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PAGE TEN      NEW YORK HERALD, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1916        SECOND SECTION

CHAMPIONS WHO MADE SPORTING HISTORY EVENTFUL IN 1916

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1-CAMPFIRE. 2-DARIO RESTA. 3-THE COUNTESS. 4-WALTER KINSELLA. 5-GEORGE MOORE. 6-GROVER C. ALEXANDER. 7-FRANK KRAMER. 8-VILAR KYRONEN. 9-MISS ALEXA STIRLING. 10-CHARLES EVANS. 11-WILLIAM HOPPE. 12-LEE AXWORTHY. 13-VICTOR CARLSTROM. 14-WILLIAM M. JOHNSON. 15-"TRIS" SPEAKER. 16-MATFORD VIC. 17-AVERY BRUNDAGE. 18-THE NAHMA. 19-GEORGE GOULDING. 20-JOHN W. OVERTON. 21-"BABE" RUTH. 22-LIEUTENANT R. C. SAUFLEY. 23-LUDY LANGER. 24-JOHN F. WULF.
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WHILE the athletes of Europe were spending another year in the gentle pastime of killing one another the Americans who are proficient in the va-rious lines of sport were setting up new records and enjoying a year of remarkable activity. As the years slip past one thinks that the limit of human endeavor has been reached, yet there is not a twelvemonth goes by but marks that seemed impossible to beat are upset. In most of the sports there was some outstanding achievement during 1916, but the feat that must be blazoned as the most sensational and spec-tabular of all was that performed by a woman. When Miss Ruth Bancroft Law piloted her aeroplane 512 miles with-out a stop, on November 19, she did some-thing that no American of the sterner sex had ever been able to accomplish. What made her accomplishment all the more noteworthy was the fact that she did not have a specially constructed machine.

To another woman, too, must go a great deal of credit as one looks back at what was done in American sports during the year. She is Miss Molla Bjurstedt, the Norwegian tennis player, who duplicated the record she made a year ago by winning every national tennis championship that it was possible to win. No man made such a conclusive sweep as this Norse girl. She was practically invincible, and only 

California, also beat fifteen seconds, and Fred Kelly and Fred Murray both did even time. This quartet proved to be the greatest aggregation of timbertoppers ever seen in the world at one time. 

Champions Who Remain.

Champions come and champions go, but there is one who seems destined to go on forever. He is Frank Kramer, of Orange. N.J., who for the sixteenth year in suc-cession has won the national professional bicycling title. 
Another leader in his favorite sport who seems to be unconquerable is William Hoppe, the kind of the billiardists. He again proved himself the master of all the cue wielders, and he is now in the position where he can find no one to give him any sort of contest on an even basis
One of the chief upsets of the year in sport was the deposing of the Meadow Brook polo team as the champion of the country when a quartet from Great Neck took the measure of the players of inter-national fame. Taking everything into consideration, there was a general advance in proficiency in nearly every branch of sport. Many new stars were developed in competition, and the outlook for another year is very bright. 
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                       ATHLETICS.

While Europe was practically stagnant in the field of track athletics America made strides that were of an unusual na-ture. In many respects the work of the

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won the all around champtionship by a big margin, and Fred W. Kelly, of the Los Angeles A.C., was the victor in the pen-tathlon event.
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                    AUTOMOBILING

For the first time in the history of auto-mobile racing in America there can be no differences of opinion regarding the rela-tive ranking of the various contenders of the year for the American Automobile As-sociation now picks a champion driver under a point system. The championship for 1916 was won by Dario Resta, the Peugeot driver, after a season of brilliant victories in which he was always hard pressed by "Johnny" Aitken, also driving a Peugeot, who finished second. "Eddie" Riekenbacher, driving a Maxwell, took third place and Ralph De Palma was fourth. 
Most notable of the trends of the sea-son was the decline of road racing. The Elgin races usually among the first of the contests in point of interest and entries were abandoned, and the only road events of importance were the Vanderbilt Cup and Grand Prize races, in both of which new records were established on the Santa Monica course. 
An unfortunate feature of the year's racing was the large number of accidents. Leading drivers who lost their lives in practice or in contests during the year where  "Bob" Burman.  Carl  Limberg, "Hughie" Hughes and Frank Galvin. 
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                     AVIATION

this bringing a new contender into the big post season series of games. The American League championship was won by the Boston Red Sox for the second year in succession, and in the world's series the championship was again won by the Red Sox easily. The National League standard bearer was decidedly outmatched, and there was a deal of dis-satisfaction in National League circles over one more failure of its champion to make a creditable showing against the American League contender.
The 1916 season was notable for two reasons. One was the long, close race in each big league for pennant honors, the like of which never was experienced be-fore and which kept interest at fever heat for weeks and weeks. The other was the wonderful feat of the New York Giants in winning twenty-six games in succession, which achievement eclipsed anything of the kind that had gone be-fore in a big league. That stupendous spurt took in one or more victories over every rival.
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                      BICYCLING.

For the sixteenth year in succession Frank L. Kramer, of Orange, N.J., won the professional bicycling championship of the country. He was engaged in active competition when most of his opponents of the present time were in knickerbockers. John L. Staehle, of the Bayview Wheel-men of Newark, was the best amateur in the United States. The only record maker of the year was "Reg" McNamara, an Australian, who has been riding in this finished first in the annual amateur tournament at pocket billiards.
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                        BOXING.

Even the most enthusiastic boxing lover can hardly go into rhapsodies over what has happened in the roped arena in the last year. There has not been a sensation. In fact, it has been a very mediocre year, and the best reason that can be assigned for it is that the boxers think more of the box office than they do of the boxing gloves. Each year finds them becoming more adept in the art of Wall street than in the art of Queensberry. Pos-sibly the "no decision" law is why we are not developing the real giants of the ring that used to hold forth in the days of Sullivan, Corbett, Sharkey, Jeffries, Fitz-simmons, McCoy and the grand collection of lightweights such as Lavigne, Erne, Gans and others. We have with us now the experts in the dance step. They have all been trained to stay the ten rounds, and it seems that the better runner you are the longer you can last.
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                         CHESS.

Conditions due to the world war affected the fortunes of chess players to a consider-able degree during the past year, and, naturally, tournaments on a large inter-national scale were out of the question. New York did its full share to keep up the interest in the game in this country by promoting the Rice Memorial Masters' Tournament, which was won by Jose R. Capablanca early in the year. A number

              1916 American Champions
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   Aeronautics - Aeroplane - Miss Ruth Law, New York city (distance): Victor Carlstrom (altitude with one passagens). Hydro-aereoplane-Lieuteuant R.C. Saufley (altitude); Corporal A. D. Smith
(duration).
   Angling.-Call J. McCarthy, Chicago, Ill.
   Archery.- Dr. Robert P. Elmer, Wayne, Pa.; Miss Cynthia Wesson. Cotuit. Mass.
   Athletics-Indoor Senior Team-New York Athletic Club. Indoor Junior Team-New York Athetic Club. Outdoor Senior Team-Irish-American Athletic Club. Outdoor Junior Team-New York Athletic Club. All Around-Avery Brundage, Chicago Athletic Association. Intercollegiate Team-Cornell.
   Automobiling-Dario Resta.
   Baseball-World's Champions-Boston Americans. National League Brooklyn. American League-Boston. Batting-"Hal" Chase, Cincinnati. National League; "Tris" Speaker , Cleveland, American League. Pitching-Grover C. Alexander, Philadelphia, National League; "Babe" Ruth, Boston, American League.
   Basketball-A.A.U. Team-University of Utah. Intercollegiate Team-University of Pennsylvania.
   Bicycling-Professional-Frank L. Kramer, Orange, N.J. Amateur-John L. Staehle, Newark, N.J.
   Billiards-Professional, Balkline.-William Hoppe, New York city. Professional, Three Cushions-George Moore, New York city. Class A, Amateurs-Edward Gardner, Montclair, N.J.
   Bowling.-"Jimmy" Smith, New York city.
   Boxing-Jess Willard, Kansas City (heavyweight); "Al" McCoy Brooklyn (middleweight); "Jack" Britton, Chicago (welterweight): Fred Welsh. New York city (lightweight): "Johnny" Kilbane, Cleveland (featherweight); "Johnny" Ertle, St. Paul (bantamweight): Carlo Armstrong, Boston (amateur heavyweight).
   Canoeing-Lee Friede (sailing); Aubrey Ireland (paddling).
   Cat.-Greenwich