on Stamps and Stamp Collecting in general are invited from readers. They should not execed about 200 words in length, and may deal with the subject in any way as long as they are of interest to all, whether collectors or not. To the writer of each contribution printed we shall seni a Handsome Illustrated Volome, ° :