Omaha daily bee., 1899-10-01

Foot ball will soon be attracting the atten-
ton of the sport-loving public just as 1t
already claims the time and attention Of the
students and men of much muscle, and
supcrabundance OF hair will be the center
Of observation
Foot ball is surely grand sport for those
who are able to stand 1t, and Is game In
which both skill and strength are required.
1t is not a game to be played Saturday after
noon by men and boys who have been con-
fined indoors all week, but is rather game
for which ample physical preparation must
be made in order to avoid accident. 1t is es-
sentially not a game for weakllngs 1t re-
quires a man with a strong body which has
been trained and conditioned so that slight
bump won't lay him up for life. For person
80 prepared foot ball is not so rough and
dangerous as imagined. You never hear Of a
serious accident in any OF the games played
by the big teams where the men have been
put through thorough course of training. 1t
Is in the minor games In which players par
ticpato without sufficient training where all
the accidents occur.
The modern game needs as much head
work. to be a winning one as a Filipino
campaign, and those who make 1t a success
are usually not found lacking in other fields.
Foot ball comes late in the year and is not
long with us, so let us make the most OF
1t while It is here.
People do not wonder much that records
made by improved machines and paced
bicycles are lowered year by year, but the
recent lowering OF others forms OF athletic
records, not requiring any particular form
OF apparatus, Is not so easily accounted for.
Why college student of today should be
oh 30 biuhnr than his nrpde-
cessor OF fifty years ago is hard to under
stand Perhaps after ALL the race Is i'm
proving and getting stronger as the years
20 by, in spite OF the wise heads who try
to convince us to the contrary. For all they
can say there Is not an American record
for either skill or endurance that has held
for any length of time, sure sign, 1t would
seem, of the growing strength and clever
ness of the American youth.
II will net be many more days now until
we will know for certain which nation rules
the seas-America or England. The great
international yacht race is drawing exclt-
ingly near and speculation on the outcome Is
rife everywhere. For boat that is to be
, beaten out of her socks, the shamrock seems
to be attracting vast deal OF attention these
days, and all the supreme confidence that
| Columbia's cnch should be taken with a
liberal quantity OF salt. There Is none 50
bold as to dispute the fact that Sir Thomas
Upton has brought over wonderful and
| dangerous craft and it will be just as well
| to keep our hats on our heads until the first
| race at least has been run.
| But what hubbub the affair is exciting.
| Seems odd when you consider that the in
trinsic value Of the ostensible prize, the
| Queens Cup, won by the old schooner Amer
lea way back in 81, isn't worth but triie.
And yet millions and millions OF dollars
| have been expended in attempts to take 1t
| away from us and in our own suocessfuf
| efforts to frustrate these attempts with
| costly defenders This is simply because
this insignificant COB of silver is the emblem
| Of supremacy in naval construction and sea-
manship-the trophy of international cham
| pionship OF the blue oceans. For nearly a
| half century we have owned the cup and it
| would shock the whole nation, indeed, were
we to lose 1t now in this climacteric of the
worlds shipbuildipg. Let the Columbia win
| and the civilized nations OF the globe will
' turn to the United States for ideas on su-
perior construction. Let her trail behind the
| Shamrock, and at a bound Britain will leap
| to the fore and reap the benefits of an i'm
| mense international commerce she has not
enjoyed for years But we are still in pos
session of the coveted trophy and that is
nin0 points Of the law, and IL the British
bark does out-foot us before Atlantic's
freshening breezes next week she will have
to get up and get with more celerity than
she has yet exhibited. The Columbia is the
boat for the connoisseurs, and is the boa,
the Englishmen have patterned after in
their efforts to outpoint her, and 1t doesn't
seem possible for us to lose. If we do, we
will have the satisfaction of knowing that
we compelled the Britons to absolutely
abandon their old centerboard ideas and
come down to our skeleton keels. But here's
to the Columbia, anyway.