door was made of iron, for as I sat there the roaring and raving of
my particular enemy seemed to summon bears from everywhere. They
rushed in from all sides. Three came from the writing-room, one
from the Post-office, five from the parlors, and no end of 'em, big
bears, little bears, and middle-sized bears, came tumbling down the
stairs to see what the trouble was, and then I saw what had
happened. Every blooming bear in New Hampshire had deserted his den
to come and live in the hotel! I gave myself up for lost. I knew if
I tried to get out of that elevator they'd pounce on me, and if I
didn't get out I'd either freeze or starve to death, and it was
sickening to think of, but all of a sudden an idea came to me. The
elevator was one of these hydrahaulic lifts and it occurred to me
that there might be enough water left in the tank to make it go up
if I pulled the rope. It was worth trying anyhow, and I did it. As
I had hoped, it worked and to the astonishment of the Colonel's
unexpected guests, I and my room shot up to the third story, where,
all the bears being down stairs, I got out in safety, and rushed
down the hallway to the room with the open window. Then I closed
the door quickly behind me and locked it, as a precaution in case
of pursuit, and jumping out of the window I escaped.
"It was a terrible experience and I've found one or two white hairs
in my head since. The Colonel was very angry about it, but of
course it was nobody's fault. The window was opened by the bears
themselves. It must have been, because the housekeeper says she
closed it herself, and as for locking it, she says she didn't think
it necessary to lock a third-story window to keep out bears.
"Just what is to be done about getting 'em out nobody seems to know
yet, but it is probable that the Colonel will call out his regiment
and go up there and engage them in a long and bloody conflict as
the historians say. If he does, I'm going with him, but I'm to have
charge of the provisions and not do any of the fighting, because
the Colonel thinks I've had escapes enough for one year."
How's that for a tale? I think it's great, but I don't want to go
to any such place as that alone. If you were going I wouldn't be
scared of a thousand bears, but all by myself I don't even care to
fight one of 'em. Can't you get your Dad to change his mind?
Yours ever, JACK.
[Illustration: INTERSCHOLASTIC SPORT]
For several years past there has been considerable ill-feeling among the
schools of the Boston interscholastic organization against the Cambridge
High and Latin School. This feeling has arisen from the fact that the
High-School and Latin School of Cambridge are two separate and distinct
institutions, presided over by separate officials, and yet the scholars
of the two schools join forces in athletics, and appear upon the field
with teams made up from the strongest and best material to be found in
both bodies. In years past, when the participation in out-door sports
was not so general among the student body as it is now, there may have
been good reason for allowing these two schools of the same town to join
forces in athletics. But as matters progressed, and more and more of the
students became trained in the science of football and baseball, it
seemed manifestly unfair toward the smaller schools in the league to
allow the Cambridge team to draw upon so much larger a field for
material.
The question of having the Interscholastic Football Association step in
and interfere with the combination has been agitated for some time, and
the opposition at last came to a head at the meeting of the executive
committee last week. On this occasion a specific charge was brought
against the football management of the Cambridge High and Latin football
team, and as a result the following resolution was formulated and
adopted:
_Whereas_, Cambridge High and Latin played a man through the entire
season who was at no time a member of either school;
_Resolved_, That Cambridge High and Latin be dropped from the
Association, and that no member or manager of the 1895 team be allowed
to play in league games, except at the request of the head-master of the
school he may attend; that the Cambridge High and Cambridge Latin
schools be admitted separately to the Junior Interscholastic League.
After adopting these resolutions, however, the executive committee
decided that if the head-master of either school should so request, they
would reconsider their vote. But as matters now stand the Association no
longer recognizes the Cambridge High and Latin School as an athletic
organization, and if sportsmen of either school desire in the future to
enter any interscholastic football contests, they will have to apply for
membership in the Junior League as separate institutions. But even if
such application should be made, and were it accepted, as it probably
would be, neither school can play upon any team it organizes any man who
had any connection, either in a playing or a managing capacity, with the
football eleven of last fall, except, possibly, at the special request
of the head-master.
At the present date of writing I have been unable to secure full and
exact confirmation of the charges made against the C. H. and L. team,
but I feel perfectly confident that the executive committee, doubtless
acting under the advice of the B.A.A. and of graduate members of the
schools, made a full and careful investigation, and had thorough proof
of the guilt of the player referred to. An extenuating circumstance
seems to have been that the Captain of the C. H. and L. team attended
the Latin School, and the alleged non-member claimed to attend the
High-School. The Captain doubtless argued that he took the man's word
for his connection with the High-School, and the committee no doubt
seized upon the argument as a very sound pretext to separate the
schools, probably ruling that although a Captain ought to know
positively whether or not his players are _bona fide_ students, it is
perhaps too much to require him to be familiar with the roster of more
than one institution.
The punishment inflicted upon the players--if the charges have been
proved valid--strikes me as being the best possible solution of a very
unpleasant situation. It frequently happens that players who are not
strictly amateurs get on amateur teams. We hear of this continually. It
is always very hard to find out whether the Captain of the team or any
of the other players were aware at the beginning, or at any time, of
this player's actual standing. It is impossible to prove whether or not
such knowledge existed. But if you make the penalty for such
infringement of the law so severe that every Captain and every player
will make it his business--for his own sake--to know all about every
other man on his team, you will be purifying sport at a rapid rate.
It is useless, unwise, and unnecessary to expel an entire school from an
athletic organization because there was a non-amateur on that school's
football team. That does not help the cause of sport. On the contrary,
it injures it. But if you place the responsibility upon the players
themselves, upon the men who are looking forward hopefully to a
successful career among other amateurs, then every one of these fellows
will be looking out for his own skin, and the moment he hears there is
something crooked about his companion he will investigate for himself,
and if he finds there are good grounds for suspicion he will soon see
that the evil is remedied.
This may sound as though I were advocating a system where selfishness
rather than a just sense of honor must be the controlling motive; but
that is not the idea I intend to convey. No one recognizes more fully
than I do how greatly young men dislike to put themselves to any
trouble, especially in matters of this kind. I fear the average strictly
honest sportsman on a school team would do nothing to rid his eleven or
nine of a player whom he was fairly sure had no right to be there,
simply because it would necessitate his putting himself to some trouble,
and possibly subject himself to some unpleasantness.
It is for this reason that I so strongly approve of any honest incentive
that can be given to youthful energy, even if it has to work through
selfishness and "the first law of nature." Therefore I repeat that the
plan adopted by the executive committee is most excellent. It is like
cutting out a cancer. By removing all the players who were in company
with the guilty man they get rid of the possible good with the surely
bad, but they make room for new material that will certainly profit by
the lesson given to its predecessors. It seems to me that if this year
there is found on any New York interscholastic baseball team any player
who has no right to play, as was the case last year, the wiser method
will be to blacklist the whole team rather than to expel the school from
the association. Then, the following year, the school body will see to
it that there are no dishonest fellows wearing the school colors on the
field of honest sport.
The proposed in-door track-athletic meeting, to be held next month at
the Madison Square Garden under the auspices of the New Manhattan
Athletic Club, will be the first real interscholastic in-door meeting
that has ever been held in this city, and will consequently establish
in-door interscholastic records for the New York I.S.A.A. At present
the in-door scholastic records for this city are as follows:
_Sixty-yard Dash_--6 3-5 seconds, P. W. Simpson, Barnard, 1893; Junior,
7 2-5 seconds, D. M. Armstead, Berkeley, 1895, and G. Mayne, Barnard,
1895.
_Seventy-yard Dash_--7 4-5 seconds, T. H. Hall, Jun., Yale, 1895; H.
Moeller, Columbia Grammar, 1894; H. L. Patterson, Wilson and Kellogg,
1892; boys under fifteen years, 8 4-5 seconds, P. W. Simpson, Barnard,
1894; R. Thompson, Columbia Grammar, 1894; boys under thirteen years, 9
seconds, G. G. Soper, Berkeley, 1894.
_Seventy-five-yard Dash_--Boys under fifteen years, 8 3-5 seconds, T. H.
Hall, Jun., Yale, 1892.
_One-hundred-yard Dash_--10 3-5 seconds, T. H. Hall, Jun., Yale, 1895;
Junior, 11 1-5 seconds, W. Wilson, Barnard, 1895.
_Two-hundred-and-twenty-yard Dash_--25 4-5 seconds, R. W. Moore,
Barnard, 1895, and P. W. Simpson, Barnard, 1894; Junior, 28 seconds, W.
Wilson, Barnard, 1895.
_Four-hundred-and-forty-yard Run_--54 1-5 seconds, C. Martin, Berkeley,
1894.
_Eight-hundred-and-eighty-yard Run_--2 minutes 14 2-5 seconds; C.
Martin, Berkeley, 1894.
_One-mile Run_--4 minutes 55 4-5 seconds, L. Tappin, Cutler, 1895.
_One-mile Walk_--7 minutes 37 4-5 seconds, G. L. Berget, Berkeley, 1892.
_One-mile Bicycle Race_--2 minutes 46 seconds, W. H. Blake, Harvard,
1894.
_Sixty-yard Hurdle Race_--7 3-5 seconds, S. A. Lyme, Barnard, 1894, and
Von Bour, Barnard, 1895.
_Seventy-yard Hurdle Race_--9 seconds, H. F. Willney, Harvard, 1894, and
W. B. Rogers, Barnard, 1894.
_Seventy-five-yard Hurdle Race_--9 1-5 seconds, E. W. Brooks, Harvard,
1892; Junior, 10 2-5 seconds, J. D. Pell, Cutler, 1892.
_One-hundred-yard Hurdle Race_--13 seconds, S. A. Lyme, Barnard, 1895.
_Two-hundred-and-twenty-yard Hurdle Race_--31 4-5 seconds, E. M. Brooks,
Harvard, 1892.
_High Jump_--5 feet 8 1-2 inches, S. A. W. Baltazzi, Harvard, 1895.
_Putting the Twelve-pound Shot_--37 feet 5 inches, E. Bigelow, Wilson
and Kellogg, 1895.
_Pole Vault_--9 feet 4 inches, E. F. Simpson, Barnard, 1895.
These are the records, therefore, some of which we may look to see
broken at the big meeting in March. The rules that are to govern
eligibility of contestants are, as I announced last week, to be those of
the New York I.S.A.A. They are as follows:
"_Art. XI. Sec. 1_. No one shall represent any school as a competitor in
any athletic contest who has not been a member of that school from the
1st of January of the school year in which the contest is held; or who
has actually been paid wages for services during the school year; or who
has been enrolled as a member of any college; or who has attained the
age of twenty years; or who is not in good standing with the Amateur
Athletic Union of the United States. _Sec. 2_. Having been a member of
the Sub-Freshman Class of the College of the City of New York does not
debar a scholar from competing.
The game of basket-ball is a comparative innovation this winter, but in
many sections of the country it has sprung into great popularity. In New
England, especially, is this the case. The reason for the game's success
is that it offers to those who wish to keep in training during the
winter months an ideal recreation, affording a greater variety of
exercise than any other kind of gymnasium work. It furnishes an
opportunity for all-round physical development such as cannot result
from even a systematic use of dumbbells, Indian clubs, and
pulley-weights.
Another reason why basket-ball has become popular is that it may be
played upon any kind of a ground, in-doors or out-doors, in a gymnasium,
a hall, a back yard, or a ten-acre lot, on a dancing-floor or a stubble
field. I have seen the game played in a room 12x20 feet, and I have
known it to be played on a football field. Furthermore, it is allowable
for any number of men to join in a game, although the regulation number
of players for a team is five on a side. Where a match is not being
contested the number on a side may be increased to the capacity of the
field, and two balls may be used. This adds to the fun, perhaps, but, of
course, the true science of the game is then lost.
Let us consider basket-ball merely as an in-door game for the present.
It is probable that wherever the game may be taken up it will be played
in a gymnasium. The floor should be well cleared of all apparatus, and
if there is a running track around the building the baskets may be hung
upon it, or, if there is no track, they may be suspended from the wall,
ten feet above the ground. The "baskets" now most generally used consist
of hammock nets of cord, eighteen inches deep, suspended in metal rings
eighteen inches wide. Any kind of basket of that approximate size,
however, will answer just as well. The ball is round, and made of an
inflated rubber bladder covered with leather, and it should be between
thirty and thirty-two inches in circumference. It may be just as well to
insert at this point that the object of the game is for the men of one
team to put the ball into their opponents' goal. This may be done by
tossing or throwing or batting the ball from any part of the field with
one or both hands. Boundary-lines must be drawn around the room several
feet from the walls, and when the ball goes outside of these lines it is
out of bounds.
The game is started by the referee, who throws the ball into the middle
of the field. It is then in play--as in polo. The energies of the
players are exerted toward getting the ball into their opponents' goal
or basket, but no player may kick the ball or run with it. He must throw
it from the spot on which he catches it, although allowance is made for
momentum in a running catch. Shouldering, holding, pushing, tripping, or
striking is, of course, not allowed, the penalty for such conduct being
a foul called, with disqualification for the second offence. A player
has the right to take the ball at any time while it is in the field of
play, but he may only touch the ball, and not the opponent.
The ball goes out of bounds when it crosses the line drawn about the
field of play. When this happens it is returned by the side first
holding it. The man who "throws" it in may do this by bounding the ball
in, or by throwing it to some one on the field, or by rolling it in. He
is allowed five seconds in which to do this, and if he holds the ball
longer, it goes to the opposing side. If the referee is in doubt as to
which side first held the ball, he throws it in himself.
A goal is counted when the ball is thrown or batted from the ground into
the basket directly, or by a rebound from the sides, and stays there. If
it bounces out there is no goal; but if while the ball is on the edge of
the basket the basket is moved by an opponent, a goal shall be scored.
The time of play is forty minutes, divided into two halves of twenty
minutes each, and the side scoring the greatest number of goals in this
time wins.
The officials of the game are a referee, two umpires, a scorer, and a
time-keeper. The referee is judge of the ball, and decides when it is in
play, to whom it belongs, and when a goal has been made. He also
appoints the time-keeper. The umpires are the judges of the men, call
fouls, notify offenders, and have the right to disqualify players. A
foul called by one umpire may not be questioned by the other. A great
deal of responsibility thus rests upon the umpires, for it is in their
power to keep roughness out of the game, and to see that science rather
than brute force becomes the chief road to success.
It is evident that basket-ball is a game capable of great scientific
development. It is by no means child's play. It is a sport in which
team-work counts fully as much as in football, and where individual
brilliancy must become secondary to concerted effort. This very season,
in several important games, the value of team-play has been made
evident, and its superiority has been conclusively shown. Basket-ball is
certainly a game to be favored. It is the ideal competitive sport for
gymnasium recreation; and for dwellers in cities, who must nowadays get
most of their exercise in a gymnasium, it ought to be welcomed with
enthusiasm.
At Andover there seems to be some hesitancy about joining the
interscholastic league newly organized by Lawrenceville and the Hill
School. Andover's objection seems to be valid, being based on the fact
that she already belongs to the New England I. S. A. A., and is in a
dual league with Worcester. This brings Andover also into the National
Association, and a large faction in the school considers that those
applications will furnish all the opportunities for contests that the
team will be able to accept.
THE GRADUATE.
[Illustration: STAMPS]
This Department is conducted in the interest of stamp and coin
collectors, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question
on these subjects so far as possible. Correspondents should address
Editor Stamp Department.
H. WANGELIN.--See ROUND TABLE, December 17, 1895. The cent you
describe is worth 5c.
M. H. HORN.--It is a Hungarian stamp, worth 1c.
BRITISH.--The coin is Portuguese, not Spanish. The English coins
are not collected in this country.
W. J. KERRIS.--Your stamp is a counterfeit. No rule in
stamp-collecting is more rigid than that not to buy rare stamps of
any one except of responsible dealers, unless you are an expert,
and are acquainted with both the counterfeits and the genuine
stamps.
M. H. STILES.--The 2-cent U. S. stamps are printed in sheets of 400
stamps, four "panes" of 100 each. On the outside margins, between
the panes, are "guide lines," showing where to cut the sheet apart.
H. HASPERS.--1. Any one can buy or sell stamps without a license.
2. Most collectors now keep all the shades of the current U. S.
stamps. 3. English stamps are usually printed in sheets of 240
stamps. Some collectors make up entire sheets, but that is unusual.
4. Pomeroy, Boyd, etc., are U. S. local express stamps, all used
before 1882. 5. Wuher, Corea, etc., are not worth collecting. 6.
Escuelas are school-tax stamps.
H. MOORHEAD.--It is a token, not a coin, and has no particular
value.
G. E. J.--The cents can be bought at a dealer's for 5 or 10 cents
each. The $3 gold piece has no premium, as it is one of the common
dates.
HALL KING.--All collectors avoid cut postal-cards, and most
collectors refuse the Seebacks, unnecessary issues condemned by the
S.S.S.S., and many will not collect surcharges, but this last is a
matter of choice only.
A. G. S.--The 5c. piece without the word "cents" is quoted by
dealers at 10c. The 1834 cent, small letters, is worth 50c., the
other two varieties of 1834 are 10c. each. All the other dates
mentioned can be bought at about 5c. each.
F. BUTTMAN.--Dealers ask 50c. each for the Columbian quarter.
E. STRAMBERG and L. MCHUGH.--No premium.
J. O'NEAL.--U. S. $3 gold pieces no premium. 1809 half-cent is
worth 10c.
MRS. PARK CHILD.--See ROUND TABLE, December 17, 1895, for value of
coins.
N. MARTIN.--Address the Dorchester, Massachusetts, Stamp Exchange
direct. I do not know any more definite address.
AMY ROGERS.--The 5c. Playing Cards, U.S. Revenue, are sold by
dealers at 50c. each.
J. SUGDEN.--The 3c. U.S., 1869, is worth 2c. The 7c. U.S. with
Stanton's portrait is worth 30c.
H. MARSH.--The 5c. nickel without "Cents" is very common.
MARY H. HARTMAN.--We do not buy or sell either coins or stamps. The
coins and stamps quoted in the _Handy Book_ are the prices asked by
dealers. Age has nothing to do with value. For instance, the 1804
dollar would be cheap if bought by a collector for $500, whereas a
1798 dollar would be dear at $3. Old foreign coins, as a rule, are
worth their weight in metal only.
L. G. VARNEY.--The English coin is worth face only. For value of
cents and half-cents, U.S., see ROUND TABLE, December 17, 1895.
A. L. POISSON.--The three-cornered Cape of Good Hope shilling is
worth $2.50 if with good margins, etc.
F. R. SABINE.--The stamp is the U.S. 3c., 1851 issue, worth 2c. The
original color was red, but it has oxydized.
CORRESPONDENT, BARRIE.--The stamps are not very valuable. They
would answer very well for exchange purposes with any of your
friends who are collecting.
ADELE B. CRAMER.--It is impossible to identify the stamps from your
description. I should advise you to purchase a stamp catalogue from
a dealer.
C. H. TREAT.--For list of U. S. coins see ROUND TABLE, December 17,
1895, and January 14, 1896.
H. W. KNIGHT.--See answer to C. H. Treat.
H. BERNEDELO.--No! Dealers sell it at 5c.
J. RADBURN.--The guinea is worth $5. It is not rare.
F. FRENCH.--The revenues are worth 1 cent each. The 3-cent postage
due, buff, is worth 5 cents.
C. ARMSTRONG, Pre-emption, Illinois, desires to exchange stamps.
M. S. MAYER.--Honduras, Nicaragua, Salvador, Costa Rica, etc., use
Seebeck stamps.
CONNER, FLORIDA.--No name signed to letter. I would advise you to
buy a stamp catalogue.
P. F. LISK.--List of U. S. coins from 1 cent to 20 cents will be
found in the ROUND TABLE dated December 17, 1895. The dollar gold
pieces are sold by dealers at $1.50 each.
A. HALL.--Fashion plays a great part in the value of stamps. Just
at present the fashion is for old West Indian and British North
American colonials. Consequently the rarities are advancing in
price very rapidly.
PHILATUS.
* * * * *
THE SECOND SUMMER,
many mothers believe, is the most precarious in a child's life;
generally it may be true, but you will find that mothers and physicians
familiar with the value of the Gail Borden Eagle Brand Condensed Milk do
not so regard it.--[_Adv._]
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Reader: Have you seen the
* Franklin *
* Square *
Collection?
It is a Collection which no one who loves music should fail to own; it
should find a place in every home. Never before, it may truthfully be
said, has a song book been published at once so cheap, so good, and so
complete.--_Colorado Springs Gazette._
This Song Collection is one of the most notable enterprises of the kind
attempted by any publisher. The brief sketches and histories of the
leading productions in the work add greatly to the value of the
series.--_Troy Times._
Sold Everywhere. Price, 50 cents; Cloth, $1.00. Full contents, with
Specimen Pages mailed, without cost, on application to
Harper & Brothers, New York.
[Illustration: Thompson's Eye Water]
[Illustration: BICYCLING]
The Editor will be pleased to answer any question on the subject.
Our maps and tours contain much valuable data kindly supplied from
the official maps and road-books of the League of American
Wheelmen. Recognizing the value of the work being done by the
L. A. W., the Editor will be pleased to furnish subscribers with
membership blanks and Information so far as possible.
[Illustration: Copyright, 1896, by Harper & Brothers.]