Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-03-22

l
baseball. trust that my readers will under.
stand that have no lamentations to make
about OCOnnor not coming here. as far as hi:
services are concerned. He may be a sterling
| player but for goodness sake don't let us have
any characters of the O'Connor ilk in the
Pittsburg team. His methods of doing bus
ness are of a kind that are not admired in this
city, Oh, no; | am not at all complain
| ing about the loss of his services,
but what / DO complain about IS the
fact that bold declarations about keeping other
peoples money-such declarations as O'Connor
has made-are tolerated and encouraged by gen.
,lemen connected with the baseball business.
| Were man to receive money from me In part
work for me. and he was to neither do the work
nor return the money and go and work for
somebody else, l would certainly call that man
| a scoundrel and swindler he would not be
fit for good society, because If he did that he
would certainly pick my pocket If he had the
chance. If there are any such characters in
the baseball business they should be forced out
of it. To jump contract may be bad enough,
but to keep money that belongs TO other people
is certainly stealing beyond dispute. repeat
that an investigation ought to be made, and II
it is discovered that any characters of the kind
should forever be banished from the business.
The Billiard Tournament
Probably nothing of sporting kind ever
held in this city has ended so satisfactorily as
the billiard tournament which came TO q close
/
been admitted generally that billiard playing
was increasing in popularity in Pittsburg. and
if there were ever any doubts on that score
they have been dispelled curing the tourna-
| ment Some of the finest audiences / have
ever seen in Pittsburg have attended the tour
ment; every class, from the artisan to the mill
ionaire has been represented, and the ladies'
| have been present in considerable numbers
This all shows that the game is popular one
here; In fact MIR. Mclaughlin, the State cham
| pion, informed me that the tournament was
certainly a greater success thsn that IN Snl-
tory to Mr.. George Meyers. who has worked
like a Trojan to have everything
right, and let me also remark that
| the first contest for the Stroup emblem
should be highly satisfactory to the donor,
| Mr.. ]. c. Stroup. am sure the latter deserves
| TO have lots of good contests for the trophy, as
! it is beyond doubt the handsomest OF the Kind
| l have ever seen. observe that Mr.. Stroup is
| one of the best patrons of the higher grades of
| sports we have in the city. Would that we had
! more like him, and then there would be some
| hope OF having sports combined with refine
ment, l trust he will live TO see many an ex-
| citing argument for the trophy he has given.
| The playing in the tournament was not bad. al
| though, generally speaking, 1t was not good.
| The local contingent did not play Cp to their
best form, but many excuses can be offered in
behalf of them, because Messrs. Walker and
Boschert had had very little practice, and Mr..
Dodds was sick during the entire week. ex-
will be the result
Live Pigeon Shooting.
On several occasions have had a few words
to say in defense of legalizing live pigeon
shooting. Some time ago, it will be remem-
bered, when some gun club members In Phila-
delphia were arrested at the instance of the So
ciety tor the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
l argued that there was not as much cruelty
about it as there was in the ordinary citizen
going hunting and blazing away at everything
that few in sight. Well, newspaper readers
will have ere now learned that the Supreme
Court has taken a similar view of the matter, SO
that there is nothing to fear in that direction.
But there is also bill before the State Leglsla-
ture to legalize live pigeon shooting,
and it has passed its second reading.
hope it will pass without any serious opposition,
because even from a humane standpoint 1t is
better for expert shots to shoot at live pigeons
than absolute novices to go into fields and up
mountains wnundlng wild animals or half scar
ing them TO death. would like those who op-
pose live pigeon shooting 10 point out to me
why all shooting of live birds under any cir
cumstances should not be stopped if live
pigeon shooting by gun clubs has to be pre-
enough and shall be quite willing to deal with
the arguments of our humane friends. Let me
go step farther. If our friends reach the
conclusion that all shooting of birds should be
abolished, let them explain to me why all
killing of birds OF fowls should not be
done away with. Speaking of live pigeon
orally is more popular in America to-day than
1t has ever been. There are more shooters and
of better quality. We needn't go away from
home to prove this. because our numerous
local gun clubs never were in a more flourish
ing condition. Of course there has been lots of
''hustling" done by the members of the Heron
Hill and other gun clubs, but they are now
reaping their rewards. In few weeks time
we will be having our great annual tournament
promoted by Me>srs. f. E. Shaner, Crow. Rich
ardson. Dawson and Hostetter. The affair is
IN he rQQf md Il wi a r..
prised if all the leading wing shots in the
country are here.
The Six-Day Race.
Judging from the newspaper accounts the
six-day go-as-you-please affair has been a rank
failure. l am not at all surprised at that. be-
cause have long entertained the notion that
these six-day wobbles have lost their charm.
1Hey may still have an influence in some cities
where they are a novelty, but in the leading
Eastern cities they are killed for a long time to
come. I am not sorry tor it because the cruel
efforts of the contestants really proved very
little, and a. a rule there is nothing ennnbIing
in them. OF course there was a time when q
siX-day pedestrian contest was all the rage, but
The public soon became satisfied of them, much
sooner in England han In the United States.
But when men like Rowell, OLeary and Little
wood disappeared from the scene the public did
not seem to care about taking any mure inter-
est in the confess. The failure of the New
York affair will. think, settle all contests of
he kind for sume time to come in that city.
The greatest sufferers in the present instance
Nill be the contestants, as if they are depending
on the receipts their share will be very, very
small.
Among the Pugilists.
During the week there has been little or
nothing doing among the pugilists. There has
been no contest of note, and nothing definite
has been done toward arranging any prominent
contest in future. We have once more been re-
minded that Slavin and Mitchell are coming to
this country. confess that am at loss to
know what to make of these two very windy |
men. So far as l can zee their only ambition |
is TO get themselves before the public. One |
night we have them battering each other to |
death, and the next night they are hand in |
hand toge her collecting money from wealthy |
victims, who pay to see them Dnx. 1t is now |
quite clear that all this alleged fighting and |
''scrapping" between the pair has been only for |
The purpose of drawing public attention to |
them, And now they intend to come to the |
United States together. l trust the report is |
not true, for fail to see what good they eau do |
here. There is no chance of a contest between |
Slavin and Sullivan, and am of opinion that |
Slsvin 10 quite aware of that. or course, If |
Slavin were to come here he might secure an
engagement against jackson, providing the
latter defeats Curbett. But even taking all |
this into consideration l do not think that |
trip to this country by Mitchell and Slavin will
be very profitable one.
Kilrain's Aspirations.
Since Jake Kilrain defeated Godfrey the
former has once more issued his sweeping chal.
lenge, which is to the effect that be is ready
to fight anybody in the world. Certainly
Why should Mr.. Kilrain confine himself to apy
narrower limits than the earth2 He has won |
victory, and that is a very rare occurrence with
him. True, it took him a rounds to "do up'
the colOred man, Godfrey. but it was victory