TO THE EDITORS OF THE CRIMSON:-

THOSE who have heard the complaints arising from the lack of rules and from the incompetence of judges at the previous winter meetings of the H. A. A. may well be rejoiced at the appearance of the new rules. But though the Executive Committee are to be commended for doing now what ought to have been done five years ago, it was, to say the least, a great mistake that the rules, announced a year ago, were not published until within a few days of the first meeting. For instance, owing to the lateness at which the rules appeared, a bar such as is requisite for carrying out fully the "Fence Rules" adopted could not be procured until a very late hour; and the vaulters justly refused to enter if such a bar was substituted without giving them time to practise with it. In this same event - the two-hand vault - a dispute arose from the fact that one of the contestants had not practised sufficiently under the new rules to know what constituted a "try."

Considering the length of time which it has taken to prepare these rules, we had a right to expect a perfect set; yet several small points indicate a lack of care in adapting them to our uses. Thus in fencing a 34-inch flat-bladed foil is required, though it is stated on good authority that there is hardly a foil of that description in the State. Rule 4 for vaulting refers to vaulting from a mat, a custom which is never practised here.

The system of secret entries is also open to criticism. When the entries were public, if any event did not "fill," those who were interested in making the meeting a success could persuade persons competent to enter to do so before the entries closed, and thus insure an interesting meeting. The failure of the meeting of March 8 was, in part at least, due to the fact that the entries were secret. One, and probably two, of the events which failed to occur would have taken place had the entries been public. The only reason for keeping the entries secret is, that men are often deterred from entering by seeing that some one of whom they are afraid has entered; but this argument applies much more strongly to the system of secret entries, under which a man, being never sure who his opponents are to be, will always believe that the person he does not wish to meet has entered against him.

It also seems unjust to refuse a cup where there is only one entry. The chief object of the H. A. A. is to encourage athletics here. Now, as the contestants in many of the events of the in-door meeting practise together daily, it is well known beforehand who is likely to win; and often the man whose chances are best is left to enter the contest alone. Hence, under the present rule, a man is actually discouraged from trying to excel, knowing that if he acquires a decided superiority over others, no one will enter against him, and he will lose all chances of the cup.

Beyond these rules and customs, there is only one more thing which I would criticise, and that is the practice of printing the price of the blue tickets on them. It is n't pleasant, if you wish to send a ticket to a friend, to see the price you paid stamped on it; and the practice seems wholly unnecessary.

E.