The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1910-08-27
vanquished to deliver their banners t
the victors.

vanquished to deliver their banners to-
the victors.
The Game in England.
Even the most superficial antiquary
may find the reforms Of football scat
tered throughout the entire history Of
England. 1t was frequently the subject
of royal proclamations from Edward
II to Elizabeth. oliver Cromwell in
weighed against it and Archbishop
Laud spoke and wrote Of 1t. Even the
poets, Addison, Cowper and Sir Walter
Scott, all Of whom were players have
contributed in their writings to the
science of this noble game.
The reformation of the crude game of
their time into modern Rugby has
been duly accredited to william Webb
Ellis, school boy genius at Rugby
ninety years ago. From his time to
the present day football has been di-
vided into two leading styles of games,
the first in which the bali only may
be kicked, and the second in which the
ball may be kicked but also carried.
The devotees of the first of these two
games held convention Dec. /, 1863
at the Freeman's Tavern in Great
Queen street, London, at which a re-
formation was affected in existing rules
and an organization formed under tho
name of the London Football associa-
ton. Hence the game devised upon
this occasion, in which carrying the
ball is prohibited, has since been
known as the association game" The
words soccer and ''socker" by which
it is also called, are merely derivatives
OF the word association" Jan. 1,
1871, the advocates of the carrying
principle in the second of these two
games assembled at the Pail Mall res
taurant in Regent street, Londan, and
formed an organization under the
name of the Rugby school as their
playing code. Five years later, or to
be precise, Nov. 13, 1875, Harvard
Princeton and Yale held convention
in the old Mascot house at Spring
field, Mass, and formed the Intercol-
legiate Football association adopting
the Rugby Union rules. This code
has been subjected almost annually
since that time to minor notifications
and periodically it has come up for
complete overhauling and radical re-
form. The cause Of this continual
change in the American game is the
necessity of keeping the rules abreast
with the spirit of American vim and
attain victory through some formid-
BILE tactical evolution which shall over
whelm skill and strength by sheer
brilliance of strategy. For thirty
years his strategical development has
been devoted to the development Of
mass plays, the v trick flying wedge,
guards back and other familiar forma-
tions. Unfortunately for the popu-
iarity Of football, however, it is the
mass play that has been the most
prolific source of personal injuries in
football.
Danger Of the Game.
Statisticians Of the grldiron con-
tend football is no more dangerous
than baseball and they point to the
fact that the fatalities upon the dia-
mond during the three weeks of last
April equalled the record of football
last autumn for ten weeks, while for
minor injuries the record of baseball
Is as high as twenty five to one.
Notwithstanding any such comparison
the rules committee of football reso-
lutely determined to reach and eradl-
cate the dangers of it's own game This
task the committee has performed in
stituting a reform, the most drastic
which football yet has encountered. In.
this revision the committee did not
work upon the theory. 1t had before
it precise and accurate data as to the
cause Of the injuries that marked the
season Of 1909 This data indicated
as the offending features mass play,
interlocked interference, flying tackles
and the recovery of forward passes.
The dangers Of the flying tackle were
not difficult to remove since it was
possible to remove the flying tackle it,
self without any effect whatever upon
any other play, as tackling is sepa-