Spring Football Practice, or Not?

(We invite all men in the University to submit communications on subjects of timely interest.)

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

In the history of Harvard football there has never been such a poor showing as has been made this spring. Instead of the number of football candidates increasing, as the practice goes on, it is decreasing. Tuesday there were about 35 men out and yesterday there were barely enough men to make two teams. Now how can any kind of advancement in football be accomplished without even a working basis? Some men have perfectly good excuses for not being out, while others, and the majority in fact, do not appear just because of sheer laziness, or because they have some insignificant engagement which could be perfectly well put off. Without a good start how are we ever going to get together a team which will win from Princeton on the 4th of November? That is an unusually early date for a big game and that is reason in itself for making spring practice doubly important. We must have more men. It's up to every man to drive every bit of football material in College to the field to take part in this practice. This is the last call, and if more men do not appear, spring practice will be done away with and the result will be, "Grand Harvard spirit! Candidates are called for the University football team and not enough men respond to make practice worth while!"  P. D. HAUGHTON '99.  R. T. FISHER '12