The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-09-25
52,428 PAID ADMISSIONS
 TO MONTGOMERY BASEBALL
Local Association Made Good Showing This Season---Plans and Players For the
 . Next Year.

By a few figures it has been shown be- yond doubt that Montgomery is a good baseball town and the future of this city as one of the members of baseball leagues in the South is no longer a matter of speculation, but an assured fact.
 An average attendance of 600 paid ad- missions a game during d season will pay the expenses of running a baseball club, and for the sixty-three gaines played in Montgomery during the past season 62, 42S paid admissions passed through the gates of Athletic Park, an average of 8S2 paid admissions game. Out of the 52, 42S paid admissions 4.357 of that number were small boys who went through the gates at two for 25 cents. Counting the entire attendance-ladies day, deadheads and all something like 5000 or 5000 persons passed through the gates, and the interest in the game this season has been unpre- cedented.
 The Montgomery club has paid into the sinking fund of the league $1,267.I0. Mem phis for instance. has several times this season had a good many more than 5000 paid admissions while New Orleans drew even better than that at the beginning of the season, and Montgomery's prorata of the sinking fund of these two towns together with that of the other towns of the league should make a respectable sum.
 With the exception of Shreveport 1t is
 
 will have nice little nest egg with which to start the season of 1904.
 At the Birmingham meeting some capi- talists of Shreveport guaranteed paid ad- missions of 50.o0o for the little Louisiana town. They are just 11,OO0-in round numbers-shnzt. for during the season an average of 5000 paid admissions passed through the gates of the Shreveport ball park. so they will find themselves some thing like $2.500 shy in their obligations to the league when their affairs are wound up.
 New Orleans will in all probability quit the season one of the heaviest financial losers of any town in the circuit. Many reasons have contributed to this condi- ton. The first being of course the poor quality of ball played and consequent shrinking in the attendance. second the trouble that they have had in the manage ment since the exit of Count Campau, and third tremendous salary list for a lot of job lot players who did not deserve even one-half of the salary that was paid them.
 Charley Frank will probably find his winning of the penant a rather expensive victory as he also paid fancy salaries entirely out of proportion with the draw too big a salary list and the Little Rock people will hardly have to get an express wagon to cart the money away. Ah Powell will probably clear some $s,0O0 or $9 GOO on the season in Atlanta. Cofee Jackson will quit several thousand dol lars ahead of the game as will probably Newt Fisher.
 Notwithstanding the poor car service at the beginning of the season. the Mont gomery club will quit the season about s2, 800 ahead and if the car service had | been as good at the beginning of the sea son as 1t was towards the close. the loca association would have quit about $5,00t | to the good. The service was due to the | fault that the Traction Company at the 1 beginning of the season, did not have the cars and lots of people who would other | wise have gone stayed away from tht games rather than undergo the annoyance | of hanging onto a strap on. a car or wait ing until night to get back to town. Things are altogether different now | The Traction Company has cars ant | trailers sufficient to handle a crowd O l 5000 people and it is the intention t' double track the line to Pickett Spring long before the violets peep out of thei beds next spring. This will give tn baseball people an admirable sendof next season and the Montgomery fran chise for 1904 will be one of the mos valuable in the league.
 This talk of the Montgomery franchis being transferred to Chattanooga t ridiculous. Even with the adverse con ditions Montgomery has drawn ten pe cent better this season than Chatta nooga ever has in the past or could ever hope Chattanooga has never drawn an' has always proved heavy load that thu Southern League has been forced t. II carry, and the only hope for that towi to ever again become a member of tn Southern League is for the circuit to b.