The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-02-23
DIRECTORS HOLD
A MILD SESSION.
IN CHATTANOOGA
Sporting News Sarcastic
In Reference to Pratt
Other Spring Follies
BY HUGH w. ROBERTS

| then every player is a Mathewson, tr
Wood, or a Chance. or Lajoie. Every
fan is entirely satisfied. Every manager
is happy. Every owner congratulates
himself. The streets are gold lined, and
fruit hangs heavy from the trees. The
populace feeds on milk and honey, and
songs of gladness spring eternal from
the human breast.
There should be regret instead of un-
controllable joy when that glittering sea-
son goes and the season of grind and
reality succeeds. For in the latter the
purple>fobes unfold, and the laurels be-
decking brows, withers and is torn away.
The stars of the yesterday are today dubs
OF the purest ray serene and are dis
patched tagged 'worthless to the woods
and wilds of the bushes The managers
fume and fret. The owners bear fright
full expressions In the stern reality that
something of Importance must be done
to stem the angry tide. The fan gnashes
his molars and swears vengeance, laying
awake in the night time. The fruit rots
upon the trees. The golden streets are
muddied by constant rains, and there Ia
nowhere milk and honey for the feasts OF
the gods.
It is the story of youth and age, at
contained In the pages of Revelations,
and told gratuitously by every disabled
And furthermore. this is a story which
admits of no exceptions 1t is invariable.
1t cannot be eliminated, 1t matters not
the philosophical trend of the mind, or
the astuteness of the individual. The
wise man does not plan to dodge the
circumstance, but makes ready in that
he might not be shaken when the crash
comes
Birmingham will have It's spring nd
its dreams OF spring. And Birmingham
will have it's awakening. Trouble will
come. We cannot tell, of course. from
what source. or what will be its peculiar
form. Could we tell, we might prepare
and remove the dangerous rocks and the
perilous cliffs.
The star of the season gone might not
be the star of 1918. For men, horrible
dictu, go back, even as In earlier days.
they progressed. The wallopers of a
certain year might be unable to see
them In the next. And thus 1t goes,
and thus forever II will continue to go.
At the present writing, however. as Oft
before we have related, the outlook Is
propitious. We have an excellent nu-
cleus around which to construct, and
wise men to guide us when the troubls
comes.
The week gone was dearth of news.
idle moment, we have expressed the fore
going. which, like the spring. comes reg
ularly--and cannot be lodged or elimi-
mated. 1t is a peculiar thing that a base
ball writer will cut loose sluice of dops
of the foregoing variety and settle back
with a cigarette and a volume of Hux-
ley as IL he had conquered the world,
and all the people were crying aloud
concerning his prowess.
Baseball writer's, like baseball players.
ego back" There comes time when ono
can do no more than indulge in dreams.
And when that time does come, how
apropos It would be should the man
chiefly concerned fold his robes about
him and unostentatiously shuttle off tho
mortal coll. But the man. stranger still
to talk about, never permits himself td
know, nay, really to believe. that he
has other days before him than those
| In which the full. glad sun Of youth viii
ever shine.