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T HE Importance of the klcklnc department of a football, team has been strikingly illustrated In many contests in the east and west this season. With the de velopment of play under the new rules —the rules of 1906—kicking in various branches looms Into tho foreground with greater prominence than ever. Good kickers are mads and not born. There is no such thing as a "born kicker" in football, Just as there was nevsr yet a "born pitcher" In baseball. The great kicker, like tho great pitcher, obtains his skill by artificial means— by training, study and nover ceasing practice. Of course I do not mean to convey the idea that some men have not moro natural aptitude for certain branches pf athletic sports, but natural aptitude Is not necessarily advanced skill by any means. CAPTAIN BURR OF HARVARD. rules, but the development of punting is not rendered any the less necessary THORP OF CARLISLE. There is hardly a college In the coun try that does not envy the Ames Agri cultural college of Jowa In the posses sion of E. Lambert, right hslfback. Lambert’s kicking ability la little short of phenomenal. In the recent. Contest against the University of Minnesota he kicked a goal from the fleld (from placement) from the forty-elght line, an almoat Impossible performance. Princeton sadly; misses the kicking powers of Harlan this year. placement. In the recent game agatnat Lehigh university at Annapolis North- croft kicked such a field goal from tho forty-nine yard line, E. H. Coy, tho phenomenal Tale fullback. Is eclipsing his work of last year as a punter and is ths ablest punter In the country today. | , Pugilistic Doldrums. Times have been so dull among tho neavy men of the* prise ring of lute that FAMOUS KICKERS OF LEADING FOOTBALL ELEVENS IN ACTION Kfcker*, as a Whole, Inferior. The kickers of the big teams of this year are, as a whole. Inferior to those of certain past years In splto of the in- . creased Importance of this branch of tho game. Several men now in harness are undoubtedly stars in some particu lar phase of kicking, but'in punting for distance it Is difficult to pick even one man who classes with various men who have shofie before. Head Coach Percy Houghton of Har vard was in his playing days a sensa tional punter, and he has been en deavoring to make the Harvard bri gade the strongest in the country. But thus far his material has proved dis appointing. A kick for distance in football, ex cept a kickoff. Is always a runt, add on this purely defensive measure fre quently depends the winning or losing of a game. Therefore its value should never be underestimated by coaches and captains. Of course place kicking and drop kicking may add to a team's score, while punting of Itaolf cannot do so owing to the provisions of tho Wheaton and 8teffen. Drop kicking this year has able ex- ponents in Wheaton of Yale and Cap< tain Walter Steffen of Chicago. When* ton la considered the best drop kicker in the east, while Steffen leads in the west. "Long John" Miller of the Uni verslty of Indiana is another reliable drop kicker, but his punts carry far ther than those of almost any other man 4n the college World. The Uni versity of Pennsylvania will probably depend on "Big Bill" Hollenbach in its leading contests during the remainder of the campaign, and Captain Burr of Harvard is doing considerable punting for the crimsons. Thorp of Carlisle Is tile best pigskin booter on tho famous Indian eleven, succeeding the sensa tional Mount Pleasant, who headed tjie kicking department last year. Other Expert Kickers. The West Point Military academy team claims to be close to* the top ,at a kicking aggregation. The best two r men in this respect are Dean and Greble. Dean docs the drop and place kicking, while Gfcble la the ablest punter, some of his drives going high and accurately a distance of from fifty to sixty yards. Northwestern university has a clever drop kicker In Klttleman, who ha a per formed the feat of searing goals from tho fleld from tho thirty-five yard line. CAPTAIN WALTER STEFFEN OF UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO. I Captain NurthcroTt of tho Annapolis Naval academy tram lias loomed up aa I a genuine star in kicking goals from even tho venturesome, debonair upd busy brain, d Kid McCoy has wandered once more between tho ropes and into, the mitt pushing game He picked for his opponent one Jim Btrwort, a big, hnmhoine boy who a year ago was asking Hilly Elmer, the New York manager, how to put on h pair of gloves. Elmer put the Stewart boy on with Jim Harry, and live minutes lator Elmer and Joe Jeannette carried the. lad tenderly back to a pillow and "brought him to." Just the kind of a boy McCoy would llko to fight, of course—big and simple tfnd Ignorant—and easy. McCoy will next be heard of hunting « match In the old ladles' homo for a purse of a half pound of tea and U side bet of three ounces of peppermint drops. ' ■ k’ ' Jeffries a Dog Expert. Most fighting men think Champion Jim Jeffrlos doesn’t know very much about anything but the prise ring end that hla Interests, aside from his farm and business, center entirely on fight ing. But that is a big mistake. Jcf- fflea is ono of tho most expert dog fanciers In the country. He uTpuld rather "tnlk dog*’ than any other sub- Jfefct. With a fow of his cronies he will •it up hours and discuss the fine points and merits of tns dog family. Jeff owns a number of fine dogi on his farm, near Los Angejcs. Ho likes gamo fighting doga the best and enjoys reciting many wonderful tales relating | to Ills adventures with his pets while hunting Wild game and animals. The big fellow would rather follow ths trail of n bear or a mountain lion with his favorite doge than attend the grandest feast In.th<» world. Jeff does not care about matching his dons to fight, in the pit, but he expects them to make good In tho forest •gainst wild animals. Most of hfs dogs are of the bull terrier, breed, an^l he eays they cannot be excelled for all around purposes.^ American Running Horses 6ell -Well Abrosd. Horsemen agree that the average amounts obtained In England for the yearlings sent abroad by James R. Keene and Jnmcs B. Haggln show that there lp probably a good market In foreign countries for American year lings of the right sort. Mr. Keens's lot was shipped several weeks ago and’ sold at Newmarket for an average of nearly $1,200. The Haggln yearlings were shipped more recently. For twen ty-five head an aggregate of $18,600 wan realised, an average of $740. There remain nearly sixty head of Mr. Hag- gin's kit for disposal. The real test of the availability of England as a market for American bred thoroughbreds will come next year, when tho youngsters sold this season begin their careers on the Eng lish turf. If even a small proportion race creditably or If ono or two should succeed in gaining great prestige, there Is certain to be a strong demand for those that will follow from thla coun try. Than buying yearling* there J» n< greater gamble, and ,<ine good perform' br out of a dosen nondescripts will be enough to create a desire for morfi among owners abroad. New Clast of Racing Yacht. A new class of ohe design fifteen footers Is being built for members of tho Manhasset Bay (N. Y.) Yacht club. These boats, eight In number, have been designed by Henry J. Glelow and art being built At Jacobs' yard at City Island, N. Y. Their dimensions or feet 9 Inches over all, 19 feet 6 Inches on the water line, 6 fret 7 Inches beam and 4 feet 11H inrhea draft They will have sails made by Ratsey of brown Egyptian duck and spread 436 square feot. They are to have two water tight bulkheads. ARTHUR ROCKWOOD. CHAMPION LIGHTWEIGHT BATTLING NELSON IN A MERRY MOOD ON A "DAY OFF,” BASEBALL STORM BREWING. Washington and Chicago American Placers May Q» "Outlawsd." There Is liable to bft plenty stirring In baseball before the big teams line up, for one another's gore next spring. It has been an unusually peaceful sum- mer, but the calm always precedes the storm. Already one sees fomenting la the pot little bits of trouble that art liable to precipitate a atorm before the end of the year. The aituatlon which confronts the Washington American team mny force the issue. Washington Is In serious difficulty. This Is shown by the stand of the na tional commission In tsmporarily black listing those Senators who played with out permission against Jimmy Calla han’s Logan Squares of Chicago. Mem bers of the Chicago Americans are in practically the same boat, aa tome of Fielder Jones’ athletes also tried con cisions with the outlaws. The com mission has not yet dealt with the Sox, but their case will in all probability come up at the next meeting of ths board. Of course the offense of Chicago lg not as grave as that of the Senators, aa fewer Sox players took part In the games, and they /id not leave their own territory nor play In opposition to tho world’s series. Should the commis sion wish to make an example of Washington, however. It will mean a bbj shakcup In the American league. With all the Senators who took part blacklisted, the promising looking ag gregation with which Cantillon made such a strong finish lift fall would be .shattered. CnntlUon la pretty strong with the Washington fans, and they arc liable to Btlck behind the manager. At any rate, this town has stood enough In the line of tall coders. It would not want to be in any way cheated out of a chance for Improve ment Ban Johnson will get Joe Cantlllon’s scalp If there Is any possibility. Now comes the breath of scandal that stout Joe accuses his players of "laying down" to Detroit In tho concluding se« rles with Cleveland, but Johnson Is re ported! to have said that he would make Cantillon substantiate the charges or get ont of the league. Ban is Just now a shooting trip In Wisconsin with Charlie Comlskey and other magnates, and the matter is hot likely to be aired until the anuu&l league meeting in De- cumber. ri Dray Now a Bostonian. Walter R. Dray, the world’s cham pion pole vaulter, baa entered the Mas sachusetts Institute of Technology and xylil be a resident of Boston two or three years. While at Yale Dray was the vaulting marvel of the coun try, and his vaulting limitations were only n matter of conjecture. Dray graduated last spring and Is now study ing mechanical engineering at Tech. Shrubb to Raoo Longboat, ’ Alfred Shrubb, professional cham pion of the world, and Tom Longboat, the Canadian Indian, bars been matched for a ten mile race tor the professional championship of the world. Ths race will be run Oct. 27 at Madison Square Garden, New York, and will be for a side bet of $1,R00 and a percentage of tho gate rocelpts. Merit but No Novelty In Season’s Latest Batch of Plays ; London Critics Praise H. B. Irving and Fannie Ward ===Stage Gossip [From Our New York Dramatle Corre spondent] V ERY little novelty la shown In the latest batch of new plays, though merit ds by no means lacking. Grace Van etuddl- ford has returned as star In a pleasing musical comedy by Reginald De Koven ; and Harry B. Smith at the Broadway j theater, Edgar Sclwyn has won praise! In "Pierre of the Plains" at ths Hud-j •on, James K. Hackett has revived '"pe Crisis” ot tho Hackett theater, .. i .’’Louis Mann Is appearing at the t*tClrcle theater in "Tho Man Who Stood Still," by Jules Eckert Good- man. attention over here. "Fanny and the Servant Problem," by Jerome K. Je rome, has scored a rousing Kit at the ‘Aldwych theater, with Fannie Ward In the lead, and H. B. Irving la credited with a hit of the same proportions at the 8haftesbury theater In a rovlvnl of "The Lyons Mall," in which the late Sir Henry Irving made one of tho greatest of hla various successes. Fannie Ward returned to the stage In this country two years ago, and H. B. Irving gave his first performance of "The Lyons Mali’’ at the Broadway theater, New York, during hit first appearance on this side, several years ago. London 8uee«sses. 8elwyn and "Plorre.” Several Occurrences on the London "Pierre of the Plains" Is tho third •tago have also attracted considerable | vehicle in which Mr. Selwyn has ap reared In almost as many weeks. His first two ventures were failures, but in his present drama he has captured the capricious favor of all the critics. "Pierre of the Plains" Is a romantic drama, In which Mr. Selwyn Is given a role of the sort popular among the matinee girlie*, and In addition to looking handsome he takes part in much well sustained action. Mann Uses Laughable Dialect* Louis Mann’s new vehicle gives the talented character actor a serio-comic role in which due care was taken not to bury his humorous German dialect. In the serious side of "The Man Who Stood Still" Mr. Mann preaches the gospel of despair. He is a 8wlss clock- maker who can make clocks go, but he can’t make himself go—that Is, he has not been a success In life. He sum med It all up when, broksn hearted, shamed by his erring daughter, .ho •aid: "The only crime in this God forsaken country Is failure. And I am a failure." His acting was capital in momei comedy as well as in those of emotion. Excellent Support. Mr. Mann’s supporting company uniformly excellent. Robert A. Fischer, In the guise of an aged Teuton, aroused genuine merriment of large propor tions, especially in a pcnuchle game with the man who stood still. Mme. Matliilde Cottrclly as a housekeeper, Geoffrey Stein as a Jew peddler, Edith Browning as the clockmsker’s daugh ter and Lillian Slnnott as a "tough girl" received deservedly warm appre ciation. Manager William A. Brady answered a curtain call with Mr. Mann and sar castically dared the critics to “roast" the play. Mr. Brady’s antipathy to the New York critics is well known. Ife said that, although Mr. Mann had •pent three months of study and work on the production, no one of the public would know until the papers appeared whether the play was good or not in spite of the fact that the play was really good. Well, Mr. Brady la absolutely correct this time, because "Tho Man Who Stood Still" Is a real success, and everybody ought to see it Success of "The Crisis." Mr. Hackett interrupted his success ful rup of The Prisoner of .Zcnda" to JAMES K. HACKETT AS STEPHEN RMCE IN “THE CRISIS.” The success of this venture will prob ably cause Mr. Hackett to keep it on the boards for a lengthy period. Mr. Hackett appears In the leading role and pictures the military character with rare insight, finish .and dramatic effect "The Crisis’’ Is the most pleasing re vival seen In 'several years. JJtlllo Burke Is In the third month of her engagement at the Lyceum theater In the charming .French comedy "Love Watches" and continues to attract large audiences. This is true of both evening and afternoon performances. The audiences are among the most en thusiastic that have ever assembled In a theater in New York. They show in many ways that they enjoy not only the comedy Itself, but also the sight of the beautiful young girl on the stage, whose every, movement, look and ges ture Is followed by them with eager ness. Tho second set of "Love Watches," In which the young couple ara shown in their honeymoon period, serves as MARIA LABIA IN THE ROLE OF CARMEN. Marla Laoia is the new Italian opera singer, a dramatic soprano, whom Oscar Hammerstein has engaged for his grand opera performances at the Manhattan Opera House, New York, and at the Philadelphia Opera House. an attractive lesson for young bus- bunds who ere blsssfd with nvcrafYce tlonate wives. The scenes are full of tho moat delicious humor, built upon marital sweetness, and Miss Burke's nnturalness and earnestness of action enhance its amusing value a hundred fold. The Devil’s Eccentrlo Costume. Franz Molnar’s devil rb presented In "The Dovll" Is an eccentric foreign In dividual whose whimsicality is shown not only In his kesn satire and sar donic humor, but even In his costume, in?lute ;> runn of the world, he Is and vain to a degree q»d therefore af fects oddltiec ot areas aa well as of speech and manners. In Budapest, Vienna and other conti nental < | >11 h I n tb* 1 (iin an i !a n author prescribed for him quaint garments. The lapels of his cost were extended to up* nrllko p--lnt* end fgce<| with bril liant r/d. He did/not wear a Mephlsto feather In hln het. but hit hair w.ts made to our! Into the suggestion of llttlo horns, and even his ears were pointed, suggesting the fabled god Pan. [Ill necktie and gloves were scarlet, and his spats displayed cardinal but- tons. Wherever he might sff-rt a *ar torlal whim without offending good taste he did so. Red Buttons on Bhees, In almost every point the American managers have followed. The red on the American devil's coat may not be eo brilliant aa Molnar prescribed, but a mysteriously gleaming changeable silk Is used that gives a glimpse of flame color at certain angles. When vlowed direct from the front It la black as the broadcloth of ths coat. The red tie Is discarded with the dress suit, but Is worn with the devil's frolfk suit. Dain ty cardinal buttons are on his shoos, and some people declare there la a gleam of red in the devil's eyes at tlmas when he whispers his cunning words into the ears of his victims. These eccentricities of the devil's costume are always refined and deli cate, adding to the Symbolism of the character and helping to define the one needed point of difference between the devil and the other characters In the play. There are now no less than nine sep arate companies playing 'The Devil" throughout the United State#. GOSSIP OF THE stageT vr - -Jr \5j n* • 0 - to ‘bffcq'fn* 5hpb*rt '*Ur*, In 2 joe* ! • * 9 A* Imusical comedy ljy inxivy and dodders/; Charles Frohman la preparing a| Now," is playing the Ic-idlrig th- .-ui*b■ftdf ’’ second "Fluffy Ruffles’’ company to go r > . . • w r :• uAy* "J'...■* I:. h t..i* go o:\ t v,tfh. on the road. , gerla." the original company alter two years Harry Bulger, who appeared In Elsa Ryan and Lawrence Wheat, of success In New York.* "Woodland" and "Tho Man From who are new appearing in "Marcelle," 1 Anna Held is soon to be seen In Bad-1 timore in her new production, "Miss Inmcei.ce Abroad." A new musical comedy making 1 .a tour of the , jEftifoweit Is called "Tbft. American Heiress.” Mme. Schumann-Heir.k has gone for a concert tour In Europe, which will last tho best part of a year. Iler third son, Hans, Is going to Dresden,to study for the operatic stngg^ 9 imc>4 &i*< Wallace Eddingrr has been engaged lor Charles Klein’s new play. The Third Degree “ , ”6ham,” by Elmer Blaney Harris and Geraldine Bonner. Is to be pro duced by Henry U. Harris in Decern bed*.-..; ;»;*/ luViavl ed» OJ timdllfti Pauline Chao* iucs tnadar a soecese let Pari* with Charles Frohman’a pro ductlon of "Pantaloon.” Edgar Selwyn, who played the lead log role In "Strongheart" last season, is now starring in "Pierre of the Plains,’ founded on SIi Gilbert Par ker's "Pierre and His People." ’The Lion and the Mouse" Is now being played In Oermany, France, Italy, Norway and ths United 8tates. ( “I’M NOT HUMAN,” NELSON. Lightweight Champion Dsolares Hs Owns Subnormal Heart. 'They say I’m not a human belif. I guess they’re right." It was Battling Nelson who wii making the guess on the truth of tha assertion. The assertion that the "Du rable Dane" isn't a human being waa made a short time ago by Joe Qans. The negro also said that there wasn’t a human being that could knock ont tha lightweight champion with human power. Nelson continued: "I've got a subnormal heart. My heart beat averages from forty-six to forty-eight a minute, while the aver- ago person's heart bents from seventy- six to seventy-eight a minute. Often when I get up in the morning my heart bents as slow as forty. "I'm cold blooded. When I get tntd the ring I can stand for nothing Inter fering with my fighting. There’s noth ing has effect on me. I keep after say man till he drops. "I'TS got a perfect nervous system. In tho ring or out of It I never get excited. I never worry; I never fret Nothing bothers me. I’m cool and collected all the time. I guess that's why I'm not a human being. * "I said I was cold blooded and that my heart bents forty sometimes, but I want to say that that heart is as big as the next fellow’s." Nelson was asked whether he be lieved Joe Gans was right when be (aid no living being will ever knock tho champion out "Well, to be honest with you," re turned Bat, "I can nnswer tbit In one word. *Na'—that Is, nobody of ray weight. "There was only one time when l was counted out, and I was eut for seven days then. That was In a bi cycle factory In Hegewlsch, 111., In 1898. I was helping a blacksmith when a Teuton drop hammer caught me on the bead. It was ripped open In a dozen places. They thought I was dead. It took about ninety stitches to sew up the wounds. I was In the hospital a week. Most of the time I was unconscious. They had me packed In Ice. “They thought I was gone then. My right ear Is deaf today, and my right eye Is smaller than the left, and I’ve got a dozen scarq, over one side of my fgee and head. That's what I got to show for the only time I took the count. If they want to get me again they’ve got to get a drop hammer or an ax." ______ I Altixer Htlps ths Nap*. The Cleveland Americans are not at nil sorry that they purchased the re lease of Altizgr, who has proved A handy man for the Naps.