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What's the Use of Being a Detective if Everybody Knows It? :; ;• ;: By “Bud” Fisher
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WETTE TO
GIVE JOHNSON
J HIB TIME
F>v \V. S. Fa ii is wort li.
JU K JOHNSON is KOing Io
nieit Joe Jeannette in n ten
round bout in Xi e York on or
abo’.i. Si l iti mb. : The > hampion
uill, undoubtedl . win on points.
Rut. b< lievi me. tie I- going to have
a tough voyage and tie hasn’t any
more chance of stopping tin- New
York negro than I have of being
the next president of tin good old
United States.
And. also, it is tny opinion that,
after lite ton rounds ire finished,
Johnson will never agree to meet
Jeannette over a longer route
There never was a harder nut than
this same Jeannette, and lie is game
from the top of Ids head to the
bottom of Ids No. I2’s.
It has often been said that when
two negroes meet in the ring they
pull to each other. Well, there
won’t be anj pulling in this tight
Jeannette hates Johnson, and will
fight as he nev.-r lou'.'bt before to
w in
Johnson is aim. ,a n■< k.” Jean
nette is just th opp. it. There
never was a mot. manly fellow
and a cleaner liver. Jwk -pends
his spaie moments i dives, dauei
halls and cases. Jiannette. when
not in the ring, n mains at home
with in- f imii.i Jeanneite has m>
use foi a n gro of the Johnson
type.
It will be i ease ' f a good niggei
against an undesirable one. and all
New Ymk wii. in pulling for Jean
nette to win. Jin- i in of the most
popiulat fighters in tile Hast and
this despite Ins color He is re
spected by men o! w. iltli ,_ln fact,
om of the directors of the Penn
sylvania line.- is his bigge-t boost
er Thi railroad man invests all of
Jeannette s earnings i him. The
result is that todai Jm- Inn enoiigii
of tie filthy stufl I ■ i'tile and live
eomfortabl) tin- re- of bis days.
Johnson can heat Jeannette on
points in a ten-round bout, but over
a tonic .i n mom.' v .mid go on
Jeannette.
V \ ERYlit di\ s ■ , i - it' Bob
l-’u -simnioi' i> . >at• •-1 i" an
noun< i that lie Is going to come
back Ruby Robert of the Speckled
Spots climbed into thi ring at the
Flynn-Smith tight in New York
last night was introduced ami
• then sprung the following:
’’Gentlemen. I want to conn back.
lam going w st.nt training tomor
row and will bi icadr to tight in
about <>ne month '
After the emeu, nment was oxer
newspaper men “got to’’ Fitz and
found that In is leallx serious in
his intention to g.-t back into the
ring.
”1 am still the undefeated middle
weight and light hear -, w eight
champion of the worm.' Fitz told
the scribes. “I particular!' desire
to get a match with Tom Shark?' ’’
Sharkey, who was - anding near
by, overheard tin .-m.irk awl came
back with this
“J will take you on, p’nz Gi t a
club to stage the bout and I will
make you any kind of a side bet
you want.”
Perhaps after i good night's
sleep both have < ome tn their
sen es
KILBANE AND DUNDEE
TO BATTLE ON SEPT. 4
t'LEVEKAND. OHIO, Aug I.'. Arti
cles have just been signed h» r. tor .
match between Johnny Kilbam feath
erweight champion, and Johnti' Hun
dee. of New York, for ten lounil- it 1“.
pound- befori the St- Nicholas Athletii
club of New York on the night of Sep
timber 4 Kilbane will get $3,500.
r
Smith to Lead Crackers and Board of Directors to Stick
a-eT -I-e-i- -{•••J' +*4* 4-«4-
Street Railway Company to Hang On to Local Franchise
By Privy 11. Whitintr.
HILL SMITH is coining back to
Atlanta! The man who was
unceremoniously fired as At
lanta manager after h' had won
two pennants in three years is
coming back triumphantly. And
this despite the fact that since he
left Atlanta he has failed, both al
Buffalo and at Chattanooga.
And thus is the dope overturned.
This move Is taken to mean not
only:
I That Rill Smith is coming
back as manager, but
2. That the Georgia Railway and
Power Company will not sell Its
franchise this year, even tho’gh it
has had tentative offers, and
3. That the present board of di
rectors, consisting of Messrs. Frank
Callaway, Charles Nunnally and
Gus Ryan, will retain their posi
tions for another year.
It seems entirely certain that the
local street railway company is go
ing to hang on to the franchise.
They don't have to. They turned
down an offer last year of $40,000.
mostly In cash, foi It because they
doubted the policy of selling it to
those who made the offer. They
have chances this year, too, provid
ed they- would make the price light.
But it is a certain!) that they
would not sadtib any possible pur
chaser of till' franchise with a man
ager provided they bad any notion
of selling
By the same token it is deduced
that the present boa d of directors
will cons tit to hold office again
They a: - 100 good sportsmen and
too good busim ■ -s men to nail onto
any succeeding board of directors a
managei who might be entirely un
satisfactory S < the naming of
rill Smith at this early stage of
| li. game can be taken as a strong
Indication that Messrs. Callaway.
Nunnally and Ryan httye been
asked to serve again and that they
have accepted the offer.
• • •
\V’| •‘' M . \ N DREW SMITH.
• ’ * known yvliersvet baseball is
placed '■ Bill Smith, was born In
Chillicothe Ohio, some 41 years
ago. or t he’e abmits. Bill never
did take kindly Io telling his age.
s . some doubt exists But. any
way. 40 Is near enough for all prac
tical purposes
Early records of Smith's life are
missing. He moved to Springfield
when a boy and got his first start
t here.
Smith received n first-class
school education, but did not go to
college. Before the age when the
average man Is boning up on Vir
gil. higher algebra and preliminary
German or French, preparatory to
brushing by into college. Bill Smith
was playing baseball.
Bill’s first real engagement was
with Elkhart His other were with
Foi . Wayne. Springfield, Hamilton.
Owensboro. Knoxville, Lynchburg.
Norfolk. Macon. Atlanta Buffalo
and Chattanooga
• • •
P ARLY in Bill Smith’s career it
became apparent that he was
<ut out for a mogul. His aggres
siveness. his quick brain, his un
willingness to lose, and his knowl
edge of ball players made him the
logical man to lead a team. It is
doubtful if there have been a half
dozen men in the game who have
taken the management so early in
their career and who have been as
unvaryingly successful as Bill
Smith.
Smith’s work as managei first
i ante to the attention of Atlantans
when he took the management of
; the Macon team of the South At
lantle league. That was the yea’
the Sally was organized, in 1904,
to wit Rill was almost an un
known to Macon fans, but he was
theta as a managei He brought
i,. the Macon team bom- a pennant
>- winner eivei the Savannah club b\
1 Just enough margin to make it in-
THE^ATLANTA GEORGIAN A.ND NEWS. THI RSDAY. AUGUST 15, 1912.
| CHARACTER SKETCH OF BILL SMITH |
Rill Smith. .Atlanta's manager for 1913, is the Champion Hartl Loser of the World.
He cares for but two things—pennants and chewing tobacco; and if he had to give up
either it would be the tobacco.
lie thinks Atlanta is the greatest city in the world and that the four years he spent here
were the best of his life.
Smith is about 40 years old, a bachelor; height 5 feet 7 1-2 inches, weight 150 pounds.
He is intensely popular with most of his players; but there are exceptions. Bert Maxwell
and Russel) Ford, two great pitchers, are said never to have spoken to him except on business.
Bill is constantly giving presents to his players, a shirt apiece for winning some crucial
game; or a new hat all the way around for winning a good series. He offered to divide
SSOO among his players for winning the first pennant and it is reported that he paid part of
T'om Fisher's salary out of his own pocket one year wnen the salary limit was bearing down
pretty hard.
Bill is the most genial individual in the world w'hen he is winning, but as morose as a
bilious rhinoceros when he is losing.
He is an extremely nervous man, and has worn out four benches in Atlanta sliding up
and down them during the progress of games. At such times he chews enormous amounts of
tobacco.
He resents interference from his superiors, but is always delighted to get suggestions
from his players. He has always had some man on whom he has depended for advice and
suggest ions about running his team. Otto -lordan was his mainstay in Atlanta.
Smith has won five pennants in sixteen years, has finished second once, third five times
and only three times in the second division. _
teresting He had a great old team,
too, Hoffman at first, Blake at sec
ond, Perry Lipe at third. Pau! Sen
tell at shortstop, Stinson, Smith
himself and a various assortment
of short-termers in the outfield.
Matthews, Bayne. Polcitow. Sugars,
pitchers, and Harnish and Quinn as
catchers.
The following year Smith was
back al Macon again as manager
and again the Peaches were pen
nant winners. This time they fair
ly romped home with the rag, with
Savannah again the runner-up. Bill
carried over only a few members
of his old team —Harnish. Sentell.
Lipe and Stinson —but he filled in
the chinck- masterfully. getting
Jim Fox for first base. Piepho for
second. Houston in the Outfield.
Loucks. Spade, Fox and Helm for
slab duty and Evers behind the hat.
It will be noted that Smith himself.
Sentell. Stinson. Fox. Loucks.
Spade and Evers at subsequent
times played on the Cracker team.
It is also worth noting that two
distinguished Georgians. Ty Cobb
and Nap Rucker, were playing In
the Sally league that year.
• • •
C° Impressive was Bill Smith’s
v work as manager of the Ma
con club that Captain W R Joy
ner, president then of the local
baseball association, discouraged
with the work of Otto Jo 1 dan as a
mogul, let Otto out at his own re
quest and closed a deal with Smith
to manage the Cracker club
Q MITH broke right into the league
with a rush. He took over a
tremendously disorganized team
Otto Jordan had been hampered
by internal riots in the Cracker
"dls-organizatlon.” and Smith had
to do some right-and-left canning.
He-let Rickert. Burnutn, Hugs Ray
mond. Bob Stafford, Bert Noblett
and Brennan go. either before the
season started or shortly after, and
Lew Moren was advanced to the
big show. That left him only
George Winters. Rube Zeller. Dick
Crozier. Whitey Morse and Otto
Jordan around whom to build a
team.
But he certainly built one. Fox.
who was brought up from Macon
to play first base, proved a tre
mendous hit. Jordan, deposed at
his own request as manager, be
came the premier second baseman
of the league Whitey Morse played
good ball at short, and when Larry
Hoffman proved too light for the
task of playing third, the versatile
Sid Smith was stuck in and plugged
the gap. In the outfield. Crozier.
Winters and Smith himself starred.
After a bit Bill dropped out and
various players were tried—Stin
son. "Bonehead" Bob Wallace and
others. But somehow a fairly good
outfield was always on the job.
Archer and Sid Smith formed the
regular catching staff —and a bet
ter one w as perhaps never seen on
a minor league team. The pitchers
were Tom Hughes, Rube Zeller.
Dick Harley, Loucks. Doc Childs,
Baxter Sparks and Elmer Duggan.
There was a grand three-cor
nered race for the pennant that
year, with Birmingham, Memphis
and New Orleans the contenders.
Finally the Barons pulled away and
a duel developed between Mem
phis and Atlanta for second place.
The Crackers were finally' content
ed with third place, but the strug
gle was one that kept the Crack
ers on their feet.
In this season happened an inci
dent that is characteristic of Bill
Smith. While the Cracker team .
was playing In New Orleans Otto
Jordan was struck with a hunch
that the New Orleans team had
run some "rubber balls" in on them.
Bill at once accepted this suspicion
as a proven fact and there was all
but a riot. Before it was over Otto
Jordan was haled to police head
quarters in a patrol wagon and
there was an awful muss. Os course.
The Big Race
Here’s how the “Big Five” of the
American league are hitting the ball,
i the averages ’ncluding yesterday’s
games:
PLAYER— A B. H. P. C.
COBB 408 170 .417
SPEAKER 433 173 .399
.JACKSON 413 159 .385
COLLINS .388 130 .335
LAJOIE 274 85 .310
Ty Cobb failed to get a safe hit in
three times up yesterday, and as a re
sult fell off three points in his batting
average. Speaker dropped off one notch
and fell just below the .400 mark by se
curing only two hits in six attempts.
Jackson managed to get three clouts in
eight trips to the plate and "stood still"
as a result at .385. Collins gamed
three points. He banged out three hits
in six chances. Lajoie leaped forward
five notches by getting four hits >n
eight try*.
It eventually developed that the
whole thing was nursed along by'
Charley Frank for press agency
purposes and finally it quieted down.
But the incident and the way Bill
Smith handled it showed to the
public with rare clearness that Bill
Smith-w ould fight for his players
and for his team.
• • •
"pHEN came Atlanta’s pennant
winning season—the first for
21 years. Twice before in baseball
history the Cracker club had
copped. The first time was in 1885
and the second in 1886. In 1886 the
local club won after a grand race
with Savannah. In the deciding
game Hank O’Day pitched for Sa
vannah and. despite his grand ef
forts, Atlanta won.
Naturally the Cracker fans were
ravenous for a pennant winner.
And Bill Smith gave it to them.
When Bill broke into the league
the other managers were inclined
to refer to him as a "fresh bush
leaguer." But his first season he
threw an awful scare into them.
And the second season he won their
pennant.
It was a marvelous team that
Smith built up—a club that could
spot the present Southern league
pennant w'inners a couple of runs
and then beat them seven out of
ten games. Ed Sweeney and Sid
Smith did the catching—and both
later went to the big leagues. Ford,
Zeller, Castleton and Spade were
the pitching mainstays, with Hoot-
Mon McKenzie the sensation of the
latter part of the season, after
Zeller began to fade away. Fox.
Jordan. Castro and Dyer formed
the infield, and Paskert, Winters
and Becker the outfield. Seven men
on this team later went to the big
leagues. i
Despite the excellence of the
team, there was a tough race.
The Memphis team, managed by j
Charley Babb, put up an awful
fight and took a lead toward the
. latter part of the season that 1
looked too big to be overcome. But -
by the grandest sort of work on the
home diamond the Crackers closed
steadily' in. Finally came the game ,
that was to decide it. More than :
11.000 persons were crowded Inside !
the park to see the performance. 1
What happened is history And
Atlanta won the pennant
DILL SMITHS third year In At- 1
lanta saw an awful slump. So 1
many of Smith’s sfar players were ,
sold to big league teams and so ’
poor was the work of the men who
took their places that the Crackers
had to be contented with sixth
place. And that fall the Nashville
and New Orleans team fought it
out for the pennant.
In 1909 Bill Smith came back
again. Despite his inability to find
a real first baseman, despite the
weakness of Walker at third, de
spite the slowness of Newton at
short. Bill made a runaway of It.
His success was due chiefly to the
grand work on the slab of Johns,
Fisher. Atkins and Bartley and the
almost unequalled defensive work
of the team. The club numbered
only one hitter—Sid Smith. But
Sid could usually be counted on to
drive in a run or two and the
Cracker pitchers would do the rest.
Then a strange, and to the fans
an inexplicable and an unforgiv
able thing, happened. Bill Smith,
the man who had won two pen
nants in three years, was fired.
To the baseball association this
was the logical thing to do. Smith
did not run the club according to
their notions. He did not like to
be hampered by the modern finan
cial methods of a street car com
pany. He figured that a street
car company should be run one way
and a baseball club another. And
he believed further that so long as
he was winning pennants nothing
else mattered.
And because he and the baseball
association couldn’t agree he was
let out and Jordan was named
manager.
• « «
g INCE the divorce of Smith and
the Atlanta Baseball associa
tion nothing has gone very well for
either of them. Smith got the job
as manager of the Buffalo team
through the good offices of Clark
Griffith, but he couldn’t make a go
of it. The following year he went
to Chattanooga and he served as
manager there last year and this
year. On neither occasion has he
had any success, despite the fact
that he started last season with
what looked like the best ball club
ever gathered together in the
Southern league.
♦ * *
A ND now Smith is coming back
to Atlanta. The papers haven't
been signed yet, but they will be at
the close of the season.
And the man who won five pen
nants in sixteen years w ill be back
at the old stand.
It is needless to-say that the fans
are tickled to death. They could
hardly be otherwise. It is equally
certain that Smith is pleased to re
turn to the scenes of his greatest
triumphs.
It means further that Atlanta
will have a scrapping, winning
team next year. For that’s the
kind Smith has always turned out
for Atlanta.
KID ELBERFELD AND
OTTO JORDAN RACE
FOR LOOKOUT CHIEF
CHATTANOOGA, TENN.. Aug. 15.
Will Otto Jordan go back to Atlanta
with Bill Smith or will he stay here as
manager of the local club? One or the
other of those things is pretty certain
to happen.
Jordan and Kid Elberfeld are run
ning neck and neck now in the race
for the local management. It is virtu
ally certain that if Elberfeld wins he
will let Jordan out. He wouldn’t care
to have a perpetual candidate for his
job on the team. And if Jordan goes
it is equally certain that Bill Smith
will try to take him to Atlanta.
President Andrews will probably de
cide the matter of a manager for' negt
year pretty shortly. Now that Bill
Smith has definitely passed up the job
the matter Is considerably simplified.
HADDOW IS REINSTATED.
CHARLOTTE. N. C„ Aug 15.—John
J. Haddow. the Charlotte third base
man, who was fined SIOO and indefi
nitely suspended Tuesday, was reinstat
ed at a called meeting of the directors
of the local club. Haddow was charged
with throwing a game.
CRACKERS CAN'T
LDSE TODAY; ND ■
GAME FOR THEM
NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 15.—The
Crackers are resting up today
in preparation for the series
they open with the Gulls in Mobile
tomorrow afternoon. The five
straight defeats at the hands of the
Pelicans has about broken the spir
it of the Atlanta team, and there
seems to be no chance whatsoever
of them ever pulling out of last
place.
The Crackers have learned that
Billy Smith is to manage the club
next season, and those who know
the present leader of the Look
outs are confident that he will again
prove a successful chief in the
Gate City.
After leaving Mobile, the Crack
ers go to Birmingham and thence
to Montgomery. Nashville and
Chattanooga follow, and then back
home. At Ponce DeLeon they are
to mingle with Memphis. Nashville
and Chattanooga, the Lookout se
ries being the last of 1912 games
on the home pasture.
Third Baseman Schultz, just se
cured from the Meridian team of •
the Cotton States league, joined the
Crackers here yesterday. He will
probably be given his first try-out
tomorrow against the Gulls. He is a
likely looking chap.
The Crackers lost the fifth and
final game of the series to the Pels '
yesterday by a score of 4 to 0.
Swindell outpitched Becker.
VANDERBILT ANNOUNCES
1912 GRIDIRON SCHEDULE
N.4SHVILLE. TENN., Aug. 15. —Fol
lowing is the complete schedule for
1912. consisting of ten games, as an
nounced by Charles C. Trabue. chair
man of the games commitee of tht
Vanderbilt football team:
September 28—Bethel college at Nash
ville.
October s—Maryville at Nashville
October 19—University of Georgia at
Atlanta.
October 26—University of Mississippi
at Nashville.
November 2—University of Virginia
at .Nashville.
November 9—Harvard at Cambridge,
November 16—Central of Kentucky at
Nashville. ’
November 23—Auburn at Birmingham.
November 28—Sewanee at Nashvilh .
KID McCOY RELEASED.
BUT ON A $15,000 BAIL
LONDON. Aug. 15.—Norman Selbv,
the former American pugilist, who is
better known by his ring name of Kid
McCoy, who is charged with implica
tion in an Ostend, Belgium, SBO,OOO
iewel robbery, was again arraigned in
Row street police court today in con
nection with extradition proceedings.
Upon request of counsel, the case
was put over for a week and bail In the
sum of $15,000 was furnished fur the
American by Louis Levy.
TOM SHARKEY A JOKE,
ACCORDING TO BURNS
CALGARY, ALBERTA, Aug. 15.
Tommy Burns, ex-champlon heavy
weight boxer, today, disci sslng a dis
patch from New York n-lntlvi- to Tiyn
Sharkey's ambition to tm-et Burns, said
is was ’’ a joke.”
He says: “I may go to Australia
about Christmas to meet Sam Lane
ford.”
“DOC”JOHNSTON LEAVES
PELS TO JOIN CLEVELAND
NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 15.—“ Doc”
Johnston, first baseman with the local
team of the Southern league, left last
night to Join the Cleveland (earn
Pitcher I'ulbqi. <'atelier Angermeier
ami Infielder Mills, who, together with
Infielder Butler, ar. the four players >e
< i-ivi il in i-xchangi- for Johnston, have
reported here.