Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-09-23
DISCUSS FOOT BALL
Rough Edges Smoothed Off
Rules at Meeting.
NOW READY FOR SEASON
Walter Camp and Others Make
Slight Changes in Code to
Avoid Conflict.

mittee. the central board of Off cials held
one of its annual Interpretation meetings
at the Hotel Manhattan last night. The
majority of the members of the rules
committee were present. together with a
hundred or more men who have at one
time or another been conspicuous on the
gridiron, both as players and as officials
DR.. James A. Rabbit of Haverford was
the first speaker. but Walter Camp of
Yale acted as chairman and was eluc-
dator in chief. He was assisted by
Parke II. Davis of Princeton, Percy
Haughton of Harvard. w. S. Langford
of Trinity. Al Sharpe of Yale and ". n.
Morice of Pennsylvania, who, after they
had heard the criticisms of the rules that
had come in to Mr.. Camp by letter and
those that were made orally from the
floor, retired and later delivered their
opinions.
Where there were conflicts the rough
spots were smoothed out, and although II
is not believed that all the weaknesses OF
the rules have been eliminated, still as
result of the meeting the officials will
have a clearer and more definite under
standing of the code.
One point which presented particular
difficulty was paragraph Z, section ., OF
rule +. In its unabridged form this pro-
vided that safety was made when a
player of the side in possession of the
bali makes an incompeted forward pass
behind his goal line or commits a foul
which would give the ball to the OPP
ponents behind the offenders goal line
This was supplemented by the addition
of "A kick bounding back behind the
goal line will Immediately become safe
ty.'' This cleared up one point. and to
section of rule 26 was added the provi-
sion that it was to apply only to fouls
committed within the .O-yard zone rms
section has to do with the distance penal
ty for. carrying the ball inside the one
yard line or across the goal line. and 1t
conficted in part with the section OF rule
u already referred to.
The difficulties encountered in section >
of rule 10 were eliminated by discard1ng
the penalty of giving the ball to the OPP
ponents on the spot of the preceding
down in the case of an uncompleted for
ward pass and substituting the penalty
provided for in the case of illegally touch
ing or recovering the ball. which shall go
to the opponents the spot of the preced-
ing down instead of where the foul oc-
Cured. Paragraphs and were supple
mented by providing in each case that the
ball must not have touched the ground.
By eliminating the clause land be-
fore the ball has been touched by play
er on either side" In section of the same
rule the officials think that they will be
liable to prevent a scramble for the ball.
Another point that came up was In ref
erence to the use of hands and arms
touched upon in section ) of rule 49, 1t
was decided that the players on the side
not in possession Of the ball may use their
hands and arms IL a bona-fide attempt
to get at and tackle the man with the
ball. This provision was in the old rules,
and although 1t was not in the code last
year the practice was permitted, accord
ing to a majority of the officials The
phrase 'if neither side is in possession
of the ball. same as free ball." under
section of rule Is was omitted as being
superfluous.
In defining touchback the committee
decreed that forward pass going over
the goal line or striking the upright or
cross bar. or a kicked ball struck by an
offside player within the ten-yard line. Is
touchback. in addition to the other
specifications under section of rule 4.
One new rule that escaped general OBJ
servation was that the snapper back will
be under the same rules as the other play
ers with reference to being offside. Sec
ton 1 of rule ~ was amended by adding
section OF rule 30.
Mr.. Camp explained that the committee
was of the opinion that If a man dropped
the ball in the act of making a forward
pass and it did not roll forward it would
be considered a tumble and would be de-
clared such. but if it had any forward
movement 1t would be declared an incom-
pleted pass.
There were a number Of other points OF
minor interest that will be fully described
in the revised rules that will be distribut-
ed by the committee. In his preliminary
remarks Mr.. Babbitt gave the officials
some advice with regard to their expense
bills, and also intimated that the colleges
have not done al in their power to make
the officials feel that they We're guests Of
the institution on the days of the games.
Mr.. Camp, before beginning his task OF
explanation, said that it was largely be-
cause of the splendid way in which the
officials handled the game last year that
the rules met with such success at the
outset of their existence.
Among those at the meeting were Wal
ter Camp, Dave Fultz. Brown University
James A Evans. Williams; Bob Maxwell
Swarthmore; Dan Murphy, Brown: Capt
Bunker. West Point; Capt. Bea chem,
West Point: Tom Thorpe. Columbia; AL
bert F'errar. Dartmouth: Carl Williams
Pennsylvania George Davidson, Penrsyl-
vania; Fred Murphy, Yale; Ed Donnelly
Trinity: "Boro'' Ocott Yale: w. S. Lang
ford, Trinity: Harry lie Ment. Williams;
L. G. Saunders. Columbia; MMe Thomp-
son, Georgetown: Mike Whiting, Cornell:
Carl Marshall. Harvard: Tommy Thomp-
son. Cornell: George Wagstaff, Cornell;
Capt W. l.. Cooper. West Point; Joe
Pendleton, Bowdoin: Bill Crowell;
swarthmore: Fred Gillenden. Pennsylva-
mia: DIR. Torrey. Pennsylvania; Charles
Mccarthy. Germantown; f. b. Cochems,
Wisconsin,: Percy Haughton, Harvard !;
Ed Thorp, Columbia; Harry A. Fisher.
Columbia; II. l.. Dowd, Princeton: DR..
Edward A. Hen. Dartmouth, and F. j..
Croins. Villa Nova.