Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1913-03-13

reverberang excitement that preceded the
osnwunMO historic struggle These columns of Dorc
E1&1 effect seemed to the imaginative eye en-
W blematc of that innate and eternal lust
for violence which in the Cesarian age
was heralded by bloody proclamaons,
and in ours is concealed under the mask Of sport.
On the side of the Blue couple sat in the cheering
section Above and below them the frantic mob of
undergraduates howed in drilled unison to megaphonc
leadership When the band played "Boola Boola,' and
the stirring refrain was taken ZIP by ten thousand
threats il seemed as if the volume OF sound would
| irresstiby blast the crimson wall opposite.
Mrs Alexander Penwth sat erect. Her face was
flushed a girls. Her eyes fixed, almost cata-
leptic Her features were rigid She was in the grip
of martial emotion which she felt she control
or die At the age Of orty-scven, she had the figure
Of an amazon and the hard flesh of professional
athlete.
This army girl, born in the Civil War the daughter
OF a general, had been reared in camps, had been
brought up horses, and had made god OF exercise
In a moment OF passion she had married sober
civilian The tempest of feeling had been replaced by
the serenity OF abiding love. Alexander Penwth
was no military hero, but he less a conqueror
by reason of his trelcss tenderness and unerring
intuition. To his placidty the volcano gradually
yielded. And when Alexander junior went to college
there only and then outburst of white
stc.m.
It w.o in their only child that Of hers, that Mrs.
Penwith living again the almost forgotten
military days OF her childhood just in that of
his the father trying to recast his college life
of thirty-fve years ago.
In the blackncss of the night, when he was awak-
ened by the cangor of the rebes Alexander Penwith
would wonder at the alien and heroic qualities OF his
own son. Whence that torso? That heshlcss weight?
Those cable muscles? That Undated determination?
That mpersonsl ferocity? That canine ltheness?
That untaintcd discipline? That phenomenal popu-
larity? The best al-around man in college," the
popular cry. 1t honor to be the boys father.
All at once the antphonic cheering amalgamated
into a hoarse Forty thousand spectators
one person to their feet greet the athletes they
oped into the arena What giants! How light of step!
How feet of foot! How grim OF jaw! Neither King
Arthur nor William the Conqucror had such knights
as these No armor of the olden days forged to
fit such towering forms, those monstrous chests
Whether it be jousting or football each century the
form Of grows noblcr We have gained SIX inches
in stature in the last four hundred years.
Each heart, like each college, has its hero In the
few minutes practice that preceded the referee S
whistle there doubt about the worship that edit
Gated Drawn commands In the ears OF Captain Nor
gan of the Blue his name, repeated three times like
three snaps of whip at the end OF long cheer was
like the starting pistol to metcsome trotter But
this peer of all kickers this plunger feared by all
stood for manly clean football, with foul tackles,
no soto qoce insults no sub spking, no dark
"smearing" Not whit behind him in defensive tack
ling and offensive plunging, in brilliant and quick
vitted courage, was Captain Cabot OF Harvard, the
| giant and smiling tackle OF the Crimson squad OPP
posed to each other in sped and power were the two
fbacks-Baes of the and Pcnwith OF the other
COLLEGE But no one doubted who the better man.
As supplement- to Morgan, Pcnwh the trainers
Of his -
hall world were upon him. His opponents feared him
more than any other man.
Penwiti had burst OF speed combined with dodg
ing instinct phenomenal in so heavy man Moreover
he was certain catcher gin whole season OF kicking
he only muffed one punt. But beyond and above al
else that which would have distinguished sure var
sitv PLAYER, he had the rarer quality and power o
being able to tackle and bring down man OF an,
weight and speed Nor did he ever fail in any gam
10 make at least one run that transferred the play
his opponcnts goal and give his own team chanc
TO score He was dangerous cool, couchant lrresiSt
ble: he was the acknowledged star Of the first magn
tudc in the football armament OF his senior year II
was sure candidate for Walter Camps final All-Amer
lea football eleven.
"Pcnwth Penwith! Pen5nthii" Why, the nam
In itself carried with it a victorious swing that insure
A., certain triumph lie was three men grouped int
one He was no hal-bacli made to order by paticr
coaches He was created to fill that position. That
what football men said.
But his mother knew She thought she was a
woman, vet she ought to have been born man. as HI
son was. FIe represented her militant soul in the mo
strenuous of athletic achievements In her veins course
valor which in her transmitted into intrepdit
Her narue was that of command; his OF courageo'
Incidence Both are military virtues of the hghe
uuality. Neither could spell the word fear 81
gloried in his nerve, and he rejoiccd in her compr
henson of his athletic proves, Her natural audaci
had in him through years Of training been transform
into a disciplined daring than was terrifying He tack