Evening star., 1926-10-15

1t will destroy. and not harden r
speaking of a mixed team they had. S
I'VE used TO say to them. You are
all alike. YOU are men made in God $
image and there should be no differ
ence between .you. but we have
stopped saying that now. We say,
Yes YOU are Russians. Let's, Es-
thonianS, Poles, CZechoslovakS-but
YOU can all play foot ball together. IS
the game; it's teamwork and you can
all play together--for the team.
That" he said. lis true civilization
And. in sport. il works. Also. it is
manifestly impossible that these boys
will not carry some Of these lessons
with them into their groWn-up life.
Their nati0naism will he softened-
more tolerant"
LAS Winter 1 heard almost the
sam" thing in Constantinorle. l was
talking with a Young American teach
er in Robert College. the basket ball
coach
But how do YOU ever get all these
= mixed natiOnaitieS to get the sense
Of tcamworll?" ! asked him.
Soon Got Sporting Spirit.
"'rhat's just the trouble: in fact. the
only trouble" he said. AT first when
an umpire gave a decision the boys
just walked off the floor They
wouldn't play. They were not
ashamed of it--and it took Il lot Of
darned hard work to make them feel
ashamed of it. But finally the spirit
uf the game captured them and you
can come down on the floor here any
night and see teams made up of Bull
gars, Turks, Serbs and Greeks going
ut il slap-banG without any hard feel
ingS whatever
| saw some; and | marveled-be-
cause the fathers of these boys would
fiy at each others throats almost
without provocation. These Doys'
i said with the education YOU give
them. will go back to their native
towns and finally play a prominent
part in the life Of their countries. l
wonder if they will carry the lessons
OF the basket bali floor with them
or Will the old background, with its
hates, swallow them up"
1t was the president of Robert Col
Iege who answered that question. lie
said AS the years roll on the num-
her Of luvS we send out naturally be
comes greater; they form bigger
percentage in their own countries. a
stronger group. The time is at hand
when these groups will be strong
enough to withstand the old back
ground. Then YOU will see the les
sons of the lasket ball floor begin to
work ia Balkan politics arguments
will lie put up to the umpire-the
League Of Nations, perhaps.
Murphy's Daring Speech.
1t reminded me of days when AT
the University of Pennsylvania.
once, saw Mike Murphy get up on a
platform which fairly sagged beneath
the weight of deans and professors
and declare: You may listen t" what
ff.1
but I'll do YOU more good than the
lot of them put together. III make
men uf you, God gave you good
bndieS-hut I'll show you how 10 use
them. And the things you'll learn
out there on Franklin Field will prob
ably be a lot more use to you than
the stuff YOU get pushed into YOU IN
the classroom.
1t was "A startling speech. Many or
the students looked "A little heWlldered
and the deans and professors grin
ned weakly. Dear little Mike he must
have his joke.
And out on the river Coach Ward
said: After the first mile You'll start
saving To yourself. Just one more
stroke-and then I'll die And you
will keep on saying that for the next
three miles. If YOU don't~if YOU can't
then you're no good in boat ana
YOU might JuNt as NFll St' VII t'ic
river.
He took a suck at his pipe Row
ing will either put five wears on or II
will take five years off your life. You
Can never tell which But il Will do
one thing will teach YOU that
many "a time when YOU are sure you
are licked you have only just started
to fight"
Makes Real Brotherhood.
! remembered these things. some
how they seemed to me essentially
American--our creed-and they com
forted me- In after-lfe. when things
all started to break the wrong way. ]
would say: Just one more stroke
-" But il never occurred TO me
Thar they really had a national sig
nificance | had read Wellington's
bromide that Waterloo had been won
on the playing fields of Eton-but
SIS real truth never came home to
me And then. in Russia, after the
revolution, when the great armies
were breaking up into chaos an Eng
iShman came to me deSpairinglE:
IF this country only played foot
ball we would know what to do
there would be Il medium through
which we could appeal 10 them
the sense of SportSmanShip. But
they haven't got it. No matter how
brave the officers are, there are al
WAYS a lot of high hats who won't
play the game-there' no teamwork.
t;od. how I wish these people played
soccer
Snort would have given him a
means of ContaCt-hecause sport has
its own language. And how interna-
-iop11 this 1augEaCp IS is "A lm0St sur