The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1909-05-06


h1fMSuv u physical beauty as to
which team pad the best Qt It ip
physique The Nofthernsfs IA their
blue Jerseys, WITH thistle upon their
breasts, were sturdy, hard bitten lot,
averaging couple Of pounds more
In weight than their opponents. The
latter were, perhaps, more regularly
and symmetrlcally built. and were
pronounced by experts to be the fas-
ter team, but there was massive,
:.aunt look about the Scotch forwards
which promised well for their endur-
ance. Indeed, 1t was on their for
wards that they principally relied.
The presence of three such players
as Butler, Jackson and Evans made
the English exceptionally strong be-
hind, but they had no men In front
who were individually so strong and
fast as Millar, Watts and Grey. Dims-
dale and Garraway, the Scotch half
backs, and Tookey, the quarter whose
blazing red head was a very oriflamme
wherever the struggle waxed the hot
| test, were the best men tnat the
Northerners could boast of behind.
The English had won the choice Of
goals, and selected to play with what
slight wind there was at their backs.
A small thing may turn the scale be-
! tween two evenly balanced teams.
Evans, the captain, placed the ball in
front of him upon the ground, with
| his men lined ali along on either side,
as eager as hounds in leash. Some
! fifty yards in front of him, about the
place where the ball would drop the
blue-vested Scots gathered in a sui
len crowd There was a sharp ring
from a bell, murmur of excitement
from the crowd. Evans took two
quick steps forwards and the yell
low ball flew swift and straight, as If
1t had been shot from a cannon, right
into the expectant group In front Of
him.
For a moment there was grasping
and turmoil among the Scotchmen.
Then from the crowd emerged Grey,
the great Glasgow forward the ball
tucked we'll under his arm, his head
down, running like the wind, with his
nine forwards in dense clump be-
hind him, ready to bear down all
opposition, while the other flve fol-
lowed more slowly, covering a wild
er stretch of ground. He met the En-
glishmen who had started full cry
after the ball the moment that their
captain had kicked it. The fist hurled
himself upon him. Grey. without
Stacking his pace, sweTved slightly,
and he missed him. The second he
passed in the same way, but the third
caught quickly at his legs, and the
Scot flew head over heels, and was
promptly collared. Not much use
collaring him now! In the very act
of falling he had thrown the ball
behind him. Gordon, of Paisley,
caught it, and bore 1t on dozen
yards, when he was seized and knock
ed down, but not before he had be-
queathed his trust to another, who
struggled manfully for some PAGES be-
fore he, too, was brought to the
ground. This pretty piece of pass
ing" had recovered for the Scotch
all the advantage lost by the English
ldck-off and was greeted by roars
Of applause from the crowd.
And now there is maui" or
'scrimmage." Was there ever an
other race which did such things and
called it play? Twenty young men
so blended and inextricaDly mixed
that no one could assign the various
arms and legs to their respective own
ers are straining every muscle and
fibre of their bodies against Bach
other, and yet are so well balanced
that the dense clump of humanity
stands absolutely motionless. In the
centre is an inextricable chaos where
shoulders heave and heads rise and
fall. At the edges are a fringe OF
legs-leGs in an extreme Estate of
tension = ever paving for a firmer
foothold, and apparently completely
Independent of the rest of the owners,
whose heads and bodies have bored
their way into the melee. The press
ure in there is tremendous, yet neith-
er side gives an inch Just on the
skirts of the throng, with bent bodies
and hands on knees, stand the cool
little quarter-backs, watching the
gasping gaints, and also keeping a
keen eye upon each other. Let the
ball emerge near one Of these and he
will whip it up and be ten PAGES of
before those in the maui" even know
that it is gone. Behind them again
are the halves, alert and watchful
while the back, with his hands in his
pockets, has an easy consciousness
that he will have plenty of warning
before the ball can pass the foul
good men who stand between the
maui" and himself.
Now the dense throng sways a lit,
, tie backwards, and forwards. An
inch is lost and an inch Is gained
The crowd roar with delight. Maui.
ed, Scotland!" "Mauled, England!'
England" "Scotland!" The shout.
ing would stir the blood Of the mild
, est mortal that ever breathed. Kate
Harston stands in the carriage, rosy
, with excitement and enjoyment. Hel
heart is all with the wearers OF the
rose, in spite of the presence of hel
, old playmate in the opposite ranks
NhA t0 ALI 4al.N .,