The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-07-16
Efforts to Spur Team to
 Its Best. WITHOUT SOLICITATION
 SUM OF $225 SUBSCRIBED Plan Was Suggested by V. H.
 Hanson. All Fans Invited To Participate in Effort to Arodse Spirits of Team. Bosu. wiH Be offered For . Finish In First or secoaa
 Place.
 H

base bali team in che season Of 1905, when a bonus of SI,000 was offered by Company. to the players should they land in flrstsor second snlace, and with . realization Of the need of present ing to the Climbers an inducement to to evidence the appreciation or 5000 playing by the fans a Ino-eInent was yesterday ihaugurated Al tie suggest tSs tSa SI M1csSr s,s hsnson 32 salse , aor finish the present season slrst, second or third. ss6
 The Suggestion received tavorab'r 9a saa S . iSaa to wss sss aressy II been started with a contribution ot S225--$26S being offered by Alr. Hanson, s100 by President R. j. Chambers. and $I00 by the Montgomery Light ana Water Power Comp&ny. l now re- mains for the Montgomery faps 10 step into the breach aud by conrrih- uting to the movement to. do all tR their power to Ee1drf 1t d success. Thsre are many reasons for beiiev- ing that the -Ciimoers can rlay better ball than has been tlfs ease recently. and despite this fscesnized tact. IL that any members of the team IS not trying to do his best for the interests of his club. It ia simply a case Of the effect of dispiriting influences and hard luck in an unusual degree on the work of the men. Tho misfortunes Of the team have been many and unavoid- able. e'3
 The refractory beheyIor of Moose Baxter, tho absence of Bliss. and the have all been factors in the poor snow Ing made during the past several weeks by the Climbers: The manage. tiring in their. efforts to strengthen the team. but a chain of unfortuitous circumstances appears to have stood persistently In the way of their success.
 Flashes Have Shown.
 Considering their crippled condition the team has played good ball. but The dlsorganizIng effect Of the reverseR encountered has greatly handicapped
 SSssossy s taas & sss issnE ost stssss, sSss hs , thelt enorts contributed to their lack
 rae ideas now. as sxemplised in the to sSeCnrase the e0nas sn to and dns Ssmon snS strate to them that the fans are real- ly interested in their success. While Of course, cash bonus will be will svssnt of thsir winning it the M mese e fact that the fans are willing to dig down in their pockets in order rn bring aobnt this success will also have very material efrect in inspiritinS the team to do it's best work.
 The plan haA been tried In Mons- gomery on one occasion before. ana even now the fan rejoices to look back into, the past and recall the result oJ that superintendent to be anore exact, the result which if not entirely due 70 the bonus offered. at least must have been in some degree affected Gy
 The Climbers were slurDDertnR on one of the lower steps oE the per- centage ladder in the summer of 1905 and only awoke. at Intervals to roll one step lower. At this juncture, when all hope had almost ned. President Ap- person, of the TractioRs Company, came to the rescue with a bank roll of xl.e9o held temptlnKly before the eyes to climb to: get 1t, and such a proceed ing was extremely novel to them so long had t been sincc they had pur- sued such path of endeavor.
 did not drop a step as usual They began to ascend the ladder, pushing competitors ru6hlesaly out of their way until at length they stood on the step just adjacent to the top. Had time permitted they would not havo stopped there, although that was the year in which New orleans. the leader of tho league. ran in on the Southern a major league team.
 Won Clean Twenfy-EfRht.
 Of thirty games played the end of that season the Climbers. "a short while previously moclxed at and scorned as merely a stepping stone twenty-eisht. pdrett si bSd mUh towaTds z SssaS the end .nf the season been made man ager and to that fact the success of the Climbers was in a large measure attributed. but the showing of Mont gomery the ensuing year when Durrett was again manager did not bear out that view. Some people said that the bonus offered was largely instrumental in the result and 1t appears that the truth or falsity Of that opinion should be proved.
 If the bonus was the cause of the phsnominai playing of the Montgomery 1905 season, then let the motto of the fans De. Give them a bonus or give ment. Mir. Hanson is entitled to great credit. whatever the success may be. In explanation of his attitude in the matter the following letter is append ed:
 'Mr. R. J. Chambers. President.
 Montgomery Base Ball Association.
 Montgomery, Ala.
 ''Every baseball fan will recall, with great interest and enthusiasm, the sea
 Towards the close of that season, with Montgomery team safely; and ap- MT. R. D. Apperson, President Of the Montgomery Traction Company an- nounced that his company would pay the members of the Montgomery team the sum of $1,000.00 in cash, provided the team finished in. either first or sec ond place.
 From the time this offer was made, until the close of the season, our team played phenomenal ball; and as We all remember, Montgomery jumped from last place in the percentage column to d close second.
 "As the situation today appears to me, we have splendid team; one that can play winning hall. Now why not offer a sub stantial cash bonus. to be raised by the fans of Montgomery and to be divided equally between each members of the team; providing Mont gomery finishes the season one. two or three.
 recall the wonderful result. Cannot the experience of 1905 be duplicated in 1908? I think so and if you approve of the idea. you may put me down for S25.0o.
 Montgomery to boost the team. We must have first division bunch, and I believe this scheme will go long way towards bringing about the de- sired result.
 Yours very truly.
 V. H. Hanson"