The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1916-01-20
neutrality-suspicious.
To Have His Troubles
So Says Writer Who Explains At Some Length the
Hauteur of Braves New PreSident-Roya
Rooters Will Have To Be Appeased

! With all due respect TO the undoubted
genius of Percy D. HauEhton as foot
1 ball coach, he may find the going just a
| little bit tough in his new role as pres-
dent of the Boston Braves. says a
writer in the st. Louis Globe Democrat.
Haughton is placed in the difficult
position Of a man who has a lot to
learn In ono direction and just as much
| to unlearn in another. In The first place.
he must acquire a talent for meeting all
, sorts of people and making a good I'M
preston on them. In the second he
must forget that he knows anything
about the playing end of baseball
one OF the principal functions O a
| club president is to keep the fans in IA
good numor. He must do a lot OF hand.
shaking and must kid EN- along when
things are not going well. The better
mixer he Is, the better he will re:
along. providing he has the necessary
executive ability to look after tho bust
ness affairs OF his office.
Inc Harvard coach is about as af-
table as a fish. 1t Is a comparatively
easy matter to drop around to the pal
ace and have a nice informal chat with
the Car of all the Russias. All YOU
nave to do is TO get past a few hundred
soldiers and secret police, run the CANT
let of countless aides de camp and sec
retaTies and once in the imperial pres
ence. Nick will hand out a good lO-cent
cigar and talk baseball, war and poll
tics as nicely as YOU please.
But getting confidential with Percy
Haughton Is something else again. Al!
most anybody can meet him on the
street and try to buttonhole him, but
the man who assays il needs fur
overcoat and heavy gloves Percy is so
cold that he Is his own summer resort
and the men who arc IN his vicinity
have to wear heavy nannels and ear
nuns OH the waTmest days
AS head of his wonderful. victory
producing Harvard football system ne
has been able to hold himself aloof from
everybody and act the part of czar so
big games that the demSS3 for tickets
exceeds the supply several times over.
Harvard football Is a sort of just
among ourselves affair, anyway, and the
public doesn't have TO be considered.
.
The Crimson's adherents care nothing
about the personality of tho coach. so
long as he delivers the goods. and
Haughton does not have to "mitt" any
BODY when his team is wiping up the
gridiron with Yale annually. Anyone
who complained that the coach was too
aU'oCratic would be silcnCcd by a re-
Cital Of the scores made by IlauChton's
team IN recent seasons.
Things are different I'm baseball how
ever. There will be no danger OF getting
too many fans into the mammoth
Braves field and the management has
10 make an effort to nlcasC all it's Gus
toners and to keep OF getting new ones.
Just as soon as HauGhton attempts to
freeze some well-meaninG individual. the
word will spread that he Is trying to
break il off in the public and 1t will not
take long for him to lose a lot of pa
irons
Among his personal friends HauEhton
is nc doubt a pleasant companion. but
that will not get him ANYTHING when he
begins to rub IN against the great
American public. BOston's fans are very
Jealous of their pTeToEatives. too. and
several times have disciplined nagnates
who have presumed too much OH their
patience, No longer ago than 1912 the
ROYAL Rooters thought themselves
abused because no seats had been re-
served for them at the seventh game,
and they quit cold on the club,
The result was that the attendance
at the final battle fell far below what
IL ought TO have been and the con-
tenders lost thousands Of dollars. Al.
most of the whole body of fandom and
the mayor as ", i tool. - tho root
Crs' quarrel and ., IS generally be-
lievqd that Nc Aleer and Mc'toy had to
quit the Hub just because of the fuss
that enSued.
II is entirely possible that laugh
ton will drop his huuteur when he
enters upon his new duties. Per-
haps he assumes the attitude of
aloofnoSs i'm the beLct that il best
served the ends Of efficiency. his one
god Maybe he viii blossom out as
one Of the most arfable OF men. n
seems unlikely, however, that he will