Athletics at Yale.

NEW HAVEN, Sept. 25.-When President Timothy Dwight heard that Yale had won the boat race over Harvard at New London last June he flung his hat in the air in giving vent to his joy. Probably no one knew better than Yale's enterprising, go-ahead President how much good that victory and the other victories won by the blue-clad athletes were worth to the university. The American youth is essentially either an athlete himself or a lover of athletics, and when he arrives at that stage of life at which he enters college the athletic reputation of the college has much to do with his selection, especially when he is allowed to make it himself.

The fact that Yale's athletic victories are a big advertisement for the university was never better illustrated than it is this year. Last Thursday the college opened with by far the biggest freshman class it has ever had, 204 or more in the academic department, and about 100 in the scientific school. Now it cannot be denied that President Dwight's vigorous policy and the athletic triumphs are the two things to which this increase is due. From And over Academy alone there are nearly 30 freshmen. Andover is a preparatory school that takes more interest in athletes than any other institution of its ilk. The young men from that school always go in the largest numbers to the university that has shown the best athletic record, be it Yale or Harvard. Yale has the big majority of these students this year.

And the Yale boys are getting right down to work to keep up the athletic reputation of the college. Yesterday the foot-ball team commenced its work on the Yale field, and every day, rain or shine, from now until the foot-ball season is at an end, the practice will be kept up. Captain Harry Beecher, in speaking of the team's prospects, said:

We have got to work very hard this year for the championship. Nothing but the hardest kind of work will win it for us. We hear that both Princeton and Harvard have exceptionally strong teams in practice, but we don't mean to let them get away with us if we can help it. There will be no holding or slugging allowed in the game this year, so our men will be specially trained against these defects. According to the new rules we will have two referees, one to watch the ball, and the other to watch the men. Of last year's players we will have Corbin, '89, center rush; Gill, '89; Carter, '88; S. S. S., who was starboard stroke on the 'Varsity crew; Wallace, '89; Morrison, '90; Bull, '88, and myself. I will play quarter back. This leaves three places to be filled by new men."

The principal difficulty the team will have this year will be in filling the halfback position left vacant by the death of George A. Watkinson after the Princeton game last year. Buchanan, who was one of last year's strongest players, will be unable to play this year owing to illness. Wurtemburg, one of last year's substitutes, will probably be a regular man on the team. The Freshman Class will furnish Rhodes, McClure, Perrin, McClellan, and others as material from which to draw. The first game will be played here with Wesleyan next Thursday. Harvard, Princeton, and Yale will, as usual, form the Intercollegiate League.

Some of the Freshmen who arrived here last week had to undergo the hazing process at the hands of the Sophomores. There has been more hazing done here this year than for several years past, but it does not take on a very violent form. One chipper New Haven youth who is inclined to be something of a dude, and who is just entering upon his college career, was given a pretty sharp twirl by a party of Sophomores last Tuesday evening. They captured him with his bicycle suit on, took him around to a Broadway saloon and made him set the drinks up for the crowd. Then they made him "browse," and scan Greek and make speeches. Not satisfied with this, they decided to investigate his shapely calves; so they pulled off his stockings, and found that he wore an extra pair of them to make his calves shapely. After pointing out the error of his ways and telling that there should be nothing in the way of sham about a Yale man, they picked him up, took him to his home, and threw him into the front hallway into the arms of his sister.-N. Y. Times.