CHANGES IN FOOTBALL RULES

The following is a summary of the changes which were adopted by the football rules committee last Saturday. The final form in which the new rules will be phrased has not been decided, as yet, but will be settled by the codifying committee, composed of P. D. Haughton '99, Walter Camp, of Yale, and W. N. Morice, of the University of Pennsylvania. The committee will also go through the rule book from beginning to end in an effort to simplify its language. The changes which have been adopted are as follows:

Changes Made in Football Rules.

1--The playing field, now 110 yards in length, will be shortened to an even 100 yards. This change in itself is not vital, but is made in order to make possible on small grounds an extension of territory in which the forward pass may be used.

2--An area of 10 yards width beyond the goal-lines is set apart, and in this the attacking team will be allowed to use the forward pass.

3--The number of "downs" to gain 10 yards is increased to four.

4--The on-side kick is abolished.

5--The value of a touchdown is increased from five points to six points, but that of the goal from touchdown and other scores will stand as at present.

6--The 20-yard zone, within which the present rules now provide restrictions to interference with the forward pass, is abolished so that the restrictions will apply now to any part of the field.

7--In case of a touchback the ball will be put in play from the 20-yard line instead of the 25-yard line.

8--On a kick-off the ball, instead of being put in play in the centre of the field, will be put in play from the 40-yard line of the team kicking off. Taking into consideration the shortening of the field and this change in the rules, the kick-off distance is lengthened by five yards.

9--The office of field judge is abolished. The head linesman will hereafter keep time and be judge of off-side plays in the line of scrimmage.

10--The number of men allowed on the side lines, now three, will be reduced to one for each team.

11--A provision will be made to the effect that a bounding ball cannot score a legitimate goal from the field.

12--The resting interval between the first and second and the third and fourth periods is reduced from two minutes to one minute.

Offense Strengthened.

In making these changes in the rules the committee's aim is to more nearly equalize the attacking and defensive powers. During the past season it developed that if a team could not gain its ten yards in two downs it preferred to trust to the individual ability of a punter, rather than to risk losing the ball entirely. The change which gives a team four downs to make ten yards is expected to strengthen the offense.

New Zone for Forward Pass.

A forward pass which crosses the goal-line is legalized, provided it does not go more than ten yards beyond it. This feature, it is hoped, will give the offense a better opportunity to score; first, by providing them with a new weapon of attack inside the 20-yard line, and second, by preventing the defense from concentrating its forces upon the line of scrimmage, when under its own goal-posts. The forward pass when used in mid-field may exceed 20 yards in length.

Touchdown to Count 6 Points.

The value of a touchdown has been raised from five to six points. By this increase it is made equal to two goals from the field. A goal kicked after a touchdown still counts one point.

As the length of the field has been shortened from 110 to 100 yards it was decided to have the kick-off from the attacking side's 40-yard line, or 60 yards from the opposing goal. Scrimmaging will thus start more nearly in mid-field.

After a touchback play will start on the 20-yard line instead of on the 25-yard line as heretofore. The committee believes that there will be no opportunity to revive the old mass style of play because of the rule which prevents the man with the ball from receiving any aid in the form of pushing or pulling.

On-side Kick Abolished.

The on-side kick has been eliminated because of its generally unsatisfactory nature, and the possibility of injuries resulting from the efforts to recover the bounding ball.