St. Clair County, Illinois - Chapter 33, 1928

Chapter 33

IN THE EARLY DAYS of the school there was no organized form of athletics, and probably but little indulgence in physical sports of any kind. The majority of the students were from the farm where in most cases a good degree of physical development had already been attained by them- In those days going to college was such a serious business that many of the students would not think of spending their time in mere games, but felt that they must employ their time in the acquisition of mental equipment or in earning a meager livelihood while getting their education. An authority on history of education in the United States tells us that there was scarcely any organized athletics in the colleges until after the Civil War. But for years before that period out-door sports of various kinds were enjoyed by some of the students in McKendree, tho without the feature of intercollegiate competition, which is so important an element in modern college athletics.

Captain Henry C. Fike, in an article written for the Pigskin", published in 1905, has given a good account of some of these early sports which we reproduce in abridged form.

Among the games he described is shmney, the predecessor of the present popular game of golf. This game was played on the college campus by from twenty to forty students, at a time, who were divided into two teams, chosen by two captains previously agreed upon. No special make or size of ball was prescribed. Though the kind most generally used was a small rubber ball on which had been wound the ravellings of some student's cast off woolen sock, and covered with leather from the lining of a discarded boot leg. This crudely constructed ball answered well the purpose and withstood many a vigorous blow from the contesting players.

The "shinney stick" usually consisted of a hickory sprout about the size of an ordinary broom stick, procured from the nearby forest. It was bent to the proper curve at the larger end by heating or steaming it and then it could be given the desired shape. This implement answered the double purpose of driving the ball when opportunity was given, or parrying the blow of an adversary. The fence at the east boundary of the campus formed the east goal, and a line ranging with the east wall of "Old Main" was the west goal. At the commencement of a game the two captains took their stand at a point midway between these two goals. Facing each other, the one who had the ball would call out, "High buck or low doe?" If his opponent replied "high buck" the ball was tossed a few feet above their heads and the game was on. But if the reply was "low doe", the ball was dropped between the two captains, but neither could strike it until after the ball had touched the ground. In the contest to drive the ball to opposing goals, no one was allowed to sieze and throw it. It must be propelled only by the shinney stick. However, it was permissible to intercept the flight of the ball by interposing one's body or the open hand.

This game was played after class hours or on Saturday during the fall of the year, but the cold weather of winter closed the season, except when it was sometimes played on the ice with the players all on skates. Skating was never a very popular sport in those days on account of the fact that there were no convenient bodies of water of sufficient area to furnish a good ice field for skating.

When the warm days of early spring began to appear and the boys felt that winter was gone, they would assemble for a consultation and perhaps a plan would be devised for the erection of a swing. A fund was contributed for the purchase of the necessary rope, iron rings and hooks, and soon a strong beam would be hoisted and made to span the space between two stately trees, perhaps forty feet from the ground. From this beam was suspended the rope swing. In the swing a notched board was placed on which two boys would stand. After receiving a starter they would "work up" until the "pendulum" with two venturesome fellows for a bob would reach almost a horizontal position. This was considered great fun, but one swing would not accommodate a large group of boys. Sometimes the use of the swing was varied by shortening the rope somewhat and then using it for a jumping exercise. A boy would sieze the lower end of the rope, run as far as the length of the rope would permit, and then draw up his feet and swing back. With this momentum he would let go the rope and light on the ground as far out as the acquired momentum would carry him. This was an exercise in which many of the boys became proficient and it was very healthful as a lung and chest expander.

Under the head of jumping there were several varieties practiced, such as the standing jump, the running long jump, the high jump, and the hop, skip and jump. Quite a number of the students were proficient in this exercise. Records of the best jumping were kept from year to year; and an epoch was reached when, at any time a new student would break the record made by some victor in the contest of the previous year. The record was usually preserved by driving a long iron pin in the ground, the jump having been made from some fixed base. The stone step at the south front entrance of the main college building, was the base from which many a student of that day made his spring and measured the length of his standing jump.

Another spring game was town hall. This game was the predecessor of base ball. There were no "town ball clubs" and "picked nines" were unknown at that day. The game was played by two teams made up of an indefinite number of players chosen in the same manner as the shinney teams described above. The game was declared won by the side that made the greater number of runs in an even number of innings; and a side was not out until every member of that side was put out by the rules of the game, which provided for crossing out or catching out. When all of the side at the bat were out except one, the rules provided that if he could strike and make a home run that would restore to the bat one player on his side who had previously been declared out. The game was not very extensively played and was not as popular as shinney.

As the warm weather came on and the college year was in its closing term the "swimming holes" furnished opportunity for the delightful sport of swimming, diving, and sliding down the slick "otter slides". The most popular resort for this purpose was the pool in Silver Creek, a half mile or more west of the college, known as the "big hole". This was a place where a sharp curve in the stream had caused a widening and deepening of the channel, and the water was fifteen or more feet in depth. To this spot in warm afternoons at the close of the daily school work, perhaps twenty to fifty of the students would repair, and swim and dive and duck one another to their hearts" content. The diving was mostly from a spring board, or from a swaying willow tree which projected its body horizontally out over the water. To a limb of this tree, twenty or thirty feet from the surface of the water, was attached a long rope. The swimmer by taking hold of this rope while standing on the high bank and drawing up his feet, was projected out over the water; and when he reached the end of the arc described, by letting loose the rope, was plunged to the depths reached by McGinty in his deep sea bathing - he went to the bottom.

In addition to the sports named above it might be mentioned incidentally that there were several other games and amusements of minor importance entered into occasionally by the younger boys, such as leap frog, roly poly, marbles and mumble peg. But these were looked upon rather as side dishes to be indulged in only in warm weather and under the cool shade of the trees.

The students in McKendree three quarters of a century ago were largely from the farm, the sturdy sons of rustic life, and they would naturally, if opportunity was afforded, enter heartily into the various forms of amusement enumerated above. It might be stated also that in some cases less rugged young men with muscles flabby from a life of ease, could later show a well developed chest, sinewy limbs, and robust physique, all on account of these healthful games and sports.

The above account gives some idea of the physical activities of the students in the early fifties. Conditions were probably not much different until after the Civil War. About that time sentiments began to take form in the minds of the students in favor of some sort of systematic physical training. They seemed to feel that there should be some sort of a gymnasium building. They agitated the idea among themselves and finally took it to the Joint Board.

At the meeting of the Board in 1867 there was a committee appointed to consider the matter of the "Athleteon". This was the name the students proposed for the building they hoped to see erected. This committee, after considering the matter and conferring with a committee from the student body, presented the following report to the Board, which was promptly adopted.:

"Resolved by the Joint Board in session; First, that the statement and appeal of the president of the McKendree College Athleteon Association is received with especial pleasure, and that we heartily approve of the organization.

"Second, that this movement is unmistakable evidence that the present corps of students is unusually progressive in spirit and in the language of their appeal we "hail with unmingled pleasure" the spontaneous character of the enterprise and heartily appreciate their kind thoughtfulness touching the embarrassments of the college.

"Third, that this effort greatly increases our courage and faith to labor for the interests of McKendree, and that we will render the young gentlemen of the association our individual assistance, to the extent of our abiUty.

Immediately after this a committee was appointed from the Board to confer with the Athleteon Association concerning the building to be erected by them. However, this committee was carefully instructed to not involve the Board in any expense. After this the records of the Board show that every year for some time after, a committee on Athleteon was appointed with the regular standing committees of the Board. But there is no record to show what the committee did.

However, we do know that in the years 1867 and 1868, the building was erected and that it was used for a time for athletic purposes. A student, Mr. Wm. F. Ratcliff, was employed by the college as the teacher of physical training, though they did not give him that title. The Board did not give any assistance in the erection of the building, unless possibly some did as individuals. Tho it may be that the president of the college. Dr. Allyn, may have helped the students somewhat in the enterprise, for there is reference to certain claims which he had upon the building even after he had left McKendree. In 1879, a committee was appointed to examine the building and report as to whether it would be suitable for housing the commercial department. The committee reported first that it was unable to gain access to the building, since none of the college authorities had a key to It, and it was kept locked. However, they later reported that it would be quite suitable for the purpose named, but that it was not available until certain financial claims could be released.

These claims were somehow adjusted and the college took over the title to the building. It was used for a time for the Commercial Department. Later it was fitted up with school desks and used for a study hall until 1893, when it was partitioned off and transformed into a Science Hall.

The Eisenmayer Gymnasium In 1903

THE EISENMAYER GYMNASIUM IN 1903 This building was so named because Mr. Andrew Eisenmayer of Trenton contributed the major portion of the money with which it was built. He was a native of Germany who came to America in an early day and by diligence in business and righteousness m life became one of the most highly respected citizens of his home town. His son, J. C. Eisenmayer was a student in McKendree and later was a trustee for many years. Also three of his grandsons have been students m McKendree.

The building was originally of rectangular shape, forty by eighty feet. At first it was without a floor, except saw dust. Later a concrete floor was put in and tumblers, trapeze performers, etc., used rugs and mats for protection from the hard floor. Later when they began to play basket ball, the concrete was found to be dangerous, so a board floor was laid over the concrete. The floor afforded sufficient room for the games but there was not room enough for visitors. So during Dr. McCammon's administration a wing was built on the west side and provided with seats for spectators. This took care of the crowd for some years, but during Dr. Harmon's administration another wing was built on the other side and furnished with seats m amphitheatre style. The gymnasium will now seat as large a crowd as Lebanon can usually furnish to see a basket ball game.

The Athleteon And Gymnastic Activities

We have been fortunate in securing from Mr. W. A, Kelsoe a record of some of his personal recollections of activities connected with the Athleteon, which was McKendree's first gymnasium. Mr. Kelsoe's memory covers about half the entire history of McKendree and he has always been so intensely interested in every thing connected with his alma mater that he has been of immeasurable assistance in collecting the material for the "Centennial History". The following is Mr. Kelsoe's accoant.

The spring of 1867 was notable in McKendree History for the special attention given to physical culture. In outdoor sports, base ball took the place of foot ball, and the old time town ball. Indoor athletics recognized the need of a gymnasium. President Allyn called a meeting of interested students in his recitation room, second floor of "Old Main", southeast corner. After much deliberation, subscriptions were taken for the erection of a building and eventually something like $1,500 was subscribed. The name "Athleteon" was given to the proposed building, and "Athleteon Association" to the organization. Warren Truitt of the class of 1868 was chosen president; Professor F. O. Blair, vice-president; Professor S. H. Deneen, secretary; and President Allyn, treasurer. The four officers were made ex-officio members of the Board of Control, to which were added D. B. Parkinson, T. J. Judy, T. B. Stelle, and H. C. Fiske. The first three named were classmates of Mr. Truitt while the fourth was a member of the class of 1869. These men constituted the managing board until the death, early in 1868, of Mr. Fiske, an exceptionally fine man. More funds were needed and if I am not mistaken. President Allyn advanced the amount necessary to complete the building. In the first issue of the McKendree Repository, December 19, 1867, I find a call for further funds, but that was before Dr. Allyn came to the aid of the association.

President Truitt, of the association, will be remembered as the McKendrean who many years later was Judge of a Federal District that embraced all Alaska, and Mr. Parkinson, his classmate, the second president of the Athleteon, as the successor of Dr. Allyn as president of the Southern Illinois Teachers" College at Carbondale. Vice-president Blair's successor on the official staff was W. H. Tyner, a theological classmate of the four original members of the Athleteon Board. Stelle, who was to win honors, both at the bar and on the bench, retained his seat on the Athleteon Board, the other members being Prof. W. F. Swahlen and two students, Hezekiah M. Short, who did not graduate until 1874, and Charles Cannady, my roommate then, for whom many years later the Charles Cannady School of East St. Louis was named.

In the Repository of March 26, 1868 we read: "The zeal of the students is a most hopeful indication. Out of their slender means they have built a handsome gymnasium". We began to use the apparatus as soon as it came and I can recall no formal opening or anything of that kind. Along the east side wall were racks for dumb bells, wands, and Indian clubs; and calisthenic drills were given late in the spring of 1868, at stated times during the day. There was no head teacher. Only leaders for the time chosen from the classes. Near the wall on the west side was a row of swinging rings hanging from the rafters, and at the southwest corner of the big room was the ever popular horizontal bar, or turning pole in ccmmon parlance. It was here that many of the students learned the various gyrations familiar to circus goers, including the giant swing backwards and forwards. The members of the third Athleteon board were new with the exception of the secretary and treasurer. The new president was S. P. Sparks, and the new vice-president was Oscar B. Griffen, both seniors then, though neither graduated until 1870, and the other members were C. W. Bliss and J. M. Hamill of the class of 1869, M. P. Wilkin and L. D. Turner of '70, and W. A. Kelsoe of '71, who later dropped back to '7a. An expert gymnast was needed. One who had proved himself to be an all-round athlete and also well fitted for teaching gymnastics generally, including calisthenics. President Allyn thought he had found just such a man in W. F. Ratcliff of Olney. Mr. Wilkin, also of Olney, and Rev. Thomas Houts, the Methodist pastor there, had recommended him, and so had D. H. and J. C. Delzell of the class of "7 1 . Mr. Ratcliff's athletic training had been largely in his mother's back y.ird; though he had already been out on the road with a circus once or twice and had further aspirations in that direction; but he also desired to "top off" his Olney High School education with a course at McKendree College President Allyn took a likmg to the young man, just turned twenty, at their first meeting, and the liking was mutual. Terms were soon agreed upon. Our gymnasium teacher was to be enrolled in college as a student and was to live in Lebanon as a member of President Allyn 's family, who were then occupying the palatial residence which was the former home of Governor French. From September 18, 1868 to June 2, 1869, Mr. Ratcliff shared a room in that home with Joseph G. Allyn, class of '70, son of the college president. He studied Latin under Professor Deneen, botany under Prof. Blair, and mathematics under Prof. Jones. I think Mr. Ratcliff has told me he was in a class under Dr. Allyn for one term, but I do not recall what the subject was. For his service as athletic director and janitor of the gymnasium, he was to receive $75 per month. But out of this he was to pay his tuition, board and room.

I distinctly remember Mr. Ratcliff's first presentation to the students assembled in the gymnasium. He gave a splendid exhibition of his athletic skill as an all-round gymnast; including ground tumbling as an acrobat, difficult feats on the hori' zontal and parallel bars, exercises with the wands, Indian clubs, dumb-bells and swinging rings, and several stunts that stamped him as an expert trapeze performer.

I don't think we had a spring board then or climbing ladders and such things. The entire performance was fine and we all liked our teacher from the start. Here is a quotation from the McKendree Repository of October ji, 1868. "The gymnasium, under the control of the gentlemanly conductor, Mr. Ratcliff, presents quite an interesting appearance. Every- thing IS in Its place - a decided improvement over last term when dumb-bells, clubs, wands, etc. lay strewn about the building. The addition of his single and double trapeze to the apparatus affords greater variety to the exercises, and this is highly appreciated by all the boys. They enter upon this new drill with a zest before unknown. That Mr. Ratcliff is an accomplished gymnast, they all agree."

Two weeks later, November 14, the paper was pleased to say; "It is wonderful how much proficiency some of the members have made in this term under the training of their instructor, Mr. Ratcliff. The performance on the double trapeze is especially interesting. It almost makes the hair stand on one's head to see the daring performance of some of the boys". Here is a quotation from the paper's report ot our first public exhibition, November 2-,: "The members who performed were Krekel, Kelsoe, Allyn, Shepherd, Bernays, and Masters Willie Jones and Erwin Blair. The most daring feats were performed on the double trapeze, and Mr. Ratcliff's feats on the flying trapeze."

Of the second exhibition the paper says: "C. W. Bliss acted as ringmaster, and the performers were Messrs. Rat' cliff, Krekel, Kelsoe, Cannady, Harrison, Sumner, Stewart, and Bernays. All displayed a limberness truly astonishing. There was no clovv n, which omission stripped it somewhat of the appearance of a regular circus. ****** Mr. Ratcliff performed on the side trapeze and while it was swinging almost the entire length of the hall, he executed many difficult and dangerous feats. The grand final drop by Ratcliff consisted of turning from the upper trapeze, more than twenty feet high, to the ground. The boys then did some lofty tumbling from the spring board. A few succeeded in coming down on the wrong end but no damage was done". The wind up reads: "We doubt that any other college in the country can turn out an equal number of skilled gymnasts as McKendree."

The trapeze partners billed for public exhibitions as the "Krekelsoe Brothers", were of course, Alfred Krekel, then of Jefferson City, Missouri, and Kelsoe. Mr. Krekel is now living on a farm near Farmington, Missouri. After he left McKendree in the spring of 1869, Hugh Harrison of Belleville took Krekel's place with me on the double trapeze.

My Repository report of our last exhibition that college year is missing, but we thought it the best of all, and so did the spectators. We had one accident then, the only mishap of the year, and I was responsible for it. Our teacher's final big trapeze feat was to swing from the top of a wooden tower and catch a flying trapeze, and while swinging on that, drop and light right side up on a straw mattress. After placing the mattress, my partner and I neglected to smooth out the surface so as to leave no holes or dangerous lumps in it for the performer to light on. Mr. Ratcliff came down all right but one foot struck a bad place in the mattress and his ankle was badly sprained. However, with the lame leg he climbed the tower at the south end again and repeated the performance on the flying trapeze. This time the performance was entirely successful and won the vociferous applause of the spectators, but later he was laid up at his home in Olney for several weeks with that sprained ankle. He never returned to McKendree, at least not m the capacity of a teacher of athletics. Tho we have made several visits to the college together in late years as visitors and "home comers".

We missed Mr. Ratcliff very much the next ye.ir and many of the students lost about all their interest in the gymnasium. A few of us gave an exhibition at the close of the college year. One ot the members of the graduating class was to write a report tor the Repository, but it was forgotten and we had to be content with a paragraph I wrote for the college paper, set up in the Journal printing office, and had it inserted in the last form that went to press, to the effect that the gymnasium exhibition given by Messrs. John Hoit, Charley West, Hugh Harrison, and W. A. Kelsoe was a big success.

The building continued to be used as a gymnasium for several years, but that was the last public exhibition given m It. Mr. West died m the summer of 187 1 at his home in Edwardsville. He was to graduate with me in 1872. Mr. Hoit, a resident of Lebanon, could not well attend college regularly and did not graduate until 1875. He then studied medicine, married, located in Kansas City, and had a large medical practice when death claimed him in 1892. Mr Harrison, oldest brother of Charley and Lee Harrison, died a prosperous business man in Los Angeles, California, a couple of years ago.

Mr. William Fay Ratcliff, our athletic teacher, got his second name at McKendree College. He arrived at Lebanon September 18, 1868, as William F. Ratcliff. When he came to register. President Allyn asked him his middle name. He replied that he had never had any except the letter F. "Well", said Dr. Allyn, "then we'll give you one", and he wrote down the word Fay, and said. "Now you are William Fay Ratcliff". And William Fay Ratcliff he has continued to be to this day. I have seen a good deal of Mr. Ratcliff during the last seven or eight years, and the more I see of him the better I like him. Here is what I wrote about the gentleman for the "St. Louis Reference Record" late in 1927.

Girls' Basketball Team, 1903-04

"One of the few octogenarians of St. Louis Typographical Union No. 8 is WiUiam F. RatcHff, born in Olney, lUinois, September 5, 1847. He learned the printing business in boyhood and when a young man was the editor and publisher of the "Olney News" and also of "ready made print newspapers" (patent insides) for one hundr d and seven country editors, and kept it up for ten years. In 1877-78, Ratcliff worked for a printing house in Hannibal, Missouri, which had a large business in printing blank books for public offices and also for private use. It was in 1891 that he came to St. Louis and became a member of No. 8, thirty-six years ago. Mr. Ratcliff and I have been close friends for nearly sixty years. While learning the printing business he had also spent a good deal of his time in a gymnasium, and in 1868, he became a teacher of athletics in McKendree College, Lebanon, Illinois. It was from Professor Ratcliff that I learned to turn back somersaults, for which I am best remembered in Lebanon. Later he became a professional gymnast and travelled with S. B. Howe's London Circus and other shows for several years in the summer time, and performed in vaudeville shows throughout the country in the winter. My old teacher was a frequent visitor at the Deaconess Hospital, St. Louis, when I was a patient there in 1925, and has since spent a part of every Sunday afternoon with me."

Mr. RatchfF's wife, formerly Miss Ruby M. Martin of Olney, Illinois, died a few years ago. Their only child. Dr. Ernest Ratcliff is a resident physician at the Lincoln, Illinois Institution for the Feeble Minded. Mr. Ratcliff is also a grandfather.

There is a well-founded tradition that W. A. Kelsoe organized the first baseball team that ever played in McKendree, during his student days in the sixties. Mr. Kelsoe gives some account of his experiences of that day in an article published in the "Pigskin" in 1905. We give here a condensation of that article. Kelsoe kept a diary in those days and by consulting it he found that the first base ball club in McKendree was organized April i, 1867. The club was composed mostly of Freshmen and it was called "Mazeppa". The first game was played Saturday, April 6, 1867 on a vacant lot in the east end of town. Another game was played on the nth and a third on the 1 2th. The names mentioned as members of the organization besides Kelsoe, are Frank Freeman, Joseph G. Allyn, Frank A. McConaughy, Eugene L. Stoker, James P. Lytle, Lyman T. Berger, George Lane, and Augustus C. Bernays. Mr. Freeman lived in St. Louis and had learned the game there. Since he had had more previous experience he was made president of the club and captain of the team, and pitcher. Joseph G. Allyn was the secretary.

A little later, Thomas B. Stelle, class of '68, organized another club, known as the "Olympics", and the club became so large the first day that a number of the members withdrew and formed a separate club who called themselves the "Winonas". There were now three clubs and each had two full nines. It was considered an honor to be on the first nine of either club. The first nine of the Olympics were, T. B. Stelle, Elam Ramsay, F. A. Affleck, W. F. L. Hadley, J. H. Cockrell, J. M. North, C. W. Bliss, H. E. Hobbs, and O. B. GrifBn. The first nine of the Winonas were, R. D. Adams, J. H. Wilson, Henry Seiter, H. C. Fisk, Parmly, S. G. Bryan, S. M. Irwin, Charles Black and W. P. Bradshaw. Herbert E. Hobbs of St. Louis was the star player of the Olympics, while the honors among the Winonas were divided between Adams and Wilson. In club rank the Winonas stood first, defeating the Olympics several times. The latter won two games from the "Stripplings" as the Mazeppas were called, and these also suffered defeat at the hands of the "Unions", a team from

Centr.ilia. The Mazeppas, however, bided their time. The next fall the Olympics and Winonas united and formed the "Wauneta" club, but even then, were not strong enough for the "Striphngs", now grown to manhood. After being defeated twice by the Mazeppas and once by the "Athletics" of Trenton, the Waunetas disbanded. The "Striplings" took them in, gave up the name Mazeppa and christened the reorganized club, "McKendree". After that the college had but one base ball club, the honor of McKendree being defended by that club against all comers. One of the first victories scored by the new organization was from the "Eclipse" of St. Louis, McKendree winning by a score of 79 to 3,4. The star players of McKendree at that time were E. B. Condit and William L. Hallam, who had both played with the Centralia "Unions" the year before, W. W. Mabry of Vandalia, and J. W. Tipton of Elizabeth town, Tennessee. On November 4, 1871, McKendree defeated the "Sooners" of Carlyle by a score of no to 27. The winning team m that contest consisted of D. C. Kelly, W. H. Horine, J. W. Scott, J. W. Wilson, Frank Remick, T. J. Porter, Walter Watson, Z. T. Remick and W. A. Kelsoe. The last four named were seniors of the class of 1872. A few days before that, McKendree had been slaughtered by the "Athletics" of Trenton, with a score of 61 to 45. The Remick Brothers lived m Trenton and belonged to both teams, but they played with the Athletics when the college club opposed them. In that game W. L. Hallam was the catcher, and Hugh W. Harrison the pitcher. McKendree generally won when they played against the O'Fallon "Comets". In one game with them the score was 53 to 42 and in another 44 to 14. Other prominent players besides these mentioned were, A. G. Gordon, J. H. Blume, J. C. Delzell, J. C. Edwards, J. A. Baird, C. A. Keller, J. A. Cockrell, George S. Liggett, Charles Morrison, James Gilbert, J. W. Wilson, Ben Bond, Bruce Inman, O. M. Edwards, W. W. Bruce, W. S. Curtis, D. B. Parkinson, J. H. Brownlee, G. W. Smith, L. D. Turner, Charles Cannady, J. M. Dickson and R. D. W. Holder.

not such absorbing interest as in the sixties, probably because it was overshadowed by foot ball in the latter period. However, there was an organized team. They were defeated by Shurtleff in a close game with a score of 14 to 13. In the same season they defeated the East St. Louis High School twice. The first time by a score of 30 to o and in the second game the score was 8 to o, which at least showed that the defense was improving. The men who were given honorable mention in this season's games are August Beckemeyer and Gilbert Van Cleve. Since that time, base ball has not been maintained continuously, but in most of the years there has been a team organized m the Spring which has afforded excellent practice on the home field between the first and second teams, and usually a few intercollegiate games have been played, but it has not been a strong competitor of foot ball in the interest it arouses.

Foot Ball

FOOT BALL As early as r888 the McKendree boys played among themselves a game they called foot ball. As many as desired participated in the game. The players were divided into two companies about equal. It was the aim of each group to force the ball to the opposite goal, but it was not done as in the modern football, for the ball was only propelled by kicking. It was not touched with hands.

But the first real foot ball team m Mc- Kendree was organized in 1892 with Jean F. Webb as Captain. He graduated from McKendree three years before but still lived in Lebanon and in those days the rules were not so strict as to who should be permitted to play. This first team was lined up as follows: "Irish" Wallace, center; John M. Hampton and John Galbreath, guards; R. H. Harding and R. V. Gustin, tackles; Ned Crosby and W. E. Trautman, ends; Scott Porter, quarter back ; Jean Webb and Orley Laird, halfbacks; and Walter Harding, full back. This team played one game that year with Smith Academy and suffered an overwhelming defeat. The score was 66 to o. This was due to the fact that St. Louis had several foot ball stars in those years who played with about all the leading teams of the city. This was possible, worn in the early (Fred Hunter) because the rules of eligibility were neither

SO definite nor so well enforced as in these days. In 1893, McKendree was defeated by Drury College 14 to o. In 1894, a return game was played with Smith Academy at Lebanon, in which McKendree won by a score of 22 to o. This shows that the McKendree team had been strengthened somewhat in the two years, but this line of sport was maintained with difficulty since there was no enclosed park and no admission fee could be charged, and therefore there was no fund with which to purchase equipment. Whatever funds were raised for the cause had to be by voluntary contributions of the students and the citizens of the town. The students had but little money and therefore could not give much. The merchants were as generous as could be expected, but the fund was very inadequate.

In 1895, several new members were added to the team. William B. Eaton was Captain and among the players were W. H. Nix, J. F. Webb, Cameron Harmon, O. C. Dake and "Irish" Wallace. Two games were played that year, one with the Belleville Tigers, and the other with Blackburn. The former was a tie and the latter a victory for Blackburn with a score of 60 to o. A third was scheduled with the "Rainwater Rifles" of St. Louis. They brought with them two of the same old ringers or semi-professionals with whom Mc-

Kendree had played in former years. Captain Eaton gave the Captain of the visiting team ten minutes to remove them. This he failed to do and several of the McKendree players went home and the game was called off. In 1896, no team was organized until November when Ed Gedney gathered together a team to play against the Belleville "Tigers" on Thanksgiving Day. Cameron Harmon and Will McKnight, who were both teaching near Flora, left their schools and journeyed to Lebanon to participate. A hurried practice was held in Wallace's barn and the team started for Belleville in a pouring rain. McKendree lost, which was not strange under the circumstances. The next year the team consisted of Louis Zerweck, Walter Blanck, C. M. Wilton, O. W. Wilton, Austin Kirk, James Patterson, Russell Brown, Irish Wallace. R. V. Gustin, Omar Farris. and Charles Bevis.

In 1899, Cameron Harmon returned to school and again joined the team. Internal difficulties came up which threat' ened the total disruption of the team. Then, as Captain Harmon used to say. took place the historic and patriotic act by which W. L. Clucas mounted the chapel steps, and in the presence of fully four people, nominated, voted for, and declared Cameron Harmon elected foot ball Captain at Mc- Kendree and assumed the office of manager himself.

Football Team Of 1Sm6

Captain Harmon settled the ill feeling among the members of the old team, reorganized it, and won every game played during the remainder of the season. Captain Harmon was re-elected for the next year and W. L. Clucas was elected manager. When the fall term of 1900 opened, Captain Harmon brought with him Marshall and Edward Wallis, Ralph Sabine, and Gilbert Van Cleve, who with Captain Harmon, Zerweck and Flint, made McKendree College prominent in football circles, for in their respective positions they had no superiors in and around St. Louis. Nap Bon Thayer an ex- Harvard man who lived in Lebanon, volunteered his services, as coach and the team made rapid progress. Then for the first time, McKendree's team was able to battle successfully with the teams of other large colleges. That year was the first that a full schedule was played. The Lebanon park was enclosed and the old method of raising money by subscription was abolished. During that season, McKendree played a tie game with Western Military Academy, defeated Barnes Medical 17 to o, St. Louis High 22 to 11, Southern Illinois Normal 25 to o, and was defeated by Christian Brothers College 17 to 5.

For the season of 1901, Captain Harmon was again chosen leader, and W. L. Clucas manager, and an executive committee was appointed, consisting of Professor Waggoner, Van Cleve and Clucas. This committee, together with Captain Harmon, worked diligently during the summer and when school opened in the fall, there were many candidates for each position and so each player won his position by superior work on the field. Out of the eight games played that season, only three were lost. McKendree scored 109 points against her opponents 58. From a financial standpoint, the year was a success. A complete outfit for the team, such as jerseys, headgear, etc., was purchased and the season closed with $75.00 in the treasury. In 1902 the same plan was followed. Almost the entire team returned to school and the same officers were still in service. In that year McKendree had the best football season m her history up to that time. Several minor games were disposed of, and then came the great game with Marion- Simms-Beaumont College of St. Louis. Lebanon took on a real football spirit. The advance sale of tickets was larger than for any previous game. The executive committee prepared printed programs, containing a score or more of yells and songs. The students met each night at the college and practiced. Yell leaders were appointed. Megaphones, pennants, horns, and ribbons galore greeted the six hundred visitors who arrived on their special train, with a brass band and drum corps. A larger crowd was never seen on a McKendree gridiron, and though the game was played evenly, McKendree lost by a small margin in the score, but the team had increased its bank account by $103.00. That day will be long remembered by those who witnessed the game. Later a most successful trip was made to the city of Olney, where they played a stiff and hard fought game. After it was over, the score was 1 1 to o in favor of McKendree. The team had to stay over to return the next morning. The city threw open her doors and entertained the McKendree boys right royally. The public reception that night was enjoyed by all.

In 1903 McKendree was minus several of her old and tried warriors. Harmon, Van Cleve, Sabine and Zerweck had all finished their college course and gone. Yet a successful team was organized, and except the very first, with a St. Louis High School, they won the entire schedule. It was with especial satisfaction that they defeated Shurtleff by a score of 51 to 6. Coach Delaney of St. Louis University, in writing the history of foot ball in the middle west said that if Mc- Kendree had played a full schedule she would have been the champion of the middle west for the year 1903. McKendree has maintained a foot ball team ever since, except the years in which it was forbidden by action of the Board of Trustees.

Tennis

A tennis court appeared on McKendree's campus as early as 1890. It was not prepared by the college, but by individual interest and effort with the permission of the college authorities. The first one was located near the present corner entrance to the campus. Within the next two or three years, two more courts appeared near the first one. These were all supposed to be owned by the students who had prepared them. Only they or their friends were permitted to use them. It was more than a dozen years later that the college authorities decided that tennis courts in the front yard were not dignified and were somewhat of a disfigurement to the campus and therefore ordered them all to the back campus. There are now three excellent courts just back of Carnegie Hall, which are for the general use of the students and in vacation time they are often used by persons who are not students, and this is approved by the authorities on the ground that the college is intended to be so far as possible the servant of the whole community.

But in the years while the courts were still in the front, there were pleasant hours spent by the boys and girls of the college, playing purely for pleasure and pastime without the slightest idea of professionalism. In course of time, some few individuals attained a degree of skill which inclined them to play match games and hold tournaments. In 1897, a series of games were played to determine a championship. Two young men of Edwardsville, Bradshaw and Kirkpatrick, claimed to be the champions of Southern lUinios. Some of the McKendree students were not convinced on this point, and in order to settle the matter it was arranged to play a series of match games. The boys representing McKendree were Samuel J. Clucas and Walter H. Blanck. The first match was played at Edwardsville and the McKendree boys won. The second was at McKendree and the Edwardsville boys won. The third game which was to determine the title to the championship was played at Edwardsville and was fairly and clearly won by the McKendree boys who thus proved their claim to the title of champions of Southern Illinois. They maintained this record for a number of years, playing all comers and suffering only one defeat. That was at the hands of Arthur Wear and Clarence Gamble of Smith Academy, which of course was outside of Southern Illinois. In 1900, S. J. Clucas won new laurels in East St. Louis by defeating in singles the best player that city could produce. In the Spring of 1901, the first Tennis Club was organized with a membership of fourteen. The officers of the club were. President, V. S. Morriss, vicepresident, A. W. Morriss, Jr., secretary, treasurer and manager, J. Paul Edwards. The object of the club was to arouse interest in the game on the part of McKendree students and the citizens of Lebanon. With this thought in mind it was voted to hold a tennis tournament during the commencement week of that year. Two loving cups were offered by the club for the winners of the doubles, and Mrs. A. W. Morriss donated a third cup for the winner of the singles. After some very fast tennis m the preliminaries and semi-finals, E. W. Donoho and J. P. Edwards were left to battle against Marion Van Treese and A. W. Morriss, Jr., for the doubles cham' pionship and the grand prize. Donoho and Edwards won. Then m the singles, Donoho won over A. W. Morriss, Jr. by a narrow margin. After the conclusion of the tournament Dr. M. H. Chamberlin, then president of the college, presented the cups to the winners with suitable words of congratulation in the presence of a large crowd of spectators assembled about the tennis court.

The next year the club increased its membership to sixteen members. The officers were the same, except that W. C. Pfeffer was chosen secretary and manager, instead of Edwards who was no longer a student in the college. Another tournament was held m 1902 which aroused as much interest as did the one of the preceding year. In the finals of this contest. Van Tresse and A. W. Morriss, Jr. won over Donoho and Pfeffer. In the Spring of 1903, the membership of the club numbered twenty-five. A. W. Morriss, Jr. was elected president, Eugene Corrie, vice-president, and E. W. Donoho, secretary and manager. This year Morriss and Donoho were the undisputed champions, having no trouble to defeat all comers. So they were chosen to represent McKendree in several matches during the season. They defeated Reeder and Adams of East St. Louis High School in the doubles, and Morriss easily defeated Watson of East St. Louis in the singles. Morriss and Donoho also went to Carbondale and won first honors in a contest at the Southern Normal. The tennis club was still growing in 1904 when it had thirty members. When the courts were removed from the front campus, interest in the game waned for some years. Chiefly for the reason that there was no opportunity to play about the college. There were no courts on the campus until after the dormitories were built which was in 191 1. In recent years there have seldom been tournaments except at the Interscholastic or high school meet which comes to our campus every year. But in the Spring, as well as in the pleasant weather of the autumn, the students engage in tennis very freely as a means of wholesome exercise and pleasant pastime.

Athletics In The Last Decade

ATHLETICS IN THE LAST DECADE By John W. Oster The past decade has been one of great athletic achievement for McKendree teams. In this period, wearers of the purple and white have won state championships in foot ball, basket ball, and tennis, while few poor seasons have been experienced. Foot ball has long been the major sport of the college. Old records fairly bristle with the feats of the pigskin warriors. Proud as the institution is of the records made when Dr. Harmon was "Cap", it has equal reason to be proud of those made in the last decade. Grid activities in 1918 were much abbreviated, due to the arrival of the "flu" epidemic. Professor C. N. Stokes of the mathematics department, who was also the coach, was looking for a good season, but most of the games had to be postponed. In only one contest did the "bear cats" put their full line up in the field. On this occasion Shurtleff was defeated 1 3, to 6. Due to the illness of the Coach, "Fritz" FriedH, an old McKendree star who was at that time just beginning the successful coaching in the Belleville High School which has since caused him to be recognized as one of the best coaches in Illinois, was secured as an assistant. After a poor start, eleven of the eighteen games were won and the team finished second in the state tournament. Two men, Jim Dolley, forward, and Fritz Wagener, guard, were selected as members of the first all-state team of the tournament. Spring athletics were very successful. The veteran base ball team was undefeated, while the "cinder men" were victorious in a dual meet, thus keeping the record intact of not losing a dual meet since 1916, when Washington University won, in spite of McKendree's taking seven of the thirteen first places. The foot ball season of 1919 was unsuccessful. After a close defeat by Illinois College, demoralization set in and the season was disastrous to the end. Continuing the success of the past season in basket ball, the Bear Cats made an enviable record in 1919-20. In playing twenty games, fifteen successful verdicts were gained over the best teams in Illinois and Missouri. The defeats suffered were by narrow margins, except the one at Charleston. Wagener, Weineke, Garrett, Collard, Sayre, and Canedy, formed the line up. The success of the cagers was continued in base ball and track. The track team was undefeated, while the diamond men won a majority of their games. A new coach, "Shorty" Lawrence, took charge of athletics the following year. Lawrence accomplished little in foot ball in the way of winning. The team did not win a game, hut they always went down fighting. They had the proverhi.il "Mc- Kendree fight". In basket ball, the quintet that should h.ive been the fostest in McKendree's history, was hurt by the ineligibility of three of its best men. Only nine games were played. Of these, five were victories. The 1921 base ball team was a peppy aggregation and though bad weather abbreviated the season, the games played resulted favorably. Two victories were gained over the Union Methodists of St. Louis, one from ShurtlefF, and one from Eden Seminary, while Western Military Academy proved too strong. Coach Hall, formerly of Earlham College, was secured m 1921. He received as a heritage the oft-trod-on gridders of the year before. Believing that the team was capable of better things he set to work in earnest. His efforts were rewarded with a team that was undefeated during the season, and scored on but once, when Carbondale registered two points. This was one of McKendree's greatest championship teams. Six Mc- Kendreans, Carvel, Lizenby, Catt, Miller, Sayre, and Adams gained positions on the all-star team of Southern Illinois. Two others, Cralley and Maxey were on the second squad. In basket ball, they gained six victories in nine starts. The most impressive ones were a 14-9 win over Carbondale and a rough and tumble 41-13 verdict over Shurtleff. The base ball team lost all of its games except one. Enough batting punch was discovered in the last game to beat Shurtleff with a score of 4 to 3. Despite good offers from other schools, Coach Hall remained at McKendree another year. His team was hurt much by losses from graduation. Six games were played. Two fell in the winning column, two were tie games, and two fell on the wrong side. Three men, full back Ben Hall and tackles Cralley and Rhiel were on the Egyptian all' star team. McKendree won the Egyptian basket ball championship in 1922-33, with a record of five victories in six starts. Four of seven non-conference games were also won. In the Spring of 1923 a new coach put in his appearance. Earl (Lefty) Davis. The following September Davis found a wealth of material with which to work. Letter men and high school stars were here in abundance. An expert in the handling of men, and a master strategist, Davis soon made the Bear Cats much-feared opponents. Even tho he was developing a new system, his eleven won four games, lost four and tied two. With a schedule that included St. Louis University, Illinois Wesleyan, Charleston and Concordia, the Davis-men had the stiffest schedule a bear cat team had ever played. St. Louis University was defeated once, and ten victories were gained in fifteen games. Spring Athletics were fairly successful. The track team won the three cornered Shurtleff, West' ern Military, and McKendree meet, and gained a close second in the Washington U., RoUa, and McKendree meet. Ray Goode, javelin thrower, broke the state record with a 180 foot toss m that event. The Medley relay team did well in the Drake relays. Newcom and Hardy made a strong tennis combination. The following year the effectiveness of the Davis system was demonstrated. Victories were achieved in all sports. The climax of gridiron development was reached in 1924, when the purple and white won the "Little NmC' teen" title with seven victories and one tie game. The team had weight, ability and teamwork. In points scored the Bear Cats made 252 and their opponents 49. Three non-conference tilts were played. Of these they won one, lost one and one was a tie. The teams defeated were Charleston, Blackburn, Lincoln, Carthage, Carbondale, Shurtleff, and Ewing. Scott Field and Illinois College tied the Bear Cats, while Rolla defeated them m a non-conference game at the opening of the season. Fullback Holsinger made the all-state team, and several others made the second and third teams.

Filled with the spirit of winning, the Davis-men went onto the basket ball floor, led by the brilliant Newcom, one of the greatest cagers that ever stepped on a McKendree floor. The Bear Cats romped off with eight of ten conference starts, and four non-conference victories against one defeat. The track men, not to be out done by the other teams, won dual meets from Shurtleff and Ewing. Goode again broke the conference record in the javelin event, placed second at the Drake relays, and third at the national meet. The tennis team of Newcom and Allen easily won the doubles championship of the state. The only losing team of the year was the Nine which dropped games to Washington, Eden, Concordia, and Shurtleff, winning the final game from Ewing with a score of 28 to I. After this year. Coach Davis packed his belongings for Shreveport, Louisiana, where he coached the nationally famous Centenary College team. To take his place, Glen Filley of Cameron, Missouri was secured. Filley was an out' standing player on the Missouri Wesleyan teams, captain of the foot ball, basket ball, and track teams. He had good success as a high school coach at Grand Island, Nebraska. In the short time he was there he developed the champion high school track team of the state. As he had played under Davis there were few innovations in methods under him as the new coach at McKendree. The first three games of the season were dropped to Knox, the Illinois state champions. Spring' field (Mo.) and Rolla. The next five conference opponents were defeated, as was Scott Field. Cape Girardeau held the

Sixteen opposing teams were met on the basket ball floor that season. Of these ten were defeated by the McKendree team. Half of the games played and half of the victories won were conference contests. A shooting slump while on a tour in the north part of the state resulted in three successive defeats, thus marring an otherwise good record. However the Southern Illinois title was won by virtue of dual victories over ShurtlefF and Carbondale. The tracksters did good work. At the A. A. U. Meet in St. Louis, the relay team defeated that of Washington University. The only defeat was a dual meet with Washington. Shurtleff and Millikin were defeated in dual meets while the fifth place was won at the state meet. For the third successive year, Ray Goode broke the state javelin record, with a toss of 192 feet and five and one half inches. Allen and Mowe won the third place in the doubles event at the State Tennis Meet, while Allen won third in the singles. Handicapped by a poor diamond and practice stopped by rain, the base ball team won but a single game in seven starts.

The reason of 1926-27 was disastrous. Only five men answered the call for grid candidates. A good back field could not function because of a sieve-like line. Eight games were played with but one victory and one tie game resulting. Lincoln was defeated i j to o, and Carbondale was held to a scoreless game. Although a small team, the quintet played at lightning speed. With the season half over, but two games were won. Suddenly hitting its proper form in mid-season, the five defeated such formidable opponents as Carbondale, Springfield, Lincoln, Macomb, and Charleston. The track team had fair success. The relay event was again won at the A. A. U. Meet. Washington administered a severe drubbing in a dual meet, and then the first place was won by McKen. dree in a triangular meet with Shurtleff and Western Military Academy at Alton. Later she won second place in meets with Shurtleff, with Carbondale, and with Millikin. Also several places were won at the state meet. Although but four of eleven base ball games were won, the base ball team was successful, when we consider the handicaps. The athletic field was in process of improvement and so the team had no diamond on which to practice. But in spite of this, victories were gained over Western Military, Shurtleff, and Eden Seminary. Washington University was held to a 2 to i score, Concordia to a j-o verdict, Monmouth 3 to i, and Macomb 6 to 3. In the last mentioned game, two infielders were injured. In the tennis season, McKendree's squad twice defeated the Shurtleff netsters. This closed the athletic activities for the year. The records for the year 1927-2S will be found in the annual for 1928.

The Interscholastic

Ever since the Spring of 1916, with the exception of 1918 when the United States was engaged in the World War, the Interscholastic or High School Meet has been one of the annual features of the activities on McKendree's campus. The affiiir attracts several hundred high school students, with a good many of their teachers, from thirty or forty high schools throughout Southern Illinois, and while interested spectators look on, they compete with much zeal and energy for the medals offered by the college for superiority in the various contests that are staged, both athletic and intellectual. The forenoon is devoted to preliminaries which eliminate from the contests all but the best; the afternoon is taken up with the athletic events, and the intellectual contests occur in the college chapel in the evening.

Looking over one of the printed schedules, we enumerate the various contests mentioned there as an example of what the affair is like. The athletic events are: ist, 220 yard low hurdle race; 2nd, pole vault; 3rd, mile run; 4th, shot put; 5th, 100 yard dash; 6th, running high jump; 7th, 440 yard dash; 8th, running broad jump; 9th, 220 yard dash; 10th, throwing discus; nth, half mile run; 12th, running hop, step and jump; 13th, three mile race, across country; 14th, standing broad jump; 15th, mile relay race. Also in the forenoon was the tennis tournament with thirteen high schools entered. In the evening there were the intellectual contests in music and expression. Medals were awarded in the following events. Girls' solo, boys' solo, girls' quartette, boys' quartette, girls' reading, boys' reading, boys' oration. It is a difiicult task for the judges but finally they reach their decisions, while the audience is entertained by some special performances, and then the president of the college bestows the medals.

Not only the winners of the intellectual events, a gold, silver, and bronze medal for the first, second, and third rank in each event, but also the winners of the medals in the athletic events receive them from the chapel stage in the evening. It takes some time to confer the medals, for there are nearly a hundred of them some years, but it is always an interesting hour. Nobody gets sleepy while one after another is called forward in the presence of a large crowd of high school people and others, and publicly receives the testimonial of worthy achievement in some special line. It is doubtless a means of inspiring some to intenser efforts than they have

Hypes Field

A sketch of athletics m McKendree would not be complete without some reference to the field which has been the scene of so many interesting conflicts for nearly twenty years. In 1909, Dr. Beniamin M. Hypes, desiring to promote a deeper interest m physical education gave the land for the Athletic Field which from that time has borne his name. It is conveniently located, just across the street from the gymnasium and separated from the main college grounds only by Alton street. It contains five acres as originally inclosed for athletic purposes, with an additional area at the north which on account of a ravine could not be included in the field. The ground naturally sloped a little to the north. In fact it was too much of a grade to be ideal for some athletic purposes. Several attempts have been made to level it. One summer the college bought a tractor, a plow and a scraper and employed several students to work on the big problem. The result of this effort was some improvement but it was not sufficient and only made the boys feel the need of more perfect adjustment along the same line. In the meantime an additional area about one hundred feet wide on the east was secured by purchase from Mrs. Mary C. Fitz-Gerrell, whose husband was a member of the class of 1862 in McKendree. It should be stated also that Doctor Hypes paid for this addi' tion to the area. The board fence was extended to include it and then .i contract was let to a construction company to really grade the field. It took this company, with a large equipment such as they would employ in grading for a railroad or paved highway, several weeks to do the job. It cost the college over $3,000 besides the many hundreds which had been invested in the previous efforts. In the early history of the field a grand stand had been built on the north end which would accommodate three or tour hundred people, but in the last grading, a part of the plan was to make a "straight-away" race course which ran right through the place where the grand stand stood. It was removed. Then in the summer of 1927, concrete bleachers were built along nearly the whole west side of the field, which will furnish seating for more than a thousand people and that is an adequate provision, unless in the coming years our crowds grow larger. With a well equipped gymnasium, a well improved athletic field, and a competent coach, McKendree is prepared to take care of the physical culture of her students if she has even a moderate degree of co-operation on the part of the students themselves. The list of athletic directors since there has been one who was a member of the faculty is as follows: Bertram E. Wiggins, Homer T. Osborn, Cyrus S. Gentry, Milton S. Cushman, Marvin W. Krieger, W. C. LeVan, Claude N. Stokes, Frank Lawrence, Orville Hall, Earl A. Davis, and Glen F. Filley.