Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1905-12-07
FOOTBALL ACCIDENTS.

The dispatches telling Of the acci-
dents sustained by football players on
Thanksgiving day, emphasize the OBJ
jections made to the game. From all
over the country come accounts OF
more or less serious injuries, And the
surprising thing about It IT, that there
are not more fatalities. since & Is rec
ognized fact among football deyotees
that the object Of many players is to do
up the other fellow, and TO do 1t as
soon as you can"
Eighteen deaths have been recorded
this yeur as result Of reckless play
ing, and there are probably many more,
A number of players are In hospitals,
suffering with cracked skulls injured
spines and blood clots on the brain.
Carter fullback on the Columbia Uni-
yersity eleven, was seriously injured in
the game with Pennsylvania, and Hur-
ley. captain OF the Harvard eleven. was
In hospital with a blood eliot on his
brain. unable to play against Yale. No
wonder the public has been aroused to
realization OF the perlls OF the game.
Columbia University. we understand.
has abolished football. and many other
colleges are considering taking ihe
same step.
II is claimed that during the first five
years Of the Twentieth century seven
ty-seyen men and boys have died as
result Of injuries received playing
football, and the list seems 20 increase
every year or the eighteen deaths this
year three were caused by body blows,
three by injuries TO the spine, six by
conclusion of the brain. two by blood
poisoning and four by other causes
The more seriously injured reach the
sad total of 1876, divided as follows;
College players. seventy-three; high
school players, thlrty-three; grade
school players, seven; athletic club
players. seven, all others, six. A full
list OF all who have been Injured dur
ing the season probably reaches 1000,
and their subsequent physical condi-
ton, even where the injuries were not
serious. will be impaired.
The question to consider in this mat
ter, is not what can be done to "modI-
fy' the game and render. 1t less brutal
than II is, but what can be done to
abolish II entirely. Reformation has
been tried for years, always with the
same, negative result The game has
given students perverted Ideas Of right
and wrong, 1t has lowered the stand
ards OF education, by the Introduction
in college teams of expire fighters
and other similar characters. The de-
tense of the game, that students need
physical exercise and development IL
rendered without force by the fact that
professional athletes and bogus stu
dents are often hired to do the ath-
letic stunts, for the honor and glory
OF the institution. In a word, when
| the athletic exercises are mere frauds
It is time to have them abolished with
out delay.
We hope the time viii come when
| man will no longer be taught to fight
| with man, but with the forces Of nature
| that must be overcome In the interest
OF material progress and the adverse
moral forces that operate against spir-
| itual development II men We're taught
to unite In warfare upon all such com
mon enemies. they would not need TO
fight one another in any field Of activ-
ity or walk OF life. There would be
harmony and unity among men, and
| rapid advancement an along the line