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About Yale Alumni Magazine | View Entire Issue (Feb. 24, 1898)
YALE ALUMNI W BHBRiUyY A TRIANGULAR RACE. Yale, Harvard and Cornell will Meet at New London in June. The arrangements for the meeting of the crews of Yale, Harvard and Cornell at New London were finally made at New York last Thursday, by the Cap- tains of the three crews. Captain Goodrich of Harvard and Captain Col- son of Cornell had agreed to meet in New York and settle on the place and date for their race and an invitation was sent to Captain Whitney to be present also, there being a_ possibility that a triangular contest might be ar- ranged. The situation was frankly dis- cussed and finally Mr. Whitney wrote out and handed to Mr. Colson the fol- lowing challenge: Capt. F. D. Colson, Cornell University Crew, Ithaca, N. Y. Dear Sir: The Yale University Boat Club hereby challenges the Cornell University Boat Club to a four mile eight-oared boat race, place to be mutually agreed upon. PAYNE WHITNEY. Captain Yale University Crew. - This was accepted by Mr. Colson, who was empowered to act for his Col- lege. As both Harvard and Yale ex- presses themselves strongly opposed to leaving the Thames, Cornell agreed to row there, and instead of two separate races desired to make it triangular. © The feeling here is one of satisfaction that the difficulty has been adjusted and that Yale will meet Cornell again next Spring. —_——_—_+04—__—— The Crew’s Good Form. On account of cold weather and ice in the harbor, the candidates for the University and Freshman crews were forced to confine their work to the tanks on Thursday and Friday of last week. Since then, however, the mild weather has been taken advantage of and both Eights have been given sharp coaching in the barges and the indivi- duals in pair oars. On Washington’s birthday, recitations being suspended, the Crews were taken out in the fore- noon as well as in the afternoon and did long stretches. It is noticed that the men are rowing in much better form than at this time last year, and indeed for several years past. Many changes in position are still being made, the object being of course to determine the place where each man can get out the best that is in him. At present the first boat is rowing in this order: Bow, Whitney (Captain); 2, Williams; 3, Niedecken; 4, McGee; 5, Cross; 6, Allen; 7, Greenleaf; stroke, Flint. Williams, who stroked the winning Freshman crew last year, was obliged to leave College for almost a week on account of tonsilitis, and in his absence Flint, a Sheff. Junior, was tried at stroke. Williams returned on Satur- day and has been seated at 2 for the present. Brock, who has been rowing at 3, was obliged to quit work on ac- count of illness, but will be back in the squad in a few days. Captain Whitney and Mr. Cook were assisted in their work on Monday by Mr P. Hi. Bailey, captain of the Ninety- Seven crew, on Tuesday by Messrs. Ives, Hartwell, Goetchius and Dater. No Changes Made. At the meeting of the Committee on Football Rules at the University Ath- letic Club, in New York, on Saturday, there were present Walter Camp, Yale, Chairman; Robert D. Wrenn, Har- vard; Alexander Moffat, Princeton; Professor L. M. Dennis, Cornell; John C. Bell, University of Pennsylvania; and Paul J. Dashiel, Lehigh. Two ses- sions were held, from three to seven and from nine to eleven p.M., behind closed doors. It is understood that nothing but very preliminary work was done at either meeting, and the Com- mittee adjourned to meet on call in a week or two. The chief questions raised on Saturday had to do with changes in definitions, in order that they might be made clearer and all dis- puted points in wording settled. In this connection it is said that the Com- mittee will concern itself more with interpretation and explanation than in changes. the time and. VIGOROUS CRITICISM. Gov. Western Massachusetts Banquet. The annual banquet of the Yale Alumni Association of Central and Western Massachusetts was held at Worcester, Mass., on Wednesday night, Feb. 16, about 50 graduates attending. Col. E. B. Glasgow, ’63, acted as toast- master. Among the speakers were: Prof. H. M. Reynolds, ’80, of Yale Uni- versity; ex-Governor D. H. Chamber- lain, *62; Col. Samuel E. Winslow; John R. Thayer, ’69; T. M. Balliet; C. C. Spellman and C. M. Kirkham. Mr. Chamberlain in the course of his speech criticized what he called the “all-pervading Yale spirit of self-satis- faction.” His remarks on athletics and _the English Department at Yale were very severe. He said in part: “If I. were to name to-day what I deem the least commendable trait of Yale sentiment, the weakest, narrowest, least becoming sentiment, I should call. it the present all-pervading Yale spirit of self-satisfaction; and if | were to go further and indulge in a more specifi- cally critical word, I should say the great exemplar of the spirit in our wor- thy and much-beloved president, Timo- thy Dwight. I go behind no man in my love of Yale. I have memories connected with Yale such as few other men have, ties such as bind few other men to her, recollections which after 40 years often unman me—recollections of struggles against fortune, against myself. No man can challenge my ardor or my service to Yale according to my ability. But I was born free, and am too old to put on even the Yale gyve.” In speaking of the English Depart- ment, Mr. Chamberlain said: “T first call attention to what I deem well-nigh a positive scandal—the neg- lect, the low condition, the deliberate failure to promote the proper study of English at Yale to-day as well as for many years past. I should weary some audiences by this word, for I have spoken it more than once before; but I have had no chance yet to weary you. It passes my comprehension how men who have seats in the Yale Corporation can suffer this condition to continue. The best solution of the mystery I can get from others who are near the throne, is that the members of the Cor- poration are really puppets, moved and only moved by the President. This is not an agreeable word to speak in pub- lic, but if it is true, it is time some one spoke it. “The head of the English Depart- ment at Yale proclaims his opinion that there should be no requirement what- ever of English in the Yale course. He further thinks, as do other Yale profes- sors, that English cannot be taught, as an ordinary study, at all. Whether he would have any requirement of English for entrance to Yale, I don’t know. I don’t see why he should. That lan- guage, therefore, which is not only our vernacular but is the sole speech of some 150,000,000 of men all over the world, which bears a weight of litera- ture of value unparalleled in the world’s annals, is by the judgment of this man to be so placed that one may bear the credentials of Yale University, and not know how to speak or write a sentence of his own tongue with decent accuracy! “But English is taught at Yale in spite of Professor Beers. All thanks for that! But how is it taught? To say the best, scantily, meagrely; and unnecessarily so! You all know there are two highly endowed chairs of Eng- lish at Yale, waiting to be filled, one for at least two or three years! I fear truly they are now as well filled as they will be when their titular occupants are finally, if ever, named. The whole De- partment counts among its professors or assistant professors but one man, one only, who is a good teacher of English, and this man has been under -what I might call disgrace at the hands of the powers that be, and is under- stood to be now watched with jealousy, lest he should indeed popularize the study of English! ‘Hence, wilt thou lift up Olympus?’ seems to be the action, if not the speech, of the Yale authorities to all entreaties or remon- strances, on this subject. Well, a few of us have and will keep the satisfaction of knowing we have done our duty, publicly and privately, in this behalf. Baffled, if not spurned, we remain of Chamberlain’s Speech at the. the same mind, and we await the better day,—day of freedom from some sinis- ter influence that binds good men to- day, day when independence shall mark even a Yale corporator, day when a sense of obligation to donors as well as of duty to the University, shall again govern in the Yale Corporation, day when the English tongue shall be hon- ored above all other studies at our Alma Mater.” “I must say a word on what may be called athleticism at Yale. On. this subject I do not intend to be misunder- stood by the sensible or fair-minded. As little do I intend to withhold any criticism which I deem just. I do not undervalue or deprecate athletics in col- lege. I do not even deride athletic con- tests between colleges—between Yale and Harvard or any of our great uni- versities. But when I am asked to throw up my hat in mad joy to acclaim the victors in these contests as the true heroes of the College world, I must pause long enough to ask one or two questions, and first, how many of Yale’s 1,000 or 1,200 undergraduates, how many of the 2,000 or more of students at Yale who are eligible to these con- tests, do the Yale athletic contests and victories benefit? Are they an inspira- tion to the whole body? Do they pro- mote the practice of athletics among the students at large? Is not the ath- letic benefit, properly so-called, if there be any, limited pretty nearly to the mere handful—a few dozens, or a few scores at most—who are in some degree actual participants in these contests? “But of the participants themselves, what is the truth? Are even they bene- fited? Do these contests actually pro- mote the athletic good of the partici- pants, let alone their moral or intellec- tual good? Does the terrific strain and excitement, the mental, physical, ner- vous strain of these contests conduce to any good results to the participants? On the contrary, are they not, instead of being healthy or health-giving, dis- tinctly unhealthy, demoralizing, as well as dangerous to health, life and limb? Are they not, in the judgment of any one who is informed, always attended by scenes and influences which no wise man can see without deep misgivings? Let these questions be considered and answered before I am asked to call these athletic prize fights what mem- bers of the Yale Faculty constantly call them, “the grandest exhibitions of the true Yale spirit.” If one agrees with Judge Holmes, that war is desirable because by it the great soldierly vir- tues are brought out or if one thinks with Mr. Theodore Roosevelt, that the roughness of these contests—and I sup- pose the rougher the better—is an es- sential element of their value, then let such a one stand by and applaud these intercollegiate contests as the last and best training for intellectual and moral character and greatness. But for my- self, and by parity of reasoning, I should as soon welcome famine and pestilence, shipwreck, earthquakes and mine explosions, because these are al- ways attended by the rarest exhibitions of heroism; or the prize fights of our Corbetts and Fitzsimmonses, Sullivans and Hyers, because they show, in the words of Mr. Roosevelt, “the qualities of perseverance, of dogged resolution, of power, of self-command and of the masterful spirit.” Non tali auxilio; non tali auxilio. Not by such aids is any greatness won, except brute great- ness; not by such aids is character built up by the masterful spirit that wins true fame and glory called out and developed. “No, the truth is, athletics are good —good in spite of the foolish uses and sometimes the base uses to which they are put. Let them stand high in the training and discipline of College life; but let us, if we be reasonable beings, ‘stop this jargon and nonsense of count- ing Yale great because in annual ath- letic scrimmages and fights, in annual athletic public shows and matches, she wins the cheap fame of prowess and supremacy. “The honors we. grant,’ said a great orator, ‘mark how high we stand, and they educate the future. The men we honor and the maxims we lay down in measuring our favorites show the level and morals of the time.’ Let the honors we grant as college and university men mark our love of letters, of art, of science, of statesmanship, of moral heroism, of intellectual great- ness’ a ww A picture of the Olympian games of 1896 has been presented to the gymna- siim by the Misses Porter, daughters of one late President Porter of the Univer- sity. cet CHASE’S PRICES et Most people say they are well up. That is perfectly true, and we mean to keep them there. 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