Harper's Round Table, June 4, 1895 Part 8

Then football as played at present is a game in which there is abundant opportunity for the natural brute to display himself. It is claimed that the game teaches one to control his temper; but I think it just as often gives one an opportunity to vent it on some one else. The remedy proposed for this--to have several umpires--should be repulsive in the extreme to every true sportsman. A game in which the players have to be watched lest they commit murder on each other is simply unfit for a gentleman to play. If that is to be done, why not call in the police at once, as they did in the Yale-Princeton game last fall.

The _necessary_ roughness of the game is considered by some to be an advantage, in that it teaches courage and endurance, and develops the physique of the players. But is not that a sort of "kill or cure" method? Surely one can develop his body without risking his life! A man or a boy has no right to risk life and limb in a game simply because if he escapes injury he will be more healthy than before. I am not exaggerating; a broken limb, a strained back, or some similar injury, is not such a trifling matter as some seem to think. To say the least, it means several weeks taken from our work in life, which is a big price to pay for one afternoon's fun. The development of our strength can be procured in better ways than that. Our bodies were given to us to be used, not abused.

That the game is a fascinating one I would be the last to deny, having played it myself. In its present state, however, I do not see how anyone who candidly and fairly considers the arguments of the opponents of the game can hold to the opinion that it is a fit game for school-boys or collegians, without changes of the most radical nature.

In this letter, the length of which I hope you will pardon, I have said nothing about the other objections to football urged by many, for most of these do not concern the actual game, and will probably correct themselves in time; but I wish to point out that something must be done to rid the game of its objectionable features, and also that it is unjust and discourteous to those who oppose the game from conscientious motives to brand them as weaklings and cowards.

C. S. WOOD, R.T.F.

[Mr. Wood brings out many interesting points in his letter regarding football, and though most of his objections to the game refer more to intercollegiate than to interscholastic football, still, to a certain degree, they apply to both. We do not deny that the game is rough and dangerous; but what was meant in the phrase to which Mr. Wood refers was not that people are timid who do not approve of football, but that those people who say that football is the most dangerous game there is, that it is cruel, that it should be stopped by law, that it is worse than the gladiatorial combats of ancient Rome, are either timid or not in their right senses. Football is not as rough as polo; it is not as dangerous as coasting (as coasting is now understood); it is not as dangerous as cross-country riding, and the proportion of injuries in both polo and cross-country riding is far greater than those in football. The facts of the case are that so much has been written and so much said implying that the game is necessarily a villanous game, that many people who know nothing about it, have grown to talk about it, and depreciate it because they fancy it contains injuries which it does not contain. These people have done a great deal to bring a fine game for boys into bad odor, and it is to these, and not to those who understand the game--both its good and its bad points--that the remark referred to was addressed.--THE EDITOR.]

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[Ill.u.s.tration: BICYCLING]

This Department is conducted in the interest of Bicyclers, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question on the subject. Our maps and tours contain much valuable data kindly supplied from the official maps and road-books of the League of American Wheelmen.

Recognizing the value of the work being done by the L. A. W. the Editor will be pleased to furnish subscribers with membership blanks and information so far as possible.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Copyright, 1895, by Harper & Brothers.]

This week's map explains itself. It is a unique chart of the city of Brooklyn, showing by black lines the asphalted or macadamized streets within the city limits, and by corduroy lines those main avenues which, though paved with granite pavement, are fair riding, and which make the best exits from the city.

In the first place, it should be mentioned that on Sundays and holidays the Kings County Elevated Railroad of Brooklyn has a car, or throws the smoking-car open, for the use of bicyclists, who, carrying their wheels up the steps to the station, may put them on the train, and ride from the Bridge or Fulton Ferry out on Liberty Avenue to the city limits, from whence it is good riding out into Long Island. On other days bicycles cannot be carried on the elevated trains from Fulton Ferry after 3 P.M., nor from East New York before 10 A.M.

If the bicyclist intends to ride through the city from New York, he should take the ferry at Grand Street, and follow in the corduroy roads, and, leaving Broadway, get into Bedford Avenue. Bedford Avenue carries him on asphalt pavement to the Boulevard, and turning left into this, he rides until he strikes granite pavement at East New York Avenue. Turning again to the left into East New York Avenue, he continues until he reaches the fork, and then keeps to the right into Liberty Avenue, riding out Liberty Avenue, and so out of the city. Another course from Grand Street is by ferry to Broadway, Williamsburg, which is shorter but perhaps not so good riding, thence out Broadway direct to Wall Street, turn left into this and right into Bushwick Avenue to Jamaica Avenue, which is a turn to the left, and is a continuation of East New York Avenue, and soon to the left again into Highland Boulevard, which skirts along the cemetery, Highland Park, and the Ridgewood Reservoir. This is somewhat hilly, but commands a beautiful view of the city and of Jamaica Bay and the ocean, and is the most picturesque way of getting out of Brooklyn. Continuing on the Highland Boulevard, and running down the hill on Barbey Street, which is very steep, he comes again into Jamaica Avenue, and may keep on this, which is not very good riding, but nevertheless carries him out of Brooklyn towards Jamaica. The most direct route out of the city is, of course, on Jamaica Avenue. The Highland Avenue detour is hilly, and affords an opportunity for the rider to get a good view of the city.

Everything considered, however, for any one who is down-town in New York city, or who lives in the central part of Brooklyn proper, decidedly the best method is to take the Kings County Elevated as described above, and, on the whole, this is the better plan also for any one going from New York, for the only other route from Thirty-fourth Street down is by the Thirty-fourth Street ferry, thence to Manhattan Avenue, after going two blocks from the ferry-house, turning right and crossing Newtown Creek. Thence turn left into Driggs Avenue, and run a block and a half to Ewen Street, and from there on into Broadway, and so as described.

There is no way in which a Brooklynite can ride out into Long Island without going over some granite pavement, since the only asphalted or macadamized road is the Boulevard, running from the circle at the entrance of Prospect Park to East New York Avenue. After going beyond the city limits on Liberty Avenue the road is better, but this will be described in the Long Island maps which are to be published in this Department.

There are, however, in the city of Brooklyn many pleasant rides for an afternoon which are almost entirely on asphalted or macadamized roads.

For example, using the map, any rider from Brooklyn Heights, or a New-Yorker crossing the Bridge or Fulton Ferry, may easily get to the circle at Prospect Park by keeping on asphalted roads to the south and west of Fulton Avenue. For example, on leaving Fulton Ferry, the rider should make for Hicks Street by the shortest route, turning thence left, keeping to asphalt pavement, until he reaches Schermerhorn Street, thence direct to Flatbush Avenue, and so on to the circle at the entrance to the Park. Running through the Park on any of the roads, he should leave it on the south at Franklin Avenue by the parade-ground, thence turning to the right on Franklin Avenue, keeping on until he reaches the Ocean Parkway, which is now the famous bicycle route to Manhattan Beach. This in itself is a pleasant ride.

Another and quite as attractive a route in this way is to continue on the Ocean Parkway until reaching Parkville, thence turn to the right into the Old Bath Road, which is nearly all macadamized at this writing, and will be entirely so within the next month or two. The rider may continue on this to Bath Beach, and then, keeping to the right and running westward on Cropsey Avenue until he reaches Seventh Avenue, he may turn to the right into this, and either run down to Fort Hamilton near the Government lands, and thence straight on down to Second Avenue and into Bay Ridge, or he may keep straight on Seventh Avenue, pa.s.sing Fort Hamilton and running up to Sixtieth Street, and so back, turning to the right into Old Bath Road, and home through Parkville on the Old Bath Road, Ocean Parkway, and Prospect Park. Still another trip is to run southward and eastward after reaching Bath Beach on the Old Bath Road, to Bensonhurst and Unionville. In fact, the reader has but to refer to the map of Brooklyn to pick out his own route on any of the black marked roads, which are in this district macadamized.

NOTE.--Map of New York city asphalted streets in No. 809. Map of route from New York to Tarrytown in No. 810. New York to Stamford, Connecticut, in No. 811. New York to Staten Island in No. 812. New Jersey, from Hoboken to Pine Brook in No. 813.

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