The evening times., 1896-03-12
FEW CHANGES IRE tIktLI|
Football Men Will Nee. in Con-
venti0n Tomorrow Night.
UNIFORMITY OF LAW NEEDED
Capt. wrightington and Coach LOrin
+. Deland Of Harvard and Coach
Woodruff and .kolin c. B.il Of Penn
syIvania Express sTiieirNiews-Wal
ter Camp Il Reticent.

letic Club. Twentysixth street and Madi-
son avenue. New York city. representa-
tivcs of Yale. Harvard, Pennsylvania.
Princeton and Cornell. and Prof. Paul
j. Dashieii, the leading football official
OF the country. will meet and discuss the
question whether any changes should he
made In the rules governing the game.
Judging from the expressed opinions
OF those who will be present, radical
changes are n decided improbability, and
1t is hardly likely that much of anything
will be done except to straighten out
some OF the differences in the ! wo codes,
and establish one uniform rule book.
The rules do not need much change,
TO which fact Ike gcntlcmanly play and
lack of Injuries last season strongly tes-
tify. Slight differences as to the dis
posal Of the bah after Il fair CATCH and
as TO the back kof..he-l line formation exist
and will probably he smoothed out. The
"fair-catch'' legislation can have no ma
tcrial effect on the style Of play.
GRoUND-GAINING COMBINATIONS.
As to back-ficld formations, the old
heavy charges OF massed men that We're
So Inveighed against some Two years ago,
and the evils of which were very greatly
exaggerated, and which were modified by
the rule revising convention OF 81. there
may and probably will be legislation fur
ther restricting ground gaining cOmbina-
tions. In the Yale-Princeton rules not more
than one man is ailowsd TO start forward
before the ball is in pla Y, and not more than
three men 10 group themselves at a point
behind the line before the oval is snapped
back. Seven men must he in the rush line
while the ball is down. In the Harvard
Penns ylvaniI code, however, three men
can start before the ban is in play, and
any number can group back of the line, pro-
vidcd they are not more than five yards be-
hind the ball
The men who will lie prominent in effect
ing any changes that are to be made are
reticent. Prof. Dashiell wired the writer:
II have no idea OF probable legislation Of
committee
Clinton B. wyckoff Cornelrs gentle
manly and plucky little ex-captaiD, writes:
II am too busy with my eyamipaiions to
think OF football
Walter Camp writes from New Haven:
II am SO situated that ii is out OF the
question for me 10 discuss changes in
the rules tina, are likely to. be made
PRESIDENT CCYLER Is RETICENT.
&C. Cuyler OF Princeton writes that, as
- president OF the University Athletic Club,
/ fear IL would not be proper for me to
say anything on the subject OF proposed
football legislation"
Coach George W. Woodruff ot Pennsyl.
vania thinks whatever legislation there Is
will be directed against Pennsylvania. 1t
is his belief that ever since Pennsylvania
gave any signs Of athletic prowess the
other colleges have uniformly combined
agains ther. and that every move, be it
legislative or othcrwise, has been made
with a view 10 cripple the red and blue.
He thinks that less leewsy for strategic
back field formations will he allowed.
John c. Bell said: Il am going 10 the
meeting non-committal. The rules as they
now stand suit Penns ylvania. There is
little need of change II a uniform fair
catch rule is made l will bc satisfied
I'll go and a gree TO whatever the majority
possibility of any clever and ground-gain-
ing formations behind the line
Capt. wrightington. of Harvard, writes:
Il personally don't like the present rules.
should like TO see change. though, of
Couts i suoult tlke ~
anything in particular. In my opinion.
football ha s been greatly harmed as a college
sport by the absence OF a uniform set of
rules.
CONFLICTING RULES ARE BAD.
ut not only makes it difficult to arrange
games with other colleges when conflicting
rulesare in vogue, but it makes different
standard for every game. Asto the present
rules, though they seem to have in most
cases eliminated rOughness. yet they are
not wholly satisfactory. For Instance,
We have no decided rule in relation to q
fair catch. The present rules seem to allow
just about enough kicking. and If properly
take away much danger from the
play"
Coach LOrin F. Deland. of Harvard,
writes: "As / understand it. the meeting
is cnly preliminary. and, 1 should think,
would decide what colleges should be rep
resented in drawing up uniform set of
rules. Five OF the largest colleges OF the
East will be represented, and l think If
these came to an understa nding the other
colleges would follow. or course. n com
mon basis of eligibility will not be consid-
cred; that must he left to the college
managers to settle among themselves.
There is one thing have held to, and that
is that thrce-Out-of-five vote should not
be considered as carried in the conference.
A fOur-to-five vote should be necessary. II
it were not any three colleges could run
things their own way. For instance, a
Harvard-P ennsylvania Cornell combina-
ton could thus gain an un fair advantage"
sTUaRT 1s p,-nxAST