The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-07-10
(Reg. U. s. Pat. Of.) By JACK GUENTHER
United Press Staff Correspondent

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 New York, July 10-(UP)-When you settle back in the hushed ex- panse of concert hall and listen while Fritz Kreisler pours forth the sad and sweet strains of Caprice Viennoise-credit the touch.
 When you perch on the edge of high-legged stool in an upper case pool hall and watch Willie Hoppe use the magic in his arms and wrists to run up one quick point after another-it's all in the touch.
 And when Luigi strops his trusty blade and begins slicing the two day-old stubble off your cheek with feathery lightness-well, brother, call it what you will, it's still what l know as touch.
 The violinist has it. The billiard player has it. The barber has it and the safe cracker has it. And, as they have it, so must the pro- fessional athlete have it. Take the word of black-haired, black-eyed Freddie Corcoran on that score, and he has lived among athletes for 15 years. As Brother Corcoran phrases the point, "The touch is all or nothing"
 Hagen Has Touch
 "Take Walter Hagen" he said. 'He is one of the great golfers of history. He is that because he has the touch. Have you ever seen him shave? Well, Walter can shave with a straight razor in two minutes flat, meanwhile talking over the phone, carrying on conversation in his hotel room and mentally determining how to play the 18th hole on the second nine"
 Corcoran paused for breath and continued.
 "Or consider Horton Smith," he said. Smith is the greatest butter in the game-because he has a put ting touch. He wears a glove while playing; he discards it while put ting. He is so conscious of this touch he refuses to shake hands, drive an automobile or carry any sort of bag or valise. He knows his hands are the most priceless assets he ha3-and he protects them"
 What this all leads up to is that no matter what branch of competi- tive sport you enter you must have the subtle sensitiveneSs which Cor coran calls touch. Smith has it, and he wins golf matches. Sam Snead lacks it--and that is one big reason it took him five years to win a major title. Snead has the drive, the approach and the trap shot but he hasn't the touch.
 Tt isn't confined to golf, either" added Corcoran, who is PGA tour nament manager. T remember Howard Ehmke. Remember him from that 1929 world series? Well, Ehmke didn't have much of a fast ball but he had a feather-e edged touch. He had it in baseball and he had it in golf. He was one of the toughest amateur golfers I ever saw"
 Born and Made
 Corcoran claims that this elusive touch" is something a man must be born with. Further than that, it is something he must cultivate. To be gifted alone isn't enough. The man who has the touch must recognize 1t and muset spend his time developing it. As testimonial to this opinion, he offers the advice of trick shot artist Joe Kirkwood:
 "The great touch man is born and made"
 Your fingers feel thin," Freddie continued. They feel much as the fingers of Jimmy Valentine felt the night he twirled the knobs of that safe. They feel like Toscanini's hands at the Met. If you want to know just how those hands feel, take some fine sandpaper and scrape 1t across your fingers You'll get the feeling; but you won't get the touch."
 Corcoran has another idea which he likes to stress. That is, that the man who has both touch and rhythm would make a well nigh unbeatable golfer Rhythm can be obtained straight from music. Like for instance, Freddie's idea that