San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1897-06-27
10, THE POOR UMPIRE,

Lo, the poor umpire, whose unearth-
ly calls
:. OF. .out on base' of fouls" and
strikes and balls
The rooters' heart in the grand stand
appals;
Whose best endeavors cannot please
the crowd
Whose murmurs rise at length to ours
es loud
And threats to furnish him a hearse
and shroud.
IT'S he who gets besides his monthly
pay
His skin stuffed full of insults day by
day,
Decides he this, or judges he that way,
IT'S he whom men make haste to call
a liar
Whose work would make a pugilist
perspire
And to whose honors wise men ne'er
aspire.
THIS is the Umpire whose empire
is by no means a tranquil kingdom.
His position on the ball ground and
in the circles of the initiated is a pc
cuIiar one. No personal integrity,no
devotion to duty, no infiexibility of pur
pose, no clearness of vision,no prompt
ness of action can absolve him from
the inevitable accusation of unfair
ness that attaches to the uneviable
post 1t requires for its performance
the keenest observation, the clearest
pgrcept15R, Judgment almost amount
ing to infallibilty, rarest tact, unyield-
ing firmness combined with utmost
courtesy, patience to bear in silence all
manner of injustice, and all this for a
pittance little more than the old $13
a month and rations.
These observations have been forced
upon the Light preacher, as during
the past weeks he has occasionally
wendell his way to the ball park to
study the great book of humanity, as
illustrated by the baseball artist. He
has found that fouls and balls" are
not always what they seem, and that
there is in every man who roots an
embryo umpire. He has discovered a
general suspicion existing against the
man officially designed to settle the
disputes. or rather decide upon the
points of the game. He has come to
the conclusion that the umpire is
much abused man, thatshe is more sim
ned against than SHINING, that he tries
to be impartial, and that he is nearer
right than his critics.
But ii is not for the purpose of re-
citing the trials and tribulations of the
baseball umpire, or calling attention tc
the difficult nature of his work, or the
impossibility of pleasing every one, thai
this theme has been chosen for your
instruction this morning 1t is rather
TO bring to your notice the fact thai
life is a game, in which the office OF
,,rnpire is no sinceure; that there are
runpires who are officially appointed by
authority to umpire this or that partic'
Mar game. and that while they are do
ing ii a hundred self selected umpire'
will stand around to boss his job anC
curse his way of doing it.
All this may be borne. The rooter'
on the bleachers always make mor'
noise than the umpire or the palyers
and what they think or do does no
affect the game hair. Thus it Il
in the game of life, and what con
Germs us as individuals is to see tina
the part of the work that is given III
to umpire is thoroughly DONE. TIL
q real baseball umpire has but one con
Germ. to do his umpiring strictly up u
the regulations. His business 1T is 4
study the game, understand all II
points, know the tricks as well as tn
legitimate plays, and keeping his ey
on the ball and on the players decid
according to the best of his judgment
without the least regard to the roo
tiers on the stand. Let them kick.
Every parent in the world is an UNI
pire. Father and mother are given tn
supreme authority to umpire the lif
game of the little ones so long as tn
little ones are in the minor league. ]
is considered advisable in the Nationa
baseball league to have two umpires
so that all points of the game mus
be watched, but each of these has hi
particular field Of operations and hi
decisions are supreme in his own field
It is not so certain that there is an
gain IN having two umpires in decid
ing the life game of the little ones, bu
there they are. and it is wisdom to tax
them as you find them. The parent
must not let the little players kno'
thar there is a division OF opinion
the home stan OF umDires. 1t wi
take fine work to prevent their know
fnE.
But the game Of life in the home Sc
dom reaches more than about the thiI