The Washington times., 1918-08-17

IlOb iii INOW has W
that the A. E. F. paper made.
Judging from the statement, tn
A. L. F. has a far bigger job o.
hand right now than that of sports
But it might be better to give yo
the statement, entitled. The Sportin
Page Goes Out" which follows here
This is the last sporting page
the Stars and Stripes will print
until an allied victory brings back
peace.
The reasons for the decision to
discontinue an ancient institution
are almost as numerically great
as allied shells crashing into Ger
man lines.
They are at least sufficiently
thick to pulverize or blot out any
objections that might be offered
by those who have yet failed to
see the light.
This paper realizes the great
aid sport has given in the past in
developing physical stamina and
enduring morale among thou
sands of, those now making up the
nations army.
1t recognizes the value of such
training in the future. 1t was
sport that first taught our men
to play the game, to play IL out,
to play II hard. II was sport that
brought out the value of team
play. OF long, hard training, and
the knack of thinking quickly at
a vital point of the contest.
as an entertainment for the side
liners has passed on and out. Its
glamour in a competitive way has
faded. Its leading stars are either
in the iron harness of war-or
forgotten - until Germany Is
beaten.
The Stars and Stripes appre-
ciates in full sports abiding value
and the countless thousands of
well-trained men II has sent into
the line. But these men have
given Up the glory of the sporting
page boost and the old action
snapshot. They are not to he
mentioned today because their job
has taken on another hue.
There are tennis and golf
champions, football players ga
lore. track stars without number.
boxers. and ball players who
have traded the easy glory they
knew at home for the hard. un-
Elorified grind of the 5 o or
the bloody heritage Of the west
srn front. And their fame here
belongs with the mass, not with
individual mention.
Neither is there space. enter
tainment or policy in attempting
to handle the scores OF hundreds
Of ball games played all over
France. a 40-page paper would
not make a beginning. And those
left out would remember the Of
fense longer than those included
would remember the space al
Ioted them.
What, then. is left. in the main.
for a sporting page printed in
France within hearing OF the
runs- Such headlines as these
star Players Dive for Shipyards
or Farm to Escape Work or
Fight Order"-"Cobb is Thinking
Of EnIisting This Fall''-"Fulton
and Dempsey Haggle Over Purse
willard Refuses to Fight
and so on through a countless list
that doesn't make any too heroic
an appeal to those grinding away
upon the Job back of the lines OF
70 those living and dying in the
mud and dirt OF the front three
thousand miles away from home.
THE STARS AND STRIPES Is
nrinted for the A f. f., not to
help perpetuste the renown OF
able-bodied stars. who, with un-
usual auaIifica tions for war or
useful work. elected to hear only
the Business as Usual" slogan
above their country's call for
help in the greatest war she has
ever known.
There is but one Big League to
day for this paper to cover-and
that league winds its way among
the 8 o : stations scattered
throughout France and ends at the
western front. Any work that is
part of the Big Job. either in the
lines or back Of II. from Chateau-
Thterry to San Francisco, - Of
utmost value. But entertaining
the people back home" isn't part
of the Big Job. nor do we believe
the bulk of them want to be en-
tcrtained in any such way.
When II finally came to point
where anv number OF able bodied
men we're rushing into various
occupations at the point OF the
boot, when the Secretary OF war
was forced to produce q ruling
that would make hundreds OF
these men work or night" as the
sauabble and scurry grew day
after day, this paper felt that 1t