The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-08-24
MAKES UGLY CHARGE
Ex-UMPIRE FLYNN TALKS SOME M< ABOUT MIKE FINN.
says Little Rock Manager slgned His Name to Important Telegram to Presidemt Kavanaugh--
 Caused Loss of Place.


 Southern League Baseball circles when Umpire J. M. Flynn returned to New Orleans, says The New Orleans States. Last Saturday Empires Flynn and of the Southern League umpires by President Kavanaugh. Behind this dismissal of Flynn there hangs a very interesting tale. According to the re- ports from Memphis Hackett was dis missed on account of being incompe- tent. while the reasons assigned for Hymns dismissal was that he failed to report an alleged assault on him by Gatins during the last Memphis game in New Orleans.
 Umpire Flynn returned to New or- leans from Memphis yesterday and lays the blame of his dismissal at the door of Mike Finn. the Little Rock mana ger. In discussing his dismissal Mir. Flynn gave out the following state < While New Orleans and Memphis were playing their last game of the series in this city Mike Finn, mana ger of the Little Rock club, sat In the grand stand. watching the clubs play. made a mistake in not calling Owens out on three bunted strikes. The err TOT was afterward corrected by me. Previous to that the Pelican club and Captain Gatins attempted to convince me of my error, but would not listen to them. Gatips was strenuous in his argument with me and I am not sure whether he pushed me or not, but ordered him out of the game anyhow. Later in the game Pitcher Suggs hit Phillips on the arm with a pitched ball The pain that Philips sunered must have been intense. for he threw down his bat, but I did not know whether he threw 1t intentionally at Suggs or not, but ordered him out of the game apologized to me for his actiop while Phillips apologized to Suggs, which was accepted, and I concluded that the matter was settled.
 T did not care to make any ofacial report, as the matter was a slight one in my estimation and the New Orleans club being then in a crippled condi- ton, playing two pitchers in game, and if Gatins and Phillips had been have been practically riddled and would not have been able to play with any degree of success. Mike Finn knew that the New Orleans club would be weakened if Phillips and Gatins had been suspended and this would have given his club an excellent chance to defeat them.
 Tn the first game with Little Rock here ten minutes before the game was gram from-President Kavanaugh ask ing me to give full details of the as- sault on me by Gatins and Phillips throwing bat at Suggs. As the game was about to start I did not have a chance to answer President Kava- there was an operator in the press stand or I would have delayed it long enough to do so, I was thunderstruck when I received President Kavanaugh's wire, as I had not telegraphed him. went to the Western Union office and asked them to show me a copy Of a telegram that was supposed to have sent. The clerk In charge of the ofice found the original message. which read:
 Judge Kavanaugh, Little Rock Gatins assaulted me this afternoon and Phillips threw bat at Pitcher Suggs.
 "'Flynn.'
 T told the clerk at once that I did not send any such telegram and asked them to start an investigation. The telegram was O. K.'d guaranteeing charges by the clerk of the St. Charles Hotel He was not on duty on Thurs day night. but on Friday morning he sent the message from the hotel. He also stated that Finn had given him instructions that any telegrams re- ceived for Flynn were to be delivered to him The telegram from Judge kavanaugh in answer to the one that Finn sent with my name signed was received at the St. Charles Hotel at 10 o'clock Wednesday night by the messenger who took his receipt for same, Finn kept this telegram in his pocket until just before the calling of the game, when he Handed it to me.
 The Western Union Telegraph Com. pany made afthorough investigation of the whole affair and proved concIu- sively that Finn signed my name to the telegram to Judge Kavanaugh and also received my telegram and opened it. Mike Finn was taken before a notary public and swore that he did these things, giving as an explanation that he only intended it as a joke. also hold in my possession a letter from Mike Finn signed In the presence of and to wriggle out of the matter he says 1t is a joke. but I can not see where the joke comes in, as I am out of job and quite a distance from home, as sthe only money that I made as umpire will only pay my expenses back to Rochester. N r., my home.
 T was in Memphis last week um- pfring the games between New Or- leans and Memphis; Judge Kavanaugh was also there, and if he desired any investigation of this matter he could have asked me about 1t then and I would have made the necessary expla- nations Concerning the affair and at the same time would have shown him the proof that I had against Finn. But, instead of that he returned to Little Rock and evidently listened to Mike Finn, for I received my dismissal Sat- urday afternoon. I am a young man. A years of age, and as l am only start ing my career as an umpire, and to have such a thing done to me I con slder 1t an outrage at both the hands of President Kavanaugh and Mike Finn. If there is any law iu the State of Louisiana to punish a man for signing another's name to a telegram and re- yoke that law and bring Mike Finn back here and have him punished"