Willum Smitzer he jess remarked, 'Warum und wohin?' w'ich are low Dutch
for 'W'ere are I at?' An' me, I didn't say nothin'; cos w'y, there
weren't no use. The nex' mornin' the gale were all over, an' there we
was. I went to the mast-head fur to have a look, an' away down three
miles furder into the bloomin' stuff than we was I seed another ship
with her upper masts gone, w'ich the same I reported to Cap'n Peleg
Mahoney. With that he sez he b'lieves we could walk on the bloomin'
crust, an' he sends a hand over the side to try. Walk! W'y, blow me fur
pickles ef ye couldn't 'a' built a house onto it. So the Cap'n he allows
as how it were our dooty fur to l'arn wot we could about that there
other ship. Accordin'ly him an' me an' Willum Smitzer started off
together. We got about half-way w'en we seed men comin' from the other
ship to meet us. That were mos' supprisin', cos she looked so fur in we
thort she must 'a' bin there fur years. W'en the men come up one on 'em
sings out,
"'Wot ship are that?'
"Cap'n Mahoney told him, an' then sez he, 'You're not bound fur nowhere
now.' But Cap'n Mahoney sez he to he, sez he, 'We wuz comin' to see
you.' An' sez I to he, sez I, 'How d'ye git hove so fur in?'
"'Oh, that are easy explained,' sez he to me, sez he; 'we got in four
year ago, an' the bloomin' stuff are growed furder out since then.'
"'You bin here four years?' sez I.
"'Them's it,' sez he. 'Come along over an' see our farm.'
"'Your farm!'
"'Yep. We're farmers now, an' we raises crops as 'd make an Ohio
farmer's eyes fall out o' his head. Come along.'
"Cap'n Peleg Mahoney he looks at me an' I looks at he, an' then we
starts ahead fur to see this 'ere farm on top o' a crust o' wegetables
with two thousan' fathom o' water underneath.
"'Wot started ye to farmin'?' sez I.
"'Want o' grub,' sez he. 'I are the Cap'n o' the farm; cos w'y, I used
to be Cap'n o' the ship. W'en the grub commenced fur to run low, sez I,
we'd better see how we kin raise some more. Werry good. An' so I plants
a few seeds, an' there you are.'
"'An' they come up all right on this 'ere floatin' perairie?'
"'Come up! Wait till you see our farm.'
"So we walked on an' on, an' putty soon we see some stuff like grass
a-growin', only it were about six feet high, an' each blade as thick as
a six-inch hawser.
"'Wot are that?' sez I.
"'That are wheat,' sez the Cap'n o' the farm.
"'Fender Saint Grease!' sez Cap'n Peleg Mahoney, jess like that, the
same bein' French fur 'I sart'nly are supprised.'
"'How'd ye like to pluck some o' 't an' see the grain?' axes the other
Cap'n.
"'Goot!' sez Willum Smitzer, sez he.
"So the other Cap'n he pulls off a stalk an' han's it to Cap'n Peleg
Mahoney, w'ich the same he husks out a grain, an' we all stood a-starin'
at it as ef we see a ghost."
"Why?" demanded George.
"W'y, cos it weren't nothin' more or less nor a hard clam."
"A hard clam in wheat!" exclaimed both boys.
"That are wot," replied the Old Sailor, solemnly. "Every grain o' that
'ere wheat were a hard clam. The other Cap'n sez he to Cap'n Peleg
Mahoney, sez he, 'That are the way wheat comes up out here. We grinds
them grains up into flour an' makes reg'lar ginuwine sea-biscuit out o'
them. They tastes o' the sea fur sure. Come over this way an' I'll show
you our rye.' He tuk us along to a field o' rye, an w'en we opened one
o' them stalks wot d'ye s'pose were in 'em?"
"Oysters?" inquired George.
"Not so werry good," answered the Old Sailor; "sardines--bloomin' little
oily sardines. It were the ryest rye I ever see. Then the other Cap'n he
tuk us over to his orchard. He sez, sez he, 'I set out here some young
peach-tree slips wot I had aboard, an' the trees growed right up sixty
feet high in two days. The third day they was in blossom, an' in two
weeks they commenced fur to bear, an' they bin bearin' ever since. Have
a peach?' An' with that he reached up an' picked--wot d'ye s'pose?"
"What?" asked the boys, eagerly.
[Illustration: THE TOMATTER VINES RIZ YOUNG LOBSTERS.]
"A bluefish--a big fat six-pound bluefish. 'Name of grace!' sez Cap'n
Peleg Mahoney, sez he; an' Willum Smitzer he sez, sez he, 'Donner und
blitzen,' w'ich the same it are Dutch fur, 'Squalls to leeward.' Waal,
them sailor-farmers they tuk us all over the farm an' showed us the mos'
picooliar crops wot any one ever seed in this 'ere world, an' ye can see
a good many queer things 'ere ef ye jess keep your weather eye
a-liftin'. They had strawberry bushes wot gave boiled red snapper, an'
potato beds w'ere they dug up mussels. The tomatter vines riz young
lobsters, an' the cucumbers was eels. The cherry-trees gave shrimps, an'
scollops growed onto gooseberry bushes. Then the other Cap'n axed us fur
to go an' eat dinner with 'em aboard their ship farm-house. O' course we
accepted. But afore we got half-way through the dinner we was all sick;
cos w'y, everythin' tasted so all-fired fishy. Then the farmer Cap'n he
got mad, an' sez he to we, sez he,
"'Ef ye don't like our grub ye can go back to yer own ship.'
"'Three beans,' sez Cap'n Peleg Mahoney, that bein' French fur 'Werry
good.'
"'An' don't ye ever come here again,' sez the other Cap'n.
"'Nicht an sein leben,' sez Willum Smitzer, that bein' Dutch fur 'Not ef
we knows ourselves.' An' with that we went over the side an' started fur
home. An' them fellers throwed overripe strawberries an' termatters at
us till we looked like cod-fishermen. We went back to our ship an' told
our men about it, an' they sez that nex' day they was a-goin' over an'
break up that farm. But 'twarn't so to be. In the night it came on to
blow from the opposite quarter, an' the anchor watch called all han's,
sayin', the ice--the land--the wotever ye call 't are a-breakin' up.' We
all turned out an' found the ship in the water an' drivin' clear o' the
stuff. We got sail on her an' hove her to, but she jess blowed away to
leeward. In the mornin' we could make out the Saragossa Sea away up to
windward, an' could see the tops o' them bluefish-trees a-wavin' in the
gale; but we couldn't never git back there. An', my sons," added the Old
Sailor, very solemnly, "I don't b'lieve that no other ships 'ceptin' the
_Ham Bone_ an' that farm-house ship are ever bin there."
[Illustration: INTERSCHOLASTIC SPORT]
Our discussion of National I.S.A.A.A.A. affairs last week was closed
over the question of suitable grounds. As I said at the time, there are
so many factors which enter into this that we should be careful about
coming to a hasty conclusion, and whatever is said here on the subject
should be understood as coming without prejudice. The grounds of the
Columbia Oval do not seem to be so good, either from the point of view
of the athlete or from that of the spectator, as those of the Berkeley
Oval or Manhattan Field. I think that if the National games had been
held at either of the latter places the crowd would have been three or
four times as large. New-Yorkers are familiar with, and know how to
reach, both Manhattan Field and the Berkeley Oval; but there are very
few occasions that call them to the Columbia Oval. Many persons who are
more or less interested in athletics might have gone to the Columbia
Oval if they had known just where it was and just how to get there; but
they did not go because so few athletic events are conducted at Williams
Bridge that this class of spectators did not take the trouble to find
out where the Columbia Oval is.
It is important to have as large a crowd as possible at a National
Interscholastic meeting, and every effort should be made, therefore, to
secure such a crowd. If we believe that a larger crowd would go to
Manhattan Field or to the Berkeley Oval than to the Columbia Oval, we
ought to have the National games at one of these two places, unless the
expense of hiring the grounds puts them out of the question. It has
become a sort of tradition in and around New York that the Berkeley Oval
is the place to hold school and college sports. School and college
sports have been held on the Oval almost exclusively for the past ten
years, until this last spring, when the Intercollegiates went to
Manhattan Field. The latter place, however, would not be the best one
for interscholastic matches of any kind, for many reasons. No crowd that
an interscholastic event could draw would ever fill those stands, and
the expense of hiring Manhattan Field would doubtless be much greater
than any interscholastic association could afford.
[Illustration: Ingalls. Bradin. Luce (Capt.). Strong. Wolfe. Morris.
Blakeslee.
Sturtevant. Condon. Brown.
CONNECTICUT TEAM AT THE N.I.S.A.A. GAMES, 1896.]
The Berkeley Oval, however, can be secured for less money for school
games, because Dr. White is usually willing to meet school-boys
half-way. Furthermore, the Berkeley Oval, although within the limits of
New York city, is more or less in the country, and the atmosphere of the
place savors less of professional baseball and horse-fairs. There is
more of a lawn-party air about the Berkeley Oval than could be obtained
under any conditions beneath the elevated railroad station at 155th
Street, and there are lots of green trees and plenty of grass, and many
other advantages which one associates with field days and similar
events.
It may justly be said that for rural advantages the Columbia Oval can
hardly be placed second to the Berkeley Oval; but there is a line to be
drawn somewhere, even in rural advantages, and I think it is well to
draw that line at climbing over stone walls in Williams Bridge. But this
question of choice of grounds is so much entangled with the other
question--that of having the games conducted by a club--that it is
difficult, when discussing one, not to take the other into account. The
school-boys ought not to criticise the convenience of the Columbia Oval
when they consider that they were there by the courtesy of the
Knickerbocker Athletic Club (which, by-the-way, is the name by which the
New Manhattan Athletic Club is henceforth to be known).
It may be well to state, therefore, that whatever has been said in this
Department about grounds for next year's National meeting has been said
without any intention of reflecting in any way whatever upon the
Knickerbocker Athletic Club's position at this year's meeting, and
without any consideration whatever for what either Dr. White or Mr.
Freedman may think of the advisability of leasing their grounds next
season to the N.I.S.A.A. The question of advertising or of personal
interest does not come into this discussion at all.
As to whether it is a good plan for the National games to be again
conducted by a club, or by any organization other than the National
Association itself, is a question that cannot be decided without the
most careful thought and serious discussion. It was undoubtedly well to
have the first meeting of the N.I.S.A.A.A.A. managed by a club, for if
this had not been done, it is very probable that there would have been
no field day at all, or, at best, an unsuccessful one.
There was considerable opposition among the school-boys of New York
against having the Knickerbocker Athletic Club take charge of the event,
and I know that there is considerable dissatisfaction now over the way
the meet was conducted. The complaints, however, all come from those who
took no part whatever in the contests, and who had no further interest
in the games beyond being spectators; and their complaints, therefore,
deserve but little attention. The question is not so much to find where
the club fell short in its efforts, as to point out where matters may be
mended on future occasions. If the Knickerbocker A.C. did not carry out
the school-boys' ideas in the way the school-boys think this should have
been done, or if they believe that they themselves can do better, they
should attempt the entire management of the games next year.
It would be very much better, of course, not to have the games managed
by a club, if the officers of the National Association could spare the
time to look after the preliminary details of the meet. But there are so
many other things that must take up the attention of school-boys in the
spring months that it is difficult for them to spare the time necessary
for the successful management of so great an undertaking as a National
meet. We all of us recognize the fact that studies should come first.
But after the studies there is always plenty of time, and there always
should be plenty of time, for young men to indulge in other enterprises.
It is good that they should have divers interests. It is excellent that
they should go into the management of athletic organizations, and that
they should indulge in sports of all kinds, for in both these pastimes
they are gaining valuable experience,--experience which some people rank
equal in importance with book knowledge.
It is usually the case, however, that the young men who are officers of
the National Association are also officers of their own local athletic
associations. This gives them double work. They have plenty of time to
manage their own meets and field days, without being overburdened and
without taking time from necessary work. But when they add to these
responsibilities the management of a National Association, they are
taking on considerable extra responsibility, and unless the particular
young men have strong business capability, they are undertaking more
than they can accomplish. It might be well, for this reason, that the
officers of the National Association be chosen from men who hold no
offices in their own associations. From a practical standpoint, however,
this might not be a good plan, because the best workers and the men with
the greatest executive ability are chosen as officials of the local
associations, and it is most important that these men with the greatest
executive ability should also be at the head of the National
Association.
But there is another plan by which the National games might be managed
without the assistance of a club, and if this plan could be successfully
carried out, it would undoubtedly be better than any that I have as yet
heard mentioned. It is the old idea of graduate assistance. In every
city there are a number of college and school graduates who take a
lively interest in the sports of the schools and the colleges, and who
are always willing to give more or less of their time to the management
of athletics. Up to the present time, in school athletics, this interest
and assistance has largely been shown by the graduates acting as
officials, because the management of the games has not been complicated
enough to require their aid in the preliminary work. But in National
matters it is different.
If the schools of New York, and the schools of Boston and Hartford and
Philadelphia could get one or two graduates who would be willing to
assist the Executive Committee of the National Association in the
organization of the annual spring games, it is more than probable that
the event could be made a greater athletic and social success than in
any other manner. The graduates would have more experience in business
affairs than the school-boys, and business men would probably be more
willing to enter into contracts with the graduates than with the school
committee--and I am sure, from my own experience when I was at school,
that every scholar would much prefer to have the contracts undertaken by
others who would be willing to assume all responsibilities.
By dividing the preliminary executive work between the Executive
Committee from the schools and the graduate committee, no one would be
overworked, and everything necessary to the success of the day would be
done. This would be an ideal plan. The only trouble is to get the
graduates. This is an obstacle that can be easily overcome if the search
is begun at once. Mr. Evert Wendell, of this city, is a very good man to
go to first. He has had wide experience in interscholastic matters, and
there is no one who has better judgment than he in these affairs; and we
all know that no graduate has given more time and more valuable
assistance to school athletes than he has. He would undoubtedly be able
to suggest the names of other gentlemen in other cities who would be
willing to undertake to aid the Executive Committee of the National
Association.
If it should be found that this plan could not be carried out, then it
will be time to discuss the questions of club management and purely
school-boy management, but until the other scheme has been found
impossible, I think it would be well to keep it in mind. There is one
more subject that this Department wishes to touch upon in connection
with the National games, and that is the officials. But so much space
has already been taken up this week with N.I.S.A.A.A.A. matters that the
discussion of this question of officials will have to be postponed until
next time.
The athletes of the Berkeley School may justly feel proud of the record
they have made this year. They have taken every championship in the New
York I.S.A.A.--football, track athletics, tennis, and baseball. In
baseball the Berkeley nine was not defeated in any of the championship
games; and in addition to this, the team secured a number of important
victories over strong teams not in the League.
The result of the championship series is as follows:
First Section. Games Won. Games Lost.
De La Salle 3 0
Barnard 2 1
Cutler 1 2
Condon 0 3
Second Section.
Berkeley 3 0
Columbia Grammar 2 1
Trinity 1 2
Hamilton 0 3
The championship game between Berkeley School and De La Salle was won by
the former.
[Illustration: Williams. Groom. Baugh. Willing. Graves.
Thackara. Fuller. Morris (Capt.). Seymour. Henry.
DE LANCEY SCHOOL, PHILADELPHIA, BASEBALL TEAM.]
The Berkeley nine was very strong in batting, its record being 107 base
hits out of 214 times at bat, or a base hit every other time. The best
individual batting average of the League, however, is held by Markell of
Trinity--1000. His nearest rival is Hetzel of Barnard, whose average is
778, and the nearest Berkeley man to the top of the list is Wiley, who
earned an average of 667. A number of players on the several teams
secured an average of 1000 in fielding, but the best showing made by any
individual was that of Gilchrist of De La Salle, who had 33 put-outs, 2
assists, and no errors. Berkeley's field-work was also very high, the
average for the season being 924.
The Long Island championship went to St. Paul's again this year,
although Brooklyn High-School and Adelphi both put up a strong
fight--much stronger than they did last year. Brooklyn High finished
second, and Poly. Prep., by making a strong brace, jumped into third
place, the result being as follows:
Games Won. Games Lost.
St. Paul's 5 0
Brooklyn High-School 4 1
Poly. Prep. 2 2
Pratt Institute 2 2
Adelphi Academy 1 4
Brooklyn Latin School 0 5
The batting averages of the Long-Islanders are not so high as those made
on this side of the river, the best being Griswold's of Pratt
Institute--600. Higgins, also of Pratt, was a close second, his figures
being 579. A Brooklyn High-School player, Mulvey, stands first on the
list of fielding averages with 1000, his chances having been 54 put-outs
and 1 assist, with, of course, no errors. Starr of St. Paul's comes very
near to Mulvey, with 47 put-outs and 2 assists. The batting average of
500, made by Berkeley in the N.Y.I.S.B.B.A., is approached only as close
as 301 by Pratt Institute, whose team made the best batting average in
Brooklyn. Pratt made 50 base hits out of 166 times at bat; the winning
team of St. Paul's made only 41 hits with 141 times at bat. St. Paul's,
however, took first place in fielding average with 925, making only 12
errors out of 159 chances.
Englewood High-School took the championship of the Cook County
(Illinois) High-School League at the annual field day held June 26. Out
of a possible 141 points the winners scored 44, and the scores of the
other contesting teams were as follows:
1sts.--5. 2ds.--3. 3ds.--1. Total.
Englewood 5 6 1 44
English High 2 3 5 24
Hyde Park 2 3 0 19
Lake View 1 2 0 11
South Division 2 0 1 11
Manual Training 2 0 2 12
Winnetka 1 0 1 6
Austin 1 0 0 5
Oak Park 0 1 1 4
La Grange 0 1 1 4
West Division 0 0 1 1
John Marshall 0 0 0 0
Jefferson 0 0 0 0
The feature of the occasion was the colossal mismanagement of
everything. In the first place, the gentlemen who had been selected to
act as officials were not notified of the day and hour of the games, and
were consequently not on hand when the contestants and the crowd
gathered at the grounds. It was some time before it was discovered that
this was the reason why the officials did not appear. Then a
professional sprinter, who happened to be training on the track, was
called upon to act as starter, and a miscellaneous lot of men and boys
were chosen from among the spectators to fill the remaining positions.
The result was, of course, to be anticipated. Few of the ready-made
officials knew anything about the duties required of them, and so the
professional became referee, judge, inspector, time-keeper, measurer,
and marshal. The events dragged and dragged, and it was dark before the
last one was finished. Under such conditions the performance credited to
the young athletes cannot be looked upon with much confidence, although
the published figures show a fairly good standard of attainment.
Several of the Association records were lowered. Bascom of South
Division and Pingree of Hyde Park made the best individual showing of
the day, each taking two firsts. Bascom won both the mile and the
half-mile runs, and Pingree took the mile and five-mile bicycle events.
Culver of Winnetka was responsible for all that went to his school. He
won first place in the pole vault and third in the running broad jump.
Another interscholastic meet of considerable interest was that of the
Washington High-Schools, which came off on the Georgetown College
grounds a few weeks ago. The schools which sent teams were the Central,
Eastern, Western, and Business High-Schools. Central won with 73 points
out of a possible 88, having everything practically its own way. The
Central representatives took first place in every event, and more than
half the seconds. The best showing was made by Curtis, who took the low
hurdles and the high jump; Stuart, who took the half and the mile; and
Ruff, who got first in the 220 and the quarter. These Central
High-School athletes of Washington are a promising lot.
In the table of performances made at the Pittsburgh Interscholastic
A.A., published in HARPER'S ROUND TABLE No. 869, Bell, S.S.A., is
credited with winning the half-mile run. This is an error; that event
was taken by Atkinson of Park Institute. Atkinson was the only man
entered from his school, and certainly ought to get the credit due him
for his win.
"TRACK ATHLETICS IN DETAIL."--ILLUSTRATED.--8VO, CLOTH, ORNAMENTAL,
$1.25.
THE GRADUATE.
A BOY'S BRAVE ACT.
In one of the largest cities of the United States there is a trolley-car
line that crosses the tracks of a steam railroad. The usual rail gates
guard the crossing when trains are passing, but accidents have happened
there in spite of such precautions. Not long ago what would have been a
fearful catastrophe was narrowly averted by the presence of mind of a
little newsboy who sold papers at the station near the crossing. A
witness of the scene related the story to me. As in all cases of such
nature the facts are suppressed by the railroad companies, and it is
hard to obtain even the meagre details.
It was early in the morning, and a car with about twenty passengers on
board rolled up to the crossing, and proceeded to pass over the tracks
slowly, as they invariably do. The conducting-pole that extends from the
roof of the car to the charged wire overhead slipped from the wire when
the car was immediately over the tracks, causing it to come to a stop.
The conductor, who has charge of the rope that moves the pole, and hangs
down back of the car, vainly pulled it, trying to make the pole connect
with the wire. But the rope had caught in the roof of the car and jammed
itself in such a way that he was unable to see the cause of the trouble.
The passengers were growing nervous, and when the alarm-bell at the
crossing began ringing, announcing the approach of a train, they made a
wild stampede for the doors. They all tried to get out at once, but only
jammed themselves into a worse predicament.
A short distance down the track, and coming around the curve at full
speed, was a fast express, and it seemed but a question of a few moments
when the crash would come, and instantaneous death follow. The conductor
stuck bravely to his post, and the motorman, pale but firm, stood with
his hand on the key waiting for the electric current to start the car.
When the express was but a few yards distant, and amid the wild hoarse
screams of the frantic, struggling passengers, the car gave a sudden
bound forward over the crossing, and cleared the train by a foot or so.