davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The sun., 1912-08-04
After Careers of Men Who Began by
Winning Fame Through Compe-
tition in Outdoor Sports

I Alexander J. Cartwright was a native
Of New York. He was also a California
Forty-niner. But he didn't stay in Cali
fornia. He had only been there u year
when he sailed for Hawaii. where he
lived and prospered until his death in
1892. He lived TO see the game become
a favorite sport in Hawaii.
In those days sedate merchants who
now content themselves with roofing
until hoarse hesitated not to take of
their coats and go to the bat. writer
in the Baltimore Sun gave a picture Of
it when he said:
"Mr. George Beam ot Orendorf. Beam
4 Co.. wholesale grocers. was invited
in 1855 by Joseph Leggett to see a game
in New York in which the old Excelsiors
of that city contested. MIR. Beam n,
once became an enthusiast and returned
to this city and organized the Excelsiors
Of Baltimore in the Wholesale trade on the
wharf.
Nearly all the players were business
men. The Excelsiors lasted until 1891
and its members twice a week went 70
the diamond in an omnibus which started
! from Exchange place and Commerce
street. Large numbers OF young men
living on Madison avenue would follow
the bus TO see the new game"
! Players of the game in 1853 included
such well known men as William II. Van
Cot,. l.. y. Jones. Thomas 5. Dakin. j
Ross Postley. Theodore +. jackson and
| r. II. Brown. Business men who got
out in their shir. sleeves To play for the
Excelsiors We're: J. {. Whiting I. Rcy-
nolds. J. Creighton. H. b. Pohcmus.
The sun., 1912-08-04

game Of ball played on Christmas Day,
1852 al Hilton Head. s. &. 4 team from
Duryea's Zouaves engaged a picked nine
from other Union regiments in the field.
About 10000 soldiers witnessed the game.
MIR. Mills Judged. This was only one Of
many games played in the civil war by
both Union and Confederate soldiers,
sometimes in the field. sometimes in
prison.
Another very fine ball player Of early
days was Arthur Pue Gorman later United
States Senator from Maryland. Mr.. Cor
man backed the National Baseball Club of
Washington after his election to the
Scnatorship and before that no had been
The sun., 1912-08-04
Graduates of the Diamond Prominent
in Public Life and in the
World of Commerce

1T was clear that ir he declared ths
he serunners out he would he mobbed
Tf he decided otherwise he would do so in
direct violation OF the strict letter Of ths
rule. Meanwhile the crowd became mora
and more riotous. now threatening our
team and now the umpire Through it all
kept stiff upper lip. demanding 'judg.
iaant'
"'lt's up to you. Mr. Umpire!'' shouted
What S your decision?'
81 decide said he after a short pause
during which he looked into the angry
faces OF the mob. that nobody's on;
and that the bstsman must resume hi,
place at bat IS though nothing had hao.
pened
Mr.. Sps s!dns s reflection has led hnl
to believe that Ellis was right from eve :
point of view in the decision. since thu
letter o- the rule had to be broken to secIr,
fair play for all.
This was the team tha. wen, from
Amarics. TO England h is7i-Or ra.her.
the Two teams:
Bostons-A q. Spaldir.. pitcher. e. Me-
Vey. catcher: j. o'Rourhe and Kent. ira;
base Ross &. Barnes. second base; u. Shal.
fer. third base; George Wright. shortstop
4. J. Leonard. left HeId: Harry wrigLt
centre field; q. W. Hall. right field.
Ath!ctics-J. ID. MclJride. pitcher: J. J.
Clapp. catcher: ". D.. fisler. first ba
J. Battin. second base: 4. B. Sutton. thiri
base: n. II. NcGeary. shortstOp: A.
Gedney. left field; j. +. McMullen. centre
field: A. G. Anson. right field.
These teams played fourteen games
in England and Ireland. The Bostons
won eight and the Athletics six. The
British were much interested.
When the time came and it was neces-
The sun., 1912-08-04
AdriAn C.An,on

II you ever get arrested and arraigncd
before Magistrate Cornell you will receive
justice at the hands of member OF a
famous Columbia crew in the '70s,
Street Cleaning Commissioner Edwards
OF New York l. more famous example
of the athlete who has proved his useful
ness at other things. The late James q.
Tighe. city Magistrate i'll Brooklyn. was
widely known as an oar rsrnan and an OK
ceptionally fine swimmer. Hefounded the
Sheepshead Bay Rowing Club and gave
generously to aid rowing,
Baseball, as the game most widely
followed and liked in this country, is of
interest for its veterans. On" Of the
best known OF these is A. q. Spalding.
head of the firm that sells sporting goods
who had good deal to do with IN, early
history OF baseball and who recently
srote book about the game. In Amer
ica's National Game" Mr.. Spalding tells
a lot about the pioneers OF the diamond,
There's John Montgomery Ward. for
example, who became lawyer. but
whose fame was won on ball fields of
many years ago. Mr.. Ward wrote
book. BASEBALL" in which he says that
DR.. Oliver Wendell Holmes. author of
"The Autocrat.' told tho reporter Of a
Roston paper that baseball was one of
the sports OF his college days at lIar-
ward. DR.. Holmes was member Of
the Harvard class Of 20. but nobody
knows whether he played first base or
shortstop.
New York is credited with hcing the
home OF baseball because IN 1872 the
Enickerbockers began To play games
hero. They were gentlemen in the old
sense Of the term and seem to have used
tho game as much TO sharpen thor appe
ttes as anything, for the records tell of
their wonderful meals with much more
detail than is given in the accounts Of the
games Alexander j. Cartwright seems
~ have been the first TO move for an
organization Of baseball players. and
the committee that helped him was COM
lprsed Of Duncan +. Curry. T.. II. Dupignac.
~ ", II. Tucker and ". X. Wheaton.
'r"s" men perfected the organization
q The hmckorbockers In 1915.
The sun., 1912-08-04

Capt. J. x. Leggett was known for his
fine manners. The Eycclsiors. his team,
were playing tn" Atlaniics and there was
a row over the score. which at the end of
the sixth inning stood To G for the FIX
celsiors. Legg"tt then took his team OF
the field. saying aS they entered the stage:
"Here. OBricn. is tho ball
O'Bren. who was caplaininG the At
lantics, replied; will you call it draw;
Leggctt remarked simply: "As you
please" The two teams did not play
again.
A. q. Mills of New York. who afterward
became president of the National Lea que
wrote to 4. q. SpaldinG. telling hun of a
The sun., 1912-08-04

ball was now in play. threw it home.
whence it passed to third, second and first
As coincidence it happened that the
umpire on duty that day YVES Ellis. the
same with whom the subject had been
discussed one night in Cleveland. The
effect of the play on the crowd was simply
paralyzing. None present had ever seen
anything like it and nobody knew what
was up.
The umpire. passing me. hissed:
That was mean OF you. Spalding!' The
spectators were wild with rage. Shouts
OF Dirty ball!' Yankee trick" DC. came
from all quarters. Interest was at once
centred on poor Ellis. the umpire,
The sun., 1912-08-04

7. Pcarsall. r.. Russell, J. X. Leggett
Brainard and g. Flanley.
James p. Creighton afterward became
famous as pitcher. J. X. Leggett cap
tanned the team. Creighton was the first
to introduce the wrist throw. He had
great speed and thorough command of
the ball
He first appeared as member Of the
Niagara club Of Brooklyn, playing Sec
ond base. United States Commissioner
Shields was the pitcher. What a marvel
Creighton must have been for those days
j. shown by the fact that though he died
al Il he vas then reputed to be the best
pitcher in the game.
The sun., 1912-08-04
YHAT becomes of the athlete OF
yesteryear?

A/ yesteryear!
wv Ii you believe some pur-
posesul statisticians he dies
suddenly three years after he stops run
ming. rowing or playing ball-especially
football-from the effects Of overstrain.
" you listen to others you look around for
supermen among your acquaintances,
confident that each superman was a star
athlete in his youth. But il you make
independent observations you are likely
to arrive at the conclusion that the athlete
who gives up outdoor sports becomes
just an ordinary citizen more or less sue
ccssful in business. according to his in
d;vidual ability. and without any par
ticular reference to whether or not he
once ran hundred yards in ten fiat.
Ono of the biggest surprises 10 a lot OF
Ieople who took notice Of official oppo
sition 10 football at Harvard was the
discovery that the leader of the oppo-
eition. then president of the university.
had been an athlete himself. Charles
". Eliot rowed on one of the early Har-
ward crews. Another thing that most
PEOPLE didn't know until recently was
that Woodrow Wilson used to I've good
baseball player. In fact. some OF his
friends remember his skill sufficiently
TO lament that he ever quit the ball field
for the study While teaching at Wes-
ieyan, before he went To Princeton as a
professor, Gov. Wilson coached teams
there.
The Bronx member Of the New York
Public Service Commission, John T..
tustis, was stroke OF "a Wesleyan crew.
Daily Kennebec journal., 1912-02-24
First Children of Families Weakest.

| Highly important discoveries made
| in London laboratory as to the re-
| lative strength. both mental and ply
| steal. of the younger children of a
| family as compared with the older
children, are given in the March
| American Magazine 1t is new ave-
nue. of investigation and thought. 1t
will arouse not only interest but oh
seryation and comparisons, for OF
course. no rule always applies in the
| measure of human kind
After examiping thousands of cases
| the evidence seems to be that the first
two children in a family are not,
in the majority of cases, as strong
| mentally and physically as those that
come later The point for Our readers
| is. of course, that economic pressure,
| which increases the cost of living, re-
duces the size of families and weak
ems the mental and physical strength
of nation. The article quoted says:
"lt is clear that this discovery is of
enormous significance to the people of
the United tSates where economic
pressure has been reducing the size of
families. Translated into plain Ian
guage, it means for the United States
| that, unless the cost of living de-
| creases and families begin TO increase
in size, we shall have a weaker race.
both mentally and physically. For
this new statistical science puts be-
| fore us the effect of a strange natural
| law of primogeniture. 1t shows that
| the physical and mental condition of
born ana second born--is sharply diff
ferentiated from that of later men,
bers. Where. for example, tuberculo-
Sis, insanity, criminality and albnism
are found in family, they are found
to predominant tremendously in the
| first and second born
In England the size of families
has decreased. The cause was the
| passage of stringent child labor laws
| a generation ago. These laws made il
| impossible for children to work in the
| factories. This at once resulted in a
decreased birthrate. inasmuch as
working people could not afford to
| have children unless the children
could work and become an economic
asset. This decrease in the size of
families was followed by an increase
III tuberculosis. crime, insanity and
| albinism The Galton Laboratory
| took hold of the matter and has pro-
duced in documentary form the re-
| suits briefly summarized here"
Daily Kennebec journal., 1912-02-24
BANGOR, APRIL 10.
7 bird District Republican
Convention Is Called.

Tile Third District Republican con-
vention will be held in the city of Ban
gor, Maine, Wednesday, April 10. 1912.
at two o'clock F. NJ. for the purpose
af selecting two district delegates and
tive alterna:es to attend the National
Republican Convention, to be held in
Chicago. H., June Is. 1912. and to
transact any other business that may
properly come before it.
The basis of representation will be
as follows: Each city. town and plan
tatian will he entitled to one delegate.
and for each 70 votes cast for the Re
publican candidate for Governor in
1910 an additional delegate, and for n
fraction of 40 votes in excess of 20
votes an additional delegate.
Vacancies in the delegation of any
city. town or plantation can only be
filIea by resident of the county in
which the vacancy exists.
The district committee will be in
session in the reception room of the
hall at one O'Clock in the Afternoon
for the purpose. of receiving the ere
dentials of the delegates.
Delegates an order To be eligible to
participate i'm the convention must be
elected subsequent to the date of the
call for this convention.
Per order, District Committee.
I. w. BLACK, Chairman.
w. II. WILDES, Secretary.
Feb. 20 1912. -.
Daily Kennebec journal., 1912-02-24
A Real Soldiers Question.


An old soldier, who is now a lawyer
in Santa Barbara. California. wants to
know what is Golfers idea of good
pension biH He says we have talked
a good deal about the sort of pension
bill that ought not to pass:
What ought a man TO have who served
through the Wilderness campaign, en-
tered the battle at Cold Harbor with
some 240 of his regiment, saw 1863 of
them hit by the enemies bullets within
a short hour; who was one of the 3S un-
hurt who We're taken captive. who en-
dured the life of Andersonville during
the cruel months of June. July, August,
dead from the prison eight of the Ii of
his company who We're captured? This
is my history. My record can be found
in the archives at Washington, under
not need a pension. | was but is when l
received my discharge, and was still
young enough to enter college, graduate
and fit myself for life. | have secured Il
competence, but there has not been a
day since 1865 that has not been a day
of pain. Kindly tell me what pension
should be granted to me. provided | was
in need of a pension.
The first requisite of a good pension
bill is that it should make clear dis
tnction between honest old soldiers
like this one and men who had no
more serious call upon thelr courage
and endurance than was involved in
currying mules at Fort Smelling. Min
nesota. This is precisely what tho
Sherwood Bill does not do. The re-
ceipt OF a pension ought TO be badge
of honor for men like Mr.. Storke. not
the fruit of politics and persistence
in behalf of army ''bummers"
and men whose war service consisted
of three months summer holiday in
"A militia camp
Daily Kennebec journal., 1912-02-24
MEASURING LUNAR HEIGHTS.
The Celestial Reoion is $4,000 Miles
From the Earth.

Lunar heights are estimated by
those ON earth by the measurements
of the shadows cast by lunar objects.
To quote Sir Robert Ball: The noun
tain peaks on tlle moon throw long.
well-defined shadows. chara cterized by
a sharpness which we do not find in
the shadows of terrestrial objects.
The difference between the two eases
arises from the absence of air from the
moon. and the sharpness OF the shad-
ows is taken advantage. of in eur at
tempts to measure the heights of the
lunar mountains. BY measurements of
this kind the attitudes Of other lunar
objects, such. for example, as the
height of the rampant surrounding a
circular walled plain, can be deter
mined.' The man of science, it need
scarcely be said, is much aided in his
researches by the fact that the moon,
of all celestial bodies. is the earth's
nearest permanent neighbor. On an
average it is more than 900 miles
away. and it may be as near as 22i,-
900. 1t has been said. indeed, that its
Daily Kennebec journal., 1912-02-24
Editorial Comment.
The Case of Mr.. BurIeieh.

(Bangor NeWs.)
| In the late trial by newspaper" Mr.
Edwin 9. Burleigh Of Augusta. Maine
lin the quiet canvass he is making I,
gain seat in the United States SEN
ate as a Maine Republican has prove.
a winner at a ratio of some three tt
lone. This is true, not only among the
Maine newspapers, but among the
newspapers of New England. How
far newspaper opinion affects public
Iopinion and how far the will of the
people is the will of God. are of course
subjects, which are still under de-
bate
1t seems, however, that Mr.. Burleigl'
/ fills about all the requirements which
are demanded from the constituencies
| of Maine. He has served the Republi-
can party of the State and Of the
nation faithfully from his boyhood.
He was born and grew up as a Repub-
! llican--never abating his party loyal
ty--never claiming to be anything else
than straight Republican.
His party service has been faithful
and always progressive. From Gov
ernor to representative to congress;
and from the national house to the
United states senate or to deeply
loved and widely -honored private
citizen of Maine
His political ascent has been in
keeping with many other distinguish
ed Maine men. Nelson Dingley. Ilew
Iellyn Powers, Lot NJ. Morrill,. Hanni-
bal Hamlin-some of the best and
brightest men in Maine have followed
the way Mr.. Burleigh is pursuing
One AT least, has died while makinS
the trial, but the ultimate aim of alt
was alike-to serve their State and
their party to the fullest of their abil-
tiles. and To rise notch by notch ir
the love and confidence of their asso-
ciates and followers. There has never
been a trace of insurgency" or so
called aprogressiveness" in the record
of any one.
As to the diligent and hard labor.
which Mr.. Burleigh has performed for
Maine and Maine people. his congress
sional correspondence would fill Ii
braries His untiring labors in behalf
of Maine pensioners of the Civil War.
can be counted by days and by hours
for every year of his service in con-
gress. No man. living or dead. has a
more brilliant record in this respect
than has Edwin c. Burleigh. As man
and boy ne has lived through the
civil War and personally knows what
the veterans We're compelled to en-
dure. In their declining years, when
they were too old and toe feeble to
fight longer, he has recalled the sac
rifees which they made and has
struggled constantly and earnestly to
secure for them some measure of re-
ward.
For the perpetuation of the Repub-
lican party insMaine. for keeping green
the memories OF those who fought and
died in order that this nation might
live-as a nation-and not as con-
federation of loosely Joined States;
|and for safeguarding and protecting
every worthy interest in Maine, Mr..
Burleigh has already earned the I'M
questioned right to sit in the United
States senate as long as he may de-
sire the DlaCe
Daily Kennebec journal., 1912-02-24
The Price of Potatoes.

A Maine exchange has settled the
high cost OF living problem at one
snoop. II sees only one year of ALI
the years which must be counted in
the affairs of the farmer. 1t rails at
the Aroostook potato raisers for the
'fWali Street game" and seems to for
get all the vital conditions with which
the farmer has to contend. 1t car
Ties the idea that it does not know
that the farmer is between Providence
and the middieman; that only year
ago hundreds OF thousands Of bush
els OF potatoes rotted In cellars and
Daily Kennebec journal., 1912-02-24
pa.tansa!l Denies Loss to State.

Editor ,Kennebec Journal:
nave no desire to enter into any
paragraph in recent editorial of yours
which / believe was written because of
misunderstanding of fact. The para
Sraph IN question reads as follows:
''Mr. PattangaH must explain to the
people of Maine the loss of thousands
of dollars in fees because he insisted
on saving the salary of an assistant
attorney general
OF course YOU will understand that 1t
IS a matter of no personal profit to me
whether the fees collected through my
Office are large or small. The only fees
which the attorney general receives are
those paid in connection with the forma-
ton of corporations and the issuing af
excuses ior corporations which desire
TO suspend business. No amount of in
dustry on the part of the attorney gem
era can affect the extent of this class
form corporation has been deferred
from doing so because of the abolition
OF the Office Of assistant attorney gem
eral. and surely no corporation that de-
sired to cease doing business has con-
tinued in business because of the abol-
ton of that office. 1t must be plain 10
assistant attorney general or not that
the amount of fees paid to the State
through the attorney generals office
1t is possible that you used the word
lees inadvertently in your editorial
and intended to include inheritance taxes
which are collected in part by my de-
partment. If You will examine the ac-
counts in the State Treasurers office you
viii see that the receipts from the col
lection of inheutance taxes are much
larger for 1911 than for 1910. in spite of
the fact that the office of assistant at
torney general ceased to exist on july
first 1911 The largest amount which
the state has collected in any one month
from this source since l became famil-
lar with this line Of work was in Jan
uary. 1912
II may possibly be true that. an assis-
tant attorney general is a necessity al
though | am not of that opinion. At all
events 1t is not true that the State has
suffered any financial loss because of
the action of the Legislature in abolish
ing the office
| shall regard it as personal favor il
YOU will grant me sufficient space In
your columns to give this statement
publicity, feeling sure that you have nc
desire to convey to your readers ans
| false information concerning important
matters.
Yours very truly.
w r.. PATTANGALII.
| Wateryille, Me- Feb. 81
Daily Kennebec journal., 1912-02-24

I
/ potato houses Of Maine because they
We're not worth hauling 10 market
} and tne farmer had thrown away the
use of his lard, his toll in raising and
harvesting and the cost of fertilizer
used But this year here is the way
the editorial office wise man talks
| about II;
".An investigator Cor the Boston
! Herald has been down in the Aroos-
took potato region trying To find out
Why spuds cost so much in Boston
| where householders are paying ST.
a bushel
we are told that the Aroostooll
farmers, taking advantage of the
worlds short crop, have played the
Wall street game and forced up the
price. This means that the potato
lraisers are like the stock gamblers.
Waving caught the public on tie short
side of the market, they develop the
bItllish instinct to a remarkable de-
gree.
THE popular explanation ef which
Mayor Shank of Indianapolis is now
the foremost exponent. that LAYS all
the trouble to the middleman is
knocked into cooked hat, To use
Governor Wilson's expression. 1t costs
the ArOostook producers q cents
bushel to harvest their crop. They re
fuse TO sell TO the wholesaler at less
than 81. The wholesaler figures on
net profit of cents a bushel in trans
ferring potatoes To the retailer at SIPS.
The latter, selling by the peck and
hall bushel, claims only a small profit
at $3.50
''I'he profit of the Maine potato
raisers this year is figured at approx
mately 27o per cent
Thus using the above figures. the
farmer receives for maintaining his
establishment (Which feeds the world
use of land. fertilizer, bug poison, Ia
Dor of plowing, narrowing, preparing
and planting, seed, care through sum
mer. chances on climatic conditions
ana disease, digging, picking, hous-
ing, sorting, hauling TO railway and
loading, one dollar For taking the
chances of only fair profit or big
thing as the size of the crop and de-
mand rule. 25 cents to the middleman.
For measuring out tand after giving
short weight and delivering to Gus
toners with other supplies, % cents
TO the retailer.
And this is the year of short crop
and active demand. Would our con-
temporary have the farmer say:
"0ne dollar a bushel is too much for
potatoes In a good year, when every
thing is favorable, We can fsse them
for % cents a bushel 1t is true such
years as this come only once in
awhile but one dollar a bushel is too
much; the man who buys my ppta-
toes to speculate on cannot pay me
more than SO cents bushel. No use
talkingI will not accept it; II would
be the Wall Street game. 4 newspa-
per publisher would not accept an
extra crop of advertising in an espe-
cially lively season or when conditions
are favorable. As a farmer I will not
accept a profit that is brought about
by short market or increased demand"