On July 22, 1899, Boston headlines screamed, "Track Day. Two Continents Await College Games. America vs. England in Amateur Athletics. Fashionable London to Witness the Sport. Fancy Prices Being Paid for Box Tickets. Harvard and Yale are Full of Confidence. Each Side Counts on Three Victories, While Remaining Three Games are in Doubt."

Since the time of this first Harvard-Yale vs. Oxford-Cambridge track meet the world has become inured to international athletic contests. Consequently, few people are working themselves into a frenzy over the seventeenth in this venerable series which will be staged on Soldiers Field, June 22.

Past Fervor

But it as not always so. Everyone in both countries, or at least those within cheering distance of New England and London, eagerly awaited the first of these inter-continental athletic events.

For three weeks before the big day in 1899, Boston papers expended quantities of ink and large headline type in following the exploits of their adopted national heroes.

When the Harvard-Yale team, chosen from the winners of the annual track meet between the two schools, sailed from New York on July 6, 1899, the Boston Herald proclaimed, "College Team Sails. Harvard and Yale Off for England as One. Wildly Cheered as the Steamer Moves Out."

Daily they reported on the condition of the athletes and gave predictions of noted authorities on the outcome of the nine-event meeting. President Hunter of the Cambridge University Athletic Club was quoted, "The meeting promises to be a keen struggle. The Americans will probably win the sprints, and we ought to pull off the long events, as it is well known that the Americans seldom run a good long race.."

Disaster struck the following day. In bold headlines, the paper lamented, "Tom Burke Disabled. The Half-Mile Champion Lame in England. Setback to the Chances of Harvard and Yale." The article went on to explain the nature of Burke's ailment, an old stone bruise, and said," Burke is almost broken-hearted over the misfortune. Fortunately, Adams, the American second-string half-miler appears to be in superb condition."

Eligibility Question

It was with some relief that the papers proclaimed the following day that Burke would be able to run after all, with the aid of a specially-made shoe.

A joint commission of officials of the two teams met to discuss the question of the elegibility of Burke and a sprinter named F.J. Quinlan. It seems that the London papers had declared them to be professionals, apparently because of some extramural running which the pair had done. The commission hastened to absolve both of them, and denounced the English papers which originated the controversy.

It also discussed some minor details of the race and agreed to run the hurdle race according to the American system, with loose rather than fixed hurdles. However, it was decided to run the three-miles, the English forte, rather than the two-mile, to which the Americans were accustomed.

So great was the demand for tickets that the Queens Club, which sponsored the meet, was forced to extend the grandstands. "The Belle of New York" and other American companies playing in London suspended matinees on the Saturday of the meet, in order that the members of the cast could attend the meet.

Calm Preceding a Battle

On the day of the meet, the London Times turned its normally jaundiced eye upon the affair and proclaimed, "The calm preceding a battle marked the eve of the international varsity struggle." Of the visiting team, it said, "Their gentlemanly demeanor, good looks, and high spirits have been the subject of admiring comment. They have never been noisy nor indulged in horse play."