It is good news from California that the bicyclists of the Academic Athletic League are working for the formation of an association separate from track and field interests. If the move is successful it will rid the latter sports of an event that never really belonged among them, and, in addition, it will undoubtedly be of benefit to bicycle-racing, which, if reasonably and properly conducted, should be encouraged. The Oakland High-School already has what they call a "cycling annex" to their regular athletic association—a branch of the latter for the promotion of bicycling, and for the management of bicycle races. This annex has proved an excellent institution, and has served to develop remarkable speed in some of its members, as these records will show:
| Distance. | Time. | Holder. | |||
| 1/8 mile, flying start, unpaced | 13-3/4 | sec. | Colby. | ||
| 1/4 mile, flying start, unpaced | 30-1/5 | sec. | Gooch. | ||
| 1/4 mile, standing start, unpaced | 34-3/4 | sec. | Childs. | ||
| 1/2 mile, standing start, unpaced | 1 | min. | 7 | sec. | Gooch. |
| 1 mile, standing start, competition | 2 | min. | 18-1/2 | sec. | Gooch. |
| 2 miles, standing start, paced | 5 | min. | 12 | sec. | Kenna. |
| 5 miles, standing start, competition, road race | 13 | min. | 20 | sec. | Gooch. |
| 5 miles, standing start, paced | 14 | min. | 19 | sec. | Kurtz. |
At the meeting of the Reliance Athletic Club, September 7th, Gooch rode third in the mile, Class A. The winning time was 2 min. 18 sec, and the O.H.-S. rider was only the length of his bicycle behind. On September 9th he rode third to 2 min. 14-1/2 sec. in the Class A mile at San José. The winner of both these races was an A.A.L. rider—Squires of the Berkeley Gymnasium, who was second in the half, Class A, at San José, when a world's record was made. The records of the O.H.-S., as given above, were made on the Oakland Race Track, which is 100 yards short of a mile in circuit, and has a straightaway quarter.
Football in the New York schools is slow in getting a start this fall. Almost every other scholastic league is hard at work in the field, but as yet scarcely any of the school teams hereabouts have done any work. On Long Island a little more activity is being shown, but not much. The slight start they have over the New-Yorkers, however, will be of benefit to them, and it is not rash to prophesy, even at such an early date, that the Inter-City championship in football will go across the river, as the baseball championship did this spring, unless the Manhattanites display an unusual degree of energy between now and November.
Reference to the Inter-City game suggests that in view of the three sets of football rules in vogue this fall, it will be advisable for committees from the N.Y.I.S.F.B.A. and from the L.I.I.S.F.B.A., to meet at as early a date as possible to determine which set of regulations these two leagues will adopt. For it stands to reason that if they are to play a match in November they must sooner or later come to an understanding on the subject of the laws that are to govern the contest. There ought to be no difficulty about this, the only important point being that the decision should be reached at once so that every school eleven may get into practice, and learn to play the game that is to be required of them later.
The absurdity of having three different sets of rules has already manifested itself among the colleges. Before the game between Harvard and Dartmouth, which was played ten days ago, the Captains of the respective teams had to meet and powwow over what methods should hold good in the contest. Of course, Captain Brewer wanted to play according to the Harvard-Cornell-Pennsylvania scheme, but Dartmouth, having a Yale coach, preferred the Yale-Princeton system. This difficulty will doubtless crop up previous to every game played by one of the five law-making colleges with the other colleges who had no say about the revision. It is impossible, of course, for all the scholastic leagues of this section of the United States to get together and agree on uniformity of rules, and this is unnecessary; but I strongly urge neighboring schools to reach some sort of an understanding, or there will be no end of squabbles as the season advances.
Of early games in New England, Exeter was badly defeated by Dartmouth College, Andover succumbed to the Boston Latin School, and a few days afterward the B.L.S. players disposed of the Charlestown High-School to the tune of 16-4. B.L.S. has a strong team this year, beyond question. The Charlestown players were confident of winning before the contest began, but at no stage of the game did they stand the slightest chance of success. Captain Maguire, of B.L.S., did excellent work all through the two halves. He made several long runs by good dodging and fast sprinting, punted finely, and tackled hard. Teevens found the centre weak, and banged away at it for a number of good gains. Lowe and Nagle, too, showed up well by breaking through on the runner repeatedly, and making holes large enough for the entire team to get through. Ramsey was easily the best man on the Charlestown High, making all the large gains, and being pushed over the line for the only touch-down. Curley put up a good game at quarter, making some fine tackles, and running the team in good shape. Better arrangements should be made in the future to keep enthusiastic spectators off the field. This is an old-time fault of games between schools. The management of the home team should always consider itself responsible for the policing of the field.
The most important game of the New England series, next to the final championship contest, was played at Brookline, Friday, to determine whether Brookline High or Newtown High should be the sixth member of the Senior League. As was partially anticipated in these columns last week, victory went to Brookline; but Newton High's defeat was much worse than I had supposed it would be. The score was 22-0, and this showing was due much more to Brookline's steady preliminary work than to any great discrepancy in the make-up of the two elevens. As a spectacle the game was well worth watching, and the manager of the B.H.-S.F.B.A. saw to it that the field was kept clear.
The weakest point in the B.H.-S. line was at right guard, and the Newton Captain soon discovered this, and sent his men cavorting into Talbot with good effect. Almost all of Newton's gains were made through here. Brookline, on the other hand, did not play much for centre, but managed to get around the opposing ends pretty frequently, the last two touch-downs being made in this way. Good individual plays were made by Cook, Aechtier, Seaver, and Morse for B.H.-S., the first-named doing some especially brilliant punting. For Newton the best work was done by Cotting, Lee, and Forsen.
Newton fumbled a good deal during the game, and many of their losses were due to this inability to keep their hands on the ball. At times, however, Lee's men seemed to be able to brace, making strong resistance at critical moments. B.H.-S.'s second touch-down was only secured after a stubborn fight. The ball had been rushed down to Newton's five-yard line, when the N.H.-S men gathered themselves well together and held their opponents for four downs. But this did them small service eventually, because of their woeful fumbling. In the very first rush following the four downs the Newton runner dropped the ball, and Seaver fell on it. In a few moments the second touch-down was scored. If Newton had only persisted a little longer in bucking the centre during the second half, I feel confident they could have scored.