Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-12-11
A PRINCETON PLEA.
L. F. Schilling Knocks Out Harvard's
Extravagant Claims.
THE FOOTBALL TEAMS COMPARED.
James ]. Corbett Out With Lots of Money to
Fight Mitchell.
THE POOL CHAMPIONSHIP CONTEST

Louis F. Schilling, of Princeton '93, has
written the following interesting letter to
this paper regarding the claim that Har-
wards football team leads others on the sea-
sons work. The letter is a reply to a spe-
cial dispatch from Cambridge, which ap-
peared in this paper few days ago, making
the claim for Harvard Mr.. Schilling is an
authority on the matter, and what he says
is of Importance. His letter is dated Prince
ton, December Z, and is addressed to the
sporting editor of The DISPATCH. The
letter is as follows:
Attacking Harvard's Claims.
sT notice in THE DISPATCH special
telegram from Cambridge which goes on to
explain how Harvard is 'on top at the close
of this football season. I also noticed
something of the same nature in connection
with the baseball championship last spring
after the season>was over.
sNow, this sort of thing may do first rate
to console beaten and chagrined college,
and may also go down with some of the out
side world who know nothing about foot
ball. However, for the latter reason, we
cannot help but infer when observing claims
of this kind made by Harvard that they are
public believe they are in regard to a true
sportsmanlike spirit. What they fail to
bring forth in muscular power they try to
make up for by their inventive powers
''Well, as to the Cambridge statement. I
should just like to bring before the public
few facts which the Harvard men wish to
ignore.
Some Wrong Reasoning.
SIN the first place, it seems not out of the.
way to look over the teams that met Harvard
this year as compared with those that met
Princeton and Yale, and in doing so, we
find them to be few of the smaller colleges
and athletic clubs, number of preparatory
schools and lastly some high schools, while
the Princeton and Yale contests were between
only the larger colleges and athletic clubs
in the East. Now, had Harvard met the
teams that Princeton and Yale did, her
scored points might have dwindled down to
pretty nearly nothing while on the other
hand, had Princeton and Yale met the teams
that Harvard did, their scored points would
without doubt have been several times what
Harvard's WERE
''The telegram from Cambridge simply
mentions the number of points scored to their
credit at the close of the season, and totally
ignores the fact that Harvard had % scored
against her throughout the season, while
Princeton is also free from such an en-
cumbrance. with the exception of the 10
points scored against her on Thanksgiving
by Yale. The points scored for and against
Harvard up to the end of the season show
plainly the loose play of her team as COM
pared with that of Princeton and Yale.
A Childish Argument.
"There is not much doubt but what sew
eral smalle: colleges could be found that
have scored more points throughout the
season than Harvard has, and are we, &C.
cording to Harvard stheory, to regard them
as standing ahead of Princeton, Yale and
Harvard without paying any attention as to
who they scored the points against, or how
many points have been scored against them?
This is childish argument and the sooner
Harvard throws such things aside the bet
ter. 1t is very pleasant to have plenty of
points to ones credit but how those against
one can SO easily be forgotten is something
that is a little hard to conceive.
'I trust this may throw the proper light
before the public and impress Harvard men
to some extent that it would sound better,
at least to those acquainted with the SUBJ
ject, to tell the whole truth instead of only
part and brag only when there is something
to brag about. As your paper is widely
read by football admirers and athletes in
general, I trust you will publish this"