Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1891-06-25
.BA s B |.'.I||I | /
Men Whose Particular Fad is
the National Game.
GENERAL DIxwELl, OF BOSTON

Time and Money Devoted to the Sport,
Nick Engel. DeWolf Hopper. Dirby
Bell, Maurice Barrymore and Others
Are Happicst When Gazing ut the Dia-
mond.
The world is full of cranks, and some OF
them are dangerous enough to be kept
under lock and key. But the cranks !
shall write about are of an entirely differ
ent character, and they are mostly we'll to
do men. and others who have, through tho
nature of their business, Il good deal of
spare time on their hands, They all have
a fad, and that fad is baseball They love
it as horse loves his oats
There are various kinds of cranks,
There is the studious crank, there is the
quiet crank, there is the noisy crank, and
he is sometimes the most disagreeable.
only know of one exception to the rule.
OF course, the army of cranks who sit on
the bleacheries and shout their approba.
ton do not come under the ban of noisy
cranks. The species referred to is an al
together different bird.
The intention is not to pick out anybody
as prize crank, for in their way the
cranks are all on a level, with one excep
ton, in their love of the game
This one exception is peculiar case.
He is man who has nothing on earth to
do, and who seems to have devoted him
self heart and soul to baseball 1t is true
that he has some interest in business vent
ures, but they do not worry him in the
least. The man is Arthur E. Dixwell of
Boston. He is commonly known as Gen
eral Dixwell, but he is entirely innocent
of military glory.
Dixwell at one time was a minority
stakeholder in the Boston club; and when
the Boston management declined one sea-
son to sell season tickets, Dixwell was very
Indignant He set up what he called a
"gen'ral petition" The old man bothered
everybody so much about this petition that
they got to calling him "Old General Pc.
tition." This finally dwindled down to
General" and Mr.. Dixwell has since been
known as General Arthur Dixwell. Odd.
ly e' ough he accepted the title with equa-
nindty, and thousands of people really
think he is a general.
The general has always been great
friend of the ball player. In the days
when ball players were glad to play for
e1OO month they often became short, but
always found the general good lender
The trouble was that many of them failed
to return the loans, and the general lost SC
extensively that after a while he closed
the bank. The general always presents
every new Boston player with new bat
bag; and every now or then, when the
bat bags get worn out or pretty we'll used
Up, the general has set made for all
hands.
Dixwell is not rich man, but he has a
l.: 4
Thousand dollars, and when the Brother.
hood revolt came he stood by the Players
and was persuaded to invest a large sum
of money He will probably get something
out of the 1000 now in a receivers hands
in Cincinnati The other of his invest
ments is stock in the Boston (Americar
association club. It is doubtful if he will
ever get many dividends from that hold
ing.
Dixwell keeps books of records of all tbs
Association and League players. He ever
has ducicates-one made from the scores Of
the Boston Globe, and the other made from
the scores q: the Boston Herald. He does
this, he says, so that he can compare them
at the end of the year. This alone shows
the true simplicity of the man. He spend.
great deal of time on these figures, ana
fairly revels in them. He goes to all the
games, keeps himself very quiet in front
seat and it is only when the Bostons max.
good play, score run, or win the gam.
that he is heard from; then he lifts his
head and shouts, Hill hi! hill This is Dig
well as he is-a good natured old man, al
most crazed on baseball and yet, withal, &
man who can talk intelligently with you
on many other topics.
The rest of my eastern cranks are intel
igent men, who love the game and make
a fad out of it. They never fail to go to
the games, if they can do so without inter
fering with business. The owner of one
of our most popular racquet clubs, whose
name withhold, and another crank known
as Mr.. Chapman, always sit together in &
box, without any outside demonstrations
OF approval. They are my studious cranks
they never miss game, and they are al
ways figuring if there is not some way to
win game or improve ttp team. Their
calculations seldom pass beyond them
selves. Both of them, last summer, got hL
idea that knew pretty much everything
that was going on the inside. frequently
visited them in their box and told them
what I knew, which was generally very
little.
Among the enthusiastic cranks may bt
named Nick Engel, Digby Bell, Jimmie
Adams, DeWolf Hopper, and u dozen
others of their class. There is an impress
sion abroad that Mr.. Engel. who is boni
face, is only a crank for business purposes
This is entirely untrue. know him pretty
well, have Travelled to Philadelphia with
him great many times to see games,s and
know him to be Simon-pure crank. He
would rather see ball game than eat the
finest dinner, and that is saying good
deal, for Nick is good liver. He never
misses game. Nick has another fad, an,'
that is the phonograph. He has an ele
CANT machine, and he is ready to keep il
grinding out tunes all day for you if you
listen to them He is close observer Of
the games, and only know Of two harder
losers than Nick. They are Hopper and
Bell. They never miss game where the
New York team plays if they can help it.
Hopper watches the game closely. and
makes running comment upon the play
ing. In fact he talks SO fast that few Of
those near him can understand what hi
says. Z.
BEN Ia very quiet, He sits with his cant