Norwich bulletin., 1918-04-01
TBy Sol Metzger

One of the odd freaks of this war is the boost it, has given sport But at first, when Uncle Sam decided to swat the kaiser. every sport manager and sporting goods manufacturer was ready to give up the ghost. The game was off. Mighty few sport managers or sporting goods manufacturers were far-sishted enough, or, as one might say, near-sighted enough to look into what is the immediate present. In- stead, most of them became excited and panicy and prepared to shut up shop. It was next to impossible for a manufacturers agent to sell a sup ply of the usual needed fall equip ment for delivery in a few months. Everybody feared pledging themselves. The manufacturers were unable to es- innate.
 Then the avalanche came. Suddenly manufacturers found themselves en- gulfed and flooded with orders. It was mighty nigh impossible to fill them. Shipments were slow. And with the demand the price arose. It has been soaring ever since. And with the demand the price arose. It has been soaring ever since. Orders for athletic equipment of all kinds have exceeded anything ever dreamed of. The strange part of the whole situa- ton was the fact that sport, as we
 knew it, was on the decrease. Big sporting events of peace times were called off. Championships were can | celled. Fewer athletes tried for col lege teams. Why then all the rush about sporting goods? ,sr ra4 n1 tNxr | the wholesale demand for athletic goods in the service. The army and | the navy went in for sport on a scale never before heard of in this country | It was backed by every military and naval authority and boosted in about all possible ways. Not only did sport prove to have a physical value in the service. but it went far beyond that
 For one thing 1t afforded recreation | for another it was a sure means o1 keeping the 'blues" well in the back
 ground of the new soldiers life. Il 1 also built up company and regimenta and division spirit. But it did more ! than all these things combined in that
 t keps the men in service from com
 frg face to face with those vices
 which have played such havoc will
 many armies in the past. In short sport improved service rnorale-thc one word which best describes it's all around function.
 | The actual and real value of spor- 1 to a nation, which this war has mos i clearly established as a fact, was tn,
 cause of all this rush of business il ! athletic goods, type of business tfa is by no means unnecessary. as some have thoughtlesslv suggested. Indeed so great is the need for sporting good : that raw materials to make them ar, ] somewhat difficult to obtain. As th' war situation: an unstable one at best 1 has the manufacturers guessing 8. never before, they are making ever! possible effort to remove the guess 1 work by attempting to get line o1 i future requirements; but to no avail While the service athletes are eatiny up equipment, there is no known wa2 l of estimating how long the presen 1 demand will keep up. Neither is ther' any precedent to follow Only on point is certain ard that is that ever dollars worth and every piece of ath
 Ietic equiDment which enters the ser vice is doing it's bit in no small wa
 towards getting our men fit to swa
 the kaiser.
 kg 2. result of this wholesale spoJ
 ir the various branches of the servict i7thIetics are undergoing certai
 changes in this country. Tn the mai
 we are learning their real value an
 inc war is giving every evidence (
 heinz the factor which will get ever
 zee into athletics ir the future. TT
 way toward the adontiou Of such '' echeme in our national life. followin = peace. is being well paved and N . nav confidentlv look forward to c better nation from nhvsical stand o point as a result Of this war.
 There are interesting elights t this new sport world created by Il