Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-12-27

THE famous Tommy Murphy Of
MANY as the premier driver of trottinss
horses in the country. has Just completed
within the last year. Mariondale and DR.,
Nick. his first two purchases. have made
good in the big ring, the former being the
| only horse to defeat McGregor the Great
DR.. Nick has also won number of trots.
The latest Nebraska to be. bought by
Murphy is Alta Donovan, the. crack A.
| year-old, formerly owned by Al Thomas.
Thomas sold the horse to. Otis Smith
when leaving the city. the price being only
$1,000. Smith peddled the same horse to
princely sum Of $4,000.
| Murphy's new .trotter will be entered in
the Grand Circuit races next year. she
is eligible for the 2:l4 mile and half
mile events. The veteran driver considers
her an even better prospect than DR.. Nick
or Mariondale though he has had marked
success with those two trotters.
A PRoPos of the recent Callahan
Fighting" Ketchell bout at Fort Oma-
ha. Jimmy Drexel. whom we quoted re- re-,
Gently. saying he charged Callahan with
picking his own opponent for the Fort
Omaha scrap. says he is afraid his state
ment was taken wrongly by some of the
fans. He called at the Bee office and
asked to be put right with the Fort oma-
misunderstood it.. Jimmy declares he did
not say that he thought It was framed"
ight; he would let the fans use their own
judgement as to that, but he would not
retract his statement that Callahan chose
his own opponent.
Readers may verify the fact of that
statement by referring to the issue of The
Bee of Tuesday. December % and We'd
nesday. December "a, in which Drexeps
statement was published. The article
n inIu hot ToII hon
with picking his own. opponent. but said
nothing about whether it was a fixed
fight or not. A a matter of fact. the
writer did not see Drexel after the bout.
picking, before the first preliminary went
The writer's IA years of actual expert
ence in the boxing game should fit him
well enough to pick ''phoney" when he
that bout as a "fiim.flam." Callahan may
or may not have had a hand in it, but
Ketchell surely did do ''dive" and should
be forever barred from the ring in all
parts of the country. Lieutenant Hall
show should not be held at fault for the
fiasco. for they. were as badly taken in
as any of the fans at the ringside. They
had no means of knowing how the scrap
would terminate and if Callahan and his
manager were in a plot with Ketchell and
Sam Jordan. Ketchelrs manager, to make
it quick finish, they did not take the
promoters into their confidence. for if they
had, it is safe to say that neither Hall
nor Ryan, two regular. square fellows"
would have permitted it.
THE Western league may undergo re-
. organization at the annual meeting of
the league magnates. which will be held
here. at the Fontenelle hotel. early in
February. Pa Rourke left Omaha last
night. going south to locate training
Pa remembers the disadvantages the
Rourkes labored under in 1919, when they
prepared for the season on the home lot.
They were lily prepared to meet the we'll
conditioned southern teams and were con-
seauently left at the post" when the sea-
son opened.
Rourke will arrive in the southland with
an open mind. having no definite plans
for the location of his training camp. He
has several places in mind, but may select
none of them. Waco and Paris. Tex, will
Oklahoma towns. The city that offers the
best occomodations for conditioning ball
team will be selected and Pa assures us
that he will pick a good training field. as
he is anxious to open next season with
leading team.
The new Omaha manager, Jack Leli-
welt. will probably be here in time for the
league meeting. Owner Rourke says Leli-
welt will probably issue orders for the
players to report here about March 10
The team will leave Omaha on March 16
and the local fans will be able to judge the
benefits. Of the southern training and the
change in managerial policy when the team
returns for the opening of the champion
ship season in Omaha, about May 5.