Three Tiger Football Stars Implicated In Beating of 16-Year-Old Town Youth

A local youth, found lying face down in an alley Thursday night, has accused several Princeton football players of beating him into unconsciousness.

It is not known just what effect, if any, his accusations will have on this afternoon's contest.

The victim, 16-year-old Larry Shelvey, recovered consciousness at Princeton Hospital early this morning, though he remained in a mild state of shock.

From pictures of the Princeton team, he has tentatively identified at least three leading players as his assailants.

This is the story he told police: "I was walking up Nassau Street around 11 o'clock when I saw a bunch of guys walking toward me. They were pretty big, and they looked at me kind of funny, so I ducked into an alley to keep out of their way. They ran after me and stood around me in a circle. I asked what they wanted, but they didn't say anything. They just kept grinning at me. Then one of them hit me in the side, and another hit me behind the head. I fell down. but they just kept hitting me. They never said a word the whole time."

Shelvey was found shortly after midnight lying helpless in the alley. Police rushed him straight to the hospital, where he was treated for a concussion, a broken jaw, a sprained wrist, and multiple cuts and bruises. Although he remained unconscous for more than twenty-four hours, his chances for recovery were termed "excellent" by Dr. P. C. Tan, police surgeon.

"Pretty Dark"

Police Chief John H. Smith refused to divulge the names of the accused players without more conclusive evidence. "We don't want to go around smearing a lot of innocent people if we don't have to," he explained. "It was pretty dark in that alley to make positive identifications."

It is believed, however, that there were six or seven attackers in all, and that the three identified by Shelvey included two starting linemen and a starting backfield man on the Princeton team.

'Play No Favorites'

Chief Smith said he wasn't trying to protect the Princeton players, but felt it wouldn't be fair to call them in for routine questioning during the most important game of the year. "But if we come up with some definite evidence," he warned, "we won't hesitate to go right out to Palmer Stadium and yank somebody off the field. We' play no favorites down here."

Signs of Concern

Princeton administrator's mean-while were showing definite signs of concern. Their chief worry seemed to be the bad publicity which might result if the players were allowed to play and were later proven guilty. Balanced against this was a desire not to deprive any innocent player of the right to participate in such an important contest.

This morning Dean Lippincott called an emergency meeting to consider the case, but as this edition went to press the meeting was still in progress.