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Show $!. Fourth- iMT 4 fllK Fourth of July has come to bold In the United States ft proud and pre-eminent position aa a . day of sport and the I occasion of an annual an-nual carnival of competitive contents In outdoor athletics. This I an eminently fitting use for the JoyouH anniversary and It In perfectly perfect-ly natural. If not Inevitable, considering consider-ing the great and growing Interest of the whole American people In feats of skill that call for mental and in us cular agility. Moreover Its acceptance accept-ance as a day of sport Is not' confined con-fined to the small towns on the one band. Dor to the larra cities on the m r v vi irvst Ing more exciting than their tourna-nienta tourna-nienta when they are hotly contested. In some sections of the country horse racing has taken the place of the firemen's tournaments as a Fourth of July attraction, but of late their drawing power has been surpassed sur-passed by such novelties as automobile automo-bile races, motorcycle races and best of all, aeroplane contests. There are yet retained on many Fourth of July programs those homely contests that have been greeted with roars of laughter ever since the days of ou grandfathers such tests of skill as the climbing of tho greased pole, egg races, sack races, three-legged races, catching the greased pig, potato races nnd a host of others In which members of both sexes participate. In the south from time out of mind they have hud "tilting contests," 15 which local horsemen as twentieth century knights without armor have vied with ono another In stunts with lances or spenrs somewhat similar to those performed by (he knights of old. Within the past year or two other sections of the country hnve adopted these tilting tourneys as a Fourth of July feature, and with excellent ex-cellent success. In some communities Fourth of July sports committees have. In their quest for novelties, borrowed some of the features of the modern circus, notably no-tably the chariot races, which are calculated to make the hair of the w, more timid spec-p7yTjii'Wf spec-p7yTjii'Wf tators stand on other, but Is In actual fact universal That Americans have come to recognize rec-ognize the Fourth as a day when lovers of athletics of all kinds may enjoy their favorite sports to their fill Is a matter of congratulation, for a good many of us take few enough "days off" during the summer. We have not to any great extent adopted and perhaps may never adopt, the Fngllsh and European custom of banishing work and business cares every Friday evening during tbe um-mer um-mer and devoting the Interval until ymmi ooir rznYFRs track sports such . as putting the shot, hammer throwing, Jump- ing, running, pole vaulting and hurdle hur-dle racing are satisfactory sat-isfactory Fourth of July sports because be-cause local talent can always be recruited re-cruited for tlx competitions and even If no world's records are broken bro-ken there Is no end of fun for participants and spectators. l-awn ' the Fourth because b u sbands, b r o t b era and aweet-hearts aweet-hearts come for the day and accordingly there Is a a t a mpede for outdoor P a a times. Just as Ihere Is for dancing and all oth er pursuits where male partners are necessary to round out the full measure meas-ure of the entertainment. Very nearly s 0ld as the Fourth of July Itself In a holiday sense is the custom In the average smaller city, town or village of making the afternoon aft-ernoon of Independence Day the occasion of 'a race meet and athletic carnival. Perhaps this fs beld on the main street of the town If there Is no track available, but If there Is a fair ground or regular race track In the vicinity that ia the mecca for the crowds. Koine years ago the prime feature of every such meet was found In the racing, bose laying and ladder contests of the various volunteer fire companies from all the towns In the vicinity of the one where tbe "tournament" was beld. Latterly as horse-drawn horse-drawn Are fighting apparatus has come Into more general use and even the motor bose wagona have been rntxtiwd by many or the smaller cities, tht) bumber of volunteer ftre flghtlng organization! or-ganization! have dwindled somewhat, but there are stll! t wamtw in existence and there Is notb- tennis tournaments are held on hundreds ol courts all over the country on this midsummer holiday and "sociability runs" by automobile clubs have added yet another event to those on the calendar for this preeminent holiday. The very warmth of the weather encountered by the greater part of the country on the average Fourth of July has always rendered popular aquatic fytivals and carnivals. Yachting con tests, row'.ig and power boat competitions, swimming swim-ming and canoe races and other sports on the niter ni-ter have compensations for the participants and regale the spectators ranged In the shade along shore. In this field there are many mlrtli provok Ing contests as productive of fun aa are the ones above mentioned. Log rolling contests, water polo, water football, tilting contests In which the opponents, op-ponents, armed with lances, stand up in canoes, and walking the greased pole over the water, ara a few of the tests of skill In which the price of failure Is a ducking, to the delight of the spec tators. Monday morning to open alr x-'".'a. On the contrary there are thousands of Americans who are so busy that It la only on a full fledged holiday holi-day when all business ceases absolutely that they feel that they can take part lo tbe loafing. Of the three aurnmer holidays the Fourth of July Is manifestly the ideal one for sporting contests. Memorial Day Is a little early In the season In the face of the climatic conditions that prevail In some sections of the country, and then. too. many patriotic organizations and prominent prom-inent citizens are opposed to making use of Decoration Day as an occasion for sports, claiming claim-ing that it bas a solemn, almost religious significance sig-nificance that should be respected by all the people peo-ple of the community, even though they have no relatives among the soldier dead. Labor Day In September shares with the Fourth to some extent ex-tent the prestige of a day of sport, but It Is far overshadowed by the July festival In point of number of races, games and contests. First and foremost among the manifestations of the American love of sport on the glorious Fourth -must be placed, of course, the vast attendance at-tendance at games of baseball. The games on that eventful day range all the way from a "double "dou-ble header" by major league teams, which In New York or Chicago or Boston may call out an attendnnce of twenty thousand "fans" to tbe equally spirited contest on a vacant lot where a number of youthful "rooters" watch a struggle for supremacy between "Red Flnnegan's "In-vlnfibles" "In-vlnfibles" and "Scrub" Schmidt's "Red 8oi Juniors."' Jun-iors."' It Is safe to say that the amount spent on baseball on this one day, allowing for the expenditure for peanuts and score cards and all the other Incidentals, would form a stack of silver sil-ver dollars mountain high. As every person knows, the Fourth of July U a favorite occasion for plcnlcs particularly family fam-ily picnics and neighborhood outings, and lodge picnics, and like excursions. And usually as a feature of any such holiday frolic there Is a ball game Perhaps the women and girls are pitted against the men or we have aucb nerve-racking battles of the diamond as can be wttneased only when the lawyers cross bats with the doctors, or the married men play the single men, or the bald headed boys try conclusions with those that wear beards, or the fat men essay a test of skill with the lean members of the community, tt Is in such an environment, too. that be spirit of port on the Fourth provokes croquet games and the pitching of quoits and target practice on the part of the picnickers ho do not care for the more strenuous exercise on a hot summer day. Fpenklng of target practice with revolver and rifle), which has gained rapidly In favor of recent years. It may be ell to mention that another somewhat similar sport has come up markedly md the Fourth of July Is a favorite occasion for ournaments In communities where clubs exist This Intter pastime is the old. yet new diversion of archery Jut how murh fun it Is to shoot with bow and arrow not the familiar child's toy but the regulation Indian w?a;cia can only be M predated by those who hare tried It and the 'act thnt the sport cn be enJ-fJ y N"tk Wfl ind women of all se-s Is prrvii,j a j,!g factor n winnlrg converts for It The Fourth of July Is a great occasion for for rial and Informal golf tournaments, and sotne-lme sotne-lme these are arrnrced to extend over fn.ro he 3d to the Sth of July If tii nin munlty Is a Miburbnn one. or a rural one. nr a summer resort o which there h hern a frfn Influt of d mm th city And this very fact b ta you Into he secret . why the Fourth Is tr rllinax of he season In the matter of sport at many unv Tier resort Tnder ordinary tlrcumnsnrci men re a scarce commodity at these vacation re-reau re-reau hut there Is always a plentiful supply, oa fTHE FATE OF EMPIRES CIVILIZATION CLAIMED TO BE A "RECURRENT PHENOMENON" ; "The meaning of life haa In alt ages been the goal of human thought and the great extension of our knowledge of the past, by tbe researches of recent years, enables us now to view the course of human changes with more completeness complete-ness than haa been the case before. In place of looking on the fall of the Roman empire as a menstroua and Inexplicable fact, we now see that civilization la not only Intermittent, but Is a regularly reg-ularly recurrent phenomenon." ' This was the theory propounded by Prof. Flinders Flin-ders Pctrle in a lecture delivered at the Royal Institution on "The Revolutions of Civilization." In Kgypt. said the lecturer, we cao rat civilizations; the first preh!t-fc; the second pn historic. ti m,-1t dnas!lc. the pyramid builders, build-ers, the middle kingdom (Xllth dynasty), the Km lire (XVIIIth dynasfyl. the Creek and tbe Arab. The rise and fall of art in eafh of these periods can be well Illustrated. Similar periods ars founJ In Kurope. the early, middle and late Cretan, Cre-tan, tte clsssUal and the mediaeval. These periods pe-riods are contemporary with those of Ksjpt. so far aa we can asccnaln. Hence tile Mediterranean Mediterra-nean conization aeema a distinct unit, rising ana falling together as one body. The MrsotK-tamian MrsotK-tamian civilization Is In a different phase to that of tbe Mediterranean, but its period Is about the sam. A similar period cf sivt i.tiffi year has oe-enrred oe-enrred In Ind!a and Mexico. The Druirtn sages assigned 1.100 years as the period of a race, after which It must be succeeded by another. The arlous activities of man. according to Professor Petrle. are related In the same order In each successive period. This can be best traced In the mediaeval and classl-al periods. here the stages of sculpture, painting, literature, litera-ture, music, rrechanics. science and wealth spread over some pvpn centuries. These stages w.re nearer together In earlier ages, but the or der was always tbe same so far as can be traced. The starting point of each clvlllzaf cf ab gener-n4, , xfntur. of blood Without With-out a fusion or race r.o fresh start can be made About six or eiKht centuries are needed for the rise to the sculpture state. The growth of clvi-Iir.it clvi-Iir.it Ion largely consists In a lepgtben'ng out of the subje.ju.nt stagia of ariMry, an,. diminution diminu-tion of the stagnant period before a new tll,x ture Is started Tbi- i rnod -ems to bel mg lo the p. , tie nnd not to tbe country, and Is ke.t by the p. ,,,,W iifn ,ht KO ,0 t ,,in(j of t u f ferent phaso. Though, no doubt, climatic periods l.a-e prrri;i-ung ffe.t throwing one people on to another. t the ireneral regularity c:f Infervnl cf tie Hvi of growth of ilvlllzatlon point to a racial d.termlnant. This may be the time re-eM"i re-eM"i -; -be wxs.a Silxfjra of dif ferent strains tn racvs which are In co lact Loi.don Glebe. |