Evening star., 1925-01-07

The other boys in the mine joshed
me about taking a job at less money.
They couldn't understand why a fell
low would do such a thing. And l
wouldn't have if it hadn't been for
my mother and brother. a couple of
dollars a week was a lot of money to
the kids in Pittston-and to their
families as well.
We'll get along all right" mother
assured me. "I want you to grow up
TO be something besides a miner. You
won't get very far working with your
hands alone"
Again I informed her I would be
q base ball player some day. She
smiled and told me in the meantime
to work hard in the office, go to night
school and let my base bail future
take care Of itself.
Merle Tries TO Be Kind.
stan, you're a live-wire kid and
this may mean good break for YOU"
Merle told me when l made the
change. It's a tough racket trying
TO make the grade in professional
base ball, and you're so doggone small
you'll have a lot of trouble. Now, IL
your size should be against you,
you'll be set for a good job with the
coal company.
I'm not through growing yet" I
answered. TIL be big enough to play
base ball for living some day if I've
got the other stuff"
Alta boy" Merle came back. But
always leave yourself protected when
you make a jump. Don't neglect
sure thing to gamble on an uncer-
tainty. Do your best on the job and
the next one will take care of itself"
Knowing how set 1 was on becom-
ing a base ball player, and knowing
from personal experience the fierce
competition for minor and major
league berths, Merle was preparing
me for what he feared would some
day be a great disappointment He
didn't set very high value in those
days on my playing ability. And l
don't blame him, either. Few kids
ever looked less like major league
timber.
The Butler colliery was four miles
from Pittston. I had to get UP at
$40 in the morning to catch the
company train for the mine. Mother
would let me sleep until the last pos
sible minute. 1 could dress as fast
as a fireman. She would have hot
breakfast on tn etable when / raced
into the kitchen.
She would see I was bundled up to
the eyes on cold mornings. And that
was a tough winter, too. l must have
made a strange sight, as I logged up
and down the wind-swept platform
to keep warm while waiting in the
lantern light for the train to take me
to work. l came in for a lot of JOSH
ing from the miners because of my
clothing Much of It had once been
Merles. Some of 1t was patched.
One of them, Pole, who had Amer
icanized his name to Nick Stanley,
had a lot of good natured fun with
me. He was a giant in stature. Like
most big men, he was slow to anger.
The only time 1 ever saw him mad
was when he beat up two fellow Poles
who ousted me from my seat and
dropped me, none too gently, in the
aisle They evidently had had hard
night in the barrooms. Certainly
they needed the seat more than l
did but Nick didn't like their meth
DDS.
Gets Some Good Advice.
When he had beaten them up thor
oughly he took the seat and pulled
me in beside him. In his precise Eng
lish he told me that when 1 grew up
never to let a big man pick on
little one Poor Nick! He went to
France to fight for his adopted coun-
try and never returned.
Nick and I became great friends. he
would joke me about being all COW
cred up except my eyes, advise me
always to keep them open and to use
them daily to learn something. He
predicted that I would be mine boss.
He couldn't understand why 1 wanted
TO be a base ball player. / read him
the sporting pages, telling of big
league salaries. They were far less
then than now. To Nick the figures
Sc emed fabulous. They did to me, too.
Maybe I won't ever make as much
as $4,000 a year" l told Nick, but
I'll make couple of hundred a
month"
Don't aim for the low-aim for
the high" Nick advised. Some day
you will be big-then you can do
big things"
He had been going to night school
and had studied copy book proverbs.
But no one can say his, philosophy
was unsound Nick was a friend. all
right / wish he might have seen the
world series with the Giants.
Copyright, 1929
Tomorrow? Sunday school League