Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-11-15

enemies2 And does not the love for wading,
swimming. fishing. and boating point back
Enthusiastically to time when our fathers lived
near and by means of water? Again, in the
games of tag, blackman, pullaway, and very
many Others, do we not see the ancient life OF
pursuit and capture'2 Is not the boys passion
for the bow and arrow, sling, Slingshot, gum
or anything that will shoot, merely the per-
sistence of deep rooted race habits, formed
during ages of subsistence by these means /!
Do not the chidren's animal toys and plays
the Teddy bears and rocking horses and Others,
show mans former relationship to the animalsf
Isn't the chid's rattle the first musical instru-
ment known to man!
These, and many other examples that
might be cited, show that the plays of chill
dren do not prepare for 1fes duties and work,
but are the "reminiscences of ancestral achvl-
ties in the long ago. And so it is with football
Forty thousand mensand women do not sit IN
a snow storm or the biting cold because they
have superintendent energy or because they
are preparing themselves for life's duties. Why
then do they do it? Because there is faint
memory in their souls of the life conditions,
the struggles and conflicts of primitive ages,
which football recalls and makes more vivid
and that is what they want. They are wildly
enthusiastic for the same reason that man
heart throbs and chill passes all over his
BODY when he returns to his village after years
of world wandering
"To revive old memories, IS there anything
sweeter? That is why football IS SO tasc,nat-
ing. 1t revives racial memories and takes us
back home to the field of sturdy strife and
struggle and hard earned victory. We like to
relapse now and then, and hold communion,
as it were, with the good old days. And so,
when are tired of civilized life, we 60 hunt
ing. fishing camping, or boatlng,-pltch our
tent build a campfire, and cook Our food IN
real primitive fashion. Back to nature! IS
the cry of the soul, and football takes us nearer
to it than any other sport that can be played
- L. %1n ,rNcf
popular sport, because the activities IN 1t are
the most primitive. See the players with their
bare heads and long hair; the dust and dirt
and grimy faces; the Indian like blankets worn
by the PLAYERS when at rest; the colored and
decorated suits; the primitive character of
each part of the suit itself, such as the sleeve
less canvas jacket, the loose moleskln or khaki
trousers extending only to the knee and the
moccasin like elkskin shoes; the quick recov-
cry from injuries; and finally the primitive
does scrimmage of savages,- and you will
understand why the game has such a strong
hold us and moves us so deeply.
Why 1t Is a Fundamental Need
(WHICH, now, of all these theories is the
w correct one? There is a story in the
Talmud that the rabbis were one day discuss
ing the meaning of certain Biblical passage,
and before the discussion over thousand
different interpretations had been given. Com
ing out of the House of Learning, they met
the spirit of Elijah and asked him which inter
probation was the correct one. They are all
correct answered Elijah, and straightway
vanished. So would we reply to the foregoing
question. All four theories are correct.-each
as far as it goes. Football supplies outlet
for the superf1uous energy of healthy youth;
it affords welcome relaxation from the strain
of study, gives the overburdened mind rest,
and tones up the body; it prepares in a meas
ure for the serious activities of adult life by
az "A
physical and mental; and it charms us like the
tabled song of the sirens, because it wakes in
us memories of the dear long ago. And because
it does all these things, as no other game can,