we have known the sport
scarcely twenty years, and not very intimately at that. It was first
introduced to us in 1878 by some members of the old Harlem Athletic
Club, their first paper-chase being held on Thanksgiving day of that
year. The American Athletic Club then took it up, and later, in 1883,
the New York Athletic Club held a race for the individual championship
of the United States. The sport became firmly established in 1887 with
the organization of the National 'Cross-Country Association of America.
This is a very brief history of the sport; but it is brief of necessity,
for 'cross-country running is still in its youth.

There are two kinds of 'cross-country running--the paper-chase,
sometimes called hare and hounds, and the club run over a fixed course.
In the former there should be two "hares," a "master of the hounds," and
two "whips." The hares carry a bag of paper torn up into small bits, and
it is their duty with this paper to lay a fair and continuous trail from
start to finish, except in the case of the break for home. The master of
the hounds runs with the pack, and has full control of it. In other
words, he is the captain. He sets the pace, or, if he chooses, he can
appoint any other hound to do so. It is usual to travel no faster than
the slowest runner in the pack. The whips are chosen from among the
strongest runners, because it is their duty to run with the hounds, and
to keep laggards up with the bunch, or assist those who become seized
with the idea that they cannot move another step. These five men are, so
to speak, the officers of the chase. There may be any number of hounds.

The hares are usually allowed from five to ten minutes' start of the
pack, and as soon as they get out of sight they begin to lay the trail.
They choose their own course, but they are not allowed to double on
their track, and they must themselves surmount all obstacles over which
they lay the trail. They may cross fordable streams only, and must
always run within hailing distance of each other. With the hounds the
master takes the lead, following the trail, and the pack is supposed to
keep back of him until the break for home is ordered. The break is
usually made about a mile from home. It should never be started at a
greater distance than that, because it is generally a hard sprint all
the way. The point from which the break begins is indicated, as a rule,
by the hares' dropping the bag in which they have been carrying