Better Equipment Will Be Issued to House Football Next Season

The equipment used by the House football teams will probably undergo a considerable "revitalization program," according to Frank Smith, newly-appointed head of the HAA supply office.

This year's equipment was the subject of considerable undergraduate criticism. Smith agreed that "quite a bit of the equipment was of such a nature that it could not be salvaged." He said that the athletic department hoped in the future to keep the equipment well-repaired.

Persistent student rumors to the effect that faculty equipment had produced a record number of injuries was flatly denied by Donald M. Felt, assistant director of athletics. "The overall injury record was lower this year than it has been in the past," he said. He noted that there were no injuries that could be traced to equipment.

Kirkland Started Rumors

Felt stated that the rumors probably originated in Kirkland House, where the number of accidents was particularly high. "Kirkland House people had an unfortunate year," he said, but he called the accident rate "just an unusual coincidence."

Dr. Augustus Thorndike, surgeon of the department of athletics, agreed that Kirkland House had been "hit hard." But he called the number of accidents this year "startlingly smaller" than those in past years.

Thorndike stated that exact figures on the number and total cost of House football medical bills would not be available until the end of the HAA fiscal year, which is June 30.

Commenting on the more close-fisted attitude of the HAA in general, Thomas D. Bolles, director of athletics, said simply, "Days of austerity have been with us for some time."