The schools of Maine are beginning to practise for their championship season, and several minor games have already been played. Portland High ought to have a fairly strong team, although it is perhaps too early yet to form any idea of what the new material will develop into. Bangor High is practising hard, and of last year's team there are again in school Connors, McCann, Snow, Hall, Hunt, Knaide, and Crowley. The Cony High-School, of Augusta, is looking forward confidently to winning the championship, and the eleven is practising hard every day. Several of last year's team are back, notably Savage and Sawyer, the guard and tackle. The regular League schedule, however, has not yet been arranged.
The Cook County High-School League, of Chicago, had a little trouble over its elections recently, but it is to be hoped that if any ill feeling resulted, it has all been smoothed over by this time. It seems to be a natural desire among a great many of us to go ahead regardless of rules sometimes, and this always results in trouble afterwards. When it comes to an election, nothing should ever be attempted that is not strictly in conformity with the regulations of the association. The desire for office or the enthusiasm of supporters should not be allowed to influence any candidate. A man elected under any circumstances except those of absolute regularity can never feel satisfied with his position, and will always suffer the loss of a certain amount of self-respect.
At the last meeting of the League's committee this trouble over the election was satisfactorily arranged, and a schedule for the championship series was laid out as follows:
Oct. 10.—West Division at North Division, Lake View at Oak Park, English High at Hyde Park, Northwest at Englewood, Chicago Manual at Evanston.
Oct. 17.—Hyde Park at West Division, Englewood at Lake View, North Division at English High, Evanston at Northwest, Oak Park at Chicago Manual.
Oct. 21.—West Division at Englewood, Chicago Manual at Hyde Park, Northwest at North Division, Lake View at Evanston, English High at Oak Park.
Oct. 24.—Evanston at West Division, Chicago Manual at Lake View, Oak Park at Englewood, Hyde Park at North Division, Northwest at English High.
Oct. 31.—Northwest at Oak Park, North Division at Chicago Manual, Englewood at Evanston, West Division at Oak Park, English High at Lake View.
Nov. 4.—North Division at Lake View, Evanston at English High, Hyde Park at Oak Park, West Division at Northwest, Englewood at Chicago Manual.
Nov. 7.—Lake View at Hyde Park, Oak Park at Evanston, Englewood at North Division, Northwest at Chicago Manual, English High at West Division.
Nov. 14.—Hyde Park at Evanston, English High at Englewood, Chicago Manual at West Division, North Division at Oak Park, Lake View at Northwest.
Nov. 21.—Hyde Park at Englewood, Northwest at Oak Park, Evanston at North Division, Chicago Manual at English High, West Division at Lake View.
The home grounds of the different teams are: Englewood, Hyde Park, and Chicago Manual, Washington Park; Lake View and North Division, Lincoln Park; English High and West Division, Douglas Park; Northwest Division, Humboldt Park; Evanston, Evanston; and Oak Park on the Oak Park Club baseball-grounds.
The New Jersey Interscholastic A.A. has arranged its football schedule, and the games will be played in the following order:
| Oct. 10.—Newark Academy vs. Pingry, at Newark. |
| Oct. 15.—Stevens Prep. vs. Montclair H.-S. at Montclair. |
| Oct. 24.—Pingry vs. Stevens Prep. at Elizabeth. |
| Oct. 24.—Newark vs. Montclair at Montclair. |
| Oct. 31.—Stevens vs. Newark at Hoboken. |
| Nov. 7.—Pingry vs. Montclair at Elizabeth. |
It is probable that the Wisconsin Interscholastic League will soon fall to pieces, inasmuch as three of the strongest members have withdrawn from it. The reason given for this action on their part is that the high-schools in the State are so widely separated, that the time and expense incurred in travelling to and from games are so great, that these contests must be abandoned. The Milwaukee schools, however, have decided to keep up interscholastic sport so far as they are themselves concerned, and have adopted a constitution and drawn up a set of rules to govern their own games, which shall take the place of the old League regulations. These rules were made by delegates representing three schools. They debar all undesirable persons from taking part in any of the contests, and a committee has been appointed to see that athletics are kept pure not only in Milwaukee, but to enforce the Milwaukee standard against all out-of-town teams that desire to hold contests with members of this new association.
From all accounts it would seem that athletics in Wisconsin must have been about as impure and un-amateur and shamefacedly semi-professional as could possibly be. The trouble all came about, as it usually does, gradually. One school committed some small offence, and then another school committed a larger one, excusing itself on the ground that its neighbor was the first sinner. Madison High-School, so far as I am able to learn, seems to have been the worst transgressor. It is a great boaster of championships, and it is true that the Madison High-School football team has never been defeated. It has seemed to many, however, that the authorities of that school ought to take some steps to prevent men who are students at the University of Wisconsin from playing on the High-School team. Such men actually did play on the school teams while members of the university, by taking some single subject in the High-School. With university men on the school teams, victory naturally came to Madison very frequently when it met other schools, and this afforded a bad example.
The contagion reached Milwaukee, and the High-Schools there did a great many things which are doubtless now regretted by the better element. To such a point have they come in Wisconsin that the Mercury, which is the paper of the Milwaukee East-Side High-School, says, in a leading editorial: "There must be an entire revolution in the High-School athletics of this State. Otherwise Wisconsin will have a league professing purity in athletics, but really composed of professionals and 'ringers' and some unquestioned amateurs.... Numerous charges have been wafted to our ears, but we will deal only with those which we can substantiate." So long as the Mercury can substantiate the charges, it may be interesting to the readers of this Department to hear what those charges are.