The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1904-10-23
REPUsLIc SPECIAL

!. New York. Oct. M-There are giant.
these days If there abide in thi.
broad land one who Is .ckepticsl
Of the truth Of this statement lei
him Journey OF a Saturday to American
League Park or to the more historic grid
irons at Princeton. Cambridge, New Ha-
ven or Philadelphia.
There he will witness an American col
lege football eleven in the throes of Anal
preparation for the great annual battles,
where brains and Drawn. both well above
the average, are united In the cause Of
victory.
Footballs place In the American heart
has never been challenged, for the game
Is founded on a rock. or. rather. on a
series of them-the hereditary delight of
fierce hand-to-hand combat, a high type
Of courage and tie great American desire
70 conquer.
For years the game progressed steadily
In public favor. but within the las, dec
ade 1t has swept the country. east and
west Ike a whirlwind.
Being a game that cannot stand stiIl,
1t has become faster. stronger and more
crafty year by year. And year by year
more brains and more muscle have gone
to the making Of the great elevens Of
Yale, Harvard. Princeton, PENNSYLVANIA,
Columbia and a host of lesser institutions.
This season well-kEown authorities pre-
dicted as early as August that 1904 on the
sridiron would break all records for bril-
iiancy. evenness and attendance.
So far these predictions ave been tusti-
NED, 50 that on the eve OF the final games
me general interest seems ID be greater
than ever before
The game appeals to all classes and all
ages. and now, with tie more open and
faster play demanded by the rules. the
puoiic seems to have taken the trouble TO
earn the game thoroughly from a spec
tators standpoint
WIDENING POPULARITY.
Only the other day g merry little party
was discussing the game In progress at
American League Park. Every feminine
member Of the party knew the game by
heart, n every members INDUCED In
technical criticism that would have stag
gered a coach had he been by to near.
This Is only q single instance OF the adj
vance the game has made. Others with
out number could be cited were It neces-
sery-
With the revival of football at Column
bia University and the arrangement OF an
attractive schedule New Workers awcke 10
the fact that here was the great American
college game al their Doors and when
the Morningside team proved its worth
against the best of them New York vas
provided with u few OF those big annual
srectacles for which it had long been
starving.
There was at once q rush to see the
games, and this season the MANAGEMENT
expects. and with reason. a greater ag-
greSate attendance than ever before.
Nor Is the crowdc confined to supporters
OF Columbia Men OF Williams, Dart
mouth. Brown, Amherst. to saw nothing
OF the graduates Of the larger institu-
tons resident IN the city. make up a large
Proportion OF the attendance, even when
their team Is not playing the light blue
and white, and It is a slightly different
crowd in that it is nonpartisan. and, para
dox though il seem. somewhat inclined to
favor the underdog. The minor teams who
play here are more frequently appfauded
for good work than IN any OF the strictly
college towns. such as New Haven and
Princeton.
So with q good team, good crowds and
q pretty field IN the bank of the Hudson.
New York Is having its I'LL Of football.
Fortunately also for this city. the Har-
Haven and :he Yale-Princeton game al
Princeton. neither a very long journey.
Add to these games the appearance
against Columbia Of Yale, Cornell and
be called a record-breaker from a local
point OF view.
BETTER TRAINED PLAYERS.
So much for he crowds. Coming down
to the teams themselves, It is difficult to
recall a year in which the new material
was SO evenly distributed or 50 uniformly
promising So deeply rooted and so clev-
erly taught Is the game In all the big
prep schools that nowadays one expects
practically ready made Tho coaching m
b schools has kept pace With thai In H.