The New York herald., 1922-11-12

thC OppOoltC polh pdooCu IlOlH IhS flOlOh
and from the mind. The notes brought a
thrill to the heart, a tingle to the cheeks,
a poignant memory of kindlier strife. 1
seemed to be looking over vast amphi-
theater, University Field, or the old Yale
Field, or the Bowl, or the Palmer Stadium.
l seemed to be seeing the waving of blue
and of orange and black, and tens Of
thousands of excited faces, among them
those of the most beautiful girls in the
world. l seemed to be seeing the green
turf and the chalk lines, and the teams
running on the field for the beginning Of
the second half and in the great stand
opposite the swinging hats of the cheer
ing section. And the music was molding
itself into the words:
Bright college years, with pleasure rife,
The shortest. gladdest years of life,
How bright will seem through memory's
haze
Those happy, golden, bygone days;
Then let us strive that ever we
May let these words our watch cry be-:
Where'er upon life's sea we sail,
For God! For Country and for Yale!
TWO weeks ago the point was taken
in this department that there were
very few football stories of the first Or
der. Several letters have been received
taking issue with that expression of opin-
ion. One writer calls attention to what
he considers some very excellent stories
about the game on the Pacific coast writ
ten by James Hopper ten years or so ago.
Another asks: Have you read Lawrence
Perry's The Winning Play in the No
vember Red Bo0k?" We have and we
have found it very good story, but its
very foundation is glaring inaccuracy,
which coming from a man of Mr.. Perry's
profound knowledge of the game is moth
ing short of amazing. The quarterback of
the 1893 Haleton eleven comes back from
the West for the Haleton- Shelburne game.
Between the halves he converts a defeated
team into winning one. Exhorting the
players in the dressing room, he says in
substance "The rules now allow you
twenty minutes intermission. want
those twenty minutes. In them 1 will
show you how to win" Yet every can
didate for freshman team has known
for weeks that paragraph b, section 8,
rule begins: There shall be fifteen
minutes intermission between the second
and third periods"
DROBABLY one reason why there are
not more football stories of the first
order is that fiction is hedged about with
all kind of restricting rules, whereas fact
is not. In writing yarn about the great
autumn game the unexpected may be in
troduced once, twice, perhaps even thrice
but not more. There must be an orderly
respect for the readers credibility. The
thrills must be distributed throughout the
game. The turning of the tide may come
at the very end, but 1t must not be over
done. On October % at Stagg Field. Chi
cago, there was football game between
the University of Chicago and Princeton.
No experienced writer of fiction would
ever dare to invent one-half of what ac-
tually happened in the last ten minutes
of the fourth period of that game.
RURNS MANTLE'S THE Best Plays of
~ 1921-1922." the third volume in the
Best Plays" series, has just been pub
lished by Small. Maynard & Company II
is more than an excellent volume for ref
erence; it is very entertaining reading for
the rapidly growing number of persons
who are turning to the play i'm book
form for diversion without inconvenience.