New Britain herald., 1918-01-22

ture 144O men sprinting simultaneous ly down a field, mud flying, arms gyrating, tongues hanging out as they neared the goal.
 The rope suddenly dropped, dividing the forces nearly in two. Seven hun dred and eighty-four, or 56 per cent, were ahead of the rope. The mcr, pantng and laughing, formed their files once more. This was pretty good fun for war manoeuVres. What under the sun was coming next?
 Apparently a variation was about to be introduced. There came Y. M. c. A. man overtopped by a net bag in which were sixteen inflated soccer balls. The Y. M. c. A. man explained the next event. It was called "com- panv soccer" The men were divided into eight equal teams of one hum dred seventy-five men each. On four large fields they wore to play soccer against each other for thirty minutes. Four balls went to each field, one sldo trying to kick them over the goal-line Gone point) or through the regular goaI-posts three points) at one end of the field and the other team at the other enG-
 Tn two and one-half minutes there was the greatest scrimInage you ever saw Get in mind a field on which $50 men are all trying to get as many boots at four footballs as they can And multiply that by the four fields that were in simultaneous use. The un Dires and scorekeepers had an even more lively time of it than the players As fast as Q goal was scored the ball was thrown into the melee Nf hn fn16 fast was the scoring that the referees well over seventy goals inside of thirty minutes.
 Again the whistles blew and the men formed files again. Everybody 1 had had a good time, and was in Q 1 big sweat No one was hurt and l everyone was happy. The men put on 1 their coats and marched off to their 1 quarters.
 So ended the first hour of the great 1 inter-regimentaI field meet that the Y. M c. A. conducted during the mems first afternoon on shore. For 1 the next two hours the program was 1 d1plicated even larger numbers ol l men participating than in the first 1 hour. The officers were enthusiastic | about the results. They crowded around to receive more definite ln- sanctions as to how to manage such an affair.
 pr. James H. McCurdy, director o1 Red Triangle athletics in France anc professor of physical education at the 1 international Y. M. C. A. college Sprine1ield, Mass, spent the following ! morning telling the assembled officer! of this convoy how it was done anC ! distributing instruction leaflets. Dur ine, the succeeding hourse he witt 1 Professor James Naismith, the inven ! tor of basketball, and Dr. John Coulter 1 addressed the men and officers or
 ..S0cial Morality and 'Health.'
 Under such men as pr. McCurdy
 pr. Meylan, Dr. Pest and several othe1
 noted physical directors, the Y. M. c
 A. has studied the problem of the
 army's need along the line of mas
 athletics Obviously the old-styl'
 track meet for a. few trained star
 is out of the question: as is also thu
 playing of such specialized games a.
 football and baseball, where relative
 lv few men play the game and tha
 only after long practice together
 That the faith of the army in th
 " M. c. As ability to meet tn
 army's need adequately is justified
 was proved in the first thirty -si
 hours of the men on shore whicl
 was turned in it's hands to direct. Tn
 Y. M C. A. like the army. has lcarne'
 that it is group efficiency, skill an
 stamina that alone count in war.