Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-01
A National Menace.

West Point cadet Is dead as the result
Of injuries received In a foot ball game
Saturday. A cadet of the Naval Acad-
envy lies at the point Of death IN con-
sentence of injuries received In game
plsyed about two weeks ago. n fhlia-
deInbia player and Kansas City player
are dead. while from every city come
reports from day to day of additlonai
injuries. more or less serious. received
on the gridiron field. The season is young
but II promises harvest of death and
disablement exceeding all records.
7. is understood that the Army ana
Navy game will not be played. owing to
the death of Cadet Byrne of West Point
and the probably fatal injuries of Cadet
Wilson of Annapolis. The official an
nouncement of the closing of the west
Point season states that this action Is
taken ION account of the sorrow over
the loss OF a member Of our foot ball
team and out of respect TO his memory.
1t would have been far better II the
official declaration had put the case on
higher grounds. and had announced the
closing of the season and the permanent
abandonment of play out of respect Tor
the living as we'll as for the dead
Year after year the demand is voiced
in all parts of the country for the aban-
donment of the game of foot ball In
the schools and colleges. The advocates
of the sport have resisted the petition
of fathers and mothers. alleging that the
game is necessary for the proper devel-
opment of American youth. All attempts
to secure a practical modification of the
rules and practices of play have been
unavailing. Now and then some so-called
revisions of the rules are undertaken. but
the annual toll of death continues to be
exacted. notwithstanding. The fact Is
that the game cannot be played accord
ing to the American ideas of the sport
without a risking of human life.
Foot ball is not necessarily brutal
game. AS played in England, where II
has become a national sport second only
to cricket il is rarely marked by seri-
Gus injuries, and never by the death of
a player. The game there is a free. open
play, with much kicking and running, but
with none of the brutal tackling that
characterizes the American sport, and
virtually no massing of players in fierce
rushes and falls. The injuries received by
American players are due directly to
those features of the game that are pc
cuiiar to the play in this country. The
truth is that We in the United States
have brutalized the game out of its real
nature. and have taken pride in the fact
that il is rough and dangerous. De-
tenders of the sport declare that it is
conducive to the so-called virility of the
American character. and that the training
in II at our schools and colleges is next
to necessity for the development of
American youth along national lines.
The real reform lies with the fathers
and mothers of the boys who are going
to school and college. Their prohibition
of participation in foot ball as it is now
played will settle the question definitely.
There is no lack of argument to show
the reason for such a course. There is
no lack of demonstrations Of the deadly
danger involved in every game that is
played under the present rules. Every
year contributes its fresh proof that
every boy who engages in a foot ball
game does SO at the hazard of his life.