Norwich bulletin., 1918-05-25

days during which it has not rained or snowed. Between the rain and the mud, athletics have not had much chance. There are two other i'm portaEt factors. One is the very se- rlous shortage of athletic equipment, and the other is the lack of available grounds. The latter is about solved One of the first things I did upon ar irving was to endeavor to get an ath- letic field. I am still getting it. But 1t is nearly gotten After canvas ing all of the available sites, one was finally selected, and then the fun com menced. The names of the owners were ascertained and then we visited the mayor of the town for further ad- vice and information. It developed | that the land was owned or leased by several parties. Their system of l keeping records here necessitated the | searching of them back, in one in- stance to the original plotting of the l land i'll 1424 A. D. Several went back | to 1900 and something.
 l But that is not all. I was after 1 fifteen acres of land. It developed
 that the first 10 acres were owned O.
 controlled by A different parties, nearly all of whom were French sol- 1 diers at the front The method of l PAOCSdO1S Wclo, tOCSSooI u1. lO S6C SdCIl i one, obtain an option at as reasonable
 a figure as possible, and when all were
 ''in line,' then see them all again and
 obtain a lease of the property If any | of them held out, the French Military authorities had to take it up and con- flscate it as military necessity. Some l Jobi But wait The remaining five
 acres had forty seven different owners
 And tine French move so slowly.
 have been working on that one prob
 lem for seven weeks, now. Yes, I am still getting it. We hope to be able
 to go onto it to put in shape, some time this coming week. And oh, yes 95 per cent. of the land is intensiveIy
 cultivated as only the French can, and planted and growing, in potatoes, oats and wheat.
 That is one of the tasks have had
 There had been no physical work done
 here at all, and l was told to SC
 ahead and do something.
 After looking things over for a few
 days, we decided to have a mass ath-
 letic meet on Sunday afternoon. Il
 was to be a really big thing, the big
 gest I ever had anything to do with
 In order to handle them at all on the
 limited space available, we had then
 organized in groups. or teams, of 10(
 men each. The following are the events: so yard mass race, standins broad jump, shot put, relay race, and tug of war. We had and 1-2 hours
 available for the event. That morn
 ing a large body of troops came in and used the available space, and also it rained. And so it goes.
 Another new commanding officer ar. l rived last week. He expects much fror the Y M c. A. He has closed up al the wine shops in town, and houses, 5 and looks to us to provide entertain ment for the men. I have submitted today to him an official letter outhn ! ing our principles and a suggested pro l gramme of physical activities. Al 7 soon as possible some copies will b. 5 made, and I will send you one. Dr l McCurdy is much interested in ou work here, as it is unlike any othe 7 place. It seems I have had the won 3 derful privilege of being a pioneer. I Fl is not all fun either. We nearly got il