The Washington herald., 1910-01-02

New York. Jan 1.-Charles w Muir
ply. owner of the Chicago Cubs. and
Charles p. Taft, of Cincinnati. his finan-
cial hacker. left here this afternoon for
the West. but not before they had made
an emphatic denial Of the story that
they we're about to take over the stock
I'm the Philadelphia National League club.
al do not own share of stock in the
Philadelphia club. nor do ] intend TO buy
any of the stock" said Mr.. TAFT Mrs.
Taft and / have simply purchased the
property upon which the Philadelphia
club Is located. and the club has secured
a long term lease from as Mr, Murphy
is the owner OF the Chicago clubs con-
trolling interest and also owns half the
real estate upon which the grounds are
laid out
As the deal for the grounds in Phila-
delphia has been closed" said Murphy, i
viii give the first real story Of the pur-
chase of the Philadelphia club. which I
could not disclose before this. because
Of business reasons. Horace Fogel or
gained a syndicate some time ago 70
buy the Philadelphia club. IL included
Judge Frank Elliott Mr.. Conway, and
other wealthy men who were willing 20
put up money FOR the entire stock, except
for one reason. The club had an option
to buy the ball park which expired yes
terday. and FOgeTs associates were not IN
a position. financially. 10 subscribe so
much extra capital
''Fogel finally communicated with me,
asking whether Mr.. Taft or somebody
else would not buy the grounds so that
he could secure a term lease and Incl
dentallv induce Messrs. Elliott, Conway,
and others TO purchase the clubs stock.
I consulted Mr.. Taft, and receiving posi-
tive assurance from him that he would
exercise the option on the Philadelphia
grounds purely as a real estate invest
ment, I went 10 Philadelphia early in
December. met Fogel and his hackers,
and guaranteed them a long term lease
on the park.
Put Deal Through I'm Hurry.
Then il was that they purchased the
clubs stock. which they now own abso-
lutely. The deal for the grounds had 20
be put through in a hurry, and until the
legal transfer was consummated We
could not give out details. As II is, Mr.
and Mrs. Taft own the grounds which
have been leased to the club owned and
controlled by the Fogel syndicate. At
the time the club changed hands a large
sum OF money was put up by me in be-
half Of Mr.. Taft as a guarantee that we
would take over the property. The club
will pay $4,000 rent each year for a
term OF years, then $3.50, and finally
$500 year in perpetuity.
This cry Of syndicate ball does not
apply here at all. The Philadelphia club
IS not owned by Mr.. Taft any more than
the Chicago club Is. I control the Chi
cago club absolutely with my own money.
and III tell you how. have known Mr
Taft for many years. I worked on his
Cincinnati newspaper and he became my
friend When I learned from James a
Hart that the Chicago club was for sale.
and that the price was $4,000. I went
to Mr.. Taft and borrowed the money with
the understanding that / should pay back
the loan out of the clubs profits l have
paid Mr.. Taft in fun during the three
years I have had the Cubs. and I have
also purchased control Of West Side Park
in Chicago. I am not f1gurehead, in
spite of many statements 10 that effect
and Mr.. Taft can prove 1t. In making
the National League home in Philadel-
phia a permanent one Mr. Taft has
simply helped to benefit baseball. and he
is entitled 10 commentator, not criti-
cism."