Newspaper Page Text
Jan. 16, 1918.
Sports and Recreational Activities at Camp
t 10,000 ATHLETES
IN Y. M. C. A. GAMES
For Week Jan. 7-12, 1918.
28TH DIVISION.
Subject: Report of week ending Jan-
uary 13th, 1918.
No. No. Parti- Spec
- Games, pants, tators.
Setting’ up drills .... 10 611 250
Baseball 12 217 65
Football 4 159 30
Basketball 95 1097 381
Volley ball 83 1012 320
Wrestling 9 18 350
Boxing 28 56 350
Quoits 10 59
Socccer 15 344 147
Playground baseball . 14 246 105
Medicine ball 42 1198 105
Mass athletics 22 1183 56
Staff exercises 15 91
Special 23 4272
382 10554 2159
Note —Under the heading of special is
the use of Y. M. C. A. equipment in units
not directly reached by our buildings.
SUGGESTED GAMES
FOR ATHLETIC OFFICERS
Pulling Match.
Company arranged in two's facing each
other, grasp wrists right hand palm down,
left hand palm up. Pull opponent over
center line.
Pushing Match,
Company arranged in two's facing each
other. Place right hand against oppon
ent’s left shoulder left hand on oppon
ents right arm. Push opponent over cen
ter line. -
Pulling Match.
Company arranged in two’s facing each
other, sitting on ground feet braced
against against opponent’s feet. Grasp
wrists and try to pull opponent off the
ground.
Hand Wrestle.
■ Company arranged in two's facing each
other right foot advanced against oppon
ent’s right foot, clasping right hands and
endeavor to make opponent move his
feet from starting position, or touch
ground, with hands or bodv.
Indian Leg Wrestle.
Company arranged in two’s, lying on
„ l . e J» r oun<l headed in opposite direction.
Right hand grasping opponent’s right
shoulder raising right legs perpendicular,
on the third count hook knees and en
deavor to pul [opponent over.
Note—ln these games, as far as possh
ble, arrange men according to height, and
weight.
BOXING AT No. 78.
A large and enthusiastic crowd wit
nessed eight fast bouts at Building 78
Monday night; great interest was cen
tered in a bout between Earnest Bar
rett of Company E, 109th and Kid Ja
cobs, of the same company, this being
the feature of the evening, as there has
been keen rivalry between those two
clever boxers for some time. There
were five fast and furious rounds. The
first round seemed to favor Jac 8 s,
also the second. In the las! three
rounds however, Barrett came in strong
showing the results of his fine military
training. Coming In with all the
strength and vigor of fine young man
hood- Jacobs was very clever through
out the five rounds, showing great,
ipeed and endurance and with a little
training promises to be a very clever
boxer.
The boys who engaged in the first
bouts showed considerable talent and
with the training they will receive from
the popular director of athletics at 78
will easily maintain the reputation of
their respective companies.
EXPERT OPINION ON
IMPORTANCE OF AVIATION
Rear Admiral Bradley A. Fiske tes
tified to congress on March 24, 1916:
"Aeranautics is the thing on which we
can get to work qnicker, and by which
we can accomplish metre than by any
thing else.’
Rear Admiral Robert E. Peary, chair
man national Aerial Coast Patrol Com
mission: “Victory in the present war;
the efficiency our our Na
vy; the protection of our coasts and
coastal cities, the safety of Panama
Canal; the existence of the nation—all
depend mainly on our Air Service.
T ie# fore a department of aernauticS
Is a vital need.”
Genera’ Petain, the veteran defender
of Verdun, commander-in-chief of the
first forces: “I see France in the near
future with 50,000 aeroplanes.”
The Right Hon. Arthur J. Balfour:
“The time is here when command of
the sea will be, of no value to Great
Britain without corresponding com
mand of the air.”
Lord Charles Beresford: “The time
is here when the air service of Great
Britain will_be more vital forTer safety
than her army and her navy combin
ed.”
CAMP HANCOCK, BEWARE I
Carelessness in using cigars, cigar
ettes, and smoking-pipes, according to
an official report, was responsible for
most of the fires that occurred in New
York City last yeaj - , 1,606 fires being so
caused. Next came carelessness in set
ting bonfires, burning rubbish, etc.—l,-
573 fires being caused in this way. Care
less use of matches caused 1,475 fires;
vapors of benzine, gasoline, etc., 545; de
fective chmineys and flues, 824: matches
gnawed by rats or mice, 37; and kerosene
oil used to start the kitchen range, 9.
Seventy-five per cent of all fires occurred
TRENCH AND CAMP
GEO. R. FLEMING, ASSOCIATE DIVISIONAL ATHLETIC DIRECTOR
PUSH BALL
The following article on the origin
and history of Push Ball, will be of
interest to the men of the 28th di«
vision.
It is hoped that the ball given to
Camp Hancock by Senator Sones and
Joseph W. Cochran, of Williamsport,
Pa., will be delivered at Camp shortly
after January 21st.
Origin of Push ’Ball.
The game of push ball was orginat
ed by Moses G. Crane, of Newton, Mass,
in the early nineties. As the father of
three Harvard football jpiayers, Mr.
Crane saw many matches at Cam
bridge. “If the ball were only made
large,” he used to say; “yes, large
enough so that a player on one side
could not see who was on the other,
you would then have a chance to in
terest spectators in watching the whole
game and introducing much merriment
as well as skill.” So he talked it over
with some of the members of the New
ton Athletic Association.
“Why don’t you make a large ball,
Mr. Crane?” he was told, “and we will
use it with the foot ball teams!” So,
in the figrly fall of 1894, ortlers were
given for a hemisphere of wood six
feet three inches in di.Jieter, upon
which was to lay out and fith the cover
and the bladder. As it was not possi
ble then to weave a monstrous sphere
of canvas, a leather cover was substi
tuted. Four of the largest hides were
obtained from New York. Instead of
rawhide lacings, steel bolt hooks were
used. The building of the first ball
was very expensive, materials alone
costing Mr. Crane about $175. It was
completed late on Thanksgiving Day,
1894, but too late for exhibition on
that day. The ' following Saturday,
however, the biadder was inflated and
taken down .to the foot ball grounds
of the Newton Athletic Association.
Such a huge object attracted much
attention at the time. It was as large
as a small elephant, brownish, or tan
colored, with six seams or zones cross
ing horizontally. Several of the sec
tions were spliced because the hides
were not long enough to reach er. I ely
around the ball. The belt hooks were
small, about an inchea and_a half apart,
and numbered 1,768 (as counted by a
committee of three a the N. A. A. fair
in 1895). The bladder was made of
; rul X cloth and cemented together in
j horizontal sections. Yet the entire
i ball was a nice piece of work, service-
I able, handy and light (about seventy
I pounds). It was found to be very
elastic when tightly blown. Shortly
after Mr. Crane’s death in 1.898 the
leather cover was removed and ’sold;
and the bladder being of rubber, de
cayed.
History of the Game.
The game of push ball was devised
by Edwin Crane and William C. John
son, with the advice of several football
players' of the N. A. A. During the
first season, 1894, all sorts of methods
I were tried. Three matches were play
ed at Newton Center.
The following year the ball was in
troduced at Cambridge, where Mr.
Crane was attending college. Two
teams were mustered and drilled from
Cambridge Manual Training School
and a match game was played in late
September. Then as some interest was
aroused in Harvard over the new ball,
it was taken to Soldiers’ Field and .in
troduced to the students. Perhaps the
lateness of the season prevented the
upper classes from leaving their foot
ball elevens to take up the new sport
enmasse. But there were quite a
number among the entering class who
responded to a call for candidates.
Practice in the features of the game
was begun in earnest and two teams
organized. R. A. Leeson was chosen
captain of the Freshman team, E. It.
Crane of the college team. So much
enthusiasm was provoked that the
graduate manager of athletics, Mr. F.
A. Moore, consented to a public exhibi
tion game between the halves of the
Harvard-Brown foot ball game where
4,000 people attended.
The next exhibition game was held
on November RnJ. 1895, between the
halves of Harvard-University of
Pennsylvania gamtj, which amused over
20,000 spectators —a number of promi
nent athletes taking part.
ENGINEERS OF THE
PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD
Herman Haupt, born in Philadelphia
in 1817, who became general superinten
dent and then chief engineer of the
Pennsylvania Railroad, wrote his name
large in the transportation history of the
civil war.
With his pioneer construction corps he
rebuilt a bridge 120 feet long and 30 feet
high in fifteen hours; he put up the Po
tomac Creek bridge, 414 feet long and 82
feet above the water, in nine days.
In 1862 he was made chief of construc
tion and transportation in the Depart
ment of the Rappahannock and given a
colonel's rank, becoming a brigadier gen
eral in 1863. This is the rank now held
by W. W. Atterbury, vice-president of
the Pennsylvania Railroad, at the head
of U. S. Engineers in France.
Lee tore down nineteen bridges on the
Northern Central Railroad in the Gettys
burg campaign, but Haupt and his men
had them in usable condition the day
after Lee retreated,
PILLS FROM THE 112TH
FIELD HOSPITAL
The irrepresißle Mr. Vox Populi
again rises to inquire, “Why do officers
who never get any nearer to a horse
than the side car of a motorcycle, al
ways wear boots and spurs?” Ad
dress all replies to Ye Colyum Con
ductor.
The buck privates contemplate ,
opening a school for the purpose of
instructing certain _of our sergeants
on how to act at mess time, Being
exponerfTs of that well-known cult,
Cot Fatigue, tKey “flop,” until the very
last minute and then amble nonchal
antly up to the head of the line. The
sad part of it is tha they are, for the
most .part, pretty nice chaps at heart,
and surely know better. The male of
the species is a queer sort of a brute,
gentle, amiable, and quiet, almost be
yond belief, when well fed, but when
he is impatiently waiting the signal
to be turned loose among the beans
and soup, and somebody else in this
case a sergeant, noses in ahead of him
to “Chow,” because of some exaggerat
ed idea of his, (the sergeant’s) impor
tance, the even temper of the afore
said buck private become slightly ruf
fled and his annoyance is made evi
dent by sundry growling andjmutter
ings. Inasmuch as -we are__gathered
here in Camp Hancock endeavoring to
perfect an efficient until in our Grand
Army of Democrac' »*ny not start
this democratic stuff at home by
deigning to line up in your turn with
the ordinary B. P.’s at “Chow Time,”
sergeants?
The “possums” were certainly on the
“Qui Viva” during the high wind last
Friday night. The navy lost some
cracker-Jack seamen when the “pos
sums” decided to become “Pill-rollers”
last June, from our obsrvation of their
masterful handling of their tents dur
ing the “Big Blow.” We haven’t talk
ed with any Augustans since that night
but we feel quite sure that thej r haven’t
had such a wild bout with rampant
zephyrs since the soldiers were here
the last time in 1898.
Our new sergeant, ””I.ap” Welch,
transferred recently from the 101st
Cavalry ..Sanitary detachment, has the
“possums” going through their “squads
east’ ’and “squads west," in champion
ship style these days on the drill field.
This may B7T the 'Beginning of the pe
riod of rejuvenation for the “possums,”
who among us_cannot hark back to the
days in Gretna, when we answered to
our first nick-name, “The Tigers.”
Oh, Boy!
Sad accident happened at breakfast
last Sunday morning—The hot caites
ran out much too soon. Greer has the
high individual, single-handed average
in the hot cake league at present. Fif
teen at ofiS sitting is TTis mark.
Have .you eveF seen “Jake” Schuler
encase ms mortal tenement in that
“purple horror, “sleeping outfit of his,
preparatory to' draping the robes of
his couch aboutTnm and lying down to
freeze? Verily the Gods on Olympus
would howl with laughter to see
“Jake's” angular form encased in the
“horrors” voluminous folds.
GEORGE W. BRADEN
George W. Braden, who won the esteem
of every soldier as athletic director of the
Y. M_ C. A. at Camp Meade, has left for
Italy to take general charge of athletics
in the Italian army.
Mr. Braden was director of instruction
at the Central Y. M. C. A. in Philadel
phia. He was for fifteen years engaged
in similar work in California.
Before he left Camp Meade ho had
practically every soldier taking interest, in
some form of athletics, playing footfall,
baseball or- soccer. And as a result in
stead of the men becoming discontented
when off duty, which would breed inef
ficiency, they were kept busy and made
happy.
A TRIBUTE TO “MIKE.”
When we hear of General Allenby’s
continued successes in the far away
land_ of Arabia, sometimes we forget
n our own mdst we have a true'Ameri
can from Jerusalem.
His real name is Simon Abraham
Antoiij alias “Mike.” He is not a ge
nius but a true soldier, as near as pos
sible a military jumping-jack. All
kinds of news may be extracted from
Mike’s peculiar vocabulary, all kinds of
gas from his rumors.
“Mike’’ was recently appointed com
mander-in kchief of officers’ quarters
and surroundings, Company F, 103rd
Engineers, and now that he has dis
carded us enlisted men you will al
ways find himjm the job about F of
ficers’ row, for in the eyes of Mike’s
mind the sun rises in Captain Dolph’s
head and sets in Lieut. BertlYs_feet.
Now, armies cannot get along with
out officers and officers, cannot get
along without “Mike,” otherwise with
out Mikes, bean's, officers and soldiers
there would be no armies.
Believe me, when the first note of
the bugle strikes “Off to France,’’
Mike will be'lhe first to_hear the call,
for he Lb a born soldier and true as
steel,
~ ENGINEER.
PUSH BALL RULES
The Spalding official push ball rules
are printed below. These rules will be
made the basis for use with our new
push ball. Some changes will be made
to conform to allow more men to play on
each side. At least fifty or a hundred
men should play on each team. It may
be that ground rules will have to be
adopted as local conditions may demand.
PUSH BALL RULES.
The Field.
The field shall be a rectangular space
► 120 yards in length and 50 yards in
width.
The Ball.
The ball shall be the Spalding official
push ball.
Goals..
The goals shall consist of two upright
posts 18 feet in height placed in the
ground 20 feet apart with a cross bar 7
feet above and parallel to the floor or
ground.
Teams.
Teams shall consist of eleven men as
follows: Five forwards, two left wings,
two right wings and two goal-keepers.
Officials.
The officials shall be one referee, one
assistant referee, two linesmen, one
time-keeper and one scorer.
Duties of the Referee.
1. The referee shall blow his whistle
when the ball has crossed either of the
side lines and shall order the ball placed
25 feet from the side line in the field of
play on a line parallel to the noint where
the ball left the field of play. The play
ers shall line up 20 yards back of the
ball; play to be resumed at the whistle
of the referee. The referee shall be solo
judge of the plays and for any kind of
rough play shall, in his discretion, penal
ize the opposing team 10 yards.
2. The referee decides all questions nos
definitely falling to the other officials.
3. The assistant referee shall be ap
pointed by the referee and shall assist
him in deciding questions of foul play
and shall report same to the referee.
Duties of the Linesmen.
1. The linesmen shall; under the su
pervision of the referee, mark the prog
ress of the distance gained. They shall
remain outside the field of play and meas
ure the distance with a rope. The lines
men shall indicate the placing of the
ball and the position of the players.
Duties of the Scorer.
1. The scorer shall be appointed by
the referee. He shall keep an accurate
tally of all points made and announce
same at end of each half.
Duties of the Timekeeper.
1. The timekeeper shall be appointed
by the referee. He shall note when the
game starts and blow his whistle at the
expiration of 30 minutes’ playing time in
each half.
2. Time consumed in stoppages shall
be deducted only on order from the ref
eree.
Ties.
In case of a tie, the referee shall stop
the game, announce a tie, then order the
game continued until one team scores twe
or more points.
Scoring.
Pushing or shoving the ball under the
7-foot cross liar between the goal posts
shall count 5 points; lifting, or throwing
the ball over the 7-foot cross bar shall
count 8 points, and a safety shall count
2 points. The object of the game is to
push or carry the ball between the goal
posts or over the cross bar of the oppo
nent’s goal.
Method of Starting Play.
The ball shall be placed in the center
of the field at the beginning of each half
and after each goal is scored, and play
shall be -started at the sound of the
whistle of the referee. The teams shal :
line up as follows: Two goal-keepers on
the goal lines; two left wings and right
wings on the 20-yard lines; ’the five for
wards on the 40-yard lines.
The Game.
1. The ball shall be out of bounds only
when it has completely crossed either of
the side lines.
2. After each goal is scored, the ball
.shall be put in play at the center and
the teams shall change goals.
3. Two halves of 30 minutes’ duration
shall be played,, with 10 minutes’ rest.
4. Before the ball is in play no_j>layer
shall interfere with an opponent.
5. No -player shall be allowed to have
projecting nails or iron plates on his
shoes or wear upon his person any metal
lic or hard substance that in the judg
ment of the referee is liable to injure
another player.’ There shall be nothing
in this rule to prevent players from using
cleats made of leather.
6. A player once removed from the
game cannot again play in that game.
For the second penalt" the team giv
ing the penalty shall be accorded a flying
charge and the penalized team shall stay
back of ball until the opposing side
strikes the ball, and the penalized team
may line up against and brace the ball
In a. flying charge the team given the
privilege can start as far back as they
want and can run to the ball at any
angle.
Penalties shall be numbered one and
two?
For the first penalty ten yards shall be
given.
For the second penalty a flying charge
and on penalties the referee shall rotate
as above, except when the second penalty
is given within the 10-yard line.
If a distance penalty is given within
10 yards of an opponent’s goal, the team
that has gained the penalf shall be
given a goal and score’ 5 points. The
ball shall then be put in play in the
center.
A Safety.
1. A safety shall be scoped when the
ball is pushed across the opponent’s
goal line, not between the goal posts
After crossing the goal line the ball is
dead. The ball is then brought out to
the center on the 50-yard line and the
team scoring the safety has a free rush
lining up 10 yards back of the ball. The
members of the team whose goal line has
been crossed are to line up on the goal
line and not to leaver until the referee
blows his whistle.
Whenever the referee gives a distance
penalty and the distance gained would
carry the ball nearer to the goal line than
10 yards, the bail shall be put in play
on the 10-yard lin% ,
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