THE CHEM AW A
AM ERICAN
5
th en he stopped. T h ere was n o th in g a h e a l, ev ery th in g was th ro u g h .
T he Carlisle player said to him , “ W ell, w hat in the world is the m atter
w ith you, why d o n ,t you ru n ?” S m ith said, “ W hy, you told me to get
th o u g h the lin e .” N o th in g had been said about ru n n in g . T h e
other fellows laughed and began to feel warm under the collar and
the player said, “ W hen you get the ball again and get th ro u g h the line
you ru n , you ru n . ’’W ell, he got th ro u g h the line again and he ran. H e
crossed th e goal line and not only th a t, he came to a fence and jum ped
over it and kept rig h t on across the co u n try . T he fellows started for
him on foot, but there was no catching him . P erhaps he was a little
afraid th at he h ad done som ething w rong again and w hile he knew he
was safe he kept rig h t on. F inally some of the fellows got some horses
and started for him on horseback, but I did not hear w hether they caught
him or not. At any rate after a w hile they got him at Carlisle and p u t him
into the staig h t and narrow path and possibly after a little bit of w atching
and a little bit of work on the football field, Carlisle was proud to claim him
as a player of some rank and sent him out to O regon to teach the Che-
mawa people how to play football.
Now the m atter of w in n in g a letter is a serious m atter, therefore I take
it th a t you have considered all I have said in a serious m anner this far. It
m eans a great deal for any one to be able to get the letter of his school or
college. T hey have to have new hats and a general read ju stin g of every
th in g . T h at com es w ith th a t increased feeling of im portance that one
has fHien he is able to win his letter for the first tim e and in a school
th is seems a g reat deal.
W hen the E nglishm an is privleged to wear on his breast th a t little
bit of engraved m etal, called the V ictoria Cross, th at which men
of any ran k may lie able to w in, but w hich not anybody can buy, not
even if he is a m illionaire, the people look up to him and feel th at here
indeed is a m an. W hen a F renchm en is able to wear upon his breast
th e Cross of the Legion of H onor, as rew ard for his services, or m erit,
th e F ren ch people feel th a t here indeed is a superior one. W hen an
old veteran who has fought in the Civil W ar w ears upon his breast that
little pin show ing th at he is a member of the G ran d A rm y of th e Re
public, the people say here is a m an who fought for his c o u n try ’s sake
and is privileged for his bravery and service to wear upon his breast
th a t little cross of honor. W hen a man is privileged to wear upon his
breast the letter of his school or college we say here is a m an who has
by hard w ork and careful train in g been aw arded his letter.
T here is a g reat responsibility restin g upon the young man who is
granted the privilege of w earing the letter of his school.
H is respon-
sibilty is in not doing or saying an y th in g th at would in any way dis-