Evening star., 1940-08-15
Revival Of District Open Golf Tourney Under Association Auspices Looms
From the
Press Box
Semi-Pros' Impresono
Man Of Many Ideas
By JOHN LARDNER,

Rpecial Correspondent of The Star.
NEW YORK, Aug. Is (N.AN.A).-
Mr.. Ray Dumont Is a homespun
genius who promotes the National
Sem-Pro Baseball Congress every
year in Wichita, Kan. and trims 1t
like Christmas tree for the ediflca-
ton of 1876 900 fans.
Mr.. Dumont Is a man Of ideas.
Some critics call him the Leland
Stanford MacPhail of the West.
Others call MacPhail the Ray Du-
mont of the East. To avoid con-
fusion, I will call both guys by
ttTtr right names in the course Of
this parable.
In Wichita, starting this week,
Mr.. Dumont has 80 semipro teams,
the cream of the country, playing
tournament for the national
championship. He has his umpires
caparisoned in foppish sport jackets
of blue and white, along with the
standard blue serge pantaloons. At
night, ! believe, these natty ras-
Gals transfer into white tie and
tails, to be CONNIE il faut with Mr..
Dumont, a very hard man to be
CONNIE IL faut with.
Dumont's Boses Of Rubber,
Uses Machine Duster.
Mr.. Dumont has bases of rubber
instead of the usual humble can
vas. He has machine which dusts
home plate pneumatically, with a
Uhirring sound, instead of the old
fashioned whiskbroom. The wnisk-
broom was considered the final word
in progress when Marconi invented
1t In 1902, but look at 1t now. A has
been.
major league umpires who insist
that the broom never can be re-
placed because of its symbolical
value.
1T amt so much the whisk as the
psychology" states Umpire George
Barr. For that matter, many Of
us could dust of the plate with
nothing more than a stern look.
However, when arguments arise, it
is very handy to be able to stoop
over with the broom and dust the
plate with quiet, even, artistic
strokes, until the fractious athlete
has cooled off, Very effective busi-
ness" says Mr.. Barr, the old broom
wielder.
Be that as it may, Mr.. Ray Du-
mont, the man Of tomorrow, uses
the pneumatic duster. His three
ring show in Wichita is nothing
If not progressive. Among other
things, he has harnessed that sin
lister modern device. the microphone,
as dark and dangerous a gadget as
any devised by man since Roger
Bacon went deep to his left and
came up with gunpowder.
Employs Condid Mierophone
With Awesome Results.
In the old days powerful char
acters like AL Jolson and the late
Joe Humphreys laughed scornfully
at microphones. But who's laughing
now? The latest Jolson musical
show finds the old master meekly
grooming "Rockabye Your Baby With
a Dixie Melody" into a mike, while
Harry Balogh, the heir of Hum
phreys, barks his boxing announce
ments into this same newfangled
mothers helper.
More deadly than the regular
microphone is the sneak microphone,
or candid mike" whose rise paral-
lels that of the candid camera. Mr..
Ray Dumont employs the candid
mike, with awesome results.
The first saw of this treacher-
Gus instrument was when they
started using it at prizeflghts, a few
years ago. You know how the
referee gathers the fighters and
their managers in the middle of
the ring before the bell and pretends
to discuss the rules. One day some
body sneaked a microphone down
from the ceiling into this confer
ence, and the great crowd heard
as follows: BIZ m,mm biz m'mm
what the h you know what
mean so& get out there and don't
give me no trouble"
Sneok Mike at Plate Let's
Crowd in on Arguments.
1t was a nasty shock to the
referees of this country when they
discovered what was going on.
Today the referee keeps a sharp
eye cooked for candid mikes, and
when he sees one, he flows into a
polished after-dinner speech, be-
ginning, "Mr. Louis, and you, my
dear Galento, permit me to trespass
on your time for a brief discussion
of the rules. I am reminded of a
little story told by the late Chauncey
Depew at the Elks' dinner, when he
said"
Mr.. Ray Dumont has a sneak
mike, "periscope" mike, in
Wichita. An unseen joker presses
pedal, and a microphone pops up
at home plate in the midst of a
stately debate between umpire and
ball player.
A voice suddenly booms out: eff
I'm blind, you're crippled"
II amt crippled, but you're still
blind, etc" comes the reply.
At this point, censor in the
press box Withdraws the mike, but