SLIPPING

Would it thrill our readers to know that on February 29th, 1917, the CRIMSON advocated a 10-cent fare, due to the fact the Elevated 8-cent pieces were Jamming the telephone pay stations; that on April 19, 1918, the CRIMSON held out for a maximum 7-cent fare, and last year offered as the first plank in its reform of Massachusetts a 5-cent fare-the exact stand taken now by the "Boston American" and the "Boston Telegram"? Would they be interested in keeping ahead of the game by shouting with us for a 3-cent fare tomorrow? Would they care to hear about the monster rally yesterday when part of the 9,700 of our readers (mostly people who think) cheered to the echo a statement made by a champion of the people: "I want to take this occasion to thank one who is responsible more than anything else for the present status of the 5-cent fare, the ______"? Ah, if we might only fill the blank with the name of the Harvard CRIMSON! but unfortunately we are in the realms of fiction. We never exposed the Lampoon or the Advocate in half a dozen special editions and we must go without the public thanks of the Mayor.

From the hodge-podge of headlines, boxes, and editorials that cluttered the columns of the "Telegram" and the "American" yesterday we gather that there is a slight rivalry between the two. At any rate the Mayor did some "Iambasting"; the Hearst paper was blamed for its reversal of its State Street policy, and its editor for loving Curley; leather-lunged newsboys were sent to Boston Common in an attempt to stampede the "American's" 5-cent fare meeting. It seems that the "Telegrams" is very wroth because its rival, once the father of the 10-cent proposition, has changed its mind and now sees the beauties of the 5-cent rate.

From the outside it is difficult to determine the likely winner. Both papers are expert in their line, and we would be tempted to prophesy a drawn battle except for one thing, which we whisper to those readers who will incline their ears, to wit; we have it on very high authority that at least one of the publications is "slipping; slipping; slipping, right into the garbage pail." Who knows but both may slip in? In which case, perhaps some one will clamp on the lid!