Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1911-04-02
VISION OF UMPIRES IS GOOD
President Lynch Puts Members Of His
staff to the Test.
SOME ARE BETTER THAN NORMAL
Dr. Copeland's Report Says that
They Have Eyesisht Far Above
THAT Of the Average
Nine Men.


NEW YORK, April i.--Presdent T. J.
Lynch Of the National League has COM
piled with the wishes Of the club owners
Of his organization and has made an in
vestigatlon as to the powers OF vision OF
his umpires. mot long ago 1 issued or
ders 20 the nine men Of my umpire staff
to have their eyesght thoroughly tested"
said Mr. Lynch today, and 1 feel more
than gratified with the outcome Good
eyes alone. / know. do not make good UNI
pircs; but they are a good umpires first
and best asset The result Of these exami-
nations should satisfy the public. club
owners and players that. II umpires make
mistakes-as they are bound to do--they
are the result mostly Of giving their de-
cisions too quickly or from bad angles on
the playing field.
Il have not taken It upon myself to pass
judgment on these certificates Of eye tests
with their technical terms, but have sub
mitted them to Dr. Royal s. Copeland
one OF the most eminent oculists lof New
York City He is a noted authority on
eve diseases and was for many years pro-
fessor Of ophthalmology at the University
Of Michigan, and is now dean Of the med
ical college of Flower Hospital and oculist-
quest Dr. Copeland has carefully studied
the various tests and has summed them
up in the following authoritative and in
teresting report, which 1 give to you
verbatim:
DE-. COpeIand's Report.
Doctors differ about many things but
they are all agreed on the methods Of de-
termining the seeing power OF the human
eye. Test cards are uniformly constructed
and everywhere employed in one way. In
struments Of precision make It possible to
examine the vital parts Of the visual ap-
paratus and the system OF recording the
results Of eye examinations is universally
employed
The oculist examining the umplres OF
the National League are widely separated
geographically, but their reports are writ
ten In a language Ineligible to every spe-
oialist in eye diseases These reports indi-
cate normal vision in every case, and. in
several instances, vision far above the
average.
Henry o'Day-Taking up these reports
seriatin, find that DR.. Douglas Amos
Payne Of Chicago examined Henry O'Day
on January IS and found perfect vision.
William J. Klem-Dr. Neil ]. Hepburn
OF New York examined w. J. KLEIN on Jan
uary "A and found the seeing power above
normal.
William BrennRn-Dr. James A. Quinn
OF St Paul examined William Brennan on
January IA and found normal vision with
good color and perception.
w F. F'inneran-Dr. A. Harold CASTOR
OF Erie, Pa, examined w. f. F4nnerap on
February and found perfectly normal
vision.
James e. Johnstone-A similar report
for J. x. tombstone is made by DIR. l.. g.
Hazard Of Newark. after a test on jan
uary Ia
John J. Doyle-Dr. stephen A. Mahoney
OF Holyoke. Mass. after an examination
january a. reports the eyes OF John J..
DOYLE as perfect in every respect.
Nal Eason-Dr w. w. Fisher of sun
bury. Pa, examined NJ. w. Eason on jan
uary "a and found normal vision.
CHARLES Rigler-Drs. Hedges and Comp
ton OF Charlottesville. Va. saw Charles
Fdgier on February and reported his
vision as unusually acute.
Robert D. Emslie-Dr. John II. Cor
mack OF st. Thomas Ont. is most explicit
IN his report. He saw r. d. Emslie on
FEBRUARY 10 and found his vision to be
better than normal.
voeASes leanlnB these reports must
agree that the seeing power OF the National
league umpires is normal in every instance.
and that several OF them are blessed with
vision considerably better than the average
man possesses. doubt II the vision OF
nine other men selected at random would
begin to approach this record. II tends to
convince me that the out-of-door life wide
Vlstas, and instant vision required of the
base bail devotee must increase the ef4I-
cheney OF the visual function. At leas,
tnls theory offers another argument In
favor OF the great American game,