A long time ago some bard wrote: "In the spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love." In a similar vein, in late September, with the foliage starting to turn and a sharp crispness in the air, this old man's fancy turns to thoughts of football. If my memory is accurate, the fall of 1907, our freshman year, was the last season in which freshmen were allowed to play on the varsity football squads in colleges throughout the country. In that final year, the class of 1911 produced four freshman members - Ingersoll, Marks, Saxton, and Sherwin - who made a vital contribution to the team's undefeated season. The 1907 record was marred only by a scoreless tie with Vermont and was capped by a 22-0 victory over Harvard. In recent years, the freshman rule has been relaxed and many college teams now have freshman football players. But in the Ivy League, freshmen in varsity football are still banned.
Your secretary has not received a scintilla of news from classmates, widows, or next of kin since back in the spring. His powers of originating or improvising material are wearing thin. Hence this plea, soliciting your consideration of his plight and your response accordingly, lest this column become an empty space in the annals of Dartmouth history.
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