for Arthur, for he was well brought up, and he made a good friend in Sir
Ector's son Kaye, with whom he spent most of his time, and whom he
believed to be his brother, and when Uther died and it became necessary
to put some one in his place, he made his claims to the office of King
much greater by having to prove that he was fitted for it, not so much
because of the fact that he was Uther's son, which some ill-natured,
jealous Princes who wanted to be King said he was not, but because of
his wonderful prowess, which he showed when the time came. It was but
two years after Arthur was born that King Uther was taken sick, and all
the rebellious lords in his kingdom thought that the time had come for
them to rise up against him, but Merlin went to the King and told him
that even though he was ill it was necessary for him to go out and fight
the enemy, and Uther, sick as he was, went into the battle carried on a
litter and took command of his forces. Aided by two splendid knights,
who were among his closest friends, Sir Ulfius and Sir Brastias, Uther
fought a great battle at St. Albans with the forces from the North, in
which he was victorious, and after which he returned to London. Here
within a short while he died, first having gathered his Barons about
him, and at the suggestion of Merlin proclaimed his son Arthur his
successor. Then, as the chronicles tell, the kingdom was in great danger
for a long time. Years passed, and all the lords who were strong and
possessed of small armies of their own wished to make themselves King,
and doubtless one of them would have succeeded had it not been for
Merlin, who, when Arthur had become old enough to make his plans
possible, went to the Archbishop of Canterbury and persuaded him to
summon all the lords and gentlemen at arms to appear in London on
Christmas eve. Now these men all stood in great fear of the Archbishop,
because the Archbishop stood for the Church, and not one of them dared
disobey. So Christmas eve found them, one and all, gathered in London as
Merlin had wished, for Merlin hoped, in the words of the legend, that,
gathered on Christmas eve, the lords of the kingdom might by some
miracle from Heaven be shown who should become the rightful King of
England, in which hope he was not disappointed, as you will shortly
see."
[TO BE CONTINUED.]
[Illustration: INTERSCHOLASTIC SPORT]
The date of the dual games between Andover and Worcester Academies has
been definitely set for next Saturday, and the arrangements have been
put in charge of Colonel Sam Winslow, who was Captain of the champion
Harvard nine of 1885. These games, which were spoken of in greater
detail in this Department last week, will take place in Worcester on the
same day the Western Massachusetts I.S.A.A. will hold its annual track
and field meeting on Pratt Field, Amherst. From the interest already
manifest the latter should be the most interesting and profitable sports
ever held in that section. Monson Academy has won the championship for
the past three years, but the other schools of the League have now
determined to make a desperate effort to change the established order of
things. My opinion is that they will succeed, and that the pennant will
go either to Chicopee or to Springfield. It will be no walk over in any
case, for the Amherst, Westfield, and Holyoke High-schools have strong
men, and will make a good showing both on the track and in the field.
The 100-yard dash has always been a hard-fought race, and this year it
will be closer than ever. E. J. Murphy, of Springfield H.-S., will
probably win, however, with Schute of Westfield second, and Phillips of
Monson third. The same men will dispute the places in the 220. Kennedy
of Springfield H.-S. ought to take the quarter, although he will not, by
any means, have an easy victory, for Schute, in spite of his many
previous heats in the dashes, will run hard. Thayer of Holyoke is a
pretty sure winner in the half-mile. In practice he has covered the
distance in 2.07, and I feel confident that he can do better in public.
Christy of Monson is the best man for the mile. Last year he ran in 4
min. 38 sec. on time, but injured his ankle just previous to the
I.S.A.A. meeting, and then covered the distance in 4 min. 55 sec. Shea
of Chicopee H.-S. has covered 19 feet in broad jumping, and ought to win
that event Saturday. Scott of Westfield H.-S. will take the high jump,
and ought to clear at a good figure, as he did 5 ft. 7-1/2 in. in-doors
last winter. The pole vault will furnish a hot struggle between Smith of
Springfield H.-S., Bryant of Chicopee H.-S., Austin of Monson Academy,
and Scott. The winner will have to go 10 feet, and I should not wonder
if the best performance even exceeded that mark.
The Western Massachusetts Association, in addition to a one-mile bicycle
race, has a half-mile event for the wheelmen, and Elmer of Chicopee
H.-S. is expected to finish first in both of these. Sullivan of Holyoke
H.-S. and Pike of Springfield H.-S. will get places. In the hurdles,
Phillips of Monson and Baker of Amherst are about even, and their race
will be as exciting a contest as the day will afford. They will be
closely pushed by Barry of Chicopee H.-S. and Stiler of Westfield H.-S.,
both of whom are strong runners and clever at clearing the sticks. In
the weight events the Monson men will try to maintain the record they
established by winning first place in both for the past five years.
Austin has put the shot nearly 35 ft., and may do better, but he will
have formidable rivals in O'Connor of Holyoke H.-S., Spence of Chicopee
H.-S., and Winslow of Amherst H.-S., all of whom can do better than 30
ft. But Chisem will, beyond a doubt, take the hammer event, with
O'Connor second, and Bush of Westfield H.-S. third.
[Illustration: GERMANTOWN ACADEMY BASEBALL NINE.]
The championship of the Pennsylvania Inter-academic Baseball League was
decided on Friday, May 24th, when Germantown Academy defeated the
Cheltenham Military Academy nine at Stenton. This is the second
consecutive time that the Germantown team has taken the pennant with a
clean record of victories, and this last victory of theirs is all the
more creditable because of the strength of the opposing team. The
feature of the players' work the past season has been the pitching and
batting of McCarty, the fielding of Captain Sharpe at short-stop, and
the strong batting of the entire nine. All their victories have been won
by heavy hitting at opportune moments. On Friday especially McCarty
distinguished himself. In addition to making three hits that were
factors in the victory, he struck out fifteen of the Cheltenham batters.
Lamberton, who was in the box for the soldiers, also pitched a good
game, but he was so poorly supported at times that his work did not
count for much.
The Pennsylvania Interscholastic championship having been settled, there
now remains the New England championship, the decisive game of which
will be played in Boston on Friday, and the Inter-City championship of
the N.Y. and Long Island I.S.B.B. Associations, which will be decided at
Eastern Park on Saturday.
Another important and decisive baseball game will be the
Andover-Lawrenceville match at Andover a week from to-morrow. This will
be the third annual contest between these two big schools, and I am glad
to record that neither nine just now is burdened with over-confidence.
Andover won the first two matches of the series, by the scores of 5-4,
in 1893, and 5-2, in 1894. This year, however, the teams are so nearly
matched that it is hardly possible to forecast the result of next week's
game. Of last year's Andover players only three have returned to school,
the rest of the nine being new players, with whom Captain Drew has
labored hard and conscientiously to develop a winning team. But with
Drew behind the bat, and Greenway or Sedgwick in the box, P.A. has a
battery that it will be hard to find the equal of on any school baseball
team. The infield, however, is weak. Barton, at first, plays well, but
should cover more territory, and have more confidence in himself. For a
man of his small stature Harker covers second in pretty good style, but
both he and Elliott, at third, are erratic and somewhat unreliable at
critical moments. Edwards has taken Davis's place at short for the past
week or two, and has proved equal to Captain Drew's most sanguine
expectations. Lawrenceville need not count on any base hits through his
territory, as his fielding is clean and his throwing sure. The outfield
is much stronger than the infield. Dayton at centre, and Greenway or
Sedgwick at left, are sure catchers and strong throwers. Waddell, at
right, is the best man in the position that P.A. has had for years,
covering all his own territory and part of his neighbors', and throwing
with the precision of a veteran. Several times this year he has thrown
men out at the plate who were running home from third after a fly caught
in deep right field. As for batting, the Andover players have only fair
ability, Greenway, Sedgwick, Barton, and Drew being the heaviest
hitters. The team work I consider poor, but this will doubtless be
greatly improved before the day of the game.
At Lawrenceville the natural opportunities for practice and for the
perfection of team-work are no greater than at Andover, but the school
system is such that fine ball players are a necessary result of its
enforcement. Every scholar at the Lawrenceville School, unless
physically disabled, must play ball for at least an hour every day in
the spring-time. In the autumn everybody has to play football. In this
manner no man goes without exercise, and the best material at hand is
discovered and developed. When I was at Lawrenceville last week, nine
diamonds were in full operation at one and the same time. In the fall
there are eleven football fields in use daily. No wonder Lawrenceville
sends good material to the colleges.
[Illustration: Mattis, l. f. Cadwalader, 3rd b. Hastie, r. f. Righter.
2d b.
Slidell, c. f. Ross, 1st b.
M. Gibbon, s. s. Kafer, c. (Capt.) Arrott, p.
LAWRENCEVILLE BASEBALL NINE.]
As for the team this year, it is about up to the average of former
seasons. Kafer, who has been catching for three years, is Captain, and
is doing very satisfactory work. His batting is sometimes erratic, but
in a recent game with Pennington he lined out a home run with the bases
full in the ninth inning, thus saving the day, as the score then stood 4
to 1 against Lawrenceville. Arrott, the pitcher, is doing well for his
second year in baseball. He has not very full control of the ball, but
his curves are good, and he possesses more than the average speed. In
addition to this, he keeps cool and plays a steadier game as the innings
go by. Ross, Righter, and Cadwalader cover the bases, and so far this
season Ross has maintained the highest average, scarcely making an
error. Righter is a poor thrower, but his batting is very strong. With a
little longer experience Cadwalader will develop into one of the best
men on the team, and if he can get off some of his 200 pounds of flesh
his running would be vastly bettered. McGibbon, at short, is a clean
fielder and an accurate thrower; in addition, he bats well. He and
Edwards of Andover will no doubt furnish some grand-stand plays for the
delectation of their followers. The fielders are only of average
ability. As a whole, the nine seems to fall out of harmony in almost
every game, and on several occasions this weakness has almost proved
disastrous. But most of the players are new men this year, and will be
better seasoned a week from now.
In spite of the heavy rain-storm of May 18th the Princeton
Interscholastic Tennis Tournament was held at Princeton, resulting in
the championship remaining at Lawrenceville. Several of the contestants
failed to appear on account of the bad weather, but the playing was
nevertheless spirited and exciting. In the finals, Beaman of
Lawrenceville met his schoolmate Richards, who had won by default from
Robb, and defeated him only after five hard sets, 6-2, 3-6, 9-11, 6-2,
and 6-0. By virtue of Beaman's victory the championship silver cup now
becomes the permanent property of Lawrenceville.
Scholastic track and field meetings are being held in so many different
places just at this season that it is difficult to keep account of them.
On May 25th the New York State I.S.A.A. met on the Syracuse University
Field under the auspices of the Syracuse High-School and the Cornell
A.C., and the Ithaca High-School won by making 31 points. Her nearest
rivals were Rochester High with 21, and Buffalo High with 18-1/2 points.
Seven schools were represented. At the first spring meet of the
Hotchkiss School, Lakeville, there were some good records made. Dyer won
the 100 in 10-3/5 sec., and the 220 in 23 sec.; Sanford covered the mile
in 5 m. 22-4/5 sec.; Hixon cleared 5 ft. 4-1/2 in. in the high jump; and
Conner covered 20 ft. 10 in. in the broad jump. The Hotchkiss athletes
will no doubt be heard from at the Connecticut I.S.A.A. games on
Saturday.
As has been the case with a number of Eastern field days, rain
interfered with the success of the California Academic Athletic League's
meeting on May 4th, and few of the athletes were able to do good work.
Dawson ran the quarter in one minute flat on a heavy track. McConnell
cleared 18 ft. 6 in. in the broad jump, and got a bad scare from Cooley,
a new man, untrained, who came dangerously close to him. Cooley will
show up well next year, and would, no doubt, have done better if the
conditions had been more favorable. The Oakland High-School and San Jose
High-School held a fifty-mile bicycle road race relay, last week, of
which I hope to be able to speak more in detail as soon as space is
available. It was an exciting event, and is a good thing for Eastern
bicycle-riders to think of, for there are many places in the
neighborhood of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Hartford, and other
cities where similar races might be arranged.
Although baseball seemed to languish in the early part of the season,
the A.A.L. completed a successful schedule on May 18th, when the Oakland
High-School defeated the Alameda University Academy 9 to 1. The O.H.-S.
team started out strongly, and had the reputation of the '94 nine
clinging to it, '94's players having been the strongest amateur team of
California that year. Hall at first, Lanyon in the box, and McCabe
behind the bat, were the steadiest players this season. Lanyon caught
last year, and is cool, strategic, and quick. He has good speed and good
curves, and safe control of the ball. McCabe is a very calm player, bats
well, but is weak in throwing to bases. The team work of the nine was
good, and in several cases won them games against stronger teams.
As soon as the regular Interscholastic League season of baseball,
tennis, track athletics, and cricket closes there will be more time to
devote to other branches of sport. During the summer months tennis,
rowing, swimming, and sailing will receive their share of attention in
this Department, and from the looks of things just now there is every
promise that yachting and small-boat racing will be more popular this
year than ever before. Many of the large clubs have introduced special
classes on their racing programmes. In addition to the Larchmont
21-footers and 34-raters, the Seawanhaka's half-raters, and the
Douglaston dingies, the Indian Harbor Yacht Club are now trying to
promote a 20-foot racing length, or one-rater class. The imported boats
_Wave_ and _Shrimp_ will form a good nucleus to start with, and I
understand that several members of the club have promised to build
racers of this class.
Probably the most interesting and exciting contests in the small-boat
class will be the sharpie races of the Shelter Island Sharpie Club. This
club was organized two years ago with about twenty members, and has
grown rapidly in size and popularity. A regular race is sailed every
week over a club course of five miles, and three races are sailed around
Shelter Island during the season, a distance of twenty-five miles. These
races are always most exciting, for the boats are limited to 16 ft. on
the water-line, with no limit to the sail area. Consequently some of
them get over-rigged, and an occasional upset adds zest to the sport. In
addition to these races the Sharpie Club holds athletic games,
including, among other events, swimming, rowing, weight-throwing, etc.,
and at the end of the season medals are awarded to the best all-round
athletes. Last year the sharpie _Frolic_, owned by S. M. and G. H.
Milliken, won the highest number of points, with the _Chip-Chip_, owned
by H. V. Whitney, and the _Mary Jane_, owned by A. E. Whitney, tied for
second place. In the athletic events H. V. Whitney took first, with
W. B. Cowperthwait second.
The New England Interscholastic baseball season has thus far proved most
interesting. A number of the games have already required more than nine
innings play to determine the winner, and so far the Cambridge High and
Latin nine has escaped defeat. At the present date of writing the
standing of the clubs in the N.E.I.S.B. League is:
Per
Clubs. Won. Lost. cent.
Cambridge High and Latin 2 0 1.000
Hopkinson 3 1 .750
Boston Latin 1 1 .500
English High 1 1 .500
Roxbury Latin 1 1 .500
Somerville High 0 3 .000
The Hopkinson players received their first defeat on Friday, the 17th,
but they played a good game, and showed the results of Joe Upton's
coaching. The batting especially has improved. Hopkinson and C.H.&L.
will have a hot fight for the pennant. Dakin of the English High-school
is pitching up to his old form again, and held Somerville High down to a
single hit in their recent game, which E.H.-S. won by the score of 14 to
1. But S.H.-S is one of the weakest teams in the League. The Roxbury
Latin nine show want of practice, and their only redeeming virtues just
now are the pitching of Morse and their general batting strength. But
the New England school teams are all well provided with good pitchers
this season, so that Morse's proficiency counts for little when it comes
to a decisive contest. Team-work, after all, should be the mainstay of
every nine.
In the tabulated record of the N.Y.I.S.A.A. games printed on p. 538 of
Harper's Round Table of May 21st, a typographical error shows Hackett's
time in the mile walk as 7 min. 4-2/5 sec. instead of 7 min. 46-2/5
sec., which it should be.
THE GRADUATE.
PHILADELPHIA, PA.
EDITOR OF THE ROUND TABLE:
SIR,--I noticed in the first number of HARPER'S ROUND TABLE a
reference to the "timid people" who object to football. There have
been many other remarks of this kind, at various times, made in
the Round Table. If you can grant me a little space, I should like
to point out the injustice of sneers of this kind.
In the first place, in order that it may not be said (as it
generally is said when any one lifts up his voice against the
game) that I am ignorant of the subject, I may say that I am a
football player myself in a small way, and until recently was
heartily in favor of the game. My position is thus rather
inconsistent, but it is that of many other sincere well-wishers of
the game. The objection to the game that seems to me most
important is its roughness, both necessary and unnecessary. First
as to the latter. It is all very well to say that if players would
behave like gentlemen, this would be done away with. This may be
so, but it is not in the nature of boys or men, in the midst of an
exciting struggle on the gridiron, to keep calm, and control their
strength and their temper. In their excitement they will do things
that they are sorry for afterwards, and I have never seen anything
proposed that would prevent such things.
Then football as played at present is a game in which there is
abundant opportunity for the natural brute to display himself. It
is claimed that the game teaches one to control his temper; but I
think it just as often gives one an opportunity to vent it on some
one else. The remedy proposed for this--to have several
umpires--should be repulsive in the extreme to every true
sportsman. A game in which the players have to be watched lest
they commit murder on each other is simply unfit for a gentleman
to play. If that is to be done, why not call in the police at
once, as they did in the Yale-Princeton game last fall.
The _necessary_ roughness of the game is considered by some to be
an advantage, in that it teaches courage and endurance, and
develops the physique of the players. But is not that a sort of
"kill or cure" method? Surely one can develop his body without
risking his life! A man or a boy has no right to risk life and
limb in a game simply because if he escapes injury he will be more
healthy than before. I am not exaggerating; a broken limb, a
strained back, or some similar injury, is not such a trifling
matter as some seem to think. To say the least, it means several
weeks taken from our work in life, which is a big price to pay for
one afternoon's fun. The development of our strength can be
procured in better ways than that. Our bodies were given to us to
be used, not abused.
That the game is a fascinating one I would be the last to deny,
having played it myself. In its present state, however, I do not
see how anyone who candidly and fairly considers the arguments of
the opponents of the game can hold to the opinion that it is a fit
game for school-boys or collegians, without changes of the most
radical nature.
In this letter, the length of which I hope you will pardon, I have
said nothing about the other objections to football urged by many,
for most of these do not concern the actual game, and will
probably correct themselves in time; but I wish to point out that
something must be done to rid the game of its objectionable
features, and also that it is unjust and discourteous to those who
oppose the game from conscientious motives to brand them as
weaklings and cowards.
C. S. WOOD, R.T.F.
[Mr. Wood brings out many interesting points in his letter regarding
football, and though most of his objections to the game refer more to
intercollegiate than to interscholastic football, still, to a certain
degree, they apply to both. We do not deny that the game is rough and
dangerous; but what was meant in the phrase to which Mr. Wood refers was
not that people are timid who do not approve of football, but that those
people who say that football is the most dangerous game there is, that
it is cruel, that it should be stopped by law, that it is worse than the
gladiatorial combats of ancient Rome, are either timid or not in their
right senses. Football is not as rough as polo; it is not as dangerous
as coasting (as coasting is now understood); it is not as dangerous as
cross-country riding, and the proportion of injuries in both polo and
cross-country riding is far greater than those in football. The facts of
the case are that so much has been written and so much said implying
that the game is necessarily a villanous game, that many people who know
nothing about it, have grown to talk about it, and depreciate it because
they fancy it contains injuries which it does not contain. These people
have done a great deal to bring a fine game for boys into bad odor, and
it is to these, and not to those who understand the game--both its good
and its bad points--that the remark referred to was addressed.--THE
EDITOR.]
ADVERTISEMENTS.
Highest of all in Leavening Power.--Latest U. S. Gov't Report.
[Illustration: Royal Baking Powder]
[Illustration]
WONDER CABINET =FREE=. Missing Link Puzzle, Devil's Bottle, Pocket
Camera, Latest Wire Puzzle, Spook Photos, Book of Sleight of Hand, Total
Value 60c. Sent free with immense catalogue of 1000 Bargains for 10c.
for postage.
INGERSOLL & BRO., 65 Cortlandt Street N. Y.
[Illustration: If afflicted with SORE EYES USE Dr. ISAAC THOMPSON'S EYE
WATER]
=HARPER'S CATALOGUE= thoroughly revised, classified, and indexed, will
be sent by mail to any address on receipt of ten cents.
[Illustration: BICYCLING]
This Department is conducted in the interest of Bicyclers, and 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, 1895, by Harper & Brothers.]
This week's map explains itself. It is a unique chart of the city of
Brooklyn, showing by black lines the asphalted or macadamized streets
within the city limits, and by corduroy lines those main avenues which,
though paved with granite pavement, are fair riding, and which make the
best exits from the city.