The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-08-12
Pitchers Make Easy Money by
 Playing lneognito
TOOK MEAN ADVANTAGE
Certain AgricuIturists Waxed Boastful and Were Humbed In the Dust By a Smooth Trick-Much
 Money Is Wagered.
From the Washington Star.


 costly Instance of ringing" in baseball or substituting experts for poor players was pulled off in a little town about 15O miles from Chicago, and the ringers" on ths occasion were no other than Hutchinson, the great Chicago pitcher, and my old friend, Malachi Kittredge. In those days, with the White Sox club. the Hutchinson Kittredge battery was considered almost invincibe.
 Now in the little town of Dawson or to be more exact. just outside of it, the Bankers association of Chicago had club house with golf grounds adjoining They also had a rattling good baseball diamond, on which the younger bankers and the villagers had played many an ex- citing game. As usual thing, the "rubes' put it on the unpracticed money-lenders. and this made the agriculturists exceed. ipgly chesty, and the homely jibes that they continually threw Into the city "fel- lers' made the Chicago boys writhe in anger Then again the soil tllers had copped a good bit of the bankers money as result of the victories
 ] The Chicagoites determined to teach the children of nature lesson and at the same time separate them from some or all of their hard-earned cash.
 So the crafty bankers formed them selves into a committee and calling upon Kittredge and Hutchinson, declared that they could and would not stand for the merry haymakers' jests and chestiness any longer, so a deal was framed up whereby Kilt and Hutch, for certain generous amount of the long green, would on the following Sunday pose as couple of full-fedged Chicago bankers and as such would do their utmost to smear de- feat over the jean-clad lads.
 Bankers Covered Money.
 During that week the bankers were busy covering the yokels money, and the coming game was the chief topic of con- versation throughout the country. So 'easy' had the bankers been heretofore that every man or boy who could get his hands on a dollar was sure to bet it on the Dawson team. Indeed, a score or more farmers. whose places were mort gagged, confidently expected to clear off all the Indebtedness and to restocl1 their farms on the money they would win. on that days game.
 To further inspire the rustics with con fidence Kittredge and Hutchinsin, decl1ed out in flannel trousers and gayly colored outing shirts, topped off with the cutest little Willie boy" tennis hats that could be purchased in Chicago for money, were put out on the lot in front of the farmers to practice. And right here is where tho fun began, for "Kitt'' Is a natural born actor and mimic. So is Hutchinson, and as they were both young and choclful of mischief In those days, they acted the part of Willie boys" 10 the letter.
 When Hutch" would throw the ball to "Kitt" he would send it up in the exact way woman losses a ball. using the same mannerisms and so forth. ''Kitt" on catching the ball would dance around and wiring his hands, at the same time calling out to Hutch" Dash take 1t, Percy do not throw them so hard; they sting like furyr
 Well, these two "cut ups kept the yl- lagers guffawing continually, by their manner of acting and their line of con- versation. In the meanwhile the foxy bankers were circulating among the rural gentry and taking all the bets in sight. And they were simply beseiged with the same. For all the countrymen had to do in order to get their nerve up to the wag- ering point was to take one look at the bankers battery. This was enough
 Tip Given Out.
 To make the affair look like a "clnch for the rural club was the tip quietly given out to the soil trimmers that the Dawson team were going to work in professional battery-think of the duplic- ity of the .'Reubens''-on the unsuspectlng bankers These professionals were the kind you see playing around at country fairs, and whom the village papers, In all their rustic simplicity, compare to LaJole, Hans Wagner and other great major leaguers.
 This tyne of riayer occupies a high po- sition in the estimation of his townspeople and talks and acts as if he really were ''it." The battery that the Dawson folks engaged were an unusually sassy and merry pair of ball players, and when they saw Kilt and Hutch at practice they be- came so full of "iaff that they had to go behind the crowd and just literally howl.
 The entire assembage of "come on gentry were having the time of their lives at the expense of Kilt and Hutch. They called them Percy and Clarence; inquired in bucollc tones. of their folks knew they were out" and shot similar screamingly funny bits of merriment at the bankers battery. until every rural spectator on the ground was simply killing himself 'laffing." .,.
 .Tvorybody was happy as almost the entire amount of circulating coin In the country was down on the game ana the contest already won, as far as the rural ties could sec , =,
 If ia not necessary to go into the mar rowing details of that memorable game as the particulars are too palntui 10 re- late. suffice it to say that not once during tbe entire nine innings did a festive oRube" arrive at the second sack, for the ones that Hutch did not strike out kitt, with his unerring aim and canhon-oaii delivery. would throw out anywhere rom 15 to 20 feet from the bag. While at the ha+ ISitt and Hutch every time up would drive the ball over in the adjoining coun- try. u.,a,,
 In some manner of means the particu- iars of how the haymakers happened to gat .stung'' leaked out, and an onlooKer of an observing disposition who happened to be in the vicinity said that never since tha u,orld began was there ever so many noonla making noises like dog afflicted r-,th inc acute stage of hydrophobia as there was in and about the town or Daw- con when the ''inside' work attending that great Sunday game was explained to the rustics.
 George Browne, the famous New fork National league outfelder, and Ernie Hodge. for many years the star catcher of the Virginia State league, Iexas gue Eastern league and Western ,aa s,,e were. in 1899, playing on the Du- buoue 0owa) team then under the man agement of Ted Sullivan.
 Along about the middle of July the pat ronape became so bad that Sullivan pulled out of Dubuque at the same time sever ,ng his connection with the club. Hodge Chen became manager, and tried his best "a teep the fellows together, but poor