CONCERNING PLAY GROUNDS. GENERAL FACILITIES. At most country colleges ample facilities in the way of grounds are furnished for the playing of base ball, foot ball, and tennis. The playing fields are usually within the college precincts. Since track athletics, i. e., walking, jumping, sprint and hurdle races, have become popular, very considerable sums have been spent on the grading and on the improvement of athletic fields, in the way of providing stands for spectators, dressing rooms for the contestants, and "cinder tracks" for pedestrian purposes. Haverford College has a fine cricket field; Lehigh University has an inclosure containing a grand stand, dressing rooms, and a quarter-mile cinder path, together with fields for ball and lawn tennis; the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, has recently furnished a well-appointed athletic field; and the Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore, has one nearly completed. HARVARD'S PLAYING FIELDS. The grounds devoted to field sports at Harvard belong to the university, and are well known among collegians as Holmes Field and Jarvis Field. They are adjacent to the Hemenway Gymnasium, and together embrace not far from ten acres of level land. Holmes Field was put in order in 1883-84 at an expense of nearly $6,000, toward which the university contributed $2,000, the remainder being raised by subscrip tion. The following statement, printed in the Harvard Advocate, January 4, 1884, is given for the purpose of affording information to institutions that may hereafter find it necessary to improve their play grounds: From subscriptions From Harvard University RECEIPTS. EXPENDITURES. For grading field, and making and furnishing material for track, etc., as specified in agreement of July, 1883.... For 6 M. feet kyanized spruce, at $23. For grass seed.. For manure..... For teaming lumber.. For watering track........ For spreading and spading manure For carpentering and other work For sawing spruce stakes..... For 52 loads of coal ashes, at 10 cents.. For use of horses and carts Carried forward $3,814 00 2,000 00 5,814 00 $4,541 00 138 00 152 50 195.00 14.00 4.00 112 50 14.00 4.00 520 96 50 5,276 70 To the balance in the bank must be added $180, which is due the athletic association from the sale of cinders and gravel, and some money from subscriptions, which has not as yet been deposited. THE YALE ATHLETIC FIELD. As showing what undergraduate zeal and alumni aid, when combined, can accomplish toward promoting athletic interests, the following condensed abstract of the report of the Yale Field Corporation is given: For many years Yale men have known that their college was one of the few which made no provision whatever for the outdoor sports of its students. Though situated near the center of a rapidly growing city, it relied entirely on such arrangements as its undergraduates could make from year to year. In the spring of 1880 a movement was started in the Junior class which led to a university meeting, at which a committee of students was appointed to find out whether a suitable field for college sports could be purchased, and, if so, whether it was probable that money could be raised to pay for it. The committee reported favorably on both points, and was authorized to take the necessary steps to secure a field. Two months later this committee associated with itself the "Advisory Committee on Athletics," then composed of four graduates. During the following year the sum of $15,000 was collected and twenty-nine acres of land were purchased. On the 27th of May, 182, the "Committee on Purchase of Yale Athletic Grounds" was merged in the "Yale Field Corporation," which was formed to "manage grounds to be used by persons connected, or who shall have been connected, with Yale College, for athletic games, exercises, and recreations in said college, and to take, buy, own, and hold property, real and personal, necessary or proper therefor." The members of this corporation are all persons who prior to its incorporation had paid $5 to the treasurer of the field fund, and all students and instructors who since that time have paid a like sum to the treasurer of the corporation. The management is vested in a board of twelve directors, of whom four are undergraduate officers of college athletic associations, six are graduates, and two are instructors in the university. On the 1st of June, 1884, the field was thrown open to the college, and during the fall it has been used for foot ball and lacrosse, and has given general satisfaction. It lies on the south side of Derby avenue, due west of the campus, and distant one and one-half miles. Some have objected to this field on account of its distance from the college. The reason why it was selected was because there was no suitable field nearer which could be bought. Every available spot within two miles of the college was carefully examined and considered, and those who know what there was to choose from have never questioned the wisdom of the choice. In point of fact, the new field is one sixth of a mile nearer South College than the grounds heretofore used, and the directors think that the Chapel street cars will soon run to the entrance. The location adopted, moreover, is in less danger from the opening of new streets than any other site available. The preparation of the field for use has gone forward rather slowly. The reasons are numerous. It has been hard to raise money, and the expenses have been heavy. 5068-No. 5--8 641 Many questions have arisen concerning the treatment of soil, raising of turf, building of the track, etc., about which it was extremely difficult to procure trustworthy advice, and to proceed without it was simple experiment. The personnel of the committee and board of directors has undergone many changes. The members were from different cities, and those who are graduates have been so closely occupied with their own affairs that the time required for this work has not been easily spared. Soon after the land was purchased the fences, trees, and buildings were cleared away, and about fourteen acres were graded for use. The soil was then enriched by plowing in two crops of grass and the addition of large quantities of wood ashes with other fertilizers; and by seeding and sodding, a strong turf was secured over an area about equal to that of the New Haven Green. The plan for lay-out submitted by Mr. Frederick Law Olmsted was adopted, with some modifications suggested by those practically acquainted with college athletics. At the entrance a roadway 200 feet long by 30 feet wide, flanked by a stone wall, was constructed, and drives four-fifths of a mile in length have been laid out within the grounds. The running track lies at the south-east corner of the field, and was built under the superintendence of Mr. Robert Rogers. It is a quarter of a mile long, and the straight-away length of its sides is 372.5 feet, while the width is 15 feet in the narrowest and 20 feet in the widest part. No pains were spared in its construction or in procuring the right kind of cinders and other materials of which it is made. The grounds are inclosed on three sides by 2,762 feet of fence, the fourth side being bounded by the river. The water supply is furnished by a good well and by 1,580 feet of pipe, which extend through the grounds from the city main. The grand stand, situated at the north side of the field and overlooking the principal ball ground, is the gift of Mr. William H. Crocker, '82 S. It seats 850 persons, and will afford a perfect view of the intercollegiate games to be played directly in front of it. The field is now ready for base ball, foot ball, track athletics, lacrosse, and tennis, and a tract of about four acres has been set aside for cricket, though it is not yet graded. When completed it will afford room and opportunity to all students for all games which they wish to play. The plans adopted for further improvement include the grading of the cricket field, the planting of a hedge just inside the fence, the erection of two club houses, containing baths and dressing rooms for those who take part in the games, and some minor matters which will add to the beauty and convenience of the grounds. The field lies on the farther bank of West River, on a bluff that rises forty feet above the water and extends westward. The side and eastern edge of this bluff are covered by a growth of chestnut, oak, and hickory, and near the entrance gate are two large pines. Through the grove one sees the city, and toward the south catches glimpses of the harbor and sound. The Edgewood hills rise on the side opposite the river, and West, Pine, and East Rocks, and farther away Mount Carmel, may be seen to the northward and north-east. With these natural advantages the field can be made a pleasant place for all friends of the college to visit. The following financial statement is submitted by the treasurer: The above statement shows that the corporation is in debt $20,685.78. It was thought best to borrow money to prepare the field for use rather than delay the work longer. The estimated expense of grading the remainder of the ground, erecting cottages, planting a hedge, and carrying out the rest of the plan already adopted, is, in round numbers, $10,000. At least $30,000 is therefore needed at once. It is estimated that the cost of employing a superintendent and keeping the field in order after it is finished will be fully met by the money received for admission to the games. When the students use their own field the expenses of maintaining athletics can be materially reduced. Any persons disposed to aid the corporation in meeting its obligations and continuing the work are earnestly requested to communicate with the treasurer, Mr. Henry B. Sargent, New Haven, Conn. By order of the board of directors. NEW HAVEN, Conn., December 20, 1884. MASON YOUNG, President. During 1883-'84, Mr. W. C. Camp, who had distinguished himself as an accomplished athlete and as a scholar during his course at Yale, was engaged by the graduate advisory committee on athletics and the athletic association of the undergraduates to supervise the field sports of Yale students, at a salary of $1,200. Mr. Camp's assiduous and intelligent coaching and training contributed much to Yale's athletic triumphs in 1883-'84, when the Yale crew, foot-ball team, and ball nine each gained the championship prizes of the year. THE YALE SYSTEM OF ATHLETICS. Physical training at Yale means athletics, toward the regulation of which the Faculty exercise a minimum of influence. It is rather singular that Yale, which has been so averse to anything approaching an elective system of studies, should have developed a most unrestricted elective system of athletics. The fairest and most intelligent paper elicited by the recent discussion of athleticism which has come under our notice, is the production of an ardent friend and defender of the Yale system of athletics. In it the whole system is so well set forth, its advantages are so cogently argued, and the attacks of its critics so temperately met, that it seems best to quote copiously from it. Its exposition of the reciprocal relations of body-work and brain-work should be grasped by every teacher. Those who may desire to consult the paper as originally printed will find it published, in two parts, in the Popular Science Monthly for February and March, 1884.1 I. ADVANTAGES. If we can show that college athletics supply this need [of exercise] to quite a large body of students, and supply it regularly and systematically, we may secure a patient consideration of their good effects long enough to add a discussion of their accompanying evils. In this discussion we hope to prove that the evils have been exaggerated; that they are not so great as would be the evils of a college life without a system of athletics; and, lastly, that such evils as do inhere in the present system are capable of remedy. Though we admit the truth of all the wise sayings with regard to a “sane mind in a sound body," we are yet too apt to regard the sound body as a mere accident of inheritance or environment. So we read the proposition as a hypothetical one, viz., "If the body is sound the mind will be sane." Few but physicians read it as indicating a connection between body and mind, by means of which we can make, or help to make, a good healthy brain by making a good sound body. In the fact that the brain always seems to direct the body, we are prone to forget that the body carries the brain and feeds it with its own life. If the body has good blood the brain will have good blood also. If the body does not furnish good material, the brain will do, according to its capacity, poor work, or will not work at all. There are two kinds of brain-work,-one which we may very properly call body brain-work, and the other mind brain-work. Most people, including a great many educators of youth, consider mind brain-work to be the only kind of brain-work. But body brain-work is quite as essential to the healthy existence of the brain, and really comes first in the order of brain growth. The child, too young to know anything except its bodily wants, and conscious of them only when the denial of them causes pain, develops brain every time it makes a will-directed effort to grasp the thing it wants. The movement of its hand is as necessary to the development of its 'brain as the guidance and government of the brain are to the growth of the hand. 'What is true of the hand is true of the other bodily organs whose motion is under he control of the will. They and the brain are developed by reciprocal action. In#erfere with this body brain-work in childhood, or at any period of growth, either by repressing it or by diverting from it too much vital energy to mind brain-work, such as is involved in the acquisition of knowledge, and you not only stunt the body, but also enfeeble the brain, by depriving both of their proper growth. Care to guard against this interference is all the more necessary in cases in which the brain is large or sensitive. Now, will any man say that at the time of life when young men come to our American colleges, when, in fact, all their bodily organs are approaching maturity, this body brain-work ought to cease, or can, without danger, be neglected? Is it not most essential that at this very period the reciprocal action between body and brain should be steadily maintained, in order that both should be able to endure the strain put upon them by the various stimulants of thought and feeling to be found in college life? The great pressure brought to bear upon them is toward conscious cerebration. Acquisitions of knowledge, scholarships, the ambitious desires of parents, and prizes, all incite them to neglect body brain-work, under the mistaken impression that time given to that is time lost to the other. Many a fine scholar has left college with great honors to experience in his subsequent career the serious results of the mistake made in college, and has discovered, often too late, that a vigorous body to carry his brain is more essential to success in life than a well1 College Athletics, by Eugene L. Richards, Assistant Professor of Mathematics in Vale College. 1 |