Telegram-herald., 1891-01-09

- sonsnnnsnk n vh5sh ivnnhos 60
yinA svwy ohinG hntuso M. 49, - ~
- 49,. bsssnas ely = 80 kntgAts
vsps n<~1azly vaun<int snd several
eeheD aanessosnly h~vA - tusznsr
nnne 5000 hso hisonsy sna sA5me -
49, e.n6ls I'D joyo,s D,nnaes-et-esus
- A4hhg - - zosehAs
Thk nkkNy issnisal e.ppeani0n = ~
esllsd snys - 60 usnno1sse chron-
irtN b. - aesounos q - Becsnt loot
hnn gsmn hsewsan Yalp snd Psinast< -
We sssA 49, e. plnyss s1nowsd d0~a
1aif doxsn fxiaessoa men;" thAt in
rush King wsa badly husA bst -
vivs4 sn1lsisn1U - 20 a With the
gsnss" ahss '..nnoehsr plAyss We re-
sareA ea ssooaat Of injuries" and that
s'srvsrsi At ne players kad 70 - car
rid on - did - The coacluaisn Of
ths game" surely this viii peg into
ths History Of American sports - ''ths
gsnnis HnA joyous football match -
tween Ys,s and PsinesssnA"
In the National game. too. - hnt Of
= seasons casualties - by - nsans .
shoss one. broken hnSsrs. cracked
hssdz. bruissd legs. spiked banda and
sprnined ankles are some Of the most
common Aecompaniments Of baseball.
and il seems impossible that the game
can DO played we'll or scientifically
without them.
IL h not Intended TO throw cold water
upon athletic sports or games Of any
sort. but only 10 suggest that any game
which results in personal injuries and
often La Disagreement for life can be
called sport" only by "a extremity Of
courtesy which amounts 70 positive
rnisnomer. The injuries are not in
fiicted intentionally. 1t Is true. but they
sre none the less injuSious; and all the
apologies in the world VIII not mend .
broken leg or cure . sprafaed ankle.
With all our boasted civilization We
ere not much better in these matters
than were the Greeks or Romans.
Thar games were not merely rough.
hat in many cases cruel and brutal.
They seemed 20 have very little regard
for human feeling. or even for
human life. - every reader of Greek
and Roman history knowa- Whether
this cAllousness was only an incident Of
the decadencc of Athens and Rome, or
whether il was an integral part Of their
downfall. Is matter for argument 1t
has been claimed. with much earnest
ness and plansibility. that the so-called
sports of Rome under tho lesser Caesars
were IN index Of the disposition and
habits Of thought of the people and .
forernnner of the destruction which
overlook them; and IL has been argued
that we are showing signs of the Same
decaaence which Slapped the Imperial
city and destroyed the mistress of the
world
But this 10 not logical deduction.
On the contrary. our growing fondne-s
for athletics il favorable sign. the
only danger being that we should over
do the matter. We arc like child
with . new toy We can not get
enough Of our field games and open-air
sports. Al the same time there il q
happy medium between the gladiator
land the Misc Nancy" between puss-in-
!the-eorneS and eombats with the ces-
Itas. To show our manhood we do not
ncsd 70 knock somebody down every
ltims we 70 on the street, nor to show our
,pro6oiency in manly sports do we need
70 play football in such . way as to
leave majority of each eleven Grip
pied st the close of the game. There
Imuss b ways and means Of playing
football which do not put tho player
Int. the category Of what ife-inmrance
lpscple call extra hazardous risks, " and
lit h time that new rules be found or
imsAs which xhan eliminate the per
isonal danger from the game without
diminishing It's interest
The question h certainly worth con-
lsidering. Fun u frn. and working
people iilxe the Americans can hardly
get too much of it, but when FUN IL
Synonymous with wounds and bruises
and fractures and the like, Il il time to
devise some other kind of fun and b
put some limits TO the extravagance OF
<,xtr 2fh1efia vpufhS