Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1915-03-17
WALTER
CAMP HASDONE
fORFOOTBALL
Parke Davis Gives an Outline
of Camps Activities in
the Game /

Parke H. Davis, the compiler oil
football statistics, gives Walter campI
the following big boost;
At the recent session OF the Inter
collegiate Football Rules Committed
Walter Camp Of Yale announced that
with the close Of the present year heI
would retire from membership upon
the committee. The passing OF Mr..
Camp from this counties marks
such an epoch in intercollegiate foot
ball that It invites especial comment.
The first game Of football under thel
interco collegiate code was played att
New Haven In 1876, between Harvard
and Yale, and the second game wasl
played in the same city two weeks
later between Princeton and Yale.
Both OF these games Yale won. Upon
that original champion -fifteenp Wal
ter Camp played at haIfback. TwoI
years later he appeared Is Yale,s dei3.
gate In the Intercollegiate convention,
q body which eorresponded with theI
present Rules Committe. Mr. Camp
at the time was Yale's captain. From
that day to this, q period Of 81 years,
Walter Camp has participated IN every
session Of the rsiles-making body.
II was Mr.. Camp who invented the
side OF the eleven thus breaking
away from the Rugby fifteen. Again
II was Mr.. Camp who devised the d.
mansions Of the American field Of
|plaH and introduced the method OF an
orderly possession OF the ball By one
side, our -scrimmage9 thus doing
away with the English sscrummages
and making possible the use Of precon-l
eeived plays, tactics and signals. In
his senior year at Yale this genius in
trodueed to the game the safety as a
scoring play. Prior thereto the safe.
ty had been regarded as q touchback
IL today. An Of these great Inventions
Walter Camp accomplished while still
an undergraduate at Yale.
Saves Game.
A year or two later It was walter.
Camp who solved the perplsxing prob.
lem presented by The sliloek game
which Princeton had invented. By.
which one side was enabled to retain
! possession Of the ball throughout the
entire half. Mr.. Campo solution was
the Invention Of fairs and DOWNS By
which one side was permitted to re.
tain the ball only so long as 1t could
advance it at least five yards In four
downs A efaif" was name applied
to putting the ball IN play from the
sideline when out Of bounds. II was
twist to the fntercollegiate game.
wrenching 1t wholly away from the
English Rugby and making Of 1t .
ldistinetiye American style Of play. II
Twas also the establishment Of the five
yard gain IN four downs that led to
the stripping Of the field with lime,
which has given to It the familiar
name Of grfdiron.
IN 1883 1t was Camps suggestion
that resulted in the numerical syss
Item OF scoring by which values were
assigned the scoring plays Previous
| " II frequently occurred that neither
team could tell which had won the
game. on account of the confusion be-
tween the relative worth Of touch
downs, goals from touchdown and
goals nom field.
In 1883 Mr.. Camp originated the
very Institution OF the Rules Commit
ltee itself presenting to the lnterc0lh-
flegiate convention in that year q com
Iprehensiye play for such body, which
he styled q Graduate Advisory Com
mfttee Of Rules and Appeals. This
plan the interco llegiate convention
adopted and for four years both bodies
fexisted together, after which the In
ltercollegiate convention, having dwin-
idled down to Pennsylvania, Princeton
and Yale, finally disappeared.
Mr.. Camps leadership In The rebel.
lion OF 1895 Is still wildly recalled.
Harvard and Pennsyjvania at that
time had highly. developed the mo-
mentum mass play. Yale and Prince
ton opposed this style Of attack. The
controversy became 50 fierce that the
Rules Committee broke in two and
the next year the country had two sets
OF rules In 1897, however, a union
was effected, but Mr.. Camp had won,
for the momentum mass plays were
not retained.
His latest innovation along the lire
of major achievements with the rules
was his introduction IN 1919 Of an adj
ditonaI down for the offensive team
to batter out the necessary ten yards,
thus restoring the balance between
the offense and defense, which had
been disturbed by the abolition OF
interlocked interference, q
Such are the more important fea-
lures in the rules which owe their
tJresence tn WaIker Canll s.