The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1909-11-21

of Jul its fireworks, but
Thanksgiving-tne day Of ali days for
the ''rah-rah" boys-boasts Il symbol
that is INCIDENTALLY its own-the foot
ball Most people outgrow Kris krin-
gle. eggs and firecrackers, but once II
football enthusiast. always a follower
Of the pigskin.
Though tire microbe OF footballitis
has not as yet received the respectful
consideration due it from science.
there is hope tina. at some future
date these sayants will seize it be-
tween their thumb and index finger.
tickle it n bit on the ribs to make
it open its mouth, and then x-rav its
stingerino. or course. the CookPeary
exchange of pleasantries must be
settled first. and that naturally pre-
cludes any possible steps in this di-
rection until the cows come home,
or at least until Jtffries really fights
johnson.
And yet even to the lay mind there
are several known facts about this
same football mierobe easily eomEre-
hensible. 1t seems to be germ es-
pecially indigenous to times of public
rejoicings and celebrations and
bloodthirsty in action. For example.
when it looked to royal rogue of
the bygone centuries like "a big night
tonight he summoned his warriors
and gladiators, placed them face to
face on an inclosed field and hung up
prize for the side that pushed and
pummeled the other off the map first.
A number of the Roman emperors
and the general public seem to have
tlxs Il. So,
history Is reliable. did they not hoot
and root and cheer their favorites in
the arena? Verify, they did!
Very wei. then. take hop. skip
and jump over the Intervening CEN
turtles and come down to the present.
On Thanksgiving day all over this
broad. trust beridden land. from Po-
dunk. Fla. to the City of Brotherly
Love. do not divers and sundry peo-
Piles HE themselves to an inclosed
field and root. root and cheer their
moleskin-clal favorites on the grid
iron? What's that? The simile fails
because We did not mention anything
at the Roman games that corresponds
to the modern city ambulance waiting
To carry off the stung. oh. well. if
you're going to bubble over a trivial
detail of that sort. how in the world
can we ever get anywhere with this
gentle effusion?
You see the main point. though.
don't you? And you are satisfied
that the same microbe that improved
each shining hour i'm those days is
still on the job this Thanksgiving?
OF eourse-why. of course. man-glad-
iators and football players look alike
TO him. He's got to sting somebody
for something, hasn't he? All right?
Very well. then.
The cause of footballitis having
been considered and disposed of in
this necessarily cursory manner, the
disease itself is now to be inyesti-
gated. Of course. Ii the inquiry is
conducted in the manner customary
among congressional committees but
few and unsatisfactory results viii be
obtained. Rather let II be approached
in that spirit that animates the coun-
try store voters when they ask their
republican representative to please.
sir. explain in what respect his party
revised the tariff downward.
In the first place. IL is more univer-
sal In its contagious properties than
the presidential bee in Nebraska, the
bookMorm i'm Indiana or the tetse fly
in Roosevelt corner of the African
jungle. There is but ona other cpl
demic among the American people
that has 1t skinned forty ways from
Sunday in this respect. and that Is
the worlds series fever that breaks
out early in the spring runs through
the summer and reaches its most
virulent state I'm the fall. with the
highest death rate in Pittsburg and
Detroit.
The great Thanksgiving day foot
ball game. What an occasion it is.
A town that can't stir up gridiron
contest with which to ton off its tur-
key is indeed deader than Beverly.
Mass. in the winter time. And the
unfortunate human who doesn't take
in the game deserves to be left with
indigestion and the past weeks sun