The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1916-04-06
N. J. Stanton. Maker Of Stanton Chai-
enge Checker Board, Asks
For Fair
Play.
WANTS MATTER SETTLED
Checker Players Across the River
Are Willing to Play a Toura-
ment to Decide the
Honors.

communication from M. J. Stanton of
Hamilton, maker OF the Stanton chal
lenge checker board and one OF tho
leading checker players of. that city
Mr.. Stanton complains that the Ham
1lton men have not had a square deal
from the Keokuk players and asks
that steps be taken to decide for once
and for all time who Is to possess the
coveted prize.
There has not been a contest played
yet between the two sides, that a hot
ter one was not waged through news
paper columns. This trying to play
games in the newspapers instead of
on the checker board is not getting
either side any place. Mr.. Stanton's
communication deserves earnest con-
sideration, and II the points he makes
are true ones, some effort should be
made by the leaders Of the two sides,
toward getting out Of the tangle and
playing OF the deciding match or
matches.
The checker tournament has been
an interesting one and also a profit
able one and 1t should not end in
wrangling and rag chewing. A COM
mittee from the two sides should get
together and decide just how the re-
mainder of the tournament is to be
conducted and then play it all out on
the checker board.
Mr.. Stanton's communication Is as
follows:
Hamilton, H., April 5, 1915.
Editor Gate City, Keokuk. Iowa.
Dear Sir. Inasmuch as you have
devoted so much space in The Gate
City to the superiority of the Keokuk
checker players as displayed in the
contests for the Stanton challenge
board, possibly 1t would be of some
little interest to get the view Of the
thing from a Hamilton angle.
When l offered the board to Hamfl-
ton and Keokuk checker players to
be a challenge board during my So
iourn in Hamilton. 1t was explained
to the checker players of both cities
that / knew that Hamilton had a
number of young checker players who
were developing very fast and un-
doubtedly Keoiuk must have num-
Der that would get into the game
with added enthusiasm If there was
some incentive, and that we would
try to pair them off, beginning with
the younger players so that the con-
tests would be reasonably even and
that we would develop a lot Of the
younger players in that way. This
scheme was agreed to and the day
set for the first contest and Keoku1
sent Victory Story over as her rep
Those who know "Vic' will see the
Joke. Well. we explained over again
and thev consented to play Sherwood,
and what were we up against for our
younger players? However as we
had started to develop our younger
players we were determined to play
them and you have printed the scores
which may be right or wrong, and not
make particle of difference as we
have kept no score.
Here is the latest returns on the
situation: We have invited them,
and begged them, and dared them, to
play us a team match to close the
seasons tourney. making the team OF
any number that they cared to select
and letting the result of the team
match decide the superiority of the
respective cities checker players, and
they inform us that they have but four
players and one of them is sick and
so there is nothing doing on team
match play We don't care. we Will
play them a four men match, put we
would prefer to play them an eight or
ten men game We have done what
we started out to do. We have de-
veloped a lot of corking good players
although we have done 1t playing
them against their veterans, and they
have counted the scores and shout
I'VE beat ye." Maybe they can beat
us but we are not ready to acknowl-
edge it until they show little moro
spunk.