The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-05-20
BASEBALL AND LABOR UNIONS
BAN JOHNSON TALKS OF TROT :
BLES AND SUCCESSES.

BOyesit IL Ghirags FellsWed mat In
Cleveland New and Larger stnads
f0F NAny PARIS. lneiudlng New NOrk
Game Growing Az Over COuntFy.
Han b. johnson. president oi the
American League. looked very tircd
whsn he reached the Wolcott yesterday
after getting in from Chicago via Cleve-
land.
Its labor troubles. said Mr.. johnson.
by way Of explanation. 4 had a session
the other night trying 10 Tx things up.
but got a Telegram before lsft Cleve-
land yesterday saying the strike was
still on.
You So when We built thu new base
ball park In Cleveland the labor unions
boycOtted ~. although We had employed
10 per cent. ol union labor. When We
started in to build the park in Chicago
We gave all the work 10 union labor,
but Ill be- Mr. johnson said some
thing that sounded like -jig-swizzled. >
IL this prevented trouble. The structural
iron workers went out a week or ten days
ago. and hero We are hung up. when We
were looking forward 10 having the
new park completed by July 1. Now Il
10 only half ready.
The troubleY Well IL hinges upon
a definition Of skilled labor that h 10
say. whether Il requires skilled steel
workers 10 lay the iron in reinforced
concrete. We had the idea that nod
carriers could do this. and they have
been doing IL. at IS cents an hour. The
structural iron workers seem 90 believe
that this can DO done only by skilled
labor. at 20 cents an hour. though IL Is
hard for the layman 20 figure out where
skill IL required Besides. the structural
! iron workers are demanding an increase
Of seven Rpd a half cents an hour How
ever. the other men are working along
The Chicago PARK Is going % be the
largest and finest In the country. There
will be seats for S5,OOo people. the grand
stand alone holding l5.OOo. Il is being
constructed OF steel. concrete and brick.
and II will he the fourth II the kind in
the American League. Next year We
expect 10 have three others for Detroit
Washington and New York are going "a
build.
The New York American League
team ia doing well and am glad 20 see h.
We have had - little good weather
/ particularly in the West, that IL diificuli
TO say how things are going from a finan-
ciAl standpoint but the patronage nc the
! opening games exceeded all previous
records II we have any kind Of good
weather. there h no doubt that We shall
beat all previous seasons on attendance
Both leagues are playing good hall. but
! full speed has not been reached as yet
Cleveland Is doing first rate. The town
il growing wonderfully. II IL one Of 9hs
best baseball cities In the country. and
heard the statement made In the Chamber
Of Commerce yesterday that the popula
ton is now 5JO.OO This means more
baseball roOters coming along all the time
I am making a tour n The cities In ths
American League. shall stay here until
to-morrow night. when 60 on 10 Boston
when tho American and National
leagues got together SIX years ago and
framed the agreement under which they
are now operating. everybody predicted
that there would b. fall in salaries
The contrary has happened. In fact
salaries are now W per cent. higher than
I AutN heIF NNFl luAi WY W AZ
| budding new plants everywhere. The
I great American game has come 10 stay
and u h increasing IN popularity all the
/ time. There Ia no doubt that the world
series had a great deal % do with The i'm
? nstus gwen baseball during the last thres
or four years. Besides. clean manage
upent and a complete and thorough or
gan zufiou have done much To get an
idea how great a hold tho game has you
ought To- make trip To the Pacific Coast
as ] did IN the spring left Chicago IN
March. and there Wa not town ! saw
on tho way where ! didn't see men and
hoys playing the game al the noon hour
i The National Association row contains
thiviy-fve or thirfy-siX leagues. The
whole country being covered by them
And besides these leans composed en-,
tirely OF professional. there are great
number % small cities where they employ
AZ least professional pitcher and catcher
/ Then there are tho trolley leagues com,
posei Of towns connected Nv trolley lines
in which they play matches on Saturdays
and Sundays The number Oi amateul
clubs b. legion
An these things 60 n insure fhe con-
tinuanCe ~ baseball a. a popular sporl
. in this country Besides. the game d
making great progress Boo Canada. and
there are now teams Iu most Canadian