Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1909-07-23
TRAGEDY OF A
DIAMOND STAR

And how did you come to this forlar,
condition. inquired the sweet-faced o,I
lady as she set down another chicl.a,
sandwich and a glass of milk on ~
porch rail. You do not look like nm ~
binary tramp" '-
His breast heaved with emotion. ..NT,I
anne, he declared, ravenously atfaoL
ing the sandwich, II am not \ -
mon hobo. | am a man with n no.
once whole cities bowed down and "
SHIPPED me. | was a lion. Alas In a lr;ls
moment al my honors vanished and
became broken-hearted has-been. Thin
what l once was and then look D'n IN
me now d.
Tell me about it. Maybe | can ba,,
you to regain what you have losf. ~
suggested kindly. sue
mo madame" he said hopelesslv ~r-
is too late. But | don't mind teUinc w S
about it, although it is bitter tale 7
was center gardener for the old Rod
Lays, ma am, in the days when pom An
son and Brouthers and all of those 1i1
heroes were in their prime. | used -
reach up into the clouds and puD onI
the high ones with one hand, and off,
i picked 'em off the top board of The
fence with two fingers and a thumb, and
the roar that went up from the bleac6erC
sounded like fat man falling down
coal hole.'
A tear dropped from his eyes and
rolled down his grimy cheek.
The world was very rosy then" he
went or, washing down the last of the
sandwich with a swallow of milk. 1T
was all floral horseshoes and silver show
ers for me, and whenever / trotted ont
in a practice heat l got the glad hand
and the merry yell. / had nv picture in
all the papers and had millionaire err
rying my sweater and helping me on
with my coat. | was a top-notch stick
err too, and whenever / came up to the
pan the felders gou way out and the
pitcher sent 'em in wide to keep me from
lammir' 'em on the nose for homer"
Il don't know that | quite under
stand" she said.
"Lammin' 'em on the nose for a hon.
er means putin 'em over the pickets
for four sacks" he explained, making il
all clear. 1T was easy for me III those
days, ma'am. When | swung at one ev-
erybody breathed hard and waited for
'em to go over the fence and hunt for it.
The ump always got ready to toss up
fresh one when he saw me at the pan"
But how did you come TOTO get
down on your luck?'' she interrupted.
He sighed and thrilled with rush Of
emotion.
Madame" he said, II am coming TO
that soon. | remember the day as well
as though it were yesterday 1t was
bright and sunny, and everybody was
limbered up and shooting 'em through
We was fghtin' tn old Utica Blues
They had four to our three, and it was
the last half of the ninth. We was on
the firm line Two of ours was dead
and two on the lines. l was up at the
plate. The cheer l got when | grabbed
my willow and busted me hands sounded
like Caesar comm home from Galway.
| shut my teeth and picked out a board
in the fence to send it over"
She grew interested.
1.-THE Blues had put in a new finger
in the eighth scrawny college kid from
New Haven. / sized him up for a glass
arm. and went in to kill tn first one.
damned at it with plenty of steam. but
it skidded in close to my Stats and | felt
tn wind of it in my shirt. The next
thing l heard was the thump of it in
the catcher's glove and the Jumps calm
Striker
~ was surprised, and so was the
bleachers. But / knew it only took one
to kill it. and l waited for tn next
one. 1t came sailing along as big as
football, and / figured on drivin' it
through tn scoreboard and knockin'
down somebody on tn street with it,
But just as l swung at it it blew out to
one side about a yard and dropped in
tn catcher's glove with a thud. An
then somebody in tn bleachers hollored,
Take him out-he's sold tn game
Madame. that made me desperate
man. All of my future hung on that
next ball. 1t came lobbin' up like
bunch of bananas on string an l aimed
for its nose an let go!'
He wiped his eye with the back of his
hand, overcome by the recollection
Il figured on hittin' it on TIL trade
mark, ma'am, as honest as I'm tellin'
you this said story. But it shot up about
2 inches like a boy sittin' on a hornet
and | just popped up a little foul that
swallowin' a peanut, madame | was
out of the battle, an tn Utica Blues
had us trimmed to a sowsle"
Another big tear rolled down his cheek
and he sobbed convulsively.
Something broke loose in the bleach
ers then like a den of lions smellin' fresh
meat" he continued. "They came down
through the wire nettin' and fell on me
in punches of 20 or 80. They
thought / had sold 'em out. those mully-
grubs I'd helped to fly three battle flags
for, and they thirsted for my blood.
Somebody wnistled for the police, but
before they came pop bottle got me on
the head and l went down for tn count.
Il was a crime, a'am, tn things they
did to me.
The police pried 40 or so of them
off my scalp, laid me on a door and
six of 'em carried me to the hospital.
They sewed me up in a couple of hours
and l was six weeks on a bed. When l
got out | was cannedr'
Canned" she explained.
"Yes'm, cannedr' he repeated.
Canned! Extinguished Bushleagued,
Chased! Fired! And all because a college
kid from New Haven sent ZEN up
crooked from tn FIRM line. We never
used crooked ones in tn old days.
ma'a They was new to me. Up 10
that time I was hero, but just because
| fell down that once and didn't deliver
the goods they shot me down ID
chutes."
He strobe thoughtfully down the road
and the sweet-faced old lady watched
him sympathetically.
The poor old veteran she exclaimed
Il wonder what battle it was. INDIAN
apolis Star.