Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 February 1920 — Page 3
MANY MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYERS MAKE KEENEST CLAY TARGET BREAKERS
If you have never given" athought as to the number of major league baseball players who handle a shotgun equally ns well as a bat and ball, now is the time to do so. Trapshooting is a sport that appeals to the intelligent baseball player. It is a sport that relieves the tension and brwhes-away-theeohwehs.- Ts is impossible to be successful at the traps unless one forgets everything else, and puts his mind strictly upon what he is doing. Baseball and trapshooting have much in common. To succeed in either it is necessary to be mentally alert, to have keen eyes, and to always have your wits about you. The keenest ball players as a rule make the best clay target breakers. 7 Just as soon as the gates are locked on the ball parks the great majority of the ball players bring out the fowling piece, and after oiling it up and giving ft the once over they spend a few days in the fields. After that they devote their moments until the call in the spring to shooting at the inanimate clays. Bender a High-Class Performer. Charles Albert (Chief) Bender is possibly the best of the trapshooting ball players. During the off season Bender shoots on the Pennsylvania railroad team in the Philadelphia Trapshooters’ league, and with the Biedleman club of Camden, N. J. Bender is the only shooter who has broken fifty straight twice in the league series, and his average is about the best in the league. Joe Bush, the Red Sox hurler. Is another who shoots in the Philadelphia Trapshooters’ league matches and at the Bledleman club. In previous years Bob Shawkey,"the Yankee pitcher, and Grover Cleveland Alexander, the pitching ace of the National league, did a lot of shooting at the Biedleman club. While they were members of the Phils, Billy Klllefer, Oscar Dugey and
MIKE GIBBONS QUITS BOXING
St. Paul Phantom Announces His Permanent Retirement From Ring on Advice of Wife. Mike Gibbons, the St. Paul Phantom, announces he has decided to retire permanently from the ring. Gibbons, who is considered quite wealthy and who has a family, said be had given his promise to Mrs. Gibbons that he will never again participate m a ring battle.
Mike Gibbons.
Gibbons gave the following statement: “For a long time Mrs. Gibbons has urged mw to give tip boxing.' I realize, of course, that I might stay in the game for a,little while longer, but I have decided that such a course would not be practical. This Is to announce my permanent retirement.”
Some High-Class Trapshooting Performers.
Eddie Burns did a lot of snooting at Philadelphia clubs, and in the winter season most of the Phils visited Dugey and helped him gather in the game about Pittsburgh, Tex. Mathewson Is Booster. Christy Mathewson, assistant manager of the Giants, is a great booster Tor The trapgun' sport. Matty wsK one" of the quartet of ball players that toured the country several years ago giving trapshooting exhibitions, and this tour made Mathewson a firm exponent of the sport. The other three on this tour were Chief Bender, Harry Dhvls of the Athletics and Otis Crandall, the pitcher. Joe Jackson, Tyras Cobb and Tris Speaker, a wonderful outfield, are all high-class shooters. Cobb is associated with several others in a game preserve In Georgia, where he does a lot of shooting. Frank Baker, he of home-run fame, and Charley Herzog, the firebrand, do a lot of shooting on the eastern shore of Maryland, and every fall Jack Dunn and Eddie Collins form a party that beats the brush for game. Stars Are Devotee*. Walter Johnson, “Gabby” Cravath, Clyde Milan, Carl Mays, Bert Shotten, Hube Leonard, Jake Daubert, Jack Coombs, Pat Moran and a host of others who are stars are devotees of the traps. Fred Clarke, the former manager of tha Pittshurgh Pirates, seldom misses a trapshooting tournament In Kansas. He shot at 1,000 targets In registered competition last year and averaged .8070. George Cuppy, the former Cleveland pitcher, now living at Elkhart, Ind., shot at 1,500 targets last year and averaged .9226. Herman Bronkie, formerly the Indianapolis infielder, averaged .7083 on 205 registered targets In 1918. Sam Leever and Deacon Phillips, veteran Pittsburgh pitchers, are two high-class shots.
LITTLE PICK-UPS OF SPORT
New Orleans contemplates erecting a modem athletic stadium. Basketball and indoor track work are engaging college athletes. The British Polo association suffered the loss of over 500 players in the great war. • ♦ • Texas league magnates are making preparations for a bigger and better year than ever in 1920. • * * Jack Dempsey will fight Jess Willard for the same purse that Jess got in the last Toledo scrap. C. K G. Billings has presented the weanling son of The Harvester, 2:01, and Lou Dillon, to Frank G. Jones of Memphis. • • • Syracuse baseball team of the International league will open a new baseball field on West Genesee street, that city, next year. Babe Ruth, outfielder for the Boston club and champion home-run hitter of the world, may become a professional heavyweight boxer. • • • Bob Simpson has taken up his duties as coach of Missouri university students. He is In charge of the Compulsory athletic work of the military department. ee• / : Several selections of all-star teams have been made by critics and fans along the ‘Coast League circuit, and Moused who is to join the Yankees next spring. Is the. almost unanimous choice for third base, .... - ■ • .......
THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, IND. -* — — ' ■■
GRIFFITH TO FIGHT FOR OUTFIELDER SEE
Wants Slugger That Champion Reds Paid SIO,OOO For. Washington Management Not Willing to Permit Herrmann to Keep Player Waiver* Were Asked fools Natural Hitter. When Garry Herrmann, boss of the Cincinnati Reds, recently asked for waivers on five of his athletes and samed Charley See as one of them, be got a quick response from Manager Clark Griffith of the Washington American league club, who refused to waive on the former star slugger of the International league, although he was passed by all the other clubs. • This ordinarily would have assured See becoming the property of the Washington club, but Herrmann decided he had acted rashly in agreeing to let go of a player who had cost him $10,900 for one-quarter of that sum. He now wants to retain him and has notified Griffith to this effect. Under the rules waivers cannot be withdrawn, once they are asked, so Herrmann is going to have a battle on his hands to keep title to the youngster, See ereated a - sensation in the International league last season. Bein£ picked up by the Rochester club from the sandlots in Brooklyn after the season was well under way, the Flatbush phenom rapidly forged to the front by reason of his ability to slug and attracted the attention of Pat Moran, who needed a gardener to replace the aged and ailing Sherry Magee, and paid a record price for a practically untried juvenile. Moran corralled Pat Duncan about the same time as a precautionary measure .to bolster up his club for*its drive pennantward and.
Outfielder Charley See.
finding the latter the better fielder of the two, kept him in the lineup and assigned See to a bench-warming role. See’s feat of pounding out 114 hits in 78 games with Rochester, to lead the league with an average of .385, indicates he is possessed of natural hltting ability and that is what Griff Is looking for. The Brooklyn boy is said to possess many rough edges as a flychaser, but he is only about twentyfour years old and if iie can maintain a high hitting pace his shortcomings .as a fielder can be ironed out with practice. ,
FOUR MORE YEARS FOR STAR
Manager Clark Griffith of Washington Club Says Walter Johnson Is as Good as Ever. “Walter Johnson has four or five more years before him,” declared Clark Griffith. “He is as good as he ever was. He Is just past his thirty-
Waiter Johnson.
second birthday and to see him work he really looks like a youngster.” Asked whether Johnson was suffering from a sore arm this season, the manager replied: “I have never known Walter to have a sore arm. Therewsltalk about his arm being sore at the opening of the season, but it was not so. He was suffering from a bad cold, which caused general Mk disposition.”
HURRICANE: “Champion of Destruction”
(Pi epajed by the United States Department of Agriculture.) ASSESSING a longer arm °f destruction than the —mightiest of and leaving in its wake a /j no-mun's land, rivaling ) p < war's scars across the n face of Europe, the hurriJ cane is chief among natural forces contending for [ j the title, “champion of de7 struction.” c To fight the hurricane offensively is folly. For ages mankind has been able to wage only a defensive war against Its terrifying “drives" and these efforts have been, until modern times*, pitifully feeble. Man’s only defense Is to be forewarned. That It has been possible In the present generation to reduce death toll of hurricanes to a. minimum; is due to the marvelous, service maintained by the United States weather bureau. The headquarters of the weather bureau, located quite to one side of main-traveled thoroughfares in the national capital, are the nerve center of this unique organization which extends across the continent and also far out to sea, since many vessels cooperate with the bureau by making dally reports to it. Great Storm Sighted, Early in September a hurricane, destined to devastate a wide area bordering the Gulf of Mexico, reared its head like a great monster a thousand miles to the southeast of the United States, among the islands of die Caribbean. As to what gave it birth not even the scientist knows. The forces that propagate all of these storms are shrouded In mystery. This particular hurricane was bom in remote tropical waters, probably about September 5. A few hundred miles north of this center of disturbance the sea was relatively calm and passengers on steamers passing this way had no intimation of thp terrific force that was generating off to the south. Likewise, the southland of the United States lay placid. In part bathed in sunshine and in part shaded by far-stretching blankets of clouds, many of them so fleecy that to the casual observer they carried no suggestion of the coming storm. But the hurricane in the tropics gathered strength quickly anS flung itself In fury over the slender chain of islands constituting the Florida keys. In the face of every suchrising peril the meteorologist upon whom rests the responsibility for making daily forecasts, stands like one facing a thief in the dark. Beyond the mainland coast and a few scattered stations in the West Indies, he has no means of learning of the changing atmospheric conditions In those seas to the south and east, save chance reports from ships. Early reports of this hurricane were meager Indeed. The first intimation of the coming of disaster was received September 8. The daily forecast for that date stated that a tropical storm had appeared to the southeast of Key West. But as to its extent, or Its course, the chief forecaster at that time could only conjecture. - Despite his long experience in his profession. It was inevitable that the forecaster should be anxious—every meteorologist who is forecasting at such a time is anxious. He had been on duty In seasons past when not a single hurricane appeared. But in other years between July and October more than one such storm had left a trail of devastation across many states. The forecaster knew that milof dollars worth of cargoes, about to sail from the Atlantic and Gulf ports, might be lost if he failed
Was This Dog a Ghost?
At Umbayo, South Africa. John Jeter, an English settler, owned a very fine hound that was run over and killed by‘a train. For months after the Jeter family wa« much annoyed by the wild whistling of the passing trains. On complaining of this, they were fold by the engineers that they should keep their dog at home, that the whistling was merely a warning to the dog; which was always on the
to make a proper forecast and issue adequate warnings. The fate of whole cities rested on his decision. As he turned from his study of the telegraphic reports received from the eastern and southeastern section of the country, he joked a little —but in the manner of one whose joviality was a trifle forced, perhaps—about his repeated hard luck at being on duty “every time - one of these storms hove tn sight," There was an' unmistakable tenseness in his manner as he studied the map, pointing to the low barometer area, that was moving steadily toward the southern states. Weather Forecast Correct. The next chapter In the hurricane’s brief history is told in the weather report of September 9: "The tropical storm was central Tuesday night and a little south of Key West where the barometer read 29.08 Inches with a wind velocity of 60 miles an hour from the northeast The storm is apparently moving northwestward, and will pass into the Gulf of Mexico during Tuesday night.” How speedily and decisively the forecaster had acted in the face of the oncoming peril is indicated by the next sentence: “Warnings to shipping and other interests have been regularly sent since Monday morning when storm warnings were first displayed on the south Florida coast.” The following 48 hours were laden with grave responsibility for the staff of the weather bureau. It was theirs to decide at the earliest possible moment consistent with accuracy in what direction the storm now moving with increasing power and rapidity would travel as it came nearer the mainland. On Wednesday, September 10, the report read, “The tropical storm passed Key West, Fla., about midnight Tuesday night with the barometer reading 28.81 inches, an<T estimated wind velocity of 110 miles an hour from the east.” Here was evidence that one of the most violent storms of recent years was about to strike at some point on the Gulf coast. This report revealed the meagerness of available Information at this date regarding the progress of the hurricane: “Tonight the storm is probably central In the Gulf of Mexico, not far from latitude 26, longitude 85, still moving northwest, and northeast storm warnings are ordered on the Gulf coast from Carrabelle, Fla., to New Orleans, where the winds will probably be strong on Thursday night Advice has also been issued to this section to prepare for possible very dangerous winds by Friday.” Defensive War Starts. - And so man’s defensive war against the mighty force of nature was on. With all its scientific data regarding the course of previous storms. Instant-
tracks. The engineers described the dog with such accuracy that the family was greatly mystified, especially when the engineers added that the : dog would always refuse to leave the track until the engine was almost upon him. Not Allowed to ghake Handa. , Although today we all shake hands on meeting as a matter of course, there was a time when purists held that friends opposite' sexes should not salute one another by shaking hands.
ly accessible and with reports from all available points of observation tabulated and recorded on the weather map, the weather bureau foretold many’ hours in advance the peril that threatened, the Gulf coast. Thus the' people were forearmed. It will be recalled that storm warnings were displayed regularly on the south Florida coast since Monday morning. How accurate the weather bureau’s forecasts had been is shown by the press dispatches dated Wednesday night, September 10: “Lower "Florida paralyzed today as a result of the violent hurricane that passed over that section last night. Not a house in this city (Key West) escaped damage; 320 frame buildings practically were razed, two church edifices wrecked, and five retail stores overturned. The damage is estimated at more than $2,000,000. Shipping off the coast met with disaster.- Several small vessels were sunk and others were driven to the reefs.” By .this time the wenther bureau, in its fight to keep destruction and death at the minimum, was able to act with more definiteness, even though there was no adequate means of ascertaining atmospheric conditions in the center area of the Gulf of Mexico. The 7 report of September 11, flashed over the wires from Washington, read: “The tropical storm is apparently central tonight in the Gulf of Mexico with latitude 27 degrees and longitude 88 degrees. Absence of reports forbid the definite location of the storm center, and it is therefore impossible at this time to state the portion of although it is fairly probable that It will be west of the Mississippi river. Storm warnings are displayed from the Louisiana coast eastward to central Florida and on the northwest coat of Texas.” While the hurricane was moving on its northwestward course additional news, brief but vivid, filtered in from points in its wake. September 11 the Associated Press representative wired: “Nine members of the Ward line steamer Corydon crew of 36 men were brought to this port this afternoon by the schooner Island Home. They had been adrift on an upturned lifeboat, without food and water for three days. One of the crew, according to their story, had become crazed, from suffering and privation Wednesday night, and sprang overboard.” In these hours the thoughts of the chief forecaster instinctively turned to Galveston, which in the past had suffered terribly from similar storms. Dispatches from that city indicated that the tide was rising rapidly. Water was flooding the low' places on the Island and people were fleeing the city. A 90-mile northeast storm was blowing. But for the weather bureau's timely warnings which had reached Galveston before the gale struck the city, millions of tons of cargo and scores of ships would have put to sea and would have been lost In the next 24 hours the storm bunt upon the Texas coast in full fury_ While the papers the next few day* were filled with accounts of the damage and death caused by the hurrican* the fact of greatest significance, and: which the public has come to take almost as a matter of course, only partially realizing the skill and respond billty Involved, was that the weather bureau had been able to anticipat* thft» storm long enodgh tn advance t* prevent a loss that probably would: have totaled thousands of lives an* millions of dollars in shipping.
In 1828. Sir John Nlcholl, giving judgment in an English divorce case, remarked that “conduct highly blameable and distressing to the feelings of. a husband had been proved : but «h though 30 witnesses bad been evan* ined, no Indecent familiarities beyond! kissing had been proved. The shaking of hands when they met was now a| practice so frequent between personal or aiirerent wwvicb opmiouw uuceu weDceo ■