The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 25, 1898, Page 1

The Call SAN FRANCISCO, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 189S. BY ‘4 ALLEN WHEAT. N the presence of 15,000 peorle, who lined the rectanguler erena of bate tle like a lving belt of variegated colors tke hroad-backed fast-run. ning, hard-tgckling sons of the Uni- Wersity of Califernla yesterday at Rec- restion Park vanquished the football plavers who wore the lcardinal. For the first time fn seven long years the blue and gold was carried to victory and honor by sheer right of their prow- ess end unflinching determination. When the dust of battle settled and the ehrill call of the referee's whistle told that another annual contest had pasged into history, then the men who had been fiercely fihtng for their re- spective Alma Maters fell back and eeparated—the cardinal sullen, silent and determined, the blue and ~old proudgnd bappy. Four times had the latter = the goa! line of thelr obpo- nents p beneath their feet. and theirs wi the victory and triumph with £he pcore—California 22, Stan- ford q Great-is the name of Cochran at the University pt California. To him be- longs the nor, and I freely add my mite o se. For four years I have foilowed his v fortunes on the gridiron, and yesterday knew that he had instilled into the men\of California that same spirit that game at New Haven | dure no more, and he with and grief from the fl‘ld. The he trained playe wit Princeton spirit and like ggntleme they play, ard, fast from 4 beginnin a on uni:%n%;::m in the s 7d half, whe prectically collapsed fro haustion, ough defeat was th ®#ong of Stanford played_ losing game that wing admjlratio s@w them Tally in the very feat, and, manfully answerifg t captain’s appeals ““to win for o ford,” desperately strain and their battered and tired thews f -effort: supreme, and when, despite) they went down and backward, Qid so desperately and defiantly. were beaten, but they g ike brave |men. This is not strapge, for they pad been trained by Cpoks of Yale. Yehprs |#go I learned to respect the blue ! honor the old Eli are victory and their contrel. ture touched to where the eilent and ai and cheergd & the blue d (Wwas a novelty—yes, at tasted as strange t Stanford as did elifornia. Nelther to take Its for- F-gontegt had ended 1onl for a few mo- tune, and fwhe! both were &nd goid piled dp m its section of y uuj/and' rushing on . the o its heroeg. The p! s were tossed up on strong, young shoulders and the procession formed. The crowd then Wwitnessed that which it had never seen befcre. Round and round the field the players were carried, while the cheer from thousands of voices rose on the air like the majestle and awe-inspiring rumble of the Breaking surf. There “vas seven years of disappointed hopea in those California cheers—and they ‘were strong, lusty and true to the soncert-pitched ey af wictory. There e in them the edndensed JoF of frre- sponsidle, idoletrous youth £t the western end of the field the panorams wes different. Stgnfcrd’s warriors hzd been gurrounded by their support- ¢rs, who ministered to them the con- soletion that goes with defeat. Gently, eilently, they, too. led their scarrred heroes from the white-lined arena. I saw the plucky cardinal weep its first tears. The sight was new to the Stan- : ford contingent. They knew not that they cried, nor realized that it was nature’s remedy to meet the reaction of their tensioned faelings. The day was fine and the fleld fit. Had any one gone through the entire calendar no betjer football weather could possibly have been selected. The sun rose into the blue vault that was flecked by not a single cloud. The air was cool and crisp, with just that touch of winter that sends the blood tingling through the veins and the color to the cheekse was in- vigorating. At mbo) . began to rise and blew, ut not ably s0, from never strong fect the punting as 8 o'clock the life and color to .blue and gold vied with tpe tprdifal in uniqueness of designs. . Many of the undgrgradjatesio, colleges were ‘companiyd 7 maldens, who,-ficcording to\their o tiféir utmosy o fi thronged /the gidewalk. y dleg of Sta efore th e, gnal for a scene, clad in faultless-fiting gowns that were gayly bedecked with corsage bouquets of violets, while mapy blushed and smiled from behind ge rival lent beauty and afllsuc:lme to the nal. To me It was the same oid e I ave witnessed so often and one I gn- y with undiminished gest each yel esently from the northern edge rectanele I hear a crash of noise, mighty cheer, and then on the crisp 2ir\there comes to my ears & sound mekes the blood tingle and the spifiy of do and dare rua; riotitke through one's veins. It Is the ' h, rah, rah _rah, rahl. California! r orn yah!! orn yah!!l boYs who wear the” blue ~and means that they have ar- cely has It ceased when they|follow \it up by complement to 4 the dear, dear old velp of Nassau's|sons sounds famillarly in ; my There is no mistaking that war d something rises in my throa hear 80 many miles from home the Ray! Ray! ‘Ray! Tiger! Tigert Tiger} Biss! Siss! Sisa! Boom! Boom! Boom! _Rah! Rah! Rah! Princeton! Princeton! Priaceton! /Then the band played. Not “Annfe Rooney,” but & rattiing twostep, which was lost In & mighty noise. Quick,.strong and deflant eight “Rahs” crash on the air—and then In one in- tense volume of long drawn out souad the bonored name of Stanford is thrown chrysanthemums of yellow .ud\fl"/do ¢ the wind, and up, up it goes into {he clear. ethereal blue vauit above. 7Those men from Stanford have arrived, and there is no doudt about it. They ‘brought a wealth of cardinal flags with themn, and these they fluttered so rapid- 1y as to obocure themselves and cause thelr gection to look 28 If it were & rip- pling lake of cardinal colot. The cheering leaders now took & hand and things became lively. Stanford gave 2 yell that ended with an allusion to the fact that when the game was over a certain other college would be In the “soup,” and defiantly there came back from Callfornia a song that dis- tinctly opened with the announcement that “the lobster-backs would soon make trecks for Palo Alto town.” The crowd enjoyed it hugely When California’s band played the “Star- spangled Banner” the Starford comlerz gent courteously rose and uncovercd, and when the latter proposed thre cheers “for the boys In Manila,” th ash and cheered the sentiment, and bacl\ from the crowd in the grand stand \came an answering cheer of ap- val. \ Then California gave “three tigpr” for the ““Stars and Stripes,” Bon omen spled him it was “Three chders for our president” and ““What's the matter with President hen that learned gentle- ly the Btanford crowd: is on 1 of wive Who has arrived Oh, Mpere Is the wer. From the mid- die sifle of the ern edge of the fleld the sthiwart warglors of Stanford come earep/ of qfif‘y/ pri ‘.\K 8049 thons an! age arg on them, me gf cheers rises e fleld, closely such a reception as they before. That welcome m tain Hall's smile brings Jo, fornia contlngents. ,~ - vards and thelr supporters went wha. Steadily the ball was forced down by line plunges and swift skirts cf Stan- ford’s end untll it rested & yard from the goal line. Callfornia was cheering wildly, Stanford wag silent. Then came the star play of the game from 2 spec- tacular point. Hall was sent et the center and fumbled. It was Stanford's ball on her ome-yard lne. Murphy kicked the ball straight up into the alr and In the scrimmage he caught it Cochran's face was white as death. 1 was standing by him and wondered _what it meant. I followed his gaze and saw that Murphy had cleared the en- tire California team and -was off like an arrow down the southern edge of the field. An e f cardinal color Al ife, Stanford cheers were e ajr, when sudenly I real- Hall was in full pursuit of the ted Murphy. An jntense si- crowd. : 3 8 desp rate and Ris despera- ald he wa W unni . His m hon hfi\o\ne;e and pere p# victory/Wwere to be derided. Twen- ty yardg”up the field he }was slightly bounding 11g locomo- thre@\yhite ers. Mura ‘g" -fodted sprinter 1 ith n% In his nostrila the =ces victol He saw be- yonx\:m gj’fi;e the ddoration of the studeRt body¢"the immortal wreath of _ athfiegamé. <~ These were the/lTews on, but that rap{d, swif$ falling sound of thundering fept behiyd him chilled - his blood. He thfew s poser God efiergy into the final, supreme\ spurt. e sllence was depressing. Thé pent- . nervous tension of the thouserds ent charged thq very air ns with icity. The hopgs of the bilie and gold \ and cardinal \hung in {fe bal- ance. \ There was only five yhrds be- tween jthe two glantsland the goal line was byit forty yards afway. “a pla & W) and quickly gain. Without he seemed as it were into a bow knot, gather himseilf the next instant Sure and ti I knew it woul or fall short ol in it and its Jochran. O wis] hes wgre p. in the multitude that broke over % After 2 briet wu’Wfl 18 the fences and flooded the fleld. ‘tossed and -fortune fa' n¥ord~"/ The lights of the city were beginning Captain Fisher chose the eastern goal _and California took the ball. At 13 minutes to 3 o'clock Ref- eree Goodwin blew his whistle and the snnual contest was on. There was a deathlike silence when Kaarsburg sent the ball down Into Stanford's territory. There was a brief exchan~e of punts “and then—ves, strange but true, Cali- ,fornia withstood three terrific on- "slaughts on their line. It was their ball on downs. That wae the beginning of the end. Kaarsburg and Hall, on two runs, - skirted the cardinal’s ends for seventy to twinkle through the deepening shadow of the twilight, like numberless fireflies caught in some maze. The dust of the conflict hung as a Simy vell over the fleld and the cheers of the victors were in my ears. Then the jubilant and the sad mingled in the same ceaseless, surging tide of humanity and began to wend {ts tortuous way homeward. The game was qver, the fleld degerted and the nolse of pattle stilled. The blue and gold and the cardinal had met, and the qQuestion of the supremacy for football skill and prowess had been settled for) - the season of 139,