At a meeting held last fall in the rooms of the captain, an unusually large number of freshmen offered themselves as candidates for the nine. Quite a number have become discouraged and have stopped training, but there are still about thirty men who go though the daily routine of running, etc., in the gymnasium. The training is not severe, but is such as is conformable to the principles of Captain Willard of the 'Varsity, who has the men in charge.

The men have now been at work in the gymnasium since the Christmas recess. They pull chest-weights, exercise with wooden dumb-bells, run from five to ten laps on the track, play handball and practice sliding in the cage. The whole is under the immediate supervision of Captain Vila, who is an old hand at this business, having had charge of two nines previous to his admission to college. He sees that the work is done systematically, and that every man is present except those previously excused.

Following are the candidates: For pitcher - Sabine of last year's Brookline nine; Bryan, who pitched for the Wilkesbarre nine of Pennsylvania; T. Chamberlain, pitcher of the Roxbury Latin School team of '86; Kielty of the Fitchburg High School team; Butterworth of last year's Chelsea High School nine. For catcher - McLeod of St. John's Academy; Vaughan of Noble's School of Boston; Mancha, a member of the Franklin College team of Lancaster, Penn.: Wheelwright of last year's Roxbury Latin School nine. For first base - Vila, catcher and captain of the '85 and '86 nines of the Boston Latin School; McKean, who played first base on the Nassau nine of New Hampshire. For second base - Linn of the Louisbergs; S. M. Sturgis, a member of no regular team; Stedman, English High School of Boston; Rublee of Groton, Mass. For third base - Bates, who has played on the Williston Academy and on the Newton High teams; Davis, from Buffalo, N. Y. For short stop - Jones of Columbus, O.; S. Sexton of Hopkinson's School, Boston; Washburn of Worcester, Mass.

The candidates for positions in the outfield are: F. L. Hewes, Houseman, Titus, L. Chamberlain, J. S. Codman. Of these F. L. Codman and Chamberlain have played on Boston nines. The rest have played on no regular teams.

In addition to the regular men, there are also two possible candidates for the freshman team who are now training with the 'Varsity. Slade is trying for 'Varsity catcher. He was a member of the Adams Academy team of '85. He played on no team last season.

Mumford is trying for second base. He is from St. Paul's. It is more than likely that these men will try for the freshman nine, should their efforts for the 'Varsity prove unsuccessful.

With such men as these to choose from, there seems to be no reason why '90 should not place a team in the field which shall be worthy of her. She has a conscientious captain, who is guided by the advice of Captain Willard, and who, with the aid of the men under him, will bring no disfavor on '90's name through remissness of duty. It is his intention to form a second nine to practice with the regular team.