, 1891-12-08
HONS. IN THE GAME
Baseball Men Who Have Stud
led Blackstone.
JUDGE MCCLURE ONCE A CATCHER

insnt in PoIitics-The President a Lover
of the Game.
Although the disciples Of Blackstone
have often been at bat" in the world Of
baseball during the past few years Of strife,
the percentage of active players who thumb
books OF the law and are rewarded with
sh~eepskius and the privilege of hanging
out their shingles labeled attorney at
law Is very small. The wave of Repub.
liCan votes which recently swept over the
Keystone State carried an old baseball
catcher to the beuch. When John Mont.
gomery Ward was a youth with an ambi
tiou to twirl the sphere, Harold NJ. Nc,
Clure was possessed with an idea that he
was destined to shine rs a catcher. For a
time be was the receiving end of that bat.
terry, and he WAS on the roll OF the old Ath,
letics in Philadelphia before the birth OF
the Association.
Mcclure, however, retired from the dia.
mond and buried himself amid sheep
bound tones. He graduated with honors
and found clients and friends. When the
Republicans of the Twentieth judicial dis
trict Of Pennsylvania were casting around
for a leader to carry the colors of the &.
.. p. to victory, their choice fell upon the
fISAN me bA4l prayer Nj AlCNluTc uc-
clined to make the race for president-judge.
The district was welded to Judge Butcher.
n Democrat both popular and honest. The
young Republicans, however, refused to
take NO" for an answer. The name of
Harold NJ. Mcclure was placed on the ticket,
and when the votes were counted IL was
found that the Northumberland county
boy had a majority Of 4f4.
1t isn't often that ball players take an
active part in politics. They are not par
tisans Of a pronounced kind, and the ex-
perience Of Mr.. Mcclure is but a repetition
of that Of Judge Howard Ferris, who was
chosen to the probate court bench in Gin
cinnati by the creates majority ever given
a candidate in "A year when no ''landslides"
occurred.
"A man on the bench" said Judge Fer
ris to me recently, sis called upon to give
up many things in conformance with the
ethics OF the bench, but there is one recrea-
ton to which l intend to stick. 1 cannot
be driven from my ball club"
Judge Ferris is probably the only gentle
man on the bench in the United States
who also possesses the title of manager OF
a ball club. During his canvass the ball
players-amateur and Professionalism a
mass meeting and pledged themselves to
his cause. No compliment ever touched
AAAaA AAeAN AZ Ply . AIN AS AAhJCAA11 "a '
lO,OOO-nearly 900 more than that given
any other candidate-was due to the ear
nest efforts Of the regiment OF ball tossers in
his behalf. Political creeds were thrown
TO the winds and these knights of the dia-
mond gathered around the standard of the
patron Of athletics.
Judge Ferris was never a professional,
but in his day he was considered one of the
best amateur players in the west. Five
years ago he WAS one of those in at the
birth Of the Miami Valley league, and he
still holds the rank of vice president in
that orgauization-the pioneer amateur
body in the west. Last season his team
the Liuwoods-won the amateur cham
pionship OF Ohio, and Judge Ferris Is
nursing a plan which will give the Miami
Valley a standing in the councils OF the
Amateur Athletic union. The Winners of
lSJ2's pennant hope to compete in the A.
A. L. contests for the championship OF the
United States. One afternoon during the
past season LinwoOd lacked an !nfelder,
and Judge Ferris was invited to cover sec
ond. He threw judicial dignity aside, got
into IA uniform and went to work. Every
one Of nine chances offered him was &C
cepted, and he participated in II pretty
double play. On the bench Ohio's ball
playing judge is quite a different person
age, but it is noticeable that he bestowed
several OF the latest OF his official plums
upon amateurs.
Nearly every court house in both League
and Association circuits can turn out its
full quota of judicial enthusiasts. Judge
Maxwell, who heard the celebrated Al
johnson Brotherhood League suit, was
probably better yersed in the game and the
merits Of the case itself than were the
learned gentlemen who plead for the varied
interests involved. Baseball is truly the
national game, and the gods of the bleach
ers love it no more than some OF the fore
most statesmen and scholars of the land,
Before General Harrison received a pass
port to the White House he was a plain
member of the indianapolis order OF base
ball ranks. President Garfield foundr rest
full pleasure in the game.
Secretary Foster has taken all the de-
grees since he accepted the t~reasuryship
portfolio. Senator German, of Maryland,
is one OF the old Nationals. Solicitor Gen
eral W. II. Taft is a pronounced enthusi-
asst, and thus the list might be extended.
One Of the most famous college pitchers
who ever twirled a ball-C. Hammond
Avery, of Yale college-turned his back
upon a professional life, refusing a place
on Chicago's roster and embracing the law
instead. Later on ons Of Avery's success,
sors-Win Observation-Disclosures to the voice
of Uncle Arson.
Prophecies of peace nave failed so often
in the past when signs seemed so propi.
tious that it is exceedingly Improbable to
attempt to diagnose the case OF the war.
ring magnates. Their pulses are normal,
and no matter what the outcome may be,
certain il is that the leaven OF renewed
prosperity is at work The cooks are keep,
ing their receipts to themselves, and IL they
are successful the public will be hidden TO
the feast. The last peace conference was
broken up by meddlers with no moneyed
interests at stake and that blunder will
not be repeated. The abrupt adjournment
of the National league gave evidence of the
adoption Of some plan calculated to bring
order out Of chaos, but until their hand is
shown it is idle to speculate on the result
The majority OF the leaders on both sides
realize that peace must come sooner or
later.
To battle on means to drag the game
still closer to the precipice of ruin down
which all will plunge il the suicidal strife
il continued 1t is significant that most
Of the attacks upon Charles A. Prince
since he hobnobbed with the League mo-
guls have come from Chicago, where the
new lambs in baseball nave never suffered
the pangs Of being shorn. II two clubs in
Boston were such a gold mine as has beer
pictured, then it is passing strange that
the newcomers obligations have not all
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