Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-09-30
THE BLACK BOOK
The Picher-Better Places His Last Cent on Cheyenns
Johnny Merry Gets Into the Game.
Duke Pitches
BY CHARLES E. VAN LOAN
The worlds Greatest writer Of Baseball Fiction.

had taken his departure-Merrv ,o,,..
him to the front door and shooa, ~ "
hand three times-Johnny strolIed o.. n's ~
the desk and picked up a morning rs..lN 70
Looking at the entries for todsge
see,' remarked the hotei clerk. "IJs...s
anything?" eru
why, yes, George" said Merry, g.,
What time do you get the result OF M.
NTH race up in this part OF town ?" '"e
Somewhere urouno o O'Clock. I th,rt /,
answered the clerk. but IN bsya
looked up for you"
Pray do" said Merry.
Know anything in the ffth7" -.
sisted the clerk. per-
Not a thing, George" said thu -
ager. stepping into the elevator; ',not
thing" O'
There's a wise Ikei" said the ci.ry -
himself. He seized the paper ana 49, 20
studying the entries for the attn reea
"Cranston. Miss Folly, Geneseo, Arh,,os
cheyenne. Harry Lee-that one ought 70
be favorite-Lawless, Perdicarls. n s,,,o ~
Mutt, Black Bart, Charlie MOBILES sns
Fennimore. Geel 1 wish I knew r,ha. NV
Merry's got up his sleeve. A good thin.
I'll betl" '"'"s'
Whenever the Dudes and the Port..
hooked up in a series, the fans kna..
that they would see what JOHNNY Marr'.
called "a bear fight" The Ponies war.
second-division material, but even ~.
they never failed to give the first =, az
vision Dudes a breathless run for thei-
money. Baseball leagues are snottaa
with just such upside-down Instances
1t may have been that the Ponies w.
spurred to greater exertion by person.I
apimus; certainly there wasn't a pitcher
on Monk Lawson's STAFF who would moi
willingly pitch himself out to the urrI.
to beat the Dudes. 1t was this traditIon
coupled with the position OF Merry's cIuh
In the pennant race, which drew the fan.
to the park in shoals for the opening
game of the series.
Johnny, idly tossing a ball back ana
forth. scanned the prospect with twink
ling eyes.
Never saw such Tuesday crowd ,r
this burg i'm my life," said he: ''and .
they amt here to see their team win
They're here to see us lose. BOYS. we'll
have to disappoint these yokels TODAY"
IT'S funny" said Doc Culver. one q,
Merry's pitchers but we've always been
about as well thought of in this town as
mouse in pan of milk. There they
go now! Listen to them"
From the bleachers came hostile cries,
"oh. you fioorwalkers!" where's my
powder puff" Pshawi I've left INV
handkerchief in the clubhouse"
Yes" said the great Cartwright. ths
star pitcher and the highest-salaried man
on the pay roll, barring Merry '1f YOU
want to hear these gorillas cheer, get out
there and pull a boot or two. Rotten
town."
over on the other bench, Dutch Oren-
dorn and Bush Hawley were watching
the Duke, third on the firing line, with
Handsome Harry McCarter shooting his
splitter on one side of him, and Tommy
Tulane limbering up his 'qulver ball' on
the other
How does the Duke look to your"
asked Bush anxiously.
Like he'd had a bad night" said
Orendorff; "but / was behind him a min
ute ago; and that fast break ball of his
has got hop to it that'd knock your
eye out. You notice he amt said a word
TO anybody since he got his uniform on?"
Yes" said Bush; but he amt bettin'
today Bo wasn't at the clubhouse, be-
cause I asked some of the boys and
they hadn't seen him."
ITS time the Duke was gettin' onto
himself" growled orendorff. He knows
he amt got no business thinkin' about
horse races at this stage of the game"
Umpire Danny Regan approached Monk
at three-fifty-fve.
who's the caucus nominee?' he asked.
His lordship?"
You bet!' said Monk Danny I
never look for any the best of it, but
give us all that's coming. will you?"
And a few of the close ones, hey7"
laughed the umpire. well, don't worry
you'll get all that's coming-and no
more"
) A moment later silence fell over the
crowd while Regan beloved the an
nouncement; 1t was Cartwright against
clifton, each club putting forward its
best.
CONTINUED TOMORROW