Letter from Manager Smith.

CAMBRIDGE, Dec. 1, 1890.

To the Editors of the Crimson:

Sundry communications and editorials having appeared lately in the DAILY CRIMSON, Boston Herald and other papers, stating that the seats at Springfield were insecure and charging me with criminal carelessness for not having taken precautions for ascertaining their safety, I wish to say that on the afternoon of November 21 two expert builders, Mr. Shaw and Mr. Slocum, were sent to the grounds by the city of Springfield, with authority to hold an official inspection of the seats and to pronounce upon their safety.

These experts inspected the seats in my presence and pronounced them to be perfectly safe and the best temporary seats they had ever seen. They thought them capable of supporting safely twice the number of people which was expected to occupy them the following day.

The responsibility, if the seats had been insecure, would have rested with the inspectors and not with the management; and remarks upon criminal carelessness should be addressed to those who, having authority, pronounced the seats safe and not to the management of the game which took every precaution and went to great expense to have the seats built as strongly as was possible with temporary seats.

JERE. SMITH, JR., Manager H. U. F. B. A.