wall that runs through it, and a dirt bunker at a good distance this
side of the putting-green. Both these obstacles, however, are placed so
as only to penalize the very poor player. Toward the eighth hole one
meets two more bunkers, that ought also to be easily handled by a fairly
experienced player. Thereafter comes what is said to be the longest hole
in the United States, the distance being 700 yards. The turf is fairly
clear, and crossed by two stone walls, and broken by a dirt bunker. It
is possible to clear the first stone wall on the drive, and a brassey
shot will bring the ball nearer the second. It is proposed to shorten
this last hole at an early date, and to lengthen the eighth to about 580
yards, making the two thus more nearly equal. As it is, the ninth hole
is an unsatisfactory one to play.
[Illustration: THE VAN CORTLANDT PARK GOLF LINKS.]
The trouble about crossing the next hazard is the danger of swinging to
the right and going into the tall grass, or even into the pond. Then
comes the bunker, and after that the course is clear. I am told that the
best record for this hole is 7, which is remarkably good. It is also
said that the best amateur record over this course is 42, but there is
nothing to show that this is a fact. Studwell's best figure was made in
the second round,--60; but Granbery made it in 57, making the record for
that tournament.
The rules adopted by the Milwaukee schools to govern interscholastic
sport are in some respects severe, but it is very probable that the
condition of affairs necessitated this stringency. Many of the students
are complaining that the 70-per-cent. standard in scholarship required
of all those who wish to take part in athletics is too high, and it is
very probable that next year this figure will be somewhat reduced. It
will not do any harm, however, for a short time, to bring things around
with a sharp turn, and to make high scholarship a condition of
participation in sport.
In looking over these new rules there are some which strike one as
somewhat peculiar. For instance, it is specified that nobody shall play
under an assumed name. That it has been necessary to insert such a
regulation proves conclusively that amateur sport must have fallen to a
pretty low ebb if boys would enter contests under names not their own.
But we know that this is done, and that it was shamefully done, by a
number of football-players in Chicago this last fall.
One of the new Milwaukee rules provides that "the principal of the
school, or persons authorized by him, shall be the manager or managers
of the teams representing the school." This is not a desirable change.
It is always best for schoolboys to manage their own sports, and if it
is found that they cannot or will not manage them properly and honestly
and in a sportsmanlike manner, then it is time for older heads to take a
hand in the proceedings. But even then it is not advisable to have head
masters as managers.
It is far better to let graduates of the school act as an advisory
board, and to empower graduates with sufficient power to control the
actions of the undergraduate managers. It is hardly possible to find any
school principal who can understand and be in thorough sympathy with the
boys in their athletics. A schoolmaster is bound to look at things from
a different point of view from his pupils, and he would naturally try to
reach an end, doubtless for good, in an entirely different way from that
which will appeal to the students.
On the other hand, graduates of the school, who are no longer affected
by the influences of active personal competition in sport, can better
understand the methods and feelings of the students and the requirements
of school athletics. They are closer to the boys than the professor can
possibly be, and they naturally inspire more confidence in the younger
men, because the latter feel that these graduates have a livelier
personal interest in sport itself than an older man can have, who has
probably never participated in any of these games. Furthermore, a number
of these graduates, who might be called upon as advisers, are probably
in college or have been through college, and have there acquired much
valuable experience in the conduct and management of athletics of all
kinds.
One of the chief elements to do away with in the management of sports,
especially where reforms are being undertaken, is friction; and there is
bound to be more or less friction between head master and pupils,
because their chief relations are so entirely different from the new
ones that are being inaugurated through athletics.
Among other suggestions proposed at the time these rules were adopted at
the Milwaukee schools was one that certain changes be made in the
football-playing rules. Fortunately, however, there was enough good
sense in the committee to overcome this proposition, and it was decided
that the intercollegiate football rules were plenty good enough for
Milwaukee.
A new departure in interscholastic sport is to be made by the East Side
High-School of Milwaukee this spring. It intends to put a crew on the
water. A number of men are already in training, and a racing-shell has
been secured. If an eight is eventually turned out, it will be the first
crew that ever represented a high-school in the West, and, so far as I
know, the first that ever represented any high-school in this country.
No particular progress has been made so far in the arrangements for the
Knickerbocker in-door games. It is probable that there will be a
relay-race for "juniors," which is an absurd and unnecessary event, as
most of these "junior" events are. If a boy is too young to compete in
the regular events at an athletic meeting, he is too young to go into
active competition at all, and it will do him more harm than good to
train at that age. I hope to see the day when these "junior" events will
be entirely done away with, and when boys under sixteen years of age
will be discouraged from competition with older lads. These youngsters
have plenty of time ahead of them, and their constitutions will be much
the better for it if they postpone athletic work until their muscles are
better able to stand the exertion.
A very good change that is to be inaugurated at these games is the
adoption of the regulation high hurdles--3 ft. 6 in.--instead of the
dwarfed obstacles that the New York I.S.A.A. has hitherto favored.
It is reported that the Harvard School will apply for readmission to the
New York Interscholastic League this spring. It is to be hoped that
there will be no opposition to this request, for it would be unjust to
keep a body of young men from participation in interscholastic sport
because of the mistakes of some misguided youths who attended the school
before they did, and for whose actions they should never, of course, be
held responsible.
Just as we are about to go to press I am informed that the Connecticut
Interscholastic Association has decided not to divide up the $400
surplus remaining in the treasury after the football season. The
officers of that Association are to be congratulated upon this action.
They will no doubt eventually realize that they have done much for the
good of amateur sport in Connecticut by keeping the money question as
far away as possible from athletic competition.
The Interscholastic skating-races held at the St. Nicholas Rink last
week were contested at too late a day to allow of proper comment in this
issue of the ROUND TABLE. Mention of them, therefore, will be reserved
until next week.
Ice polo has begun to be played among the Boston schools, the first game
of the season having been held in the last week of December. There were
several matches on the 21st of that month, Stoneham High defeating
Wakefield High, 1-0, English High First defeating English High Second,
2-1, and Somerville High defeating Medford High, 5-0.
A few days later Arlington High met Cambridge High and Latin, and took
them into camp, 2-1. Arlington's team-work was far superior to that of
the Cambridge men, and although the latter tried all sorts of changes in
their team, they were unable to withstand the fierce rushes of their
opponents. The same afternoon, on Spy Pond, Arlington met Winchester
High, and scored another victory, 3-0.
This Arlington H.-S. team is undoubtedly a very strong one, and is
putting up good polo this winter. On January 3 they met Cambridge Latin,
and defeated them, 6-0. Arlington's especially strong point is in
passing.
A very unsportsmanlike dispute has arisen between two schools of the
Worcester County South Football Association. Both the North Brookfield
H.-S. and the Southbridge H.-S. claim the championship of the League in
football, and so eager is each to write the word "championship" upon its
school banner that each seems to have lost its head in the discussion.
As to which school is entitled to this rather empty honor I am not
prepared to determine, although both parties have laid rather lengthy
arguments before me, but it would seem that North Brookfield has the
better claim.
A game was played early in the season between these two schools, in
which a member of Southbridge H.-S. acted as referee. His decisions
proved unsatisfactory to the North Brookfield players, and a squabble
ensued. As I understand it, the game was left undecided, with the score
favoring Southbridge. Later it was arranged that a second game should be
played by these two schools. It was played, and North Brookfield won,
4-0.
If this contest was held to settle the question that arose over the
first game, then the first can have no bearing on the championship, and
the final game alone counts as a championship game. But the defeated
players cannot see it this way, and the result is that both schools are
claiming everything in sight, and their mathematicians are juggling
figures to prove the case. This is one of the evils of the
"championship" system.
"TRACK ATHLETICS IN DETAIL."--ILLUSTRATED.--8VO, CLOTH, ORNAMENTAL,
$1.25.
THE GRADUATE.
ADVERTISEMENTS.
[Illustration: ROYAL]
[Illustration: ROYAL BAKING POWDER.]
Caring for your health, and studying simple, every-day economy, you will
see to it that no baking powder but the ROYAL enters your kitchen.
The low-grade, cheap powders contain alum and lime, and injuriously
affect the stomach and kidneys.
ROYAL BAKING POWDER CO., NEW YORK.
QUESTIONS FOR YOUNG MEN.
ON THE USE OF BOOKS.
M. Taine, the famous french essayist, once said that a book was only the
overflow of a man's mind; that his mind must be full of thoughts first
before anything could come out on paper, and that after the mind had
been filled to the brim a book overflowed. So that in reading any work
of great merit we must always read between the lines, and see how much
more the author meant to say than he did say, and how much care and
thought and study he must have put into it before it appeared in its
present form. Any one who understands books, therefore, has for them a
wholesome respect that approaches reverence, and you can estimate the
amount of brains a man has by the way he treats his books. If he tosses
them about, if he leaves them lying open, if he turns down the leaves,
you may be sure he uses them but little, and knows less about them and
what they contain. There is many a strong athlete and good fighter who
is as tender as a woman with his books. He loves to have them around, to
sit in the same room with loaded bookshelves, and to turn to them
occasionally. There you will find--in the room of the boy or man who
knows books--copies of this or that book, from the _Three Musketeers_ to
the Bible, pretty well worn, and showing that they are not merely once
read, but that they are companions to whom he turns when he feels blue,
when there is nothing else to do for the moment, when something is
bothering him about which he does not wish to think.
Another good remark somebody made once is that if you own books you do
not have to read them. That is, if you hear of a certain book, you say,
"I must get that out of the library and read it." If you do so, it is
necessary to read it at once and return it. If you can buy it, you read
what portion satisfies your particular want at the moment, and then
there it stands among your other good friends, always ready, like any
real friend, to serve you at a moment's notice in any way it can.
Indeed, it is a real friend, because it never deserts you, never goes
back on you, never changes, unless somebody borrows it, and that is not
the book's fault. The mere fact that your room is filled with books is a
good kind of influence, for there is something in the mere proximity of
books that makes a chap serious occasionally, and induces him to sit and
ponder once in a while in the midst of his grind, his sport, his daily
work, and his other and less valuable friends at school or college.
Then, too, in these days, when there are so many hundreds of books a
year and so many millions already published, it is utterly impossible to
try to read, as the old fellows in the later Middle Ages used to,
everything that is published. It is far better to re-read some good
familiar things again and again. They are good books, they are your
especial favorites, and you will seldom fail to find something new in
them each time you read them. It gives you a little idea of how much the
writing of them must have meant to their author if you can read them,
say, twenty times, and still go on finding something you had not
succeeded in discovering in them before.
Some day you will go to call upon a friend who is perhaps a good deal
older than you are, and finding him in his library, you will walk in and
come upon him standing at his bookshelves, with a volume in his hand. As
he stops reading or examining a book, he will sit down, talking with you
and handling the book carefully, smoothing down its outside cover, or
gently feeling the leaves between his thumb and forefinger. Then, as he
gets up to take down a book to show you, he will gently blow off the
dust from the top, in order that as he opens it no dirt shall go down
between the leaves, there to remain and work ruin like sand-paper. Such
a man understands books and has an affection for them. He may be a busy
merchant; he may be a lawyer; he may be a bookworm; but in all three
cases he is sure to be a refined, educated, more or less scholarly man,
because no one can live in the company of good books long and be
otherwise. It is a good plan for a schoolboy to begin to make his
library at once. Money spent in good books is never wasted, and no
sensible parent will check a reasonable desire for them. At college the
library will increase, and before you know it you will be starting in on
your work of life with one little room in your bachelor apartments or
your family home that is just as good as a teacher--better in many ways.
* * * * *
A PERSON TO BE AVOIDED.
There is one thing that every bicycler needs to look out for more than
for anything else, and that is the bicycle-thief. There is no denying
that he springs up everywhere, and his ingenuity is something to marvel
at. The latest device of these people is somewhat amusingly shown in a
story which comes to us from over the sea. It seems that a well-known
guards Colonel was exhibiting to an admiring group of ladies in
Battersea Park, the other morning, the excellences of a magnificent
bicycle, rumored to have cost an immense sum, when he was courteously
accosted by name by a well-dressed stranger, who ventured to admire the
wonderful machine. The stranger inquired as to the cost, and address of
the makers, and asked if he might mention the Colonel's name when
ordering a similar machine, a request to which the Colonel, who thought
that the stranger might be an acquaintance whose face he had forgotten,
immediately acceded. Then the stranger wanted to try the bicycle, and
the Colonel, proud that his machine should have created such an
impression, agreed to that proposition also. "I am only a novice, you
know," the stranger remarked, as he treadled feebly along in a
serpentine course; and then he mysteriously quickened his pace and began
to ride straight. He was out of sight in a minute, and the Colonel is
still waiting for him to return.
* * * * *
THE REPLY TO THE "DRUMMER."
Travellers in the buffet-car of the Chicago Limited have provided many
good stories for the delectation of readers. The following is a good
instance.
As the train pulled out of Chicago, a quiet, gentlemanly-looking man
entered the buffet-car, and ensconcing himself in a comfortable chair,
drew out a long cigar, and entered deeply into his paper. He remained so
quiet and retained his seat so long that another passenger, whose
hearing distinctly stamped him as a commercial travelling man, one of
the kind full of chatter and curiosity, could no longer restrain
himself. Addressing the quiet gentleman, he inquired, "Travelling East?"
Slowly removing his cigar the gentleman turned and looked at his
questioner with slightly elevated eyebrows, replying, "Yes."
"New York?"
"Yes."
"Pleasure?"
"Yes and no."
"Great place, New York. Ever been there before?"
"No."
"I'm going home this trip--New York, you know."
The gentleman made no reply but resumed his paper. After a little
silence the commercial man began again.
"I'm with C. & Co., on Broadway. If you drop in I'll show you over the
city."
"Thank you, it will not be necessary."
"Excuse me, but might I ask what you're going to New York for?"
By this time most of the other passengers were interested. The
gentleman, who was extremely annoyed at the drummer's curiosity, laid
down his paper, and exclaimed:
"I'm going to New York, first, because the train is taking me there;
second, because I've got lots of money and can afford it; and last,
because if I like the place I intend to buy it."
The commercial man subsided amidst a roar of laughter.
[Illustration: THE CAMERA CLUB]
Any questions in regard to photograph matters will be willingly
answered by the Editor of this column, and we should be glad to
hear from any of our club who can make helpful suggestions.
A HOME-MADE VIGNETTING-GLASS.
A short time ago directions were given for vignetting pictures, using
empty plate-boxes with an opening covered with tissue-paper. This is a
good way to vignette pictures, but a new box must be prepared for each
kind of vignette desired. By using a sheet of ground glass in a frame
and painting on it with a non-actinic paint, water-color paint, a
vignetting glass is made which is always ready for use by simply washing
off the paint and covering again, leaving the shape of the vignette
clear.
The frame for the glass may be of wood, or one can take an empty
plate-box a little larger than the printing-frame, cut out the bottom,
and put the glass in its place, gluing strips of cloth along the edge to
hold it in place. The ground side of the glass should be uppermost.
Mark on the glass with pencil the shape of the vignette, have some
Gihon's opaque--which is a non-actinic water-color--and paint the glass
with it, except in the place marked for the vignette. The paint should
be mixed quite thick and be applied evenly, so that the light cannot
shine through the glass except where the vignette is to be made. Along
the edges of the opening work the paint with a piece of moist surgeon's
cotton, which will give a soft effect in the printed picture. A new
vignette is made by washing the glass and applying the paint in a
different shape. This device for making vignetted pictures will be found
very handy, and one which can be easily prepared.
SIR KNIGHT W. RYERSON asks to have the rules of the competition
published; what the cause of the yellowish color is in the finished
negative; the expense of putting up a reasonable amount of toning
solution; and the necessary qualifications to belong to the Camera
Club. The competition rules were published in the ROUND TABLE for
October 6. The yellowish color in the negative is caused by the
unused silver salts not being thoroughly dissolved out of the film.
If a toning solution is prepared with chloride of gold and sodium
with bicarbonate of soda, it will cost 35c. for the chloride of
gold and sodium, and 5c. for the bicarbonate of soda. Put the 15
grs. of gold and soda into 7-1/2 oz. of water. This is the stock
solution. Put the bicarbonate of soda in water, using just enough
water to dissolve it. To make the bath for use, take 3-1/2 oz. of
water, and 1/2 oz. of the gold solution. Dip a piece of blue litmus
into the solution, and if it does not turn the paper red, add a
little more of the gold solution. Add to this a few drops of the
bicarbonate of soda, till it turns the litmus-paper back to blue.
Mix the bath half an hour before it is needed. To be a member of
the Camera Club one must be an amateur photographer. To join the
club, send name and address and state your wish to the editor of
the Camera Club.
SIR KNIGHT WILBUR T. HELM, JUN., and SIR KNIGHT HALL M. CROSSMAN
ask whether a pocket-kodak picture can be entered in the prize
competition, and which is the best film or plate. The pocket-kodak
pictures are under the size allowed, 4 by 5 being the smallest size
entered. The Stanley, Carbutt, Cramer, Seed, as well as other
standard makes, are all good plates. Eastman and Carbutt films are
both fine.
[Illustration: IVORY SOAP]
GEORGE WASHINGTON
By WOODROW WILSON, Ph.D., LL.D. Copiously Illustrated by HOWARD PYLE,
HARRY FENN, and Others. Crown 8vo, Cloth, Deckel Edges and Gilt Top,
$3.00.
What particularly strikes the reader in enjoying Professor Woodrow
Wilson's "George Washington" is the way the writer makes that
historic figure warm and vital for us.... This stimulating and
delightful historical study.... This work of Professor Wilson's
must be widely recognized as of great value, because of this
grasping of the salient features of Washington's life and
character, the features we all want to see.--_Hartford Courant._
We must now be content with a word of praise for its finished
literary workmanship, its accurate scholarship, and its high
patriotic ideal. We doubt if the career of Washington has ever
received worthier treatment at the hands of biographer, historian,
or political philosopher.--_Dial_, Chicago.
A familiar and delightful study of Washington.... We do not recall
a popular work on Washington of more graphic interest than
Professor Wilson's performance.--_Philadelphia Bulletin._
A VIRGINIA CAVALIER
A Story of the Youth of George Washington. By MOLLY ELLIOT SEAWELL.
Illustrated. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1.50.
An absorbing tale.... The account of Braddock's rout is an
admirable bit of descriptive writing. The style is warm and
polished, the characters are faithfully drawn, and there are
passages of intense interest in the book.--_Philadelphia Bulletin._
The youth of George Washington is treated in almost biographic
form, and certainly with lifelike effect.... The book is well
adapted to the needs of young people, giving them an admirable
picture of Washington's early home life.--_Pittsburg
Chronicle-Telegraph._
"HARPER'S ROUND TABLE" FOR 1896
Volume XVII. With 1276 Pages and about 1200 Illustrations. 4to Cloth,
Ornamental, $3.50.
An ably edited, well-balanced magazine, which presents valuable
history, art, and science, so interwoven with the best fiction and
sport as to make its pages as valuable as they are attractive and
entertaining. The "Round Table" has the correct idea of healthful
juvenile literature.--_Chicago Inter-Ocean._
The illustrations are plentiful and in the highest style of the
art, and the contributions--stories, poems, sketches, and
essays--are, as everybody knows, the best work that can be secured
by the leading authors and artists who write for
children.--_Hartford Courant._
A volume which comprises within its covers a whole young people's
library of history, science, literature, fiction, fun, etc., and a
whole gallery of pictures besides.--_Advance_, Chicago.
* * * * *
Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York
[Illustration]
A WONDERFUL SAIL.
Forty Dollars in Prizes to Readers Eighteen who can find out most about
this Trip.
'Tis said that few winds are so ill that they blow nobody any good, but
the wind that blew a recent hunting-party into the middle of the upper
Niagara River, and then over the falls, was an exception. It did nobody
any good. True, the victims of the tragedy were that Shakespearian
character (1) who lived in a group of Mediterranean isles; a Roman
satirist (2) who is always mentioned whenever a teacher is; and the
Greek philosopher (3) celebrated for wise sayings and just judgments,
who lived in a city renowned for its heroic resistance to barbarians.
"One of these never really lived and the other two died long years
agone, say you?" "Well, suppose they did. Pray don't spoil a story by
speaking at the wrong time."
These three persons went gayly out, undismayed by the warning on the
boat-house sign:
BOATS TO LET.
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