The Washington times., 1905-06-23
Startling Disclosures
About College Players
II. B. Needham Reproduces Letters Showing
That the Whole College Baseball Situation
Is Perneated With Fraud.

and | think 1t will be well worth your
| %hile 10 write me your terms per week
| for playing here. You may nlav nrier
a., ar,d ass9lnsa Is name as you did last year,
tne anticipated courtesv of an early re-
ply, L remain. sincerely yours,
j. J. THOMPSON. Manager
The Higgins Case.
Commenting on this letter. Needbsu,
says. Higgins. the best football
| player at Brown University and a clever
catcher. caught for the ST. Adams nine
last summer Despite the disclosures of
/ the foregoing letter, the Brown ath-
| letic committee has refused to dis
qualify this star athlete. In Justice
! to the committee it should be said.
! however, that there are In Brown to-
| day five former varsity players who
have been debarred on account OF sum
mer ball"
Following up the case further, he SAYS
Higgins WAS bombarded with letters
/ written by certain Princeton alumni"
go to Prince1ols to play football.
! Davis and Cosgraye (then graduates}
played with the Plattsburg On: y
knew that the players OF the league
were paid, but they considered Higgins
| fl to wear a Princeton uniform"
Hot Shot for Davis.
Needham expresses the con,fctiea
that such an opinion is to be expect>1
| or good old Ralph Davis, which was
the term used by a Princeton graduate,
| Charles e. Patterson, whom Needham
| has heretofore accused of drumming up
big athletes to strengthen Princeton
| teams Taking up Davis record, Ma
ham SAYS:
After he left Andover. Davis. Liayed
| City nine. Subsequently he. 6 profes-
! sional. was member Of the Princeton
| nine and captain of the football efey a.
This is Patterson's explanation of DAVIS
connection with a semi-professional
team. Yes, Davis did play at Atlantic
City, and ne did play under his middle
name He was visiting friends there.
would pay him. for he was too poo-SSs
ball player
Nevertheless Needham SAYS tt.as
| Davis was one Of the best batters md
| fielders of the Princeton team and fast
enough to play in the league OF which
ST. Adams was member.
Impartial in Exposures.
! To show that he is playing ne fayor-
/ ties. Needham cites many such indip,d-
uaI cases. He says:
'.Mahar, who headed Harvarfs bat
| ting list in the game with Pennsylvania
| this season, played with VinaIhaven OF
| the Knox County League. He also play
:; ed under the rame Of Kelly at Brockton,
| Mass Notwithstanding these facts, he
was permitted to represent Harvard
Under the Idle-Princeton rules having
cient to debar a man from playing on
| the varsity Needham then tells OF
other prominent collegians who played
| in the league Of the New Hampshire
I mines of MaDFewR01 Wauynh6k.
Bethlehem, and Fabyan.
These teams, says he, were COM
posed largely of college and preparatory
school players. a number of whom are
representing colleges on the diamond
this season. Mapiewood, for example,
had for pitchers. Cook and Helm. Exc
| ton. The pitcher of the Waumbek team
| was Ready. captain of this year 5 DAFT
mouth nine and left tackle of the Dafs-
mouth eleven of 1904 With Fabyan
| was O,Brien of the Dartmouth varsity
\ ball team. There were other college
players, but some of them were mas
| querading under names other than their
own
Played Against Georgetown.
| OF especial local interest is this refer
ence to Helm and Cook, the former hay-
| ing been on the team which twice beat
Georgetown this spring. Another Prince
4 ton man who played on the Maplewood
| team summer before last was Cooney,
the catcher, whose dirty" playing in
] the deciding game with Yale, in New
| York last week, was roundiy us-
nounced by the New York papers Need
ham saws that Cooney also played on
the Lancaster On. H.) team. Princeton
| has chosen Cooney to be the captain OF
!! its football team for next fall.
Hard to Convict.
He criticises Trainer mike" Murphy.
whose oscillations between Yale and
Pennsylvania have now landed him at
the latter university. for defending sum-
rner ball playing. Murphy's view ss
that of the professional trainer who
wants his ,proteges to get all the good
| nra ctice they can in fast company,
Ind would even favor their playing
with out-and-out professionals, If pos
| sibIe to do that and still retain their
varsity standing.
| Needhaun concludes that 'Murphy's
| opfnion is the opinion OF the majority
| of college baseball men," and expresses
the view that il is easier to convict a
| LEGISLATOR of bribe-taking or the at
| torney of q big corporation of bribe-
| giving than to convict a college gem
tleman of evading the rules he is
pledged to live up to, and OF taking
money