The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-10-14
Snyder Islanders
 Tanks And They Angrily Hit Pill
By WESTBROOK PEGLER (Leased Wire to The AEe-Herald)

NEW YORK, Oct 13.-The atmos- phere of sweet amity and sporting concord, which pervaded the open ing festivities of this years world series has been seriously if not fatally curdled by the unrestrained language and the unbridled gestur- ing of some of the young sports men.
 The bat is mighty, but the two home runs that Babe Ruth made in the second game, his triple in the first, and the double that went crooning from his wanton wand on Saturday afternoon were as nothing compared to the words that have flowed from the Babes typewriter. Among contemporary authors, 1t is generally conceded that Ruth ham mers graphic space-bar when he sets him down to send some words swinging. Certain critics prefer the works of Luis Angelo Firpo but others admire Ruth for the very rug geGness of his style. The records, however, speak for themselves, the league giving the certified and ac- cepted records of the season show that Ruth, on September 4, while writing in Boston, split an infinitive l0S feet 12 extra inches, from a sit ting start, a new world indoor rec ord for this event. The old record established by Battling Ski in series on Lions That Have Been Bit ten by Me" published in the London Spectator last spring was precisely three feet short of Ruth's achieve ment. Firpo, who is covering the world series for his public in a se- ries of dispatches from Cleveland, is inclined to look down on the lit- erary achievements of Ruth.
 'Infinitive- splitting" said Luis Angelo in a recent lecture before the young mems Chilli Con Carne and Literary Study Circle of Ninety sixth street, lis what I regard as speciality"
 "A man may split an infinitive from here to One Hundred and Tenth street and St. Nicholas avenue ana not be able to mix metaphor prop erly. l tell you, my friends, it is the metaphor mixers who will save the literature of the United States. You may split a nations infinitives put leave me mix It's metaphors"
 However, the present difficulty be- tween the Yankees and the Giants does not concern the literary rivalry between Ruth and Firpo. It is born Of reflections on the spo1 1tsmanship Of the Giants which Ruth has made Tn print since the series began. These reflections, in turn. were evoked by certain utterances which Pancho Snyder, the Giants catcher muttered through his mask to Erin ward, the Yankees second baseman in the second game.
 Why don't you wash your neck ?" snyder is said to have inquired of ward as Ward went to bat in q criti cal moment.
 It appears that Ward had washed ms neck comparatively recently, and ne, therefore, took considerable um- praSe at the remark and a swipe at fast one, high, inside, at which he had no intention to take swipe.
 The next day Ruth thundered a protest in print. It was one of his masterpieces. From start to finish the article resounded with crash after cash as infinitives were sun dered and flung tC distant objec- tiVes.
 By merest chance there were sev- eral players on the Giants team who are addicted to classic litrature and some of them read Ruths article. They told the other players about Ruths accusation and the feud be- gan. It made itself evident in Fri days game when Casey Stengel cir cled the bases after looping his home run into the right field stand. Fin l spectators probably thought this ges- ture was one of the McGraw system of code signals, but it was actually an insult to the famous author.
 In Saturdays game. therefore, the difficulty had assumed the intensity of hatred. The Yankees in their dug out parked and rasped all afternoon at the Giants, and Pancho Snyder, crouching behind the bat, demanded of every Yankee player who came to bat: Why don't you wash your neck?"
 This so infuriated the Yankees that they began shaking their bats at the Giants scattered about the campus, and every time a Yankee waggled a bat hit went looping to the far fences. And there you have the real story of the smashing of the Giants in the fourth game of the worlds series, which now stands even up.