The judges, too, have to be no less competent than the starter, for many sprint races are won by a few inches. The judge of sprinting contests should stand some yards away from the winning post, and directly opposite the tape or worsted. When he has watched whose chest breaks the line first, he should let his eye follow that man, and immediately discover his name. At all well-managed sports every competitor is now obliged to carry a large number pinned upon his breast, so that the judges may identify him at once, and the clerks of the course take care that no man shall be without his number. Real dead-heats are very rare, many races being won by an inch, and even an inch is unmistakable to the experienced eye of a tried judge; but a man who has had little practice is often inclined to give a 'dead-heat' when there has been nearly a foot between the two runners. An untried judge, too, is often misled by a man who has been gaining on his opponent shooting past him after the post has been passed, and this is a mistake into which spectators very often fall.

We have seen very bad decisions given by untried judges; at one meeting there was no tape, the only line being a chalk line marked on the ground between the winning posts, and the judging, which would in any case have been thus rendered difficult, became almost a farce, for whenever there was a close finish each man rushed up to the judges and claimed the race, and a general muddle and wrangle ensued. There is no more odious practice for 3 competitor than to claim the race from the judges by flinging up his arm or going up to speak to them, and it is with great regret that we have seen athletes who are good enough sportsmen to know better indulging in it. This, however, is by no means the worst offence we have seen perpetrated at a meeting where the officials have been weak. In such a case the motley team of competitors of all classes is very liable to get out of hand, although a little display of timely firmness might have kept everything in order. If, as soon as a man misbehaves himself by jostling a competitor on purpose, or by declining to obey the judges' decision, he is promptly sent to the rightabout and disqualified for the rest of the meeting, the probability is that there will be no further trouble of any sort.

An instance in point - rather a ridiculous instance certainly - was furnished at a Northern meeting, where a number of professional pedestrians entered themselves as amateurs, not desiring to take prizes, but merely to win money by betting about the heats for which they had been handicapped with a moderate start as ' unknowns.' Shortly before the racing came on the committee discovered the fraud, but were in a difficulty, as the 'pros' were attended by a number of backers, and stated that they would come out on the ground and run at all hazards. When the first offender appeared, as he had threatened, nothing was said until the men got upon their marks, when two stout officials quietly went up to the man, and without more ado seized him by the head and legs and sat upon him until the race was over. The man was then released and retired threatening vengeance, a threat which he never executed, and none of his companions appeared for the subsequent heats. The local committees of the A.A.A. give a very short shrift to a man who has declined to obey the judges, and the nuisance of disorderly meetings is being rapidly abated.

It will be noticed that the A.A.A. give a very free hand to the officials in the conduct of a meeting. The judges' decision is final, when they agree as to the result of any race, or as to the necessity of disqualifying a competitor on the ground. If the judges differ, the referee's decision is final. It has been found in practice that if there is a right of appeal even to the committee from the officials' decision there is much time wasted, and a great deal of friction; as in a loose body like the general committee of management, opinions may differ, and there may be conflicting interests, rival committee-men having rival proteges towards whom they may be apt to lean, although perfectly honest in their opinions. The committee, however, have left in their hands everything which does not relate to the racing itself and the declaration of the winners. Just as the judges' decision is final as to who are the winners of the races, the starter has an absolute discretion to call back the men even after he has fired the pistol, and either to declare a start or 'no start.' On one point only - a point which was only settled after much anxious discussion, and some considerable opposition - has the starter no discretion at all.

If a competitor oversteps his mark before the pistol is fired, the starter is bound to put him back a yard in a sprint race, 2 yards in a quarter, and so on. It is contended by many that such a rule should not apply to a championship meeting; by others, that it is wanted more at a championship than at any other, as the temptation to get a flying start is stronger. A compromise between the conflicting views, that in a championship meeting the starter should be allowed a discretion to put back men or not as he thought fit, was finally rejected by the committee which framed the rules, it being thought, and in our opinion wisely, that a rigid and inflexible rule was better, as the starter could only judge of acts, and not of intentions, and would be unable to decide whether the overstepping of the mark was accidental or intentional. As it is, experience has justified the framing of the rule in its present shape, and under the present rigid laws there has been no attempt at a repetition of the fiascos of some old championship meetings, where men running in the hundred yards race were kept five minutes at the post making false starts, while there was every opportunity for the worst man to win by wearing out the patience of the starter.

The judges of walking have a similar discretion in deciding as to the fairness or unfairness of the walkers' gait, and this, too, is a decided improvement upon an old rule often employed, which obliged a certain number of 'cautions' before disqualification, although there was a special exception that there should be no ' cautions' in the last lap. The maxim upon which the A.A.A. rules were founded, was to give the officials a free exercise of their discretion; but it is obvious that for the rules to work well the officials must be men whose discretion is guided by experience and knowledge of the sport. A dispensing and discretionary power in the hands of a novice is apt to lead to blunders, but, as we have said before, there is seldom any difficulty, now that athletics have been in full swing for a generation, in finding judges who are both willing and able to act when asked, and the occasions therefore upon which the rules of the A.A.A. do not work well are very rare.