The first class contest in which the freshmen find themselves interested is the football game with Yale, '87. In preparation for this the class has already begun work. Players of the game have appeared on the field trying for positions and already it seems that from this material several good men are to be chosen. But this is not enough. Weight and strength combined with skill in football as experience has shown will surely defeat a moderately skillful team unaided by these other qualifications. Therefore we hope the captain will call upon all men in the class, old players or not, who are likely to possess the requisite weight, strength and endurance to present themselves as candidates and learn the game. Freshman year, if ever, is the time best suited for developing new players, and no opportunity for securing in this way the best possible eleven should be neglected by '87.
The new track is progressing finely, and everybody seems pleased with it. But there is one thing which we venture to suggest as an improvement, that is raising the corners on the outside. An English authority says "experience also shows that if from necessity or other cause the corners of a path are more or less sharp, the danger of falling for bicyclists (and of spraining one's ankle for runners) is considerably lessened, and awkwardness decreased, if they are well raised on the outside. And we find that fast men on the bicycle fight very shy of tracks unsafe in construction. The accuracy of our opinions on the value of raising the corners received an ample verification last week, when we had an opportunity of testing the track at Exeter, which we unhesitatingly say is the best five-lap track in the kingdom, owing solely to the way it is raised on the outside all the way round." In our own experience we have learnt that the fastest running tracks in England are those with raised corners, and that such men as George, Snook and Cowie all prefer raised corners to level ones. We believe Dr. Sargent has it in mind to raise the corners of the new track in the spring, and we understand the college racing bicyclists are very much in favor of the plan.
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Appleton Chapel.