Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 January 1914 — LOOKING DOWNWARD [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

LOOKING DOWNWARD

BY LEE MAC QUODDY

A GAME OF BASEBALL INFLUENCED BY THE MAGNETIC RAY.

Captaim MacManus, retired air-skip-per, and his coterie of Master Airigators leaned on the rail of the New York receiving float of the F. C. A A. - Aerial line and watched a huge yellow dirigible shoot past on the 5000-foot level. “The .Hong Kong and Washington express,” said one of the younger M. A-’s. “She’s carrying the Hong Kong baseball team to the opening game of the International Aerial league season at Washington tomorrow. That ought to be a typhoon of a game. Good thing they’ve got the mechanical umpires perfected now. No living man would stand a show umpiring for that bunch tomorrow. Seems impossible to think that any human being was ever reckless enough to umpire of a baseball game, the way they did back in 1912 or thereabouts. I wonder why they did it?" “Why did they do it?” grunted old Captain MacManus. “Because they were men in those days, that’s why. They weren't like you delicate, airnourished infants who are afraid to come nearer than 500 ffeet to .earth for fear of hitting the microbe strata. Why, in my early days, we— Puncture my gas tanks! That reminds me. I was the first man to introduce air ships into the international game—’twas only national then, though—of baseball. And that was when they still played the game on the ground. In my humble little way I was the man who first gave people the idea of elevating the game to its present high level.” “Help! Help!” moaned a young captain. “They used to kill people for

perpetrating such things in the old days/' "Never mind,” said MacManus. "The old days are past. Bui it’s the truth I’m telling. I was the one to first demonstrate that airships and baseball could mix. It was in the year 1910, which wag before most of you children were born, when people still turned to stare up in the air when they heard a ship’s propellers whirring, and when the man who cpuld write ‘Master Airigator’ after his name satill was looked iip to, to use an ancient phrase. I was running a little excursion packet, the ‘Star Tamer,’ that operated between New York city and Atlantic City, a two hours’ run in those days, it being before we began to make much speed. "Naturally, having this sort of a run in those days, when people thought it was something of a treat to ride in a dirigible, we came into contact with a lot of the most prominent people in the country. One day we’d have on board Lillian! Russell, who wsb Just as young looking then as she is now, going down to spend a few hours at Atr lantlc City; next day we’d have a senator from Mexico, coming up to New York to take a look at the lights, and next, probably. Bill Flinger, champion pitcher of the New York ball team, or some other great personage.” “Didn’t you ever have Ty Cobb?" askec the young captain. "Ty Cobb?” said Captain MacManus. "Who was be?" v “I don’t know. I read about him in an ancient history the other t day," sala the youngster. “But to go on With your story." '

“As I was saying, I naturally got acquainted with these great people, with hauling them to and'fro between the two resorts, and pointed out to them where the Statue of Liberty used to be, and so on, and pretty soon I was on friendly'terms with a lot of them, and of course the friendship that I prized the most was that of Bill Flinger of the New Yorks. “Bill was as nice and sociable a little fellow as ever you saw, and he wasn’t at all Btuck up, because he was going to be put in the Hall of Fame. He’d talk to you just as if he was an. ordinary man, and many the good fanning bee me and Bill had when we had to go up to the 10,000foot level and lay waiting for a storm to settle down below. - ----- “ ‘Bill,’ I said to him on one of these occasions, ’who’s going to win the pennant this year?’ “‘We are,’ says he. 'l’m in great form this year.’ “ ‘But Chicago’s running you ah awful close race, Bill,’ I said. ‘They’re keeping only one game behind you.’ “ ‘That’s where we want them,’ says Bill. ‘lt’s a frameup. We’re going to run away from the other teams in the league. Chi and New York will be tied up to the last game. Chicago fans will be willing to bet their heads ofT. We’ve got the money to bet ’em. Then we’ll Win.’ • * “ ‘But how do you know you’ll win, Bill?’ I asked. “‘l’m going to pitch,’ says he. ‘Don’t tell anybody. This is just between you and me.’ “That made me feel pretty warm toward the great man, and I put myself out to make it as pleasant as 1 could for him when he was riding with me, and he appreciated it and pretty

soon we were the best friends in the world. “Well, finally It came the day before the game that was to settle the league championship, and sure enough, just as Bill had said, Chicago and New York were tied for first place, and one game would settle the hash. That night Bill took flight down to Atlantic City with me to settle his nerves, and suddenly he says to me, ‘Mac, I’m up against it.’ “‘Why?’ cays L “‘l’ve got to throw the game tomorrow.’ “‘Bill!’ I says, horrified. “ ‘Yes,’ he says, ‘that’s Just what I’ve got to do.’ “‘You can’t,* I said; and then I told him what I’d done. Knowing that he was going to pitch and win, I’d gone and begged and borrowed every cent I could lay my hands-on and had bet it on New York to win. ‘lf you lose, Bill, says I, ‘l’m a dead duck.’. “Bill almost cried, he ‘ was that broken-hearted. ‘But I can’t help it, Mae,’ says he. ‘Morgan has ordered that New York lose.’ “Of course, after that there wasn’t anything more to say. Bill had his orders from the nation's boss to go in and pitch the full nine innings, but not to put any speed or curves! on the ball, just to put 'em right ever where the Chlcagos could line -’em out. Having the orders straight from Morgan, he had tg obey, of course. “ ‘Don’t think hard of me, Mac,’ he says, gripping my hand. It’s fate.' “ 'I understand, Bill,’ 1 said. Morgan and Fate were the same in those days.

T went into the steering turret and sat down to* think it over. It Certainly looked as if my gas-tanks were punctured and I was doomed- to faiL IS: New; York lost, as they were Bure to do, with Bill pitching that way, there wasn’t mucli left for me except to make a nice little hide in the water somewhere near Ellis island and the Jersey shore. I didn’t like water in those days, so I began to think. My little job was to figure out how to keep Chicago bats from colliding with Bill’s curves. It was something of a Job, the way Chicago was tutting In tbbse days, and Bill being ordered to serve them nothing but straight, easy balls. Did I despair? Ha! Little you know of Captain MacMwhus of 40 years ago who ask that question. “When I got back to New York city I hurried up to Yonkers to see Professor Ignatz, the man who knew more electric currents, magnets aftd so on than anybody would believe, and . told him how I was fixed. “ ‘Rest easy, Mac,’ says he, and took me out to his hangar and showed me his new invisible, sky-blue, self-balanc-ing aeroplane. “ ‘Watch me,’ says he, and up he went. In two minutes he was out of sight, though when he megaphoned me 1 could hear him plainly. “‘My own secret,’ says he. “Absolutely invisible from the ground. Come here,’ be says, and he shows me a tiny searchlight machine. ‘My new invisible ray,’ he says, and he shows me how it works. - “‘Saved!’ I said, and went out and borrowed some more money to bet on New York. “That afternoon 100,000 people were in the grandstands when the ChicagoNew York game was called. We used jto thins that was a crowd in the old days. Old Bill was in the box. Blink er was at bat for Chicago. Bill sailed one over. Blinker looked at it in amazement It was a perfectly straight, slow bail, right where Blinker could kill it. Blinker pulled down his cap, set himself and waited, ready to knock it out of the lot. The ball came over. It was the same kind as before. Blinker swung. But as it was about to connect with the ball his bat jumped about two inches and he missed. He tried it three times. Then he went hack to the bench looking puzzled/ “That was the way it wont the whole game. Bill was serving up straight, slow ones right over the heart of the plate and the Chicagos were swinging at them, and missing them because their bats jumped about two inches just before they met the ball.

“With New York it was just the other way. They'd swing at a ball way outside the plate and the bat would shoot over and connect. When the last man was out the score stood: Chicago 0, New York 10. And Bill had pitched as he was ordered. “You see, the secret was that I was laying up there in the air right above the plate in Professor Ignatz’s invisible sky-blue, self-balancing aeroplane, with his new invisible magnetic ray bearing right on the rubber. The ray would magnetize and control anything, even a .350 hitter’s bat. When a Chicago man would swing 1 would wait until the bat was near the ball, then jerk it up and let the ball go by. When it was a New 1 Yorker I’d guide the bat smack against the ball. That, gentlemen, is how airships and baseball first began to mix.” There was a long silence. "What did you do with all the money you won?” asked the young captain. “Blast your dynamo, you inquisitive cub!” roared Captain MacManus. “I endowed & school tor teaching cubs respect for their superiors.” ' (Copyright, by W. G. ObanmanJ

"The secret was I was lying up there in the air in Prof. Ignatz’s invisible, sky-blue, self-balancing aeroplane, with his new magnetic ray bearing right on the rubber."