The Princeton union., 1920-08-19
MILACA SQUELCHED
Princeton Team Wins Game by a
Seven to Five Score in Hot
and Heavy Battle.
'Pongo" Olsen's Warriors Will be
Here Next Tuesday and Try
to Redeem Themselves.

Because Minnesota law provides
that Sunday baseball can only be
PLAYED between the hours of 1 and
o. M, one of the most bitterly fought
contests in the history of the county
came to a sudden and almost violent
end last Sunday on the Milaca
grounds. Milaca and Princeton were
the contending teams and were urged
on and applauded by a large and en-
thusiastic crowd representing the rival
towns. It was only natural that feel
ing should run a little high at this
game and when Umpire Chief
Ravenscraft of Ogilvie pulled out his
watch, saw that it was 6 p. m. or
later, calmly called the game and
walked off the field, pandemonium
broke loose. Excited groups of
players and fans Immediately formed
all over the playing field, and side
lines and arguments of every form and
description were excitcdly and heat
edly advanced why the game should
be played out o.. should not be played
out. everything from a del
lar Ingersoll to a real Hamilton time
piece were introduced in evidence to
prove CT disprovc that it was 6 O'Clock,
according to Which town the excited
fan who owned the ticker lived in.
Ordinarily staid aEd q.iet business
men forgot their dignity and standing
and argued each other purple in the
face over tE> situation Ard here's
the whole meat in tne cccoanut
Wh,a the umpire called the game IL
was tn, last half Of the ninth inning.
Tlicre was nobody outt, Milaca ;lad 8
runnc.-: ct second, and the score stood
Z to in favor of Princc::o1.
Under the rules tie game gees to
Primo ION as a 5 to z victory. Natural
ly the Milaca f:ns and team wanted a
ci12-,ce to finish The con. st and can
never be convinced but what they
would have wen had they lad an op-
portunity to complete the game. Be
that as it may, law i5 Law, and the
|umpire-in-chief, an entirely dis:nter-
ested man, not a resident of either
contending town, an old and exp,ri-
enced ball player himself, when fully
satisfied from an examination of his
own watch, which was the only official
timepiece that could be recognized
under the circumstances, did exactly
the right thing when he called the
game and walked off the field. Had
he continued to stay out and partici-
pate he himself would have been
guilty of a misdemeanor, as we'll as
every player on both teams and the
other umpire. In all probability many
OF the noisier spectators might also
have laid themselves liable to a charge
of sabbath breaking, Certainly, Mil
aca, the new county seat town, on the
eve of becoming the seat of govern
ment for Mile Laos county, would
want to set good example Of obedi-
ence to the law and law enforcement
for the rest of the county to follow.
Some Of the excited burghers of Mil
aca, who argued with force and We
hemence that the game should go on
and the law be d, will probably
agree with us now that the umpire did
his duty and officially the game goes
as Princeton victory.
Sec. 8753 of G. S. 1913 provides:
"All hunting, shooting, fishing, play
ing, horse racing, gaming and other
public sports, exercises and shows; all
noises disturbing the peace of the day;
-. are prohibited on the Sabbath day;
Provided, however, that the game
of baseball, when conducted in quiet
and orderly manner so as not to in
terfere with the peace, repose and
comfort of the community, may be
played between the hours of / D. m.
and 6 p. m. on the Sabbath day."
Sec. 1854 provides: "Every person
who breaks the Sabbath shall be gull
ty Of misdemeanor, and punished by
fine of not less than one dollar nor
more than ten dollars, or by imprison-
ment in the county Jail for not more
than five days."
Princeton failed to score in the first
round, although Doane led off for
them with smashing triple to right
center but later was called out at the
plate on an attempted sacrifice by
Erickson. Milaca put in bid for the
game right on the kick off and, aided
materially by two infield errors and
wicked double by Josh Clark, put over
three runs and sent the Milaca root
ing sections off in spasms Of joyful
lnYcifanont pp;nro%ox 1of,,.ol 4.