Anti-Jump Gun

The Solons of the National Amateur Athletic Union solemnly decided last week that Claude ("Buddy") Young, famed University of llinois sprinter, could not call himself the 1944 A.A.U. 100-meter champion--even though he had won the race in a handy 10.5 seconds. Reason: Young and the five other Negroes in the 100-meter final were all disqualified for jumping the gun twice in the course of five false starts. The race was finally run as an exhibition just to please the crowd.

University of Pennsylvania's Track Coach Lawson Robertson took swift advantage of this news. Summoning reporters and photographers, he demonstrated a Danish gadget guaranteed to be proof against both nervous sprinters and unskillful starting officials. In front of each runner's marks lie two metal plates connected by wire to the starting gun. Unless every runner has his fingers on his plates the gun cannot be fired.

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