THE H. A. A. MEETING.

THE Athletic Association's First Winter Meeting, in the Hemenway Gymnasium, took place on Saturday afternoon last, in the presence of a large and enthusiastic gathering of spectators, many of whom were ladies. A thousand people at least were in the building when the contestants appeared for the first event, the Standing High Jump.

For this there were three entries: S. Coolidge, '83, F. B. Keene, '80, and C. H. W. Foster, '81. The bar was first placed at 3 ft. 9 in.; and Foster dropping out first at 4 ft. 6 in., left Coolidge and Keene to continue the struggle. Each succeeded in clearing 4 ft. 8 in., but on the bar being raised again, Keene dropped out, leaving the contest to Coolidge, who cleared 4 ft. 9 in., thus placing an American amateur best on record to his credit. The best record previous to this was 4 ft. 8 in., made by Messrs. F. Larkin, of Princeton, and P. Dana, of Dartmouth. At Harvard, the best record, prior to Mr. Coolidge's performance, was 4 ft. 7 1/2 in., made by Latham, '77, on March 4, 1876; and, last year, 4 ft. 5 in. gave the contest to J. L. Paine, '81, Keene dropping out at 4 ft. 4 in.

The next event was the first bout of the Middle Weight Sparring, in which Messrs. C. Brigham '80, and S. Bullard, L.S. appeared. The contest was rather tame at first; but in the last part of the second and the third rounds, a number of good exchanges took place, in which neither seemed to have a very marked advantage. The bout was finally given to Brigham.

The first bout of the Light Weight Sparring came next, and brought out Messrs. J. J. Thomsen, '80, and G. H. Heilbron, '83, the latter the captain of the Freshman Nine. Thomsen outweighed his opponent by nearly fifteen pounds, and this gave him a decided advantage at first; but in the last part of the bout he became demoralized, and Heilbron got in so many telling hits that the judges were unable to decide as to the respective merits of the men, and ordered them to spar another round. This resulted very much in Heilbron's favor.

The next bout was between Messrs. F. W. Sharon, '81, and L. A. Plummer, L.S.S., and was decidedly the best sparring of the afternoon. Both men were very quick in their leads, parries, and returns; and frequent bursts of applause encouraged them to do their best. Sharon's greater experience, however, gave him the advantage over his more cautious opponent, and the bout was given to him by the judges.

The next event on the programme was Club Juggling, in which Mr. J. T. Howe, '80, was the only entry. He executed some very difficult movements, and at the conclusion of his performance was presented with a silver cup by the Association, in token of their appreciation of his successful efforts for three consecutive years.

The fifth event was the deciding bout of the Middle Weight Sparring between Mr. W.A. Gaston '80, the champion of last year, and Mr. Brigham, '80, the winner of the previous bout. This contest was not so interesting as was anticipated, as Gaston was not by any means up to his form of last year. He was rather quicker in his leads than Brigham, but the latter's counters were more effective, and the cup was finally awarded him at the end of the three rounds.

The third bout of the Light Weight Sparring, between Messrs. Heilbron, '83, and S. H. Spaulding, '81, was of short duration, owing to the severe bleeding of Heilbron's nose, in consequence of which the management postponed the bout.

Messrs. Keene, '80, and Freeland, '81, were the contestants on the horizontal bar, and afforded a most graceful and pleasing entertainment. Mr. Keene's most noticeable feat, the difficulty of which was not at all appreciated by the spectators, was the Giant Vault, which consists of swinging under the bar once and back, and, as the body comes forward the second time, lifting the feet up so as to vault through the hands over the bar. This Mr. Freeland was unable to accomplish, but he executed with apparent ease the Free-will and Somersault, and the Back Horizontal, both of which are very difficult. In the Giant Swing (forward), Mr. Keene excelled, and the judges were at first unable to decide as to their respective merits; but on Mr. Keene's inability to execute the Giant Swing (backward), which Mr. Freeland accomplished satisfactorily at his first attempt, the prize was given to Freeland by the judges.

The Tug-of-War, between teams from '82 and '83, provoked, perhaps, more enthusiasm than any other feature of the afternoon's programme. The conditions were, five men on a side, and two tugs out of three to decide. The teams were made up as follows: '82 - Chalfant, Lawrence (captain), Jennings, Perin, and Warren (anchor); '83 - Hammond (captain), Curtis, Kip, Morrison, and Sawyer (anchor). The first pull was won, after a sharp struggle, by '83, in 40 seconds, amidst great excitement. After a short rest the teams changed sides, and made ready for the second tug, which '82 secured by hard work in the same time as the previous one, 40 seconds. The final bout was won, amid great excitement, by '82. The meeting then broke up with nine cheers for Mr. Augustus Hemenway.

The Judges of Sparring were Messrs. C. G. Ellis and George Lee, of Boston, and R. Bacon, '80; and of the other events, Dr. Sargent, Mr. W. Hooper, '80, and Mr. F. Warren, '82.