Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 286, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 November 1916 — RECALLING SOME EARLY HISTORY [ARTICLE]

RECALLING SOME EARLY HISTORY

Man Who Caused a Stringency in the Rensselaer More Market in 1894 Visits Monticetfo. t ' ijfc mmmm Montfcello Journal. Bob * Berryhill, of Lebanon, was .n the city yesterday. If printed in the personal column of the Journal the above announcement would mean very little to the average reader. It would simply indicate that-a-gewt tertian unknown to the majority of the people of Monticello today was here, probably on business. But coupled Vith the statement that Bob Berryhill was the captain and catcher of the ball team that put it all over Rensselaer’s bunch of Chicago players in the most historical baseball game ever played in this part of the state, all of the old timers at once know who Bob*. It was an old settler’s day in 1894, as we get it, being a stranger to all Ithe facts, that this game was played, the result relieving the Rensselaer sports of rolls of the long green sufficiently large to swab out a joint of stovepipe. Rensselaer had cleaned up on Monticello in a previous game and the local fans and sports had a burning desire to get their money back and with it enough Rensselaer capital to start a bank. And history says they got it. Rensselaer went to Chicago for a team and Monticello went to Lebanon, where Bob Berryhill was managing a team and working behind the bat. The emmisaries from this city were Tony Anheier and Chas. Sill. They were instructed to get a team that could-heat anything RensseMCr could dig up. They didn't know where they could get such a team BUt they started out to find it* Their travels took them to Lebanon, whose baseball team was attracting the attention of this part of the state by reason of the fact that it was a consisent winning bunch. And it was revealed afterwards that the gooJ fttes directed the emmisaries to Lebanon for the reason that the team secured by Rensselaer ffom Chicago to dean up Monticello had been beaten in three straight games at Lebanon only a diort time before the famous game toU playal here. Lebanon had the Chicago teaßrs number and it was a leadpipe cinch that they would bring home the bacon to the Monticello speculators. It was just as if the Rensselaer sports had colhe ovei* and handed our sports their money—thrust it upon them in fact, and insisted on their taking it whether they wanted to or not. Well, history says that the game was played west of tht B. B. Baker | place before a crowd of people esti-! mated at five thousand. There is no way of knowing‘how much money changed hands,'but it is conservatively estimated that five thousand dollars would not be putting it too high. One thing is certain, if the Rensselaer crowd had not provided themselves with return tickets they would have been compelled to walk home or jump aifreight. For twenty-two years, we are told, t/iat game of ball has been played dver in Monticello on an average 1 of at least once a month. And it *s 1 almost as frequently referred to in 1 Rensselaer ,though not discussed so jubilantly. It was played over j again yesterday while Bob Berryhill was here and no one enj%ed the recollections of it mofe- than he did. Bob is now superanuated so far a| baseball playing is concerned, but he was once one of the stars of the game. He is now employed .by the Bell Telephone company in a traveling capacity.