THE WALL STREET RUNNER

GEORGE S. CHAPPELL

They're off! Sharp sounds the gun's report; The track is fast; the field is good.

Now comes the post-collegiate sport Of sprinting for a livelihood.

From Harvard, Princeton, Amherst, Brown, Cornell, Columbia, Williams, Yale,

Brave athletes seek Manhattan town And join the race for sordid kale.

No more the cinder-path will know The impress of the spikes they wear; Through city streets the runners go,

Like Mercury, from Bull to Bear.

No more the laurel and the bay The winner's classic brow will drape;

The prize is now a raise of pay For him who breasts the ticker-tape.