ffered materially this spring, and tennis has practically been
dropped. Such a state of affairs must surely bring evil results. It is a
condition that cannot last long, but while it does last it works
considerable harm. The genuine interests of field sports are not
advanced by excessive indulgence. It is best to encourage every game
that the season favors, and to attempt to do well in all branches of
sport than to excel in but one. Such an excellence can be but ephemeral.
In New England the school-boys are wiser in this respect. They endeavor
to develop themselves in all branches. Only a few days ago Mr. D. S.
Sanford, principal of the Brookline High-School, told me that from
statistics he had prepared he had learned that twenty per cent. of the
boys at the High-School play football, fifteen per cent. play baseball,
fifteen per cent. take part in track athletics, and forty per cent. (of
the boys and girls) play tennis. Fifty per cent. take part in no
athletic games at all. From what I have observed in and around Boston I
should judge that the athletic efforts of most of the other New England
schools are distributed in a similar ratio. And yet, with only fifteen
per cent. of the boys indulging in track athletics, they manage to make
pretty fair records!

In Brooklyn baseball has not been allowed to suffer neglect because of
track athletics, and so the race for the Long Island championship
promises to be interesting. The teams are evenly matched with but one or
two exceptions. Pratt Institute has no nine in the field, and Bryant &
Stratton's is practically out of the race, having already been defeated
a number of times. The St. Paul's team has a decided advantage over most
of the other nines in the Association in that it is mainly composed of
experienced players, most of whom were members of last year's nine. Hall
is pitching well, and has good support. The Brooklyn High's team is made
up wholly of raw material, with the exception of Captain Brum, but the
men are working hard, and will do well before the season closes. One
good feature in this year's High-School athletics is the barring out of
all questionable candidates, the two forfeited championships of last
year having evidently proved a salutary lesson. The Brooklyn Latin has
one of the strongest nines in the league, and will probably make a
strong bid for the pennant. Captain Litchfield is playing good ball at
third, and both Goodwin and Sleven are doing good work at