The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-08-11
BY HARRY FERGUSON proes Suoy4s Editor'

(Un1teU EEeSS SpOEtS EuAtUEl
 New York, Aug. II -(UP)-T bet was made last New Years eve and, fortunately, was written down on a menu in cafe where your agent had repaired to eat a vege- table dinner and discuss renaiS- sance art while the old year sighed and died.
 The menu was extracted from the files today and it read: John Armstrong bets Harry Ferguson $8 to $5 that champagne cocktail 40 cents during the calendar year 1941 minimum check for any table $1 the United States Golf associa- tion bread and butter five cents extra with a la carte orders shall not promulgate any rule or deci- sion not responsible for coats and hats unless checked with the man. agement that makes sense. In case the bettors if you like our food tell your friends are unable to agree on whether a rule makes sense ragout of beef with potato pan- cake the question shall be referred to a neutral party"
 Time has dimmed the memory of that evening, but it seems that wagered $5 that the USGA, some time during the year, would come through with a reasonable and sensible rule. I must have been flushed with a Sweet Adeline spir- it that evening, or I never would have made such a rash bet. Noth- ing in the past performance of the, USGA would indicate that I had a chance to win.
 Well, today I collected the $8.
 Field Reversed
 The USGA, reversing the field neatly, has ruled that hereafter if lightning starts flashing across golf course during a tournament, the players can save their lives by taking shelter. They don't even have to ask permission of the USGA, either, to save their lives. Heretofore the rule has been that if lightning starts playing around the steel shafts of the clubs, a con- testant should just brush it aside and concentrate on smacking No. 8 iron to the green. Only when he heard siren blow could he seek shelter, and If he tried to get away from the lightning before the USGA told him to, he was out of the tournament.
 MT. Armstrong said flatly that he didn't believe 1t when he was informed that the new rule had been handed down. On being shown the official announcement from the USGA, he readily agreed to pay the bet. MT. Armstrong, a lawyer by trade, has been col- lecting the decisions of the USGA for years and laughing his head off over them.
 There is a suspicion abroad that the newest USGA ruling is re- suit of the day of the great flood in this years National Open cham pionship at Fort Worth.
 Your agent is one of the sur- vivors of that ordeal and he can testify that the clements really wound up and let the human beings have it. It rained two ways-hori- zontal and vertical. Thunder rolled d1lQ O1lOOh L1lC R1CSo OCAAts hlS41b- ming raced over the golf course like women on their way to a silk stocking sale.
 Demaret Not Satisfied
 No one could understand why the USGA didn't halt the tourna- ment. One USGA official was asked about it and his classic reply was: "Oh, they never halt them on the other side, you know
 He meant England. That reason wasn't sufficient for Jimmy Dem aret, the well-known professional, who decided he valued his life more than he did the U. s. Open title, SO he ran for shelter and withdrew from the tournament. Plenty of others felt like doing the same thing.
 There is no indication that this trend of rational decisions by the USGA will continue. In fact, in winning the wager. your agent has the surprised feeeling of man who hit the Irish sweepStakes-it's something that occurs once in a | lifetime,