Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-10-28
THE DIAMOND.
FRANCHISE
 IN DISPUTE
Committee Has Not Yet De. cided Whether hessrs Durant and Strobel or kr. De Wolfe of Holyoke Will Get it.

The question of the ownership of the Waterbury franchise in the Connecticut I Base Ball league is as yet undecided.
 It may be the occasion of whole lot
 of argument before 1t has been satis-
 factorily placed. Attorney Harold
 Durant and George Strobel have done
 everything in their power to promote
 base ball in this city and while they
 would like to be awarded Meriden's
 franchise, to be used in this city, they
 do not feel like buying a ''dead horse."
 On the other hand, the Meriden own-
 CTS believe they should receive fair l sum for their holdings, and they pro
 pose to get that sum if they can. Then
 MT De Wolfe of Holyoke has stepped 1 into the breach and has offered to pur- chase the Meriden franchise, but the price has not been mentioned. There | is no doubt but that MT De Wolfe l would be a good man for base ball iD this or any other city, for he is one of
 the stockholders of the Holyoke club
 and is hustler from baskerville He
 has many warm friends down in this
 city, too, who, while they would not do-anything to injure the chances of
 the local men, would be more than
 pleased if Mir De Wolfe secured the franchise, provided, of course, Messrs
 Durant and Strobel do not succeed.
 Apropos of all this the Meriden par
 ties were in Waterbury yesterday and
 they were offered $500 in cash for
 their holdings in the Meriden fran
 chise. Messrs Durant and Strobel do
 not care for any of the Meriden play
 CTS, for aside from Terry Rogers,
 Pitcher Rogers and Sam Kennedy, the
 rest are lot of dead ones. Attorney
 Durant said last night that he would
 pay that sum for the Meriden fran
 chise, that he would put team of ball
 players into Waterbury that would be
 credit to the league and to Water
 bury; that he would build as good
 ball grounds as there is in the circuit in any city, and that Waterbury would be well satisfied with everything that would be done by tn. local men.
 Another trouble thai may arise in the matter is the question of Sunday ball playing. The City Amateur league has been in the field for five or six years and they do not propose to lay down the coming season even If the grounds known as Riverside park will be destroyed for base ball purposes. Another grounds has been secured and the managers of the six teams are pre- pared to conduct Sunday base ball the coming season as they have in the past. President Maloney has been in structed by the majority of the man. agers who have seen him to make pre- parations at once for the coming sea- son, and a meeting of the league will be called in the near future to decide on plan of action. Still this whole matter may be adjusted by the City Amateur league and the managers of the Waterbury team satisfactorily to all hands before the season opens.
 In support of the contention that home owners of ball teams have prov en failures, the Holyoke Transcript publishes the following story: "There Is considerable talk just at present about home owners for the proposed new member of the Connecticut league and it is on that basis alone the de cislon will probably be made. Yet at the present time and throughout it's entire history the league has had most l notable examples of non-ownership. 1 Springfield has been in the league for l four years and never has had a local | owner In its history in the league At that every years has been gratifying | financial success while when 1t had | local owners fin the leagues before that | every year was a financial failure. | Hartford is in the same boat It never | has had a local owner since it has | been in the Connecticut league, yet 1t | was this week sold by it's owners for | SI.0O0, while when it was a member | of leagues before going in thls ono. | and owned by Hartford parties, 1t was q most disastrous financial failure. | New Haven never has been owned by | local parties and Is recognized as one | of the best cities in the league. The only failures in the league to-day are | In cities where local owners run the | team and the only cities the league | would like to lop on for financial bet torment of the league are those strict Iy owned by those who live where their local pride is supposed to give the goods. But as a fact 1t Is shown that the most disastrous failures of the league have almost invariably come in cities where local ownership | prevailed. as Is shown by the situation today. The jeaiousles between rival parties in the same town often has much to do with it. Tn the vote so far taken in the Connecticut league direc- torship. the vote to refer 1t to com mittee being passed by the smallest plurality it could be and carried. two off the votes cast for it were by teams which never had local owner in their history In this league. and the chair man of the committee appointed by inc odicial who has been In city new qr having a local owner. himself repre- seuts a city which never had local owurr. Hartford making the appoint neut and Springfield being the other. Precedent dOes not show that local ovrusr<hlp has been a giittering sue reSs As general thing there are SO many bosses of a locally owned team that troubles come which have in many eases wrecked the city This IeaV,e is fuIl of such examples It Is IeaIinr with some now.
 uFrprrVC A CHALLENGE.