South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1917-12-09
BY Chas. W. Call.

of Notre Dame is a man with a rec
ord. One-half decade OF achieve
ment at Notre Dame lies behind |
him. but ne had spent % years be
fore coming to the local university !
preparing himself for his task. Aft
err finishing his preparatory school
work at Morgan Park academy he
entered the University Of Chicago in
1902. Handicapped by lack Of
weight. Harper did not make the
football team until his senior year
when he played end and haifback
on the championship team that de-
feated Michigan. 10 o. He was a
member OF the baseball team three
successive seasons, working behind
the bat and i'm the outdeld. His last
athletic feat for the Maroon team
was to wallop out a three-bagger in
his final time at bat in his senior
year against Illinois.
Harper's first coaching experience
came i'm 1906 when he took charge
of athletics at Alma college. Mich
igan. He remained there three
years and won the INTERCOLLEGIATE
championship of the Wolverine state
i'm 1908.
Makes Wabash Formidable.
Then he went TO Wabash college.
There he won state championships
with his basketball and baseball
teams and secondary championships
with his football team.
Since coming TO Notre Dame he
has placed football on a plane with
the best teams both in the east and
i'm the west He jumped into ma
tioual prominence his first year
when, in 1913. he defeated the
Army. Penn State and Texas. That
team, captained by Coach Rockne,
was at once the wonder of the ath-
letic world Much is heard to this
day of that immortal Dorias- ROckne
! forward passing combination that
startled every team it met
Had Great Material.
But Notre Dame had wonderful
material i'm those days. Harper in
herited a coterie of finished football
players. and that gave critics ma
failure after the first flash in the
pan" With the Yale catastrophe
and the Army reversal the following
year the Il told you so" parade
heightened out. Harper offered not
a word i'm rebuttal He simply kept
on with his work and before the sea-
son was over had his team faced
about and it scored decisive victor
les against Carlisle and Syracuse.
Aside from one point, a defeat at
Nebraska. due 10 the failure 10 kick
a goal following a touchdown. Har-
per and his men bowled over every
thing in 1Fl5. The Army and Texas
were again victims. In 1916 the
Army succeeded in beating the gold
and blue. but NJ. A. G. and Ne
braska were defeated.
The Past Season.
When Harper arranged the 1917
schedule months i'm advance OF the
declaration of war on the part of
lthis country he was congratulating
himself on his good fortune at hav
ing sufficient football material in
sight for unbeatable teams for at
least two years. Consequently he
was not a bit careful about the cali
Der Of the teams for this years
eleven 10 meet. Enough good men
TO make a first class football team
were lieutenants in the army before
the season opened, and when prac-
/ tice did start there were not a half
dozen veterans of any description
/ from the year before Harper did
| not complain. He merely went TO
work Though the defensive
strength of his team developed
quickly its offense had not material
/ lied by the Wisconsin and Nebraska
game Capt. Phelan was called to
/ the army with the playing OF the
| Cornhusker game.
Beats Armt Again.
No one conceded his team a chance
in the universe TO defeat the future
army officers at West Point But
that's what il did. Between the
Z Nebraska game and the Army con-
test he had perfectei a forward pass
attack that could not be denied.
| Following the Army game he lost
! Gipp and Allison in succession, and
one-half the backfeld with which
/ he had beaten the soldiers was in
termed in hospitals. Even sympa-
thizers shook their heads as the No
/ tire Dame tutor departed with his
/ depleted flock for the game with
! Washington and Jefferson. The
team that had battled Pitt, the
greatest eleven Of the year. almost
10 a standstill would annihiIate the
light eleven once more representing
the west w and J. did nothing OF
the sort The teams proved most