THE SECOND WINTER MEETING OF THE H. A. A.

Long before two o'clock the doors of the gymnasium were besieged by an eager crowd clamoring for admittance, and at two all the benches were nearly filled with spectators. The unusually fine weather materially influenced the attendance, materially influenced the attendance, and the gay-hued dresses of the many ladies present lent color and variety to the dense rows of lookers on. A number of graduates were present who occupied the forms ranged along on either side of the contesting ring. The gallery and ends of the hall were reserved as usual for the ladies and their escorts. The numbers present were larger than a week ago and must have been close upon 1,500. The good crowd in order and those with reserved seat tickets easily found their places. The meeting opened with commendable promptness at 2.30. The special officers of this meeting were: Officer in charge. W. M. Burr, '84; Referee, of sparring and fencing, Mr. John Boyle O'Reilly; judges of sparring, Mr. Clif. Brigham, '79, and Mr. Robert Bacon, '80; judges of club swinging, Mr. J. T. Howe, '80. Mr. Coolidge, the president of the association, awarded the prizes and made all the announcements.

TWO-HAND VAULT.The opening event on the day's programme was the two-hand fence vault. For this seven men were entered. They vaulted in the following order: S. H. Fessenden, Jr., '86, T. C. Carey, '86, C. M. Walsh, '84, and H. F. Mandell, '84. The bar was started at 5 feet 6 inches. Carey was the first to receive applause on account of his peculiarly graceful trim and the bar was raised several times before anyone dropped out. Bachelder was the first to fail. Howard followed, then Carey, Mandell and Fessenden. This left the two tallest men, Atkinson and Walsh, to compete for the first and second prizes. Walsh failed at last and Atkinson continued to vault and made a record of 7 feet 3 3-4 inches. This beats the best Harvard and amateur records of 7 feet 2 inches. Mr. Walsh, who took second prize, is a new man at vaulting.

[LIGHT-WEIGHT SPRRING.For this four men, J. D. Bradley, '86, T. R. Varick, '87, E. E. Blodgett, '87, and W. E. Faulkner, '87, were entered. The event gave promise of some exciting sport, nor were the audience disappointed.

Varick vs. Bradley. First round: Varick opened the round with quick hitting, but was easily kept off by the able defence and long reach of Bradley who planted hard neck and blows right and left on Varick's face. At times the men closed but were quickly parted by the referee. Varick took Bradley's blows hardly and boxed with much effort, Bradly remaining for the greater part on the defensive.

Second round. This round opened quietly with much caution on Varick's part, who kept out of the way of Bradley's hard face blows. Soon, however, Varick dealt Bradley a terrific body blow but received a hard hit on the neck in return. Notwithstanding his bad condition he managed to deal Bradley an unusually hard kidney blow, but by his careless guard lost all he had gained. A little close fighting followed and the round ended quietly, much in Bradley's favor.

Third round. Varick opened with heavy round-handers, but the fine countering of Bradley turned his hard blows off. Hot hitting by both contestants followed, and Bradley succeeded in getting Varick in chancery, but they were immediately parted. As both contestants were by this time some what winded, the round ended tamely, and Bradley was rightly named the winner.

BLODGETT, 87, AND FAULKNER, 87.First round. After a few parries both men went in with a will, and Blodgett got in hard body blows at almost every moment, but was rushed by Faulkner and downed. He was soon up, and after they had sparred cautiously for a few moments with much science time was called.

Second round. Blodgett opened the round with hard and quick hitting, which told on Faulkner considerably, but he displayed so much science in defense that he soon payed Blodgett back with interest. Hard and quick hitting marked the fighting throughout the round.

Third round. Careful fighting on both sides but especially by Blodgett, who did not like to come within reach of Faulkner's blows. Blodgett did a good deal of turning and received hard blows in the back and sides, but generally the men did not fight well, but fouled continually. Finally Faulkner was ruled out after three warnings for foul hitting, leaving Blodgett victor.

FEATHER-WEIGHT SPARRING.The first bout was between O. A. Mygatt, '86, and F. M. Gallaher, L. S. In the first round both men showed a lack of defensive powers. While Gallaher led more Mygatt got in more effective blows, using up his antagonist. Bout two was much the same. But in this Mygatt made some very effective counters and began to lead more. In the third bout Mygatt showed much the better form and outspared his opponent in all respects. Mygatt, whose clean hitting it was a pleasure to see, was a warded the bout.

The second bout was contested by A. C. Coolidge and G. W. Kimball, both of '87. The two freshmen appeared to be very evenly matched in the first round. Coolidge's round-arm blows coming in occasionally with telling effect. Kimball gave some hard body blows. The second bout showed Coolidge puffing somewhat, but still making his longer reach tell. He showed considerable quickness. Kimball showed more skill. The third round was decidedly in Kimball's favor. Coolidge was wild and flustered and struck the air or his opponent's gloves many times. Kimball, quietly and coolly, sparred in a business-like manner, which used up Coolidge before the end. Kimball was awarded the round.

FENCING.Mumford, '85, vs. Morris, '85. Quick parrying by Mumford soon put Morris off his guard and gave Mumford the first point. Point succeeded point owing to Morris' bad guard and weak wrist. Mumford's defence being unusually fine, he soon managed to disarm his adversary, and was declared victor. Mumford's fencing was remarkably good, his attacks being clean and straight, while his wrist movements in semi-circle were strong and quick. This screw justly gained him the heat.

Another round was to have been fought between C. O. Lander '86, and H. W. Tweddle, S. S. As the former did not appear, Tweddle gained a bye until the final round.

CLUB SWINGING.D. R. Hansen, '85, and G. A. Webster, C. S. Hansen came in first with a pair of large inlaid clubs. These he swung in a number of very difficult and graceful movements. Often the audience applauded as some new or pleasing feature was introduced. It was an exhibition much superior to any last year. Webster by contrast used a very small pair of clubs. With these he gave a very creditable performance. Mr. Hansen was awarded the cup.

STANDING HIGH JUMP.The club swinging was succeeded by a very creditable contest between T. C. Bachelder, L. S., E. H. Rogers, '87, S. H. Fessenden, '86, and D. B. Chamberlain, '86, in standing high jumping. F. B. Fogg, '85, who was entered did not appear. All the men cleared the bar the first time. Chamberlain's jumping, although effective, was marked by effort and lack of grace. As the bar went up Bachelder first retired. Soon afterward Fessenden failed to clear the bar. Rogers and Chamberlain continued, until Rogers missed after three trials. Chamberlain. Chamberlain was thus left the winner, with a record of 4 feet 8 1-2 inches.

FENCING-FINAL ROUND.This was contested by Mumford, '85, who had defeated Morris, and Tweddle who had enjoyed a bye. Mumford got the first point and managed to score still more before Tweddle gained a point. Tweddle gradually crept up, but the fencing was wild and the parrying poor. Tweddle's guard was so low that Mumford easily won the bout, but with much less fine fencing than the first round. As there were no other contestants, Mumford was declared the winner of the cup.

LIGHT-WEIGHT SPARRING-FINAL BOUT.This was to have been sparred by Bradley, '86, and Blodgett, '87. Owing to a slight injury which Blodgett had received in the wrist the referee judiciously decided to postpone the round until a later meeting.

FEATHER-WEIGHT SPARRING-FINAL BOUT.Kimball, the winner of one of the trial bouts, was too used up to appear, and the winner of the other trial bout, Mygatt, '86, was awarded the cup.

TUG-OF-WAR, '84 VS. '85.The usual delay in starting was repeated, but the audience remained seated in a commendable manner. The first attempt at a drop was a failure. It is claimed that the '85 team were not in position when Dr. Sargent, the referee, gave the word, and therefore was totally unprepared. After some discussion the doctor decided that the pull should be tried over again, giving, as a reason, that Baker of the '84 team was already down before he said the word heave. When the drop came, '85 had the advantage by an inch or two. This they kept for some time, but at the end of three minutes the ribbon was in the centre. There it remained till four and a half minutes had sped away, amidst the most intense excitement. Then '85, by straightening out and laying on the rope, held a slight advantage when the time was up. The juniors at once rushed into the open space, and amid repeated cheers bore their team out of the hall. This closed a most successful meeting. The doors were quickly opened and the large crowd quickly dispersed.