The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1914-06-30
.FAVORS RELOCATION
Or GREEK ACHILLES
Menke Arises to Advance
Claims of Brickley and Ho-
nus Wagner.
BY FRANK G. MENkE.

NEW YORK, June 30.--It seems
bout time that someone showed this
Achilles fellow off his pedestal and
hat everybody ceased making him the
standard by which all American attn
letes are to be judged.
After looking over his record. We
have concluded that he wasn't such
much after all. There's nothing In
the Grecian baseball guides to snow
that he ever batted over 400, or that
he ever pushed out home run with
the bases loaded in world series
combat. He never made 9o-yaro
touchdown run around yale or
Harvard's end with the score even
and just two minutes left to play. NOR
did he ever uncork rs foot putt IN
an open golfing championship. or c.ifn:
out a pole goal rom midfield, bring
victory to the home team in the last
half minute of the eighth chukker.
OF course, Achilles has some Justi-
fable claim to fame. He was one OF
the very few Greeks in all history who
never operated either a fruit store, a
candy shop or a bootblacking parlor,
nor did he ever act as engineer for
peanut roasting machine. He never
was accused of selling imported
handmade shawls" to the unsuspect-
ing housewife at twenty-seven times
the actual cost of their manufacture
in some New York sweat shop.
Taking it from number of en-
cyclopedias and also from Mister
Homer's Illiad, this Achilles bloke
was considerable of scrapper back
in the old days. He had a terrible
punch, practically invulnerable de-
tense, was fearless and merciless in
hot II NV hn1 h~ IN<>a ~ ~
championship for a much longer time
than did even John l.. Sullivan.
But we can't see why these few
stunts that he did-and didn't do
should give him first rank in the field
of athletics. We can't see why it was
that every time "Chuch" Br.ckley, of
dear old Harvard, tore the opposition
line to shreds most persons instead of
remarking that, 'Brickley rammed
and damned as no other man did be-
FORE" really said, "OBrickley fought
almost with the fury OF an Achilles"
When Devereau Milburn single
handed, outplayed three of the four
English poloists In the last half of the
last international combat, did he get
credit for being the original heller in
the polo business. Nay nay. Some
body trotted out Achilles and made
Milburn second to him.
Every SO often Honus Wagner. of
the Pittsburg team, forgets that
human being should show some sort
of mercy, whereupon Honus busies
himself in giving his nine opponents
a terrific beating. He uses his mace
with deadly effect on the offense and
his huge paws with just as much eff
fact on the defense. But historians
don't rise up on such occasions and
credit Honus with being the greatest
bloke that ever cavorted on the green.
They declare that Wagner ragged
around the field, fighting almost like
the Achilles of old"
Every darned time some of our fell
lows do something amazing and re-
markable, they aren't given credit for
having set the standard in their par
ticular line, simply because a lot of
people insist upon digging up this
Achilles party who has hbeen dead for
quite while, and trotting him out as
the superior of them all.
Raus NIT Achilles.