The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-02-26
Alexander the Great Begins 3Oth Year of
 His Life Today

! The first Alexander the Great, who | graduated from the Macedonian bush and showed up the Persian League
 was about twenty-four years old when
 he started out to conquer the world.
 The second Alexander the Great had attained about the same age when he broke into the National League and 1 set about the task of showing up the 1 batsmen thereof. The greatest twirler
 of them all will begin his thirtieth year today, as he was born on Fepru- ary 26, 1887.
 | Grover Cleveland Alexander made
 his mundane debut a farm in the vicinity of EIba, a tiny village in How
 ard county, Nebraska. St. Paul, where i he made his first reputation as a ball ! player and where he now resides, is 1 the county seat of the same county. l Alexander has travelled far and wide | in the last decade, but to him there | is no place like the old Nebraska home, near the shores of the LOup river, where he played as a kid. St. PauPs 1,5OO or so people return the 1 affection in good measure, and if he had political ambitions there is no doubt that he could be elected to any office within the gift of the voters of Howard county. AIexander's home town is just a typical Nebraska, farming village, with flour mills, a canning factory, and a few other local industries. It isn't as large as Wahoo, the birthplace of that other celebrated Nebrasxan, Sam Crawford, but what St. Paul lacks in size it more than makes up in pride in it's own hero.
 Alexander pere, as may be imagined, was a staUnch democrat, and it was
 the most natural thing in the world that his young hopeful should be 1 christened Grover Cleveland. As a youngster Grover was usually called A h. popular &with his comrades. He grew
 like stalk of Nebraska corn, and passed the six foot mark by an inch. As a boy he varied the rnonotony of farm duties by attending a rural school
 and playing ball on the St. Paul nine. Alexander was a bear when it came to denuding< ears of corn of their husks. Anybody who has ever tried husking corn knows that it is a strain
 on the wrists and arm, and it may be
 tha tthis work helped a lot in develop ing AIexander's salary wing.
 Like many other farm boys, Alec tired of the country, and honed for town, job. He got it from 8 telephone
 company, which hired him to dig holes
 at one and 8 half beans per diem. He got his first chance to pay ball for
 money in 1908, when a senni-pro out
 fit in Central City offered him $40 per
 month. After a few months he landed a better job with the Burwen club,
 getting a hundred per month.
 That latter figure looked pretty soft
 to Grover, and he decided to stick in
 the game. The following season he
 landed a job in a regular league, play
 ing with GaIesburg, ILL In <mid-sea-
 son he<was seriously injured, receiving
 a blow the head from a ball which for time threatened his life, and
 which put his eyes on the bum for a
 long time thereafter. Alexander had
 made quite reputation with Gales
 burg, and shortly after his injury he was sold to Indianapolis.
 Naturally the Hoosfer manager was somewhat peeVish when he found
 how he had been "so1d" Alexander wasn't able to pitch again that year, and in 1910 he was released to Syra-
 cuse; in the New York State League. There Grover recovered his old cun- ming and attracted the attention of several major league scouts. The Phillies got him at the drafting price of $75O-perhaps the biggest bargain
 in the history of the modern game.
 What the big Nebraskan has accom- plfshed with the Quakers since he joined that club in 1911 it isn't neces- sary to mention. He has been a whole
 ball club in himself.