The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-10-19

NEW YORK. Oct. 1S.-With half of the
football season now over the opportunity
is presented of drawing some lines on ~
condition Of the Harvard eleven from It's
| Improvement since the season opened and
| also Of forming an idea of what will have
to be done before the really big issues
are met. Ever since the Crimson kickers
got down to real work there has been a
woeful lack of team work in the play Of
| the varsity, and the interference was
very crude. Consequently the coaches de-
voted themselves to those branches OF
play and now remarkable Improvement
is apparent.
| The interference Is now better massed
and more effective and the men are be-
ginning to learn to follow it closely and
get together on the mass plays. Around
the ends the play is still ragged and the
Crimson leather chasers do not seem able
to get the proper snap into it that counts
Sawin has been fairly successful in this
| kind Of work, but the other backs dom t
| seem to get the spirit into the long swing
ing end runs that gains ground. The
condition Of the men Is altogether en-
couraging. Hallowell is out again and
will soon be in trim to get into the game
| with his old fire and snap. Jack Nc
Masters speaks with confidence of his
men. His only difficulty, he says, is to
keep them from training down too fine
Although this is an old failing at Harvard,
| it is not likely to happen again while Nc
Masters Is trainer
The most encouraging improvement no.
ticed in the last few days is the gradual
development of the strength of the line
] Buster Barnett, last years centre, has
passed through the ordeal of probation
and is out again. His temperance prac-
tically disposes of the centre problem, as
Roberts has been relegated to the scrub
again. where heroic practice for several
weeks may do something for him. Gray
don, who was brought forward to tackle
from behind the line, has been doing
splendid work in that place and in the
end may displace Lawrence
Campbell is playing the fastest kind of
an end game. and when Hallowell gets
into the play with him again the Crimson
will have the finest pair of ends in the
country. Captain DAILY has swung into his
old style Of play. His lodging is finer and
! more elusive than that of any other back
in the big four" and il he once gets
run.
Princeton's rooters admit now that their
eleven will have hard time beating the
Lafayette boys on their own grounds Iext
Saturday. Such an admission would have
been scoffed at in the Tigers lair before
the team left on the trip south. but the
poor showing against the Baltimore Medi-
cal College and also the game with Uncle
Sans wards at Annapolis and in the sub
nrn NJ has ball hnl lie ~
undergraduates confidence In the eleven.
They do not doubt however, that the
Representatives of the Orange and Black
will eventually round into form, but they
are wondering how long 1t will take them
and whether or not, like last year, a big
black mark will be scored against them
before they are able to climb out of the
| rut in which they have been travelling for
the last few weeks.
At any rate 1t is certain that the men
at Easton are lying low for Princeton this
fall. and the chances are that the New
Jersey eleven will fall into the trap un-
less they improve wonderfully during the
next few days. Since Lafayette surprised
Odd Nassau's strong team of 1896 by
playing it tie game at Easton. the
Pennsylvanians have regarded the match
with the Tigers as the most important on
their schedule and this year is no excep-
ton to the rule.
That they have let no stone unturned in
their efforts to land a victory Is evident
from the fact that Coach Newton was
sent to Baltimore recently to get a line
on Princeton's style of play. Some think,
too. that the coaches Of the Orange and
Black were easy when they gave to him
the Job OF urnpiring the match with the
medical students, for 1t offered an ad-
mirable chance Of sizing up the Tigers.
The unbroken silence that the Eastonians
have been maintaining is regarded by
the Princeton coaches as significant and
they do not hesitate to say that the
struggle will be a hard one
The Princeton management has tried
its best to nave the match played on its
grounds. owing to the commemoration
day exercises that will be held there on
Saturday; but the Lafayette authorities
were quick to see the advantage which
the Tigers would have with a big crowd
OF brazen- throated undergraduates to
cheer for them, and they held to the
original agreement. Nevertheless. 1t Is
certain that small army OF RIOTERS"
will accompany Princeton and 1t is said
that the management of the eleven will
request as many possible to make the
trip.
Reports have already been going the
rounds Of the wads of money that tn.
supporters OF Lafayette have to place on
their team, and. IL they are true. 1t is
likely that there will be quite a furry Of
betting. Some money has already bsen
placed at odds of 10 to Z. Princeton men
taking the long end.
There are many things about Cornell's
team which are not satisfactory as yet.
In the first place. Whitney's work at left
tackle recently has been decidedly nsat-
isfactory. Whitney Is light, but has the
reputation of being one of the strongest