The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1929-12-24
"
l ALKING
IT OVER
BY JOE WILLIAMS
NEW YORK, Dec. "a.

THE Sartorially perfect Mr.. James
Il j. Walker has just voted him
self salary lift from $4,000 TO
$4,000 with benefit If referendum
as mayor of the largest city in
America, and If one Is to judge by
the public attitude of press and pub
lie the gentleman should be COM
PEELED to stand trial charged with
pillaging the municipal treasury in
broad daylight While offhand 1t
would seem that this kind of sugar
Is hardly sufficient TO keep Mr..
Walker in fawn colored spats or
otherwise begarb his mayoral chas-
sis in the metriculouS manner to
which It is accustomed, this is not
a detail that interests your CORE
Spondent vitality.
Within the very near future Mr..
George Herman Ruth is to appear
before the owners Of the New York
Yankees and submit the following
demands with reference TO his new
contract (A) 100000 per season for
one year, OBJ $500 per season for
two years.
am told that Mr. Ruth now grown to
financial onuIence and tempted daily by
attractive offers to lend his extraordinary
talents to VARIOUS business enterprises is
prepared to add by way of a truculent post
script, land you can take Ii or leave It,"
In other words. Mr.. Ruth is rehearsinE for
the role Of hold out.
u
WHAT has this got 10 do with
wv the salary increase, which MFG
Walker after much jealous entreaty
persuaded Mayor Walker to accept?
Nothing In precisely relevant sense
except that the same public, which
protests against any sort of salary
increment for the chief administra-
tor of It's affairs Is pretty sure to
line up solidly and paSsionately be-
hind Mr.. Ruth in his demands for
a more robust pay check.
ct Is a strange commentary on
Il the public procedure that in
these matters its sympathieS are
seldom expressed favorably except
in such instances where some big
guy who can slam ball a mile or
knock fellow Stevedore out of the
ring with a well-timed left upper
cut Is sitting out in the anteroom
mumbling in his beard that he's
gotta have more dough or it's all off.
I think It was n sum Of $50 900 that was
given TO the magnificent Madame Curie on
her recent visit to America. It may have
been . greater sum. At any rate 1t was
given to help further her scientific re-
searches In the field of rsdium.
recall reading a letter Of protest
In one of the newspapers in which
the writer demanded to know why
this money was not kept in America
where it was needed and when in
the name of common sense was this
country going to get wise to itself
and quit throwing its wealth away
on them foreigners.
q It
T DON'T happen to know the iden-
u tity of the writer, but I have a
feeling that he would be one of the
= first to subscribe to million dollar
fund to beguile Dempsey back into
the ring and that he surely would
lead the list in writing letters to the
editors urging boycott on the
Yankee stadium if Colonel James
Rupert fails to give Mr.. Ruth
precisely what he asks, in addition
to carefully phrased apology for
having caused the great man the
slightest inconvenience.
q
There is nothing sporadic or local about
this type Of psychology as applied to sports
the hand and to other reasonably
important civic and social activities on the
other hand. Ninety-nine persons out of
any given hundred can tell you that the
four greatest back field men in the land
this year were Marsters. eagle. McEver
and Carideo, or at least name you four
almost as great, but the ratio would prob
ably be Just the reverse IL the problem en-
tailed naming the four greatest educators
Of the year, or even two Of them, IL there
were that many.
Undoubtedly this is all wrong and
one of these days there will be a
violent upheaval among the right
thinkers of the work-a-day world,
and all that Is spurious and shallow
will give way before the mighty rush
of truth and genuine accomplish
ment.
q
DUT in the meantime it Is neceS-
- sary to consider the case of
Mr.. Ruth and his impending at
tack on the Rupert bank roll. This
promises to be one of the faScinat-
ing high lights of the agony sea-
son, as that part of the year in
which the emagnutS have the floor
Is called. Mr.. Ruth, of course, will
get what he wants or come close to
1t, and If he threatens to quit base
ball, the threat will never material
lie for two reasons; Cd the Yankees
won't let him, and Cd Mr.. Ruth
won't quit.
The Kuthian contract will be furiously
ballyhoOed. The Yankees will see 30 that.
But when the firing grows thickets. Just
yawn and reach for a sweet. NothinE's
rolnK to happen,