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Show FOOTBALL. Xow that the football season has ended, tha usual agitation against the continuance of the game as at present played is being carried ' on. Several of the larger colleges of the east have pronounced against the game, and the school authorities au-thorities of Xew York City and Washington have prohibited it in the public schools. The sport is undoubtedly attended by dangers which can be eliminated by changing the rules, at the same time in no way affecting the value o"f the game either as an exercise and sport for the players or from j i the viewpoint of the spectator. Indeed, it is contended con-tended that the game can be made more interesting interest-ing to the spectator if the rules were so changed as to do away with the mass plays, in which thirty young men were killed and some hundred seriously injured during the season just closed. It is hardly possible that anybody wants to take from the schools and colleges of the land their greatest game, but the opposition to mass plays is widespread and seems to be based on good reasons. Xo doubt the action of the school authorities au-thorities in the eastern cities will result in changes in the rules which will eliminate the dangers of the present style game, but whether their action will have more than a local effect is doubtful. A ' meeting of athletic authorities of a number of colleges will be held in Xew York a few days after Christmas, when the rules governing interscholas-tic interscholas-tic games will be considered. It is confidently be-j be-j lieved that an agreement will be reached which will result in a game very similar to the English association or "soccer" football. "Soccer" football foot-ball has been the subject of a great deal of ridicule rid-icule from the exponents of the American game, but it is nevertheless a fine game, capable of development, de-velopment, and it is, besides, far less dangerous than the present style of play. The demand for a change in the rules of the game will have to be heeded if the game is to survive. sur-vive. The record of the past season is probably attended with more fatal accidents than any season sea-son that went before. Another year or two with a large number of fatalities will result in an almost al-most unanimous demand for the prohibition of the game. Those who believe in football, and who want to see the game live, will do well to change the rules concerning mass plays and those concerning con-cerning interference. Perhaps the "soccer" rule that the players may not carry the ball in their hands, if put into the American game, would solve the difficulty. But no matter what the remedy, if it is not applied soon, the school authorities which have been slow in condemnation will be compelled by public opinion to abolish the game altogether, and that would be unfortunate indeed. |