A moment later Tom passed the paper over to his father.  Dick’s article read: 

There is a possibility that Gridley High School will not be in the front ranks in football this year.  Those who know state that a “sorehead” combination has been formed by the young male representatives of some of our wealthier families.  These young men, having elected themselves, so it is said, the salt of the earth, or the cream of a new Gridley aristocracy, are going to refuse to play in the football eleven this year.

Even young men who belong to “prominent” families may have some gifts in the way of football ability.  Three or four out of the dozen or more “soreheads” are really needed if Gridley High School is to maintain its standing this year.  The remainder of the “soreheads” may, with advantage to the High School eleven, be excused from offering themselves.

The “soreheads,” it is stated, feel that it would be beneath the dignity of their families for them to play on an eleven which must, in any event, be recruited largely from the sons of the Gridley families less fortunately situated financially.

Strangely enough, though they don’t intend to play football this year, these “soreheads” have been training hard of late, one of their practices being the taking of an early morning cross-country run together.

The average young man at the High School is as eager as ever to uphold the town’s and the school’s honor and dignity on the football gridiron this year.  Whether the so-called “soreheads” will reconsider their proposed course of action and throw themselves in with the common lot for the upholding of the Gridley name and the honor of the High School will have been determined within the next few days.  It is possible, however, that this little coterie of self-appointed “exclusives” will continue to refuse to cast their lot with the commoner run of High School boys, to whom some of the “soreheads” have referred as “muckers.”  A Gridley “mucker,” it may be stated in passing, is a Gridley boy of poor parents who desires to obtain a decent education and better himself in life._

“Is that article true?” demanded Tom Reade’s father.

“Yes, sir,” Tom responded.  “Dick wouldn’t have written it, if it hadn’t been.  But turn over to the editorial column, and see that other little bit.”

The editorial in question referred to the news printed in another column, and stated that this information, if correct, showed a state of affairs at the High School that needed bettering.  The editor continued: 

If there are in the High School any young snobs who display such a mean and un-American spirit, then the thoughtful reader must conclude that these young men are being unjustly educated at the public expense, for such boys are certain to grow into men who will turn nothing of value back into the community.  Such young men, if they really need to study, should be educated at the expense of their families.  Both the High School and the community can easily dispense with the presence of snobs and snobbery.