Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-09-14

Neiissn, a deaf ana dumb catcher. who Is
a wonder. After much argument Jim Ssic per,
wonicr. who has ? whip I've l2-, 9nu-
meteor and bat without any holes In IT,
copyright. 1911. by street 9 smith)
In the first practice game Gabby was
sent In TO catch for the recruits. ana tne
regulars. bv switching signals every IN
ming endeavored to outwit him on titv %
bases. The plan Of campaign was az,
right but Gabby's chan-lightning rlght
arm put a fearful crimp into II. te nlag
not have interpreted the signals' ou''
after ne had twice caught "Streak Ow-
Ter attempting TO steal second oase, ne
had established his local reputaton'
Penny was right about his being aOle 70
allow a base runner a lead ana thell
catch him on sheer speed. When II came
20 battling, Gabby mauled "hinky De
vines best offerings in a soandalous man
ner, standing up to the plate WIN as
much easy grace and confidence as II ne
had been pulverizing big-league pitchers
all his life.
While Nelligan, the ball player. was
making good with the manager. Nelh-
can the human being, was ESTABLISHING
himself with his teammates They uld
not take to him at first They were III
at ease i'm his presence, partly because
of his almost uncanny intelligence, ana
partly because Gabby had a disconcert-
ing habit of looking every speaker fun
in the face, as IL trying TO read the
thought behind the eyes. CThey did not
know that the poor fellow was trying
to master lip readng) The opening
wedge was driven home when Michigan
horned into" very prosperous little
crap game which was running in
Judge" Nagle's room. laid a $lO-note
on the floor, and made six passes without
picking up cent.
This guy can't talk" said the Judge
sourly; land he most certainly can't
near anything; but, believe me- hes
no-o-o piIer. He's a real feller, after
ALL"
The poker experts with the club OBJ
served a wistful light in Gabby's bright.
inuuiring eyes, and made signs inviting
him to take part in the pastime. Thec-
retically there should be no better poker
PLAYER in the world than a man who
can neither hear nor speak. Gabby used
his ewes in the game, and, being trained
10 read expressions, the things which he
did to Hollins. Curran, Richardson and
Ferris were painful in the extreme.
"This dummy can smell a bluff a mile
away" said Roaring Bill" Curran sadly,
as he tossed away four hearts and a
spade. He just outguesses me, that's
| ALL"
In addition to these card-and-dice ac-
complishments, Gabby put on the eight
I ounce gloves with Willis Green, the left
fielder For three seasons Willis had
been getting away with a story that he
had once fought and won several ring
/ battles under the name of Joe Kelly
/ Gabby Nelligan did not know this, and
! the boxing bout was intended to be in
/ the nature of a surprise party for him
/ 1t was a surprise party, but Willis Green
was the victim.
Gabby laid away the Joe Kelly myth,
and but for interference would have
! laid away the left fielder also. AS it
was, the dummy, handling the big pill
lows with deftness, mauled Green all
over the dressing room, blocked every
one of tine ielder's swings and nearly
jabbed his head off his shoulders with a
| rasping straight left-the prettiest blow