Newspaper History presents media sourced from a United States newspaper dating back 108 years.

  • The Hopeful Father

    From The Sun, November 16, 1913.

    My son had made the team; he played
        Left end and did it splendidly—
    At least he did it well till they’d
        Knocked out his teeth and wrenched his knee;
    I sat and watched when he was downed
        By seven heavy buccaneers
    Who jammed his visage in the ground
        Thereby evoking hearty cheers.

    His comrades raised him from the mud
        And quickly bore him out of sight;
    His face was all besmeared with blood,
        The people shouted with delight.
    It mattered not to them if he
        Had finished his career on earth;
    Mishaps were what they wished to see,   
        For thus they got their money’s worth.

    He’s now attended by a nurse
        And after this he will be lame;
    It might, however, have been worse;
        I won six dollars on the game;
    Therefore I’ll cling to hope, and chuck
        The grief with which I have been filled,
    For next time it may be my luck
        To see some other maimed or killed.