VISITING TEAMS.

The sportsmanlike hospitality of the Englishman is proverbial. In the olden days he used to try to kill his enemy with an axe; that failing, he invited him to dinner. Now, in athletic contests, he beats his rivals in the afternoon and then dines them in the evening; or, in the House of Commons, he shouts "traitor" and "liar" at his best friend on the opposite bench and then after the session walks out with him arm in arm. The Yale and Harvard track teams last summer experienced more than a touch of that social grace which the Englishman unites with his most hostile athletic endeavors.

It is unfortunate that we at Harvard can give so little attention to our visiting teams. We are so overwhelmingly interested in the partisan side of athletics that we have forgotten that a social side can be added without detriment to the spirit of rivalry. At present most of our athletic visitors spend the night in Boston and do not come out to Cambridge until just before the game. Immediately afterward they go back to town, having seen no more of Harvard than the Square, the Stadium, the Locker Building, and the historical bridge across the Charles.

It is supposed to be a matter of athletic etiquette for two teams to have nothing to do with each other before a game; it is natural, also, that our visitors should prefer to stay in Boston rather than in the enemy's country previous to a contest. There ought, however, to be a little time after the game for the interchange of those social civilities which could not but bring Harvard into closer connection with other colleges without destroying the true spirit of rivalry. If the visiting team has to hurry away so early that there is no time for a "training dinner", there could at least be a short reception in the Union. The new Varsity Club, when completed, will no doubt greatly facilitate the establishing of more friendly relations between the men on the University teams and the representatives from opposing institutions. At present our esteem for our opponents is based, for the most part, upon their skill and sportsmanlike conduct on the field. The establishment of more personal relations between the members of the teams should greatly increase the mutual interest and friendliness between the various colleges and universities of the country.