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

Yes she knew the daughter of hundred battles the
mother Of boodcss hero She gloried in his defiance
of danger in his disciplined savagery So far he had
escaped accident or rather, as she argued, incident"
For what was strained tendon, what was water on
the knee or what broken coar-bone but appMte-
nances of the game necessary the shoulder-pads
or the ceats-or for that matter, the signals of the
quarter? She born to the scent of blood 1t did
not nauseate her. Danger maddened her. That was
the man of the woman of her Were it not for the
quiet husband at her side the governor OF her nature
she would arise and cry kill" Now her veins boiled
Pretty soon she would think, kill" No Roman cit-
zen had ferocity more primitive than hers while the
combat waged. No tgress would have clawed more
iiercey for victory than She
Yet her unbridlcd militant instinct, her madness for
the stigmata of combat, had fair play as common de-
nominator. Buck the line hard give no quarter play
fair" was the motto that this woman had engraved
upon the soul of her son. She was satisfied NO
"mollycoddle' was born unto her name. For in her
boy were combined the energy OF cavedwcller, the
chivalry of a medieval knight, and the courtesy OF
twentieth century gentleman His primitive mpctuosty
was under the guardianship OF rigid teamwork ms
made him none the less honorably and legally dam
gerous.
There are many ways Of putting out OF play
besides the violence of the rush. These neither the
Judge nor the referee will without punishment 10
knee fouly when he is down, TO gouge him IN
the eye when no official is looking, to whisper discon
certing abuse nalciously to overwhelm him in scrm-
mage-these are only few of the possible outrages
Of close pay Open the gamc--use kicking, sepa-
rate the payers-and you diminish the chances of pre-
concerted brutality
But Pcnw's massive rlshes, his zgzag lodges, had
the habit OF bringing disaster in their wake. At
Princeton had his shoulder blade broken by try
ing to stop Penwith At another time while warding
off tacler with his iron arm, in of his ferocous
punges he had shattered opponents jaw. In Giro
ling the end of gain he had recently collded with
4 solar plexus He was nearly broken-hearted over
these accidens-lcgtmae mshaps OF a strenuous game
No one could possibly him OF Intentional brit
tality He was too gentle of heart. But his tender
ness OF nature did not diminish by quarter OF
pound the impact Of his terrible momentum
Penwith had come to be so feared by his opponents
on the football field that in spite of his intercollegiate
popularity teams had gone out OF their way to do
him up These attempts had all resulted disastrously
to everybody concerned but Penwith He OWNED and
grinned. Those who not and penalized were
hurled one side with a calm energy that madden
ing because of its irresistible impersonality. ITS
use-the words went from university to college-"you
can't hurt Pcnwith He's hard rocks, and RECEIVERS
like elastic.
1t was the last great game OF the year. For these
forty thousand spectators for this titanic contest all
else had been but preparation The coaching, the iron
discipline, the team-plays-the onside kick, the
forward pass the combinations, which if any one
should work it would mean ten, thirty yards, pos
sibly the glory OF a goa-thc preliminary collegiate
games the evolution OF eleven personalities into
These were only the novitiatc the final duel i'll the
stadium that is always historic There physical repu
tations are made and shattered for life. Among the
twenty-five gladators were better grooncd, bet
ter prepared or more confident than Penwith. If any
one could leap the Blue into victory it he
Suddenly the discordant blares Of interesting bands
the antphonic shrieks OF men. stopped The two cap
tans strobe with the officials into the center of the
field The toss Of the coin would decide the choice Of
the goal to attack With the dazzle OF the sun there
blew gentle, westerly wind-not too fierce deter
mine the final result for evenly PATCHED teams, but
lust teasing enough to make the sure catch of hig!
punt a matter of fine calculation To play the first
hall into the eyes OF both the and wind may take
precisely that mmcasurabe quantity Of energy and
pluck which should be given to football and not to
position 1t may be enough to tip the scale, No Won
der necks crancd and there from the throas OF
the Crimson a dull groan apostrophizng the usual
Blue luck"
With backs toward the sun, the visiting team tool
its position.
Mr. Alexander Penwith inently noticed the exceed
ing cafe with which the Crimson kicker prepared thu
paycd To him, as we'll as to the thousands who hard
" dared to breathe it seemed as If it took hours in
stead of seconds to place the oval in exact position
Like salmon that in their maturity intuitively from
thousand outlets find the river of their birth, Pen
wh's mind went back to his old college days OF thirty
five years ago.
Traditions of those hardy years had almost passe
awav Then the college more important than tn
uniyersity There were Smokers in those days
Then bows elected college because OF their family ira
dtons and the excellence of the instruction, not 10
social or athletic reasons. In those good old time
football was fun not science You kicked the ball wit
S gee You ran with elan, Penwith ought to know
Those were the transitional days when the game wa
travesty on Rugby and when there was no hero, II
played then, and enjoyed the freedom OF the sport
his silent way 1t was then no close and aristocrat
d corporation
Mr.. Penwith never talked about his obsolete athlet