University Missourian. [volume] (Columbia, Mo.) 1908-1916, 1910-07-11
country takes what New York sends.

appetite lol WHISKY. ii the american
press had treated the fight as the Eng,
lish press treats fights in London
there would not have been any mil
lions in it. and the fighters. promOtrs
and people would not have wanted it
or news about it. With pictures and
unlimited space and scare heads the
IprcsS begat and fOStered an appetite
for such things. The great journal
iStic minds OF America have assumed
that people want to read about prize
fighters. chorus girls and baseball
players, and has proceeded to beget
and foster an appetite for such news
Give as much space to and much writ
ing and as much rciteration to ditch
digging and you will have that as pop
ular as prize fighting in two years
time. Give as much space TO corn
growing as has been given to prize
lighting and baseball and the farmers
will go back to the farms. As much
space would change day into night and
vice versa AS much space to religion
would evangelizc the world
1t is not 50 much the people as il is
the great journalistic minds that have
run amuck. The license OF the sport
ing writer has been unlimited. Base
ball, prize lighting and vaudeville have
been overdone. The men of America
| have become nothing more or nothing
better than baseball fans" dope
fiends.'
The sporting writer writes not for
the gentleman or the lady or for the
man in the street, but for his own Sc
lect clientele or fans" Fans" by
the way, means fanatic" man who
Is insane on certain sporting subjects.
The baseball writer" and the fight
writer use a jargon that none but
the initiated can understand. A news
paper asked but yesterday what would
have been thought if Dickens or Thack- |
cray had reported baseball match |
or prize fight. Dickens did rcport |
cricket matches and describes one in |
Martin ChuZZlewit." Conan DOYLE did |
report fights and has written much OF |
them, while Hazlilt. a standard English |
essayist, has a description of a prize
fight that should be read by all sport
ing writer's in America every morning.
Tor 1t tells. in the purest and simplest
OF language. just what happened. so
that any man who can bOggle through
English print sees a perfect picture
ot what occurred. The English do
sports much better than Americans
The National Sporting Club would give
probably $1,000 for .Ieffries and John
son and the English papers would
give their training half column dav.
There wouM have been no crowd no
noise, no race riots, no spasm
American newspapers have let sport
run away with them. They made base
ball. and now baseball promoters laugh
at them and deride them saving that
1A-"'' pay u W IL OF cease |
The baseball people feel
[hat the newspaper must pay them
ribute for all news they get from them.
very soon the owner of "A baseball !
club will want to sell news of his play
ars at Sc much a word
II Is idle TO say that the peoDla {
want 1t. How can the people want |.
o be told every morning that Wag-
ler Is the greatest ball PLAYER in the
world. year after year. or that .Iefrries d
VIII peat Johnson sure. For eighteen
months every newspaper in America
assured its readers of this thing. Is
lot once enough? Thoreau, a really I
'reat American, having made lead
'encll that experts pronounced the "
)eSt in the world. was congratulated
N the riches within his grasp. when /
he said: Il shall never make another
WY should | do Il thing more than
nce? Why should readers of Amer
can papers have TO be told every dav
y people who did not know. that JEFF II
rles could not be licked? DO the II
american people need such breakfast u
ood? Was not one positive assurance
nough? h
Inc newspapers have heavy roll tt
D pay. We gave the people what s.
hey wanted they say. So said the al
rewers and whisky dealers and gin u
ellers. but many States went dry III
list the same. II
90 IL dld not seem that they We're Il
wing the people what they wanted. u'
ley only thought they were giyin. ei
le people what the people thought
ley wanted. II
NO use criticiSing gambler or fipht. III
or writer. or public or people or ci
tate, or Governor. The press of the Cd
hlted States is to blame for uriza WI
5htlng and for everything that han ar
'ned at Reno. io'
1t Is nigh time that the National DO
ibllshers' Association gets together Nj
ld considers the Ovnrnrnd,.,; Il