The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-12-24
OUR NEW YORK LETTER.
Failure of Professional Football Tho
Cheap Bicycle Craze No More
Great Bargain BUSHES.
Especial Correspondence

Iherc IS good deal said from time
to time about the decline of puro ANA
teurism, and il is moro than probable
that there is some foundation for the oft
repeated charge that nearly every branch
OF sport Is tainted with professionalism.
Strange to say, the ono striking excep-
ton TO this general rule is football,
winch that striking exponent of Usthet-
iclsm and the drama. james ]. Corbctt,
declares is moro brutal than prize fight
ing. Perhaps Mr.. Corbett refers to tho
clocutionary style which now prevails
III pugllisin, i'll which case his opinion
Is entitled to moro than passing notice.
Tor IL any man on earth ought to know
how little danger there is in being
practitioner of the art of face disfigure-
ment he is that man.
Failure OF Professional Football.
In spite of all this, every effort to
professionalism football as PLAYED at
present has resulted in dismal failure.
Some teams havo been organized, it is
true, upon scmiprofcssional lines, and
Ill many instances they have contriyed
to keep together throughout ono season
or moro, but they do not play any such
football rs the amateurs 1t is safe to
assert that if q professional team were
to be formed OF all Of the shining lights
of the various colleges during the past
six years, it would fall an easy victim
to Princeton or even some of the less
powerful aggregations.
The reason for this is not difficult 10
find. The college games have the snap
and ginger that the others lack Pres
emit day football is so dangerous to limb
that Il professional would not think of
taking the long chances of being made
temporary cripple, with the accom-
panying inability to earn living tenn
porarily, when he would take them for
the sake OF being considered hero at
college
Enthusiasm Lacking.
This is not theory; it is fact. A man
here who has looked into tho subject
closely with view to making sono
money out of it has como to this con
clusion and he furthermore states that
the very roughness of football is its
protection against the vandal hand of
the professional promoter. In his opin-
ION. III order to put up good gamc of
football every day it would be ncces-
sary to carry about 30 mon on the sal
AIRY list, and even then there would be
lacking tho college enthusiasm which
enables Yale and Princeton to take in
something over $50, 600 at each of their
annual games i'll this city.
What Il change has come over the
cheap bicycle market! Less than three
months ago there was special sale of
bicycles advertised by large combina-
ton store III this city. The price of the
wheels was about $2l Another store
which had just opened had thom ut Il
still lower figure. There was u mob at
the latter place and several persons, i'll
Guiding one policeman, were injured.
AT tho former establishment all of the
wheels OH hand were sold long before 8
O'Clock, although tho sale did not open
until 8. Those who failed to get wheels
were very wrathy and one or two even
muttcred something about compelling
them by legal process TO provide what
they had advertised
NJ