The Washington herald., 1918-08-18
WANTED A new
TRENCH GAME
Boys from Dugeuts Looking
for Contest That Can Be
Played in Front Lines.
by 4. A. BACHELOR.


Numerous medals and the thsnks
of the. entire American Expeditionary
Force await the genius who can de-
sign or invent some sort Of an athle-
tic game that may be played under
the limitations imposed by servics
In the front line.
Here are some Of the specifications;
Must be played in the open air but
at the same time concealed from the
eye Of the enemy. though his artil-
lery observers may be within a mile
and his aeroplane. scouts directly
overhead il must not cause any large
group TO assemble: il must not be
so exciting as TO cause shouting or
80 strenuous as to tire the men.
On the face Of things II would ap-
pear that mumble-de-peg. jackstraWs
and checkers would about complete
the list Of sports coming up to the
specifications. But the Y. VI. c A.
physical department, which makes a
specially OF solving just such knotty
problems. has discovered that there
are a number OF other things mEh
more enjoyable and more beneficial
than these. which can be staged sue
cessfully right under Fritzs nose.
Obviously a man in the advanced
area who is sitting around waiting
for his turn TO get into the thick u
things. needs something to occupy
his mind during those trying holIs
that precede his entrance INTO tie
battle. Actual fighting isn't half %
hard as thinking about what the
| trenches may have in store for one,
! II is said.
| II il u-eiI-recoe,s-oa o.. =
| France that some troops that would
| acquit themselves well IL they uOu,d
always be either in a fight or entire
| ly out Of the range OF the guns, can
not be emplos ed to advanta ge whore
the problem is one Of sitting tight and
taking your medicine without a chance
TO hit back. II is here that a In.H's
metal is really tested. United States
army, officers, realizing that many
kinds Of games that would interest
the men under these trying circum-
stances would be a great bracer OF
morale, put il up TO the Y. NJ. c. A
/ TO find some.
It would have been easy enough 10
I give calisthenic drills and thinEs Of
that sort under the conditions i'm
/ posed, but they would not have
served the purpose. The soldiers
would soon have been doing them
! automatically, wlIa their minds on
I something else. What was needAa
was a sport that would require meh-
| tai as well as meChanical applica-
ton. The more the soldier has TO ''uSs
his head" the better the game would
serve its purpose.
OF course baseball and football were
out of the question. They required
. too much space. too many men. and,
. in spite Of everything that might have
been done to prevent Il. would have
developed a lot of noise II "a no
new thing for the allied soldiers 10
! play baseball and football under ar
ullery fire. but where the commander
: is trying to conceal the location Of
his forces, IL is not considered ortho-
3 dox strategy to let a few hundred
gather in an open field. In fact. Il
I isn't being done at all this year.
Fritz is so Suspicious that when he
gets report from an aerial observer
that the Yanks are PLAYING ball IN a
certain place he begins to believe that
! maybe the Yanks intend to muss hTn
Up after the last man is out in ths
ninth.
The Y. NJ. c. A. physical directors
took a look at the conditions under
: which the army wanted them to pro-
: mote athletic games They found
large numbers Of men lounsing around
J during the day under trees, behind
walls In ruined villa ces-anywherh
I they could keep out Of the sight Of
/ the enemy. They had nothing to do
except wait and think. II wasn't pos
l sible TO drill them because they had
TO keep under cover. II wasn't sd-
visable to give them anything really
strenuous to do because they would
need all their strength in a few hours
/ for fighting. The situation did not
, look particularly promising from an
athletic standpoint and the directors
scratched their heads
Before very long baskcthalls. vol-
leybslls. boxing gloves. quoits and n
door base5alls began to appear among
/ the men waiting to go into the line.
In few cases was any attempt made
Ia So" formal contests of any sort.
That takes too much room and too
many men. Yet a single basketball i
goal riEged on a tree has an irrCs -
ible attraction for the soldiers. who
will spend hours taking shots al It
( all the while remaining disCrsetly Un-
, der the shelter the foliage provides
against prying enemy scouts.
set Of boxing gloves is a veritahle
boon to body of men Obliged 10 sit
and twiddle their thumbs while watt
ing orders TO go in. Everybody either
wants to put them on or give advice
to those who think they have ring
championship possibilities as vet un-
, developed. II is the easiest thinc in
the world TO while away day when
some ''Y' secretary comes along and
hands out the padded mits.
The livery-stable champions VIII
have to look 20 their quot pitching
laurels when the army goes home
I There are some fellows in olive dT7h
now getting so much practice that
they will get nothing but ringers"
| by the time the war is over NhCo-
ever there are four horseShoes the
boys are playing this game. II Is b.
coming so popular in some sections
that the stable serEeants have had 20
put on extra guards to prevent the
soldiers from undressing the auiHa's
to get the necessary material TIE
sergeants have invoked the aid OF rh"
Y. NJ. c. A. TO help break up this
habit Of ''frislcing" the, horses for
their footwear and the 'Y' is do.ns
its best. not molly through an appeal
TO the better nature of the men but
by providing sets OF real quoits