Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-11-01

/ base Dali, as far as the season OIL ITO Is
concerned. hundreds Of thousands of
healthy red-blood Americans lovers OF
outdoor sports. have turned their atten-
ton to foot ball, which ranks next to
base ball in the estimation of the people
Of these United States.
! Foot ball is certainly all there when it
| comes to exciting features, and though
| many critics claim that the wiping out of
the mass plays and other bruising stunts
| hurt the sport, yet each year the gridiron
game adds new followers to its list.
| In the old days OF foot ball, or. to speak
more correctly, up to ten or twelve years
ago. 1t took q husky man to play the
game. Then forty five minute halves were
played, and the fellows in the line could
tussle with one another to their hearts
content before the ball was put in play.
This pulling and hauling in the line was
| one Of the most tiresone features of the
game. both to player and spectator.
Then again mass plays, such as the
deadly flying wedge" the bruising "tur-
| tle-back" formation and scores Of other
Gripping features were allowed. so that.
| taking it all In all, foot ball was surely a
| hard game during those days.
Giants in olden Days.
The fellows who played the game then
| were great big men. too. II there ever
| were any. Take the giant Hemeinger, for
| instance. the famous Yale guard. who
could spread out those great arms OF his.
and with Laurie Bliss. or his brother.
| Pop" Bliss. carrying the pigskin. old
"Heff' could pillow his way through any
line.
| Hef1efinger is still given the credit of
| having been the greatest guard the game
ever produced, and his name will live for
! ever in foot ball history. He was big. but
| SO fast that his speed seemed marvellous.
Given the ball to carry. he would inva-
riably make his distance. AS to Interior
| ence, he was the peer of them all, and no
| guard since has come anywhere near to
| equaling Heff1efnger, except 1t be the
| noted John Dewitt, who played star
| game for Princeton.
Dewitt. a champion hammer tnrower,
, was a great ground gamer. and critics
| who ought to know have given 1t as their
| opinion that had Heff1efinger and Dewitt
played at the same period it would have
| been an even thing between them. But
| you can only judge by actual comparison,
| and as the two men played at different
| periods 1t will always remain a question
| as to the superiority Of either.
Dewitt was of different build than
Heffiefinger. and constructed more on the
| lines Of Hikok. the famous Yale guard
Of the sos.
No guards that ever played foot ball
could get through the lines quicker than
did the three above named giants. while
| In defensive plays they were all there In
every particular. Heff1ehnger a couple OF
| years ago was offered the job Of civl
service commissioner by President Roose-
| Welt, but the big fellow turned the offer
down.
A great foot ball player whom Presi-
dent Roosevelt did appoint to govern
ment position Is Bowdith. who played at
To- Of
man was simply lightning on getting
down the field on kick, and experienced
| foot ball men claim that "BoWdy' was
| even quicker than the great Frank Hin
| there he stopped, as far as comparisons
| with Hinkey are concerned, for this great
| Yale man Of the sos was the best foot
| ball end, so eminent critics claim, that
| foot ball ever produced.
Two Hard Players.
| Hinkey was terrible man to play
| against It was a usual thing for him to
put three to five men out Of nearly every
game he played. He was wiry built
chap. tall and weighing but 16O pounds.
yet he was q veritable demon when he
was engaged in a contest. He was lit
| orally a human wild cat. and about as
| fierce as one when in game. Htnkey
Is now in business In Syracuse, N. Y.
eleven this year.
Another grueling player OF the Frank
Hinkey type was Sport" Donnelly, once
an end on the Princeton team He was
lege In his days when It came to using
his fists, and. sad to relate. he did not
! confine his hitting powers to boxing con-
| tests, but used them in foot ball games.
to the H,1 Of ms
at the same time. 1t is question which
Of the two men would have come out
best In roughhouse tactics. Each OF the
men was game to the core and mad
nelly was built along ideal lines. while
Hinkey was a rangy constructed youth.
After leaving college Donnelly joined
the Chicago Athletic Club. and this outfit.
with the sport at the head. came near
Gripping the entire Cornell squad in the
late COS. Donnelly on this occasion was
openly accused of nearly knocking the eye
out of one OF the Cornell tackles, and 1t
was a question for a long time whether
| the unfortunate man would lose the eye
| or not.
The Poe Family.
great Princeton player was Edgar
Allan Poe. a relative of the poet and the
lightest man in the history Of big college
foot ball. Peter Poe. as he was called.
| was a quarterback. and he got his chance
during the second half Of game between
| Princeton and Harvard. when "Snakey'
Ames. another famous Tiger player. was
injured With the score Is to 10 against
| Princeton. this little man took charge
of the Tigers and ran the score up to Al
for his team. as against 10 for the Grim
son men. Peter" Poe was known then
and in after years as the greatest OF all
the foot ball generals, until Phil King
came into the arena.
Johnny Poe. his brother, who only
weighed 1873 pounds. was the star Of the
Black and Orange teams Of 81 and '92.
He was nicknamed Johnny the Coach
and though a light fellow, he could make
a running dive OF Is feet and land his
man every time.
Arthur Poe, another brother. played
with Princeton in '9s and 90 and in a
game with Yale in 1893 by brilliant run