Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-02-16
THE SPORTING NEWS.
THE DIAMOND.
THE BOARD
 GOT SCARED


 Quickly From Board oi
 Directors-Talk of Suit.
 Before the present controversy over
 Taylor is at an end several heavy dam.
 age suits will probably be brought in
 behalf of the player by his attorney,
 John M, Ward, against the persons
 who have been instrumental in circ,l- lating the charges of crookedness. Taylor retained Ward late Tuesday night. after he had appeared before the board of directors at the Victoria hotel during the afternoon. The player told his attorney the following story of the pr0ceedings:
 When I went before the board, in response to letter of notification re- ceiyed from President H. C. Pulliam, l was immediately informed by Garry Hermann, who held the proxy of Bar ney Dreyfuss, that there were no for nal charges against me, and that if was willing the whole case would be dropped. 1 told Hermann that in view of the many stories in the newspapers 10 the effect that, I had played dishon- est base ball in Pittsburg on July 3O, and also m Chicago in the fall of 1903, l wished to have the matter thorough ly investigated then and there: that was ready to tell nothing but the truth in answer to any questions and that wished to be exonerated in the absence of guilt. Then 1t was that the board of directors began to frame up case against me-
 "Dreyfuss, who is i'll in Pittsbmg, was called up on the long distance tele. phone by Locke, his secretary, and the charges which have been made public were drawn, Locke affixing his sigma ture in behalf of the Pittsburg club. Two lawyers from Pittsburg presented about fifteen affidavits. a majority of them signed by women who attended the ball the night before the game Of July 30, to the effect that was under the influence of liquor and told several friends not to bet on me when pitched for St Louis against Pittsburg the next day. I had no lawyer whec appeared before the board of direc- tors, and when asked to see the sigma lures on the affidavits one of the law. ycrs declared that he could not. dis close them because he had agreed to keep them secret. In order to make his promise good he proceeded to tear th. signatures from six aff1davits it my presence.
 "There was not the slightest evi. dence to show that had acted in col fusion with gamblers, and the only point made clear was that had met man named Dick Mccormick. who is said to bet on ball games in Pittsburg. about five years ago. An affidavit sent on by Robert Emslie, the umpire of the game, to the effect that in his opinion 1 had done my best, was never intro. duced at all. But affidavits from every member of the St Louis club, except Beckley, were read, showing that | had played the best ball in my power, Grady, who caught me. swore that he gave signal for each ball that l pitched and that I never once shook my head. Manager Nichols also testi- fled that I pitched well enough to win with any kind of hitting behind me. l answered all questions and was told that the decision would be reserved.
 About two weeks ago I received contract for the coming season from the St Louis club. It called for a sal ary of $6O0 less than I got last year. l sent it back to Mir Robison, but upon the advice of lawyer in St Louis had it returned to me and signed it three days before left that city to at- tend this meeting. Mir RObison knew of the charges that had been brought against me when signed the contract, yet he was willing to have me play ball for him just the same. I lose $500 | by this transaction alone. in addition | tO several hundred dollars in travelling | expenses. In regard to the charges | made by Hart I want to say that Man. nger Selee of the Chicago Nationals 1 begged me almost on his knees to i pitch the last game of the post-season | series in Chicago in 1903. after I had told Hart that I would never pitch an other game for him. 1 have three affi- | davits in this case, two from police men who state that they heard me say l got $500 for losing. Hart caused the ] V hole gossip because he was sore at | the inability of the Nationals to beat the Americans in that series. I want | to have that case and the Pittsburg case pushed to the limit"
 Ward, after a long conference with Taylor early yesterday morning. pro ceeded to the Victoria hotel. where the board of directors were preparing to 70 into session again, prior to reaching ! verdict. When Ward knocked on the dcor of the star chamber Pulliam ap- peared and asked what was wanted.
 ''I have been retained by Taylor" Iaid the lawyer, and I wish to have ! chance to look over the evidence. He should have been represented by coun. yel here yesterday and has rights thar must be protected"
 Pulliam told Ward that he would see lbout it, and the door was closed. The directors were quickly thrown into a panic when they realized that they were likely to encounter legal proceed ngs. Ward then made the situation sveL more interesting by sending a for nal notice to the directors that as Fay CTS lawyer he demanded a hearing Ir less time than it takes to tell it the directors reached q decision. exonerat. n- the player in half hearted way If the charges of crookedne>x. but ming him for misconduct which he ,ad admitted himself. Ward held an ,tner confab with Taylor, who said nat he would pay the fine under pro- est, and from present indications an lppeal will be taken to the nationai