New-York tribune., 1910-10-31
COMMENT ON SPORTS
The Seeking for Pleasure and
Thrill in the Air.
REAL RACING BY BlRD-MEM

Cornell and Princeton to Meet
at Baseball After Lapse
of Three Years.
went down 70 Belmont Park last Mon
day. where The horses were wont TO race at
this time of the year. to see the bird-men
1y and to get better acquainted with the
new sport. It was a wonderful, almost an
inspiring. sight To see eight machines skim
ming through the air at one time, but /;
was more wonderful and more taking to
see three of them race to the finish in one
Of the hourly distance fixtures and liter
ally finish planes apart. l must confess to
having been more or less skeptiCal on the
subject Of aviation as a sport that is sport
not in the sense OF p4stime. but in the
sense Of real competition real racing-but
it requires no imagination now to see in
the near future huge aviation fields COM
peting with motOrdromes and racetracks
for popular approval. No doubt most sport
ing editors like myself have been wrapped
up too closely in racing. baseball. boxing
and football to keen in proper touch with
aviation and fully realize the strides that
have been made. but it will not be long be
editors who have been claiming aviation
as their own, will turn it over to the sport
ing departments to be accepted as a wei
come addition to the great and growing
field of sport
It struck ME that the feeble cheer which
greeted the finish of that hourly distance
fixture on Monday, when as said before.
three machines finished so closely together
that II was hard to tell from distance
which had won. was little short of gross
neglect. Having become accustomed to the
roar which goes up at the finish of some
keen race between thoroughbreds. at the
slamning out Of a home run at a critical
point in n baseball game. at the making of
a touchdown after dashine run on the
gridirOn. I could not understand the ap-
parent apathy of the crowd which was see
ing real race between aeroplanes. per
haps for the first time. No doubt the close
ness of the struggle was not appreciated.
No doubt the majority Of those present
were lost In the wonder of il all Other
wise the impressive sight must have
brought ont a more enthusiastic and spon-
taneous show of feeling. It will be diff
ferent, however, in time. and in a very
short time. The wonder in the mere act Of
the desire for competition. 4 HoXsey. a
Hamilton or A Grahame- White will be ap-
plauded not because he can keep a7oat and
startle the world with his aerial tumbling,
but because he can outmanpuyre or out
speed some other daring aviator in race
Of from five to fifty miles. Truly this is
the age in which to live. Fifteen years ago
the automobile was a laughing stock now
| it is a commercial necessity and a domi-
nant pleasure. Fifteen years from now
the automobile will be antiquated and men
will be seeking their pleasure in the air.
To change the subject slightly. I went
! down 10 Sheepshead Bay last Tuesday to
see an automobile race between Barney
Oldfeld and Jack Johnson converted into
a moving picture hippodrome. There was
much to amuse and entertain even while
being imposed upon. for the remarka BILE
skill of Oldfeld and the clever driving of
| Johnson commanded admiration ] was
shocked and greved. however to see the
home Of the aristocratic thoroughbreds
converted even for day into Il motor
drome and to see the rails and judges
stand plastered with glaring ads" 1 was
not surprised on meeting Frank Clark. the
genial superintendent of the track. to hear
him say. "All this makes me shudder" q"
The day of the Thoroughbred has not
passed. however. Better days for the sport
must be at hand-it is too good a sport to
! lose.
Speaking Of O1dfeld, IT may he suggested
: that his blatant defiance of the "totter-
| ing old hulk as he calls the American
Automobile Association, deserves something
| more than indefinite suspension from the
! contest board. The word permanent
should be used, with no chance for an
appeal.
Princeton will play Cornell at baseball
on April % 1911, if the game is approved
! hv the faculty committees This is good
news. and no doubt will be welcomed bv
| Princeton and Cornell graduates and un-
dergraduates. The last baseball game be-
tween the two institutions was PLAYED in
! the spring Of 1915. if memory serves. and
! IL has always been a source of wonder to
me why baseball and football should not
| thrive between such natural rivals A foot
| ball game is not possible under the present
conditions. more particularly as 1t is prac-
ucaIly sure that Princeton and Harvard
are pledged to meet next season: but it is
we'll that a favoring tide has brought the
baseball teams together for game that
will be full Of interest. l quote from the
Cornell Daily Sun:
Cornell undergraduates admire Princeton
University, admire Princeton men as a
! type, and hope that permanent relations
viii be resumed If the baseball game Is;
! significant Of future games we hold it a
/ bright spot in intercollegiate history
| If Princeton men feel the same way. as
no doubt they do. the game Is assured
! Horace Fogel's refusal TO sanction the
! trade arranged by Doom. manager of the
| Philadelphia National League team with
! Cincinnati. leaves the situation in strange
muddle- If Doom acted without the knowI-
! edge and consent express or implied. of
| President Fogel, the latter has beyond
! question, the right to block the trade, al
! though there is much doubt in my mind as
to whether he would be well advised I'm
so doing McQuillen and MOren are both
excellent pitchers. the former. particularly.
! being a real star. But Doom has felt that
they have been insubordinate and is of the
opinion that other men would give him
better service Often a man who. for one
reason or another. cannot give one team
his best efforts, proves highly useful after
being traded. The ability of the players
traded is not the only thing to be consid-