Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1914-06-12
DEFINING AMATEUR
 ONE FOUGHT TASK
Another Question Hard to Answer Is Why Bresna-
 han Is on Cubs Bench.
tBy Frank G. Menke)

New York. June 11.-Defining an amateur in the world of sport has grown to be a tougher job than that of convicting New Haven railroad director. or getting Bill Bryan of Washington, D. c. to advocate war.
 AS We used to undersand the situa tlon. an amateur athlete ceased to be such the very moment he profited financially through his athletic pow CTS. But in the light of present day events that idea seems to have been a very erroneous one.
 The case of Charles Brickley. the Harvard football star is one of many that shows how wrong We were in believing aloNg those lines. Brickley gets 5000 or so each season for writing" football articles. It's a positive cinch that if Blirckley were not a football star he wouldn't get 5000 for permitting the use of his name, nor $1O0. nor $1. He'd prob- ably be heaved out of the office by any city editor whom he approached on the proposition.
 But Brickley is a star. The news paper that had him under contract figured that to pay him 5000 for the use of his name to signed articles would be a good investment. as the presence of the Brickley sport arti- cles would increase the papers cir culation and be a good advertisement
 This is a clear case where a man has received money because of his athletic skill. And yet Brickley re- l,c eyes of the amateur athletic union.
 But an exactly different case is that of John Thorpe, who grabbed off the Olympic hOnors in 1912. Jim de- cided couple of summers ago to get a little exercise playing ball during the vacation season. He hired out to bush league team and got some thing like $50 month and board for cavorting on the green. One day Jim was discovered, the fact that he was gathering filthy money unto himself became known, and Jim at once was found guilty of being tainted and sentenced to serve time with the New York Giants at 5000 for every six months.
 This amateur stuff is sort of funny isn't it?
 Another thing hard to define is the why's and becauses for Roger Bresna- hans presence on the Chicago Cubs bench. It's one of baseball's greatest mysteries.
 A couple of years ago, although well fortified ia the catching depart ment. Charles Webb Murphy, then at the helm of the Cubs, attached himself to Bresnahan. who had just been deposed by the Cards. Murphy signed Bresnahan for three years at S6.666.67 year. Ever since he joined the Cubs, Roger one of the ablest backstops in. the land, has done little else than adorn the bench. Everybody wondered what possessed Murphy when he lossened to the ey- tent of $20,000 just to have a man clutter up his bench
 The mystery deepened when Murphy hired Hank O'Day last winter at S7.5OO year to manage the Cubs. after he had injected the canning fluid into one John Evers. It seemed to the baseball sharps that Murphy could have justified his $2O,OOO ex- S~U'N UT . Aoi Di OoddHdH Uy dppOlIt- ing him manager-a job to which he seems we'll suited and at which he has had experience But Chubby Charles didn't do any iustifying-he just hired Hank and let Roger go along filling his palties with silvers from the bench.
 Charles P. Taft. the owner of the Cubs. since Charles was showed off into the cooler continues to let Rogers occupy the bench. Why? No one knows. although there's a sus- picion in Chicago that some of these nice sunshiny days Taft is going to can Hennery O'Day and trot Roger into the focus of the calcium wear ing the label Manager of the Cubs. :"
 But in the meantime Roger isn't worrying. Why should he? Isn't he getting his $500 or so every other week?
 Jerome Travers' miserable show ing in the English golf tournament is now being attributed to the fact that he was nervous because of the know ledge that $25.OO0 had been bet nl, him to win. That's funny alibi. If anybody ever bet even $2.50 on us to win anything we'd feel so flatter- ed over it that we'd get away in the lead and be so far ahead of the field at the halw way mark. that even pair of Lick telescopes couldn't locate us.