and he is believed to be the first man ever to pass the 23ft. mark. In 1893, C. B. Fry, Oxford university, created a world's record of 23ft. 6-lin., the American championship of the same year being won by C. S. Reber, 23ft. 41in. Five years later a veritable Irish giant, the late W. J. M. Newburn, was credited with 24ft. New burn's record stood but a short time. In 1901 P. O'Connor cleared 24ft. 9in. in the Irish championship and 24ft. I On. a few weeks later. His world's record was only once approached, when A. L. Gutterson, U.S.A., won the Olympic event at 24ft. at Stock holm in 1912. After the World War a new school of negro jumpers appeared, and E. 0. Gourdin, Harvard, in 1921, jumped 25ft. 3in., and at Paris, 1924, R. Legendre, of Georgetown university, Wash ington, D.C., a white American, further increased the world's record to 25ft. 6in. In 1925, de Hart Hubbard, who is a very small negro, jumped 25ft. Ioiin. In 1928 E. Hamm, United States, reached 25ft. I iiin. which was surpassed only a few months later by S. Cator, a coloured man from Haiti, who in creased the figure to a jump of 26ft. *in. In 1g31 two amazing Japanese appeared and broke world's records : C. Nambu, long jump, 26ft. 28in., and M. Oda, hop, step and jump, 5I ft. iiin. In 1932 Nambu, clearing sift. 7in., broke Oda's record. In 1935 Jesse Owens, an American negro, increased the world's long jump record to 26ft. 8Iin., and set the Olympic record at 26ft. 5.31in.
in 1936. The Japanese were small men. Up to 1936 no white athlete had succeeded in beating 26ft.
Despite Mr. Walker's opinion expressed in 1834 that an ex traordinary high leaper could clear Mt., no record can be found of any such feat ever having been accomplished until 1876, in which year M. J. Brooks (Rugby and Brasenose college, Oxford) achieved 6ft. 21-in. Even then many people refused to believe that which they had not actually seen, and the Scottish profes sional, Donald Dinnie, wrote to the press to show on a priori grounds that such an achievement was impossible. Other and even greater records followed very quickly. In 188o, P. Davin, Ireland, jumped 6ft. 2 and in 1887, W. Byrd Page Jr., Uni versity of Pennsylvania, U.S.A., who stood only 5ft. 64in. high, cleared 6ft. 4in. G. W. Rowden, England, another small man, in 1890 jumped 6ft. On., although the record was never passed, and in 1895, M. F. Sweeney, U.S.A., achieved 6ft. On. Sweeney's height was but 5ft. 81in., and he has had his prototype in more recent times in R. W. Landon, Yale university, U.S.A., who in clearing 6ft. 4in., at the Antwerp Olympiad, 192o, jumped 6in. higher than the top of his own head. England has produced only one great jumper in modern times, B. Howard Baker, who jumped 6ft. sin. in 1921. This is due to the fact that English athletes have not yet understood the fundamental principle of high jumping discovered by Sweeney. This principle is to change the position of the body from vertical to horizontal in its transit across the bar, so that no part is raised above the centre of gravity of the body. In the Sweeney style, and its variants, 61ft. was accom
plished but never exceeded. About 1912, George Horine, Leland Stanford university, U.S.A., evolved a revolutionary style which has since been widely adopted. In the Sweeney style the jumper's body lies out flat and at right angles to the bar as it is crossed, the spring having been made from the outer foot. In the Horine method, commonly called the "western roll," the athlete springs from the foot nearest to the bar, and gives the legs more momen tum than the upper part of the body. Above the bar the body is flat out and parallel to the bar, over which it rolls forward. In this style Horine first cleared 6ft. 7in., to which E. Beeson, U.S.A., added tin. a year later. But it was not until 1925 that H. M. Osborn, U.S.A., took the world's record to 6ft. nin. In 1934 H. Spitz, U.S.A., using the Sweeney style, had beaten 6ft. 8in., and W. Marty, U.S.A., with the western roll, raised the world's record to 6ft. 98in. In 1935 came the first of the great American negro high jumpers, all of whom use the western roll. Theadgill was said to have done 6ft. loin. in training; C. Johnson was making his opening jumps at 6ft. 6in. in his sweat suit, and, at the U.S.A. Olympic trials, 1936, he tied with his fellow negro, D. Albritton, at the new world's record height of 6ft. 9iin. At Berlin, 1936, Johnson made a new Olympic record of 6ft. 8in. By this time the world's record of twenty-five years back, 6ft. 7in., was considered as but little better than international standard.
The hop, step and jump is an event which, formerly, enjoyed its greatest popularity in Ireland. For many years the two Irish brothers, D. F. and T. J. Ahearne, held the world's and Olympic record, the former having accomplished 5oft. 11in. in 1911, and the latter 48ft. 1I4in. in 1908. At the Olympic games, Paris, the world's record was broken by A. W. Winter, Australia (soft.
I I *in.) while the next four men all surpassed the previous Olympic record; W. Peters, Holland, achieved (1927) 5oft. 9in., and C. Nambu, Japan, reached (1932) 5I ft. 7in. The contestant first lands upon the foot from which his spring has been made, then takes a giant stride and lands upon the opposite foot, from which he makes his final jump, alighting on both feet. The rec ords of Oda and Nambu have been given, but in the Olympics, at Berlin, in 1936, Naoto Tajima, of Japan, made a new world's and Olympic record of 52ft. 54in.; Masao Harada, of Japan, achieved sift. 43in.; J. P. Metcalfe, of Australia, Sift. 8iin.; while W. Woelnir, of Germany, also jumped more than soft. (F. A. M. W.) JUMPING BEAN, MEXICAN. The popular name of the seeds of certain Mexican shrubs, notably of the genus Sebas tiania. A small moth, the Carpocapsa saltitans, infests the plant, and the movement of its larvae, spinning cocoons within the seeds, give them the familiar jumping movement.