The Wilmington daily Republican., 1895-10-07
HIS INVENTION.
a Device 10 Insure eatisfsction with ths
Decisiens Of Umpires.


A Device 10 Insure satisfsction with the
Decisiens Of Umpirea.
The enthusiasm Of genius burned in tho
seedy mans eye as he entered the office Of
the manager of'the great metropolitan ball
team.
"Good morning" he said in cheerful
tones "I have here something to which
would like to call your attention"
The manager stopped in his figuring up
of averages and looked the man over, then
proceeded with his work, renarking:
Don't care to look at any new catchers'
masks. Havan't any use for rubber lined
bats ON my team. Don't take any stock in
Easements gloves with glue on 'em. Never
use patent CREASED trousers for base slid
ing. Couldn't use an automatic pitching
machine for practice II had 1t. BASEBALL
novels are out of my line. Have no wish
to look At
"This is not patent machine or book,
SIR said the seedy man softly. "It Is a
little device of my own to insure satisfac-
tion with the decisions of the umpire"
Nervously the manager looked at his
visitor but the man showed no evidences
of a disordered brain. He interpreted tho
glance.
"No; am not crazy" said he. "A1l !
ask is fair consideration Of my plan
You have had trouble with your umpires
frcm time to time, presumep'
ut is no exaggeration to say that" re-
Piled the manager.
"Crowd gets excited occasionallyf"
eyes; I've seen that happen too."
"Calls the umpire names perhapsf"
"It's quite possible"
"Maybe even hurls missiles at himf''
"Well, I've seen things thrown at an
umpire" admitted the baseball man.
Captains get mad and threaten to
punch holes in himf'
"And he fines 'em 800 caoh. Then
there's trouble all round" sighed the
other.
"Well, my plan will obvlate all that"
declared the seedy man. "Once use tho
American umpire protector and convinceI
of kickors, and you'll never have another
bit Of trouble Now, here's the scheme:
OF course most of the trouble comes on
close decisions on outs. My umpire pro
tector consists in small camernworn un'
der the umpire's shirt, with the lens pro.
jecting. On close decision the umpire
rushes forward toward the base, calls his
decision and at the critical moment presses
tho button. An instantaneous picture Is
taken. Tho crowd kicks, the players howl,
tho umpire sends his picture by an assist
quick process 1t is developed In two min
utes Tho players are still kicking when
the picture is brought out and shown.
Tho plate cannot lie. There is the picture
of tho player wildly sliding to a base still
few inches away, while the other player
has the ball on him. Spectators can buy
copies of the plates after the game at 8
cents apiece and thus preserve the star
features of the game. II the picture fails
to bear out the umpire's decision, tho de.
clsion must be reversed It's the greatest
scheme ever designed. Now I'm prepared
TO hire out next season to umpire games
by the Photographic process at $500 pei
game or at reduced rates for contract for
the season. What do you say?"
"Young man, said the manager sadly,
"you arc too bright and beautiful for life
in sporting world. What you want to
do is to devote your energies to O consid
Grafton of oroquet."
And as tho seedy man walked slowly
out tho manager returned to his figures
and tho attempt to convince himself that
even II his team did lose every other game
during the season it would still end in
front of the tail enders.-New York Sun.