Omaha daily bee., 1913-10-19
nv FRANK n. rLsrn.
From the outlook.


From the outlook.
All authorities to the contrary notwlth-
standing, base ball Is a burdenl II is
burden TO the newspapers and press as
socia.ions. and heavy one. Each year
the army OF American fans" grows
larger and more fastidious in IT'S demands
for base ball news. until. like the old
Man OF. the Sea. the Twentieth Century
old Man OF tire Diamond has a strangie
hold on the sporting desk" OF the news
papers, and, cheered by a base ball-made
public Me is Squeezing tishtsr every sea-
son. I = - ~ ...r -tf
! II is true that haee ball reports are
builders and that .'the people
just will have. IT," but It Is doubtful If
there is a newspaper owner in the coun-
try--owner, not sporting editor-who
would not gladly be rid Of the box-score
burden IL he could. Certainly the news
would. Several years ago
the Associated Press. whose religion, is
facts and whose watchword IL concise
ness. seriously considered eliminating box
scores from its service Immediately
there was protesting flutter from the
pulse OF fandom. and the idea was aban-
doned.
Today, that is, during the playing sea-
son. the Associated Press Is carrying over
Its 1000 miles OF leased wires full box
scores OF every game in the National and
American leagues TO approximately 2bO
morning papersl And that's not the end.
In addition to the major league box
scores, which 90 to every morning paper
on the so-called trunk wires. there are
the minor league and college games to
be reported and handled. Thus. on a
wire running from New York City TO Al
bany, for instance, there are sent every
playing night during the season eight
major league box scores. four boxes OF
the New York State league, and the re-
suits OF the International league and the
American association. This double or
triple catering to Mr.. Fan holds true on
every circuit where there are points with
minor league clubs. Southern circuits
must carry southern league box scores
and those OF the major leagues; the mia
die west has the American association
ana the major league box scores. and 30
on through the Tri-State and out 70 the
Pacific Coast. Surely the base ball en-
thusiast Is a pampered mortal.
II you win sit down some time and
study the sporting page of your morning
you viii see that box score
is a pretty intricate sort OF thing 20 be
sent by telegraph and copied on type
writer. You will observe that besides
the llneups OF the respective teams, there
are six columns OF figures from "At
Bat" to Errors" and underneath these
columns a series of totals. Then there
are the runs by innings and, finally. to
round out this minute analysis for the
fans information and amusement, a
generally summary down TO the umpires
names and the exact time OF the game.
What other activity OF man Is as
thoroughly reDorted7
II you think copying a box score Is
easy, just try it on a typewriter and see
how fast you can go, keeping the columns
straight and the totals correct II II was
being pumped at you in dots and dashes
over a wire swinging from Chicago 10
New York, with twelve points copylns
simultaneously. when a break would tie
up che whole line. / think maybe you
would scream and throw your typewriter
on the floor. II takes q good operator
Just seven minutes TO copy a box score
hence with sixteen major league teams
playing, this means eight games. or fifty
six minutes OF wire time taken up every
night during the season with the big
league box scores alone On circuits
where there are minor league box scores
20 be sent IL means double that time. OF
nearly two hours On "dOubls-header
days multiply this by two.
In fifty-six minutes nearly 5000 words
OF straight news matter can be trans
mitted over q wire. and IL is a mighty
good story that gets that much space In
the average American newspaper. On the
night OF the Triangle Waist company
fire in New York. in which 146 lives were
lost. the Associated Press handled a story
Of nearly 1000 words. but Il was cleared
on the wires from coast 20 coast In about
half the time that is required for box
scores on the New YorlS-Albany wire