The New York herald., 1921-02-24
EVEN CHANCE TO WIN
SAYS POLO CAPTAIN
Devereux Milburn Strikes OPP
timistic Note Regarding @. S.
International Team.
BY SAMUEL j. BROOKMAN.

"An even chance to win."
That is how Devereux Milburn, cap
tain Of the American polo team, regards
the prospects of his squad in the In
ternational cup matches to be played at
Hurlingham next June. Beyond that
the veteran internationalist did not care
to make any prediction, but there was
a quiet confidence about the way he
spoke of the "even chance" recently,
that offsets the impression OF weakness
created by recent British estimates OF
the United States challengers.
Asked what he thought of the ability
OF each of the five players who have
been chosen with him as the challeng-
ing team Mr.. Milburn declared he
preferred to have the players showing
in England speak for itself He ad-
mitted, however, that on the form shown
by the candidates last season. 1t was
not difficult for him to guess what the
final lireup of the American four would
be- No final choices are to be made.
however, until short time before the
cup matches and every candidate is to
have a chance to prove his worth in
the tournaments in England that would
precede the contests at Hurlingham.
There will be no further chance for the
candidates to play together In this
country, for the men are to leave for
England early in April.
No Timidity This Time.
One thing is certain, the team that
invades England this spring will be
more confident band than the squad
that left these shores In 1909 and came
back in possession of the cup. The
A ~ trayty difHdanf
challenging that year. Harry Payne
Whitney, who was recognized as the
polo leader Of the country at that time,
was anxious to take a team to England.
but polo officials who had heard good
deal about the prowess of the British
players were inclined to advise against
the trip. Not few feared the Ameri-
cans would be overwhelmed.
The team that played for two seasons
prior to 1909 and that had swept all be-
fore IL In this country had Devereux
Milburn at back, Harry Payne Whitney
at No. 8, ]. NJ. Waterbury at No. 2.
while J. S. Phipps and E. S. Reynal had
alternated at No. /. or these only Vs.
terbury had played on an American chal-
lenging team seven years before. and
the men had no way of comparing their
strength with that of the English. Ac-
cordingly, instead OF challenging for the
polo trophy when they finally decided to
make the trip to England, Whitney's g
team merely announced that they were
going abroad to compete In British tour
naments. At the last moment, however.
the team thought better Of 1t and cabled
an official challenge.
II was not long after the Americans
had reached the scene of the interna-
tional matches that to the surprise Of
themselves and the British critics. they
became prohibitive favorites for the polo
cup. They had met the best OF the Eng
lish poloists in preliminary tournaments
and had beaten them soundly. The In
ternational matches came along and the
Americans triumphed by scores of to 5
and to 2, which was convincing enough.
A Previous Challenge.
A bid had been made in 1902 by a
team captained by Foxhall Keene. the
other members of which were Larry
Waterbury, J. NJ. Waterbury. John Z.
Cowdin and r. l.. Agassiz. This squad
had won the first game from the English
goals to 1, thanks to the inaccuracv
of the British mallet swingers, who bad
twenty-one chances at goal and made
only one In the two games following.
however. the Americans were outplayed
decisively.
There is a mistaken notion in th{C
country that the international polo ~
was offered originally by Hurlingham
AS matter Of fact 1t was donated
through the Westchester Polo Club ny
persons in Newport Interested In polo
back In 1886. That year n British team
came. saw and conquered and carried
the trophy to England. whore 1t remained
until 1909.
While Hurlingham has not announced
the possible lineup of the team that Is
to defend the cup next June, the leading
candidates for the British team are
known to be Col. Tompkinson and Capt
L Lockett. who were members Of the squad
that defeated the American cup holders
in 1914: Lord Wodehouse. who was a
member of the team that lost to the
Americans in 1909. and Earl Rock