It would seem that the first case of irregularity occurred in last year's football season, when, according to the Mercury, the Madison eleven had two players who were regular members of the University of Wisconsin. The next case was in the Milwaukee East Side High-School itself. Members of that institution had the rules of the League suspended until after the date of the field meeting in order to allow one of their men, who had not been regularly enrolled since December, as the rules required, to enter and compete. "The next irregularity," says the Mercury, "was the entrance of a professional from the interior of the State, but that resulted satisfactorily. He was ruled out." The editorial then goes on to tell another story of professionalism in which two schools, holding a majority vote, refused to obey the rules of the Association, and legislated so as to allow certain individuals to represent their schools in a track-athletic meeting who had no more right to do so than any professional performers that they might have called on for similar work. It is to be hoped that the new spirit which seems to be awakening in Milwaukee will have sufficient influence and power to root out these evils in the future, or the sports of that State will get into a sad condition, where the young are so crafty and bold in their adoption of unfair methods.
With the awakening spirit of purity in athletics the prospects for football in Wisconsin seem to be brighter than ever before. The Madison High and the East Side and South Side high-schools at Milwaukee will undoubtedly be the strongest three high-school teams in the State. Madison has more old players back than the others, and thus has a slight advantage to start with; and it has the additional advantage of good coachers from the neighboring university. The Milwaukee schools, however, will put heavier men into the field.
The St. John's Military Academy will be stronger on the gridiron this year than it has been for some time, and ought to come out pretty well in interscholastic contests. The amateur spirit has had some pretty hard rubs at St. John's, as has been told of before in this Department, but I understand that this year no instructors will be permitted to play on the team, and none but students of the institution will be allowed to wear the school colors. It has not always been possible to say this of St. John's teams.
LINE-UP OF THE BROOKLYN HIGH-SCHOOL ELEVEN.
All the schools of the Long Island League are working hard at football this year, much harder than they have worked for the past few seasons, and we may therefore expect to see a better general average across the river. St. Paul's School always has had a strong team, and expects to have the best that ever represented the school this year. The Boys' High-School of Brooklyn has an energetic captain, Dickson, and promises to put a strong eleven into the field.
The trouble with last year's High-School team was that the men were too light, and became discouraged early in the season, and did not work with that determination which alone can insure success on the football field. A number of the old men are back, however, this fall, and the new material seems to be heavier than any which has before been available.
The unusually large number of students at the Buffalo High-School this year seems to have bred a lively interest in football. The first team the High-School ever put into the field was in 1892, but so little interest was taken in its work by the students at large and the players themselves, that they were able to accomplish but little. This year, however, a change seems to have come over the spirit of B.H.-S., and large crowds watch the practice every afternoon. The eleven is light when compared with some of the teams which it will meet during the season, but the men play well together, and the new rules are so arranged that a light eleven is not under such a disadvantage as it used to be in years past. Vayers, the captain, knows the game thoroughly, and has the ability of imparting knowledge to those under him.
THE BERKELEY OVAL FOOTBALL FIELD.