OLD SONGS THE BEST ONES.

In spite of all efforts to secure new songs, the mass meeting last evening proved that the familiar tunes are in no danger of being replaced. It is now scarcely ten days before the Yale game, and there is hardly time to learn songs which have little swing, and which have words unsuited to the music. The real test of a football song lies in the attitude of the men who sing it, and when everyone starts whistling a well-known tune as soon as a new song has been tried, the latter may well be considered condemned. We have a variety of songs which have proved successful in past years, and it will be far better to confine our efforts to them, than to attempt, at the eleventh hour, songs which are failures in the Union, and which would certainly fall flat if tried in the Stadium. One song alone was acceptable, with the exception of those written to tunes which are college classics, and these will only succeed if the words are memorized by frequent practice. We also suggest that superfluous introductions be omitted in old songs as well as new. They rarely add to the effect, and in many cases serve only to confuse the singers and make the opening lines ragged.

We hope that criticisms of this year's songs will not discourage would-be composers. The short period of a football song competition tends to produce hasty and careless work; and in future the effort should begin several months ahead. Those who have been unsuccessful this season should not be content with one attempt, but should begin at once to study the class of song which is required, and endeavor to produce something of real merit and enduring popularity.