Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-10-20

country in it's grip abates.
In the big drive to be made thr
through to the 18th effort will be me-
War Charities Fund for the Y. n. c
Catholic War Council. Jewish Welfare
Association and Salvation Army. An
obligated to remain overseas for two
sufficient funds to assure the boys in
tainment and recreation. to preserve
Eardless of what the near future nigh
Foot ball naturally is expected to be
the main source of revenue for the
fund and of the hundreds of games
that will be staged throughout the
length and breadth of the country
in the eight days of the drive that
between Georgia Tech and Rutgers is
expected to be the big outstanding
feature. This gridiron classic tenta-
lively is booked for the Polo Grounds.
New York, Saturday. November Is.
A clash between the famous southern
college team and George Foster San
ford's eleven would indeed be regard
ed as blue ribbon event and should
serve to pack the stands For three
years the Golden Tornado. as Coach
HeiSman's eleven is known. has swept
everything before it below The Mason
and Dixon line. while the Rutgers ma
chine, regarded as the mightiest foot
ball aggregation of the 1917 cam
paign. has suffered but little in loss
of playing material.
Efforts will be made to bring to-
gether all the leading elevens of the
country. particularly old rivals. such
as the Army and Navy. Pennsylvania
and Cornell. and even Harvard and
Yale and Princeton. 1t is to be hoped
they will be successful.
But foot ball is not the only sport
which will help swell the fund, al
though because of its seasonableness
it logically will take the most promi-
nent part. 1t has been decided by the
committee in charge to add golf box
ing. racing. billiards. soccer. track
and field athletics and every other
timely sport activity to the list. Fred
Ruben. secretary of the A.
A. L.. who is in charge of the amateur
athletic end of,the drive. has appoint
ed national committee and each
member has been requested immedi-
ately to prepare plans for contests
in the various branches of amateur
sports under the jurisdiction of the
Amateur Athletic Union, including
wrestling and swimming.
Preparation of. the biggest program
of sports. ever mapped out in the
United States is the stupendOus task
confronting the promoters and in Sc
lectine Bill Roper as secretary of the
general sports committee, which is
handling the campaign. those who
know the capa bilities of the famous
Tiger Sridiron star agree no mistake
was made. The old Princeton foot bail
player and coach has tackled the job
as he used to tackle on the field OF
play. Finding. on taking up his as
signment, several doubtful points
about the drive. he has given out the
following to clear them up:
We endeavored to withhold publi-
cation of any news concerning our
plans until aff-,e liberty loan cam
palgn. We d.G no. wish to detract at
tention from the loan in the slightest
degree and. besides. our arrangements
had not developed to the point where
we were ready to give out con-
crete statement on our aims and meth
DDS. 4 preliminary article. found Its
way into the sporting pages. however.
and in order to correct this we already
have given an outline OF what the
general program is. There still APP
pears to be little confusion. Our atm
letic and sporting campaign Is not TO
raise s110.5o0. 000. That sum is the
goal of the entire campaign for the
seven organizations represented in the
united war work campaign. Various
sports will be employed merely 10
raise funds in conjunction with TINS
general campaign.
"It has been ascertained that con-
siderable opposition to sports at TINS
time is based on the allegation that
it served no definite war purpose
other than to provide outdoor recrea-
tion for those participating. 1 always
have believed this to be highly I'M
portant factor in the war. because
men who are physically fit to enter
battle are automatically giving SPLEEN
did service to their country. BY en-
veloping sports ina distinctly patri-
otto atmosphere it is agreed that
there certainly could be no objection
TO their continuance even on the part
of those who have been most radical
ly opposed. If foot ball game. for
instance. may be the means of pro-
viding soldiers with comforts they
would not. otherwise enjoy il would
be stretching an ethical point to the
utmost limit to say that it was not
proper for the game to be played in
war. time.
The impression that We would at
tempt to raise s110.50O,0 900 through
' the medium of sports should be cor
rected. In fact, it is impossible for
us to fix financial objective al this
time. though efforts are stimulated
through the country we will obtain
definite idea of how much they will
produce for the campaign.
Whether racing will be resumed at
Laurel this fall is doubtful. although
reports that the epidemic of influenza
that neceSSitated the closing of the
track is waning has given the horse
men hope. With the abat ement OF the
scourge now held to be in sight and
conditions generally gratifying some
of the more optimistic of the turf
magnates are looking forward to the
reopening of the plant some time
this week. No word has come from
the MARYLAND health authorities other
than that the EMBRACE on public
gatherings of all kinds will be lifted
at the earliest possible moment
Were permission to resume given
within a few days racegoers would be
we'll rewarded for the enforced d iscon-
tinuance of the sport in that it was
the plan of the management to stage
all of the stake events listed for the
period of inactivity. But with no i'm
mediate prospect of the gates being
opened the quality of sport that would
obtain in the four days that would re-
main in October should the ban be
lifted next week. undoubtedly would
be reduced. The owners are not likely
to let their charges fatten in stalls at
the nearby plant when they could be
earning some feed money in New
York.
AT least one race we'll worth while
will be staged at Laurel a week from
tomorrow if operations at the course
are resumed. however-that between
Billy Kelly and Eternal. The provis-
ional date for the $4,000 match to
decide the Juvenile championship of
the season is Monday, October IS.
Empire City now is the only track
In operation in North America. due to
the quarantine orders arising from the
influenza epidemic that closed Laurel
and caused the Latonia meeting to be
postponed. Metropolitan followers of
the turf have been. doing splendidly in
their self-imposed task of raising
70 mn aln for the liberty loan. RefoHe