Show THE PERSEVERANCE CLUBBY I I BY JAMES ALBERT WALES I I I That was a fine came fellows 1 We I must play another some day Why not I get up a regular team 1 Reuben Sayles was addressing his remaiks to his companions a group of I about a dozen schoolfellows who had Just finished a practice game of football I foot-ball These boys attended the grammar gram-mar school at Rlvervlew a suburb of j one of our large cities They were well built manly fellows between tho ages of 12 and 15 years wilha spirit of cojnradcshlp fostered by a wholesome enjoyment of athletic sports They vcr accustomed to meet nearly every afternoon at Smiths Jot a vacant field near tho school and indulge In their favorite sports I Yes why not organize a club and play games of all kinds with other teams Tho hoyg gathered around Rcub as they called him and listened attentively atten-tively He was a leader In their gam sand s-and his suggestions always carried weight He continued v Now we have just had a fine game here but wo had to play with picked teams seven men on a side and thats not half at much fun as If I we were to play a regular team Thats right Interposed Tom Barry anpthcr of the group We ought to organize a club and I move we meet tonight at my house to talk It ovqr Second the motion cried hall a i dozen The motion was carried unanimously unani-mously slWell Well I hope to see you all at 7 tonight I to-night said Tom And In the meanwhile mean-while we should all try to think of some good plans Goodbye And I they separated i It was an enthusiastic happy crowd that gathered around the library table I at Toms that evening Tom was I appointed temporary chairman and I officers were elected as follows President Reuben Saylesvlccpresi I dont Tom Barry secretary Walter Gladwlix treasurer Charley Olm sted executive committee Wilbur Whcalley chairman Joe Stein Jack Higgins Rex Ticknor Terry OBiien and Harry Hanford committee commit-tee on constitution Aided Davidson chairman George Gmhoni Fritz Baumbach and Aleck McGregor This gave every member an ofllce the Idea being to keep them all busy at the start and later on to have only a tow officers chosen from those who had performed their first duties in the most thorough manner It was voted to play a football game on the following follow-ing Saturday possfble Reuben Say les was elected captain of the team and Wilbur Whcatlcy manager i iToms mother gave the boys pleasant pleas-ant surprise by serving Them wIth chocolate and cake1 after which the first meeting of tho new club adjourned ad-journed The members met next evening at Reuben Sa leg home and the constitution consti-tution committee submitted the result of Its labors that afternoon Alfred Davidson read the document Constitution Article J Section I The name of this association shall be The Perserverance qlub I and Its object ob-ject shall be the promotion of social Intercourse and athletic sports among Its members My big brother l John who helped us to model this constitution constitu-tion after the one In his athletic club I In New York said Perseverance would be a line name because It means Keep Right At rfand thats a line principle to follow in athletics The name was unanimously adopted and the members voted on each Section of the rest oC the constitution In like manner making alterations wherever Improvements were thought ofi The dues were fixed at 10 cents a week the olllcers were obO elected every two months and the membership was limited for the present to twenty Two first cln s fellowsAmos Johnson and Will Stratford were elected to membership mem-bership Wilbur Wheatley reported that he had arranged a football game for next Saturday afternoon at Smiths l lot with the Gridiron Rangers of Park Cliff and that It would be necessaryto pay each of the visiting team 10 cents for trolley expenses There were two days left l for the practice On Thursday Capt Siylcs tried nil the men in hard practice and selected eleven men as the regular team also choosing substitutes There had been no chance for regular trainIng train-Ing but the boys thought they were In good enough pyhsical condition to win anyway On Friday signals were gone through and many clever plays w reworked I re-worked up Manager Wheatley had painted a dozen posters and placed them at the school the library the postofllco the station and at the main corners They were worded as follows FOOTBALL I Perseverance Club vs Gridiron Rangers at SMITHS LOT Saturday Afternoon at 230 ADMISSION FRRn Dont Fall to Come Cheer tho Boys to VICTOKVM Goal posts of the regulation size were put up and the gridiron was marked out In tho usual manner by slacking 10 cents worth of masons limo In a bucket buck-et and using a whitewash brush The boys contributed 15 cents each for Il football A crowd of nearly 2oO was on hand to Bee the fun Wilbur met the Rangers Rang-ers and escorted them to the field To former college players were selected for umpire and referee Perseverance lined I up as follows Left end Barry left i tackle Hanford left guard Higgins Center Baumbach right guard Johnson John-son t right tackle I l Davidson right end OBrfen quarterback Ticknor J left halC back Stratford right halt back Gladwln and full back Sayles captain i cap-tain tainWill olwtjliI Johnson kicked off for the Perseverance boys who were defending the south goal l Tom OBrien got down the Held quickly and tackled the Ranger who caught the ball befoie he had run It back ten yards A series of plays followed In which neither side gained any advantage It was noticed that the Rangers while much lighter than the home team were tough and wiry and in excellent physical condition The Perseverance boys had not trained for the game and their staying powers were poor Many of them became winded and even their greater weight could not long hold their opponents The Rangers relentlessly relent-lessly hammered their line and In a few moments scored a touchdown The goal was kicked and this made the score Rangers 6 Perseverance 0 The Perseverance boys were not dis I heartened but they could not long endure en-dure the strain and even with the use of fresh substitutes were unable to hold or to gain Tho rest of the came IB quickly described The Rangers broke through their opponents for gain after gain and not once could Perseverance make five yards with the ball The final score was Rangers 4S Perseverance Persever-ance 0 After the teams had given cheers for each other CapL Reub shook hands I with the captain of the winning cam and the members of the teams mingled together with the greatest good feeling The Perseverance club met that evening at Reubs home and a more discouraged lot of boys would have been hard to find Rcub addressed the meeting He spoke slowly and seriously and every boy paid close attention Fellows we were beaten badly but we were beaten fairly and squarely Now what was wrong I had a talk wIth their captain and he told mo that his players trained regularly Thats why they tore us up light as they were Weve got to tialn do you know what that means It means that we must give up all injurious and unwholesome un-wholesome food we must get along without tea coffee pie cake candy soda water What shrieked Alfred Davidson rh1d rather die than give up candyor soda water Id rather die than lose our next game retorted Rcub Weve got to get to bed before halfpast nine and well if I I catch any of you fellows smoking cigarettes or otherwise breaking break-ing training its goodby to your chances for making the team no matter mat-ter hoW good you are The captains remarks were cheered heartily and the spirit of earnest training train-ing was entered Into with eagerness Tom Barry also spoke Ho urged thp need of a more serious Interest In the club and said tha t a clubhouse was needed Amos Johnson Will Stratford Strat-ford and Joe Stein were appointed a committee arrange for holding a fair to ralse funds It was expe ted that the mothers and sisters of the boys would help them by providing fancy articles cake ctche members left the meeting feeling much happier and more enthusiastic than ever The lesson les-son of the afternoons game however was borne In mlnd and every boy promised to train faithfully You shall learn later what success the boys had with their fair how they drew plans for their clubhousp And how they started their basketball team To bo continued Ii I r L T L j ifv I j i I t f r 7 r r l I ij 1 fI < i f > Th fl1 J y Jff f 1 i V iU J I J cfk 7 J I I I 1 I I J ri J I I 1 l l I tLWQ1I11IjIJJ1I11lllhl = = u I i I J r i J I I I I I i i I J I j I < I I They Plunged Through Perseverances Line |