The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-11-01
GOVERNMENT MAY TAKE ACTION
Ead of Game for Army and Nav
 is Predicted.
Fourth Year Man Never Recovers From Blow Receivea Beneath Mas of Struggling pIayers .in Har- vsrd Game-Deafh Comes
 With Dawn.

West Point, N. r.. Oct. si.--Cadet Eugene A. Byrne of Buffalo. a fourth. year man at the United States MIli- tary Academy. died in the cadet hos pital at s:35 o'clock this morning. a l sacrifice to football.
 The army is accustomed to death but not in this deplorable form; and this tragedy of the gridiron has brought such poignant grief to ofacers and cadets alike that the end of foot ball at West Point and Annapolis Is predicted by many.
 Young Byrne expired just as the sun was rising over the hills along ths Hudson. with his grief-stricken father John Byrne. Civil War Veteran, al his bedside. Brave as was the young | soldiers fight against death it was hopeless from the start. Buraed h<- meath a mass of struggling piayers ir the Harvard-Army game yesterday. his neck was twisted and broken by the weight of the crushing pile above him and he was picked up with every nerve on hts body, except those of his head and face. helpless to perform theil functions.
 Only the immediate resort to artificial respiration kept the poy from almost instant death. Surgeons were unable to make a complete examination last night on account of his critical condi- tion. and opinions varied as to wheth. CT a blow on the spine or the solar plexus caused the paralysis. But K ray photographs. taken after his death revealed a disloeation between the first and second cervicai vertabrae, causing the vertabrae to be thrown forward. pressing against and prob- ably resulting in a lesion In those nerve centers of the meduila obiongata which igoyern the respiratory muscles This caused the natural process oi breathing to cease altogether and the |artificial means Of respiration resorted to. was all that kept the injured ca. det alive until this morning. No au- tonsy was held. asids from sha xrEap exafninAtfon. e- 75 VI Meets Bereaved Mother. . F Byrne's father was plainly laboring under great mental anguish this af- ternoon when he came to the little rail- road station at the foot of the hiIl to meet Mrs. Byrne. mother of the vic- tim. The meeting between the be- reaved parents was affecting.
 The funeral services will be held to- morrow in the Catholic chapel at the post where the body was taken this af- ternoon. A cadet guard was posted al the chapel.
 The funeral will be conducted with full military honors. Mgr. c. K o'Keefe. in charge of the Catholic chapels in this vicinity, will officiate When the cadet corps and the officia family of the Academy had recovered from the first shock of the announce ment of Byrne's death, the effect which the accident may have upon the re- mainder of the football schedule imme- diateIy came to mind. More than one opinion was voiced that the casualty would result in curtailing the remaind- CT of the seasons playing if not the cancellation of the entire schedule, in- cluding the Army-Navy game.
 Official expression on the matter is meagre. Colonel Hugh T. Scott, the Academy Superintendent, said:
 That Is a matter l cannot discuss now."
 The manner of young Byrne's injury was dramatic in the extreme. When the spectators realized that the acci- dent was serious. the cheering stands were hushed as If by magic. A few minutes later Bsrne was carried uncon- sicous from the field and the spectators filed silently down to the station. leav- ing a deserted football field. where laughter and waving college. pennants had made a gay picture before the &C., cident changed the scene.
 Fight Death TnEouKh NtKht.
 Taken to the cadet hospital. skilled surgeons working with relays of capa- ble attendants. labored over Byrne throughout the night. Though con- scious only at times, he realized the se- rfousness of his condition and with a smile and an occasional cheering word encouraged the physicians in their la bors.
 The surgeons realized that they were only working to prolong. not save a life. and Byrne knew 1t too. before the new day broke. He faced death smil- ingly, only thoughtful for the grief stricken parents.
 Meanwhile the current of life at the Academy had almost ceased. The res- ervatfon was transformed into a lodge of sorrow. All social functions plan ned for last night. including the long looked -forward-to hop, were cancelled.
 Last night was a wakeful one on the reservation and solicitious enquiries as to the condition of the injured cadet poured into the hospital. When morn ing broke, all hopes were crushed by the announcement that death had come Then came official action, expressing concretely the personal sorrow, felt everywhere. By order of Colonel Scott cadet activities for the day were di- rected to be only such as were neces- Rary. There was to be no parade. The flags were lowered to half mast and directions were given that all academic duties be suspended tomorrow.
 Was Veteran on Team.
 Young Byrne was only Fl years old hut wns veteran of the army football team and popular with his class mates and officers He was acting as captain of the eleven yesterday. and he gave his life. too early perhaps. but as hi. father wished it. struggling on the fielC for the honor of the army.
 Byrne was injured Tn mass play or tackle, which had been used severa times previous to the accident. Byrne standing valiantly as left tackle, fol the army, was forced under the rusI of Crimson players and on falling. mus have had his head twisted into a posi- ton where the weight of the men pill, ing upon him was greater than the strong fragments of the vertebral col, umn at the back could stand. They snapped with the pressure and the ia. tai lesion resulted.
 When 1t became known that Byrnt was suffering from paralysis of the en. tire body below the line of the jaw bones. the cadet corps grasped the sim