THE MAIL

(Ed. Note--The Crimson does not necessarily endorse opinions expressed in printed communications. No attention will be paid to anonymous letters and only under special conditions, at the request of the writer, will names be withheld. Only letters under 400 words can be printed because of space limitations.)

To the Editor of the Crimson:

Last Saturday's football game was the scene for a display of the poorest sportsmanship imaginable, and this on the part of Harvard boys--they cannot be called Harvard men after such an exhibition. The air above the stands during the second half was filled with flying paper-wads made of soaked copies of the H. A. A. News. It apparently began as a protest against ladies' umbrellas, but was continued for its own sake. I received a hard blow in the eye from a rolled magazine as I turned my head for an instant . . . I am extremely thankful that I received the blow instead of the girl I was with, and that it did not strike endwise, instead of sideways, as it did, so that most of the force was taken by my check-bone; even so, my sight has not entirely cleared after 48 hours.

Throwing paper airplanes at a "push-over" game is childish and bad sportmanship, and one of the worst phases of "Harvard indifference," but the throwing of hard objects from behind, so that identification of the thrower is impossible, is in addition no less than cowardice, especially when no discrimination is made against ladies. Besides the wadded and rolled magazines, beer cans were thrown, and one girl was struck in the ankle with a bottle, to say nothing of the numerous jolting slaps in the backs of heads. And coming in the face of the misfortunes of the team the undergraduates are expected to support, no worse lack of sportsmanship can be conceived . . .

But there is still another angle. When paying customers not connected with the university are subjected to possible bodily injury, gate receipts can be expected to be materially lowered. This alone should certainly cause the H. A. A. to have its ushers and other employees prevent such an occurence. Truman P. Kohman, '38