Jasper County Democrat, Volume 8, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 December 1905 — Football In 1730. [ARTICLE]

Football In 1730.

We who complain of hoops and whipping tops aud other games played in the streets, to the annoyance of foot passengers, may cohgratulate ourselves that football Is no longer to be reckoned with these. “In winter,” we are told by an old writer, “football is a useful and charming exercise. It Is a leather ball about as big as one’s head, filled with wind.” We do not know If this description is Intended to be humorous. “This Is kicked about from one to another In the streets by him that can get at it, and that Is all the art of It,” concludes this disparaging .writer, who thinks so little of our heads and our games. There is an old print extant of football players In the Strand In 1730, all In hats, coats and wigs. This sport among the traffic lends a new significance to the words of the Lancashire poet, “To play at loggets, nine holes or ten plnnes; to try It out at footballe by the shlnnes.”—London Chronicle.