Princeton University - Nassau Herald Yearbook (Princeton, NJ)

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FRESHMAN FOOTBALL TEAM

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I6 Hisfofgf WC the Class qf '96. few days later almost any member of Ninety-Six might have been seen sporting a little silver clapper on his watch-chain. . On the same night that the clapper was stolen we issued our proclamations expressing in emphatic terms our contempt and disdain for '95, Most of the posting was done by two parties, one consisting of Bum Halsey and some Juniors, the other of George Blackmore and some Juniors. Strange to say the Soph- omores seemed to be caught napping and the only opposition encountered was from a few stragglers who, however, relied more on the long tongue than the strong arm, and these were easily persuaded not to touch the procs. Four of our fellows, however, were arrested in Trenton for decorating doorsteps and shop-fronts with these striking but somewhat gaudy trimmings. The magistrate before Whom they were brought could see no logic in the plea of mental aberration, and it took three dollars apiece and the Prosecutor of the Pleas to rescue Hungry Harriman and his associates. The day after, nevertheless, the procs., both within the borough of Princeton and for miles around, were setting forth the status of the Sophomore class as viewed from a Freshman standpoint. ' y On October 6th a mass-meeting was held to discuss the advisability of abolishing the rush. There was more or less argu- ment on the matter, but since our class had already defeated '9 5 we Were satisfied. Hence we cast in our vote with the affirma- tive and a resolution was passed doing away with the old-time rush. In return for this commendable bit of self-sacrifice, the faculty very graciously consented to legitimatize the cane-spree and it became a regular event in the Fall Handicap Games. Matters went along smoothly for a while, varied now and then by the experiences necessarily attendant upon the inferior position of a F reshman. A reception given us by Mrs. Patton was an oasis in this period and made some of us feel rather homesick and melancholy.

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Hixtofjx :gf the Class qf '96, I7 The Annual Fall Games occurred on the 19th. Our clss did exceedingly well in the events, Banker, Carnochan, Jesse Jones, Wilson and Fiscus all scoring points, besides Schaff, who broke the record for the Freshman quarter-mile run. It was the cane-spree, however, which absorbed everybody's attention. This was the first time it had been held in daylight, where the spectators as well as the contestants could see what was going on. Every move was watched with breathless interest, and when Beef Turner, our light-weight, took the cane from Reynolds '95, we truly thought we were a good line and signified the fact with stentorian lungs. Our hopes were soon clashed, however, for Hearn wastdefeated by Cochran '95 after a game struggle, and a similar fate overtook Faile, our heavy-weight representative, who on account of an injured leg was not at his best and was overcome at the hands of his Sophomore opponent. We didn't win the cane-spree that time-but then, Freshmen never do win that, you know-thus we consoled ourselves. During all this month football had been the most important topic of conversation to the college at large, and the 'Varsity had been practising and playing regularly. A goodly number of our class made a stab at the 'Varsity and several succeeded in winning iirst honors. Big Buck Hall had the reputation of being one of the most promising guards in the country. Biff Lea walked into right tackle too easy, while Fiscus and Barnett helped to swell the list of 'Varsity men. Our class tried a little football on its own account and devel- oped a team which was one of the best Freshman organizations ever known. Mac Pope was elected captain and Mollie McGuire was declared manager. Mac led his gallant canvass backs to victory in every game but two, and they were ties, play- ing Lawrenceville 6 -6, and the ,QS class team 0- 0. The members of our team were as follows: 2 .