fegAg® fegttol CLAfPK G,fPIFFITH ® fBILU j^ PICKEV MILL.EI? MUGGINS More than ever the futility of spending thousands of dollars in training camps where the weather al ways is more or less problematical has been brought home to major league managers and owners since the announcement by Charles Co miskey that be will abandon the an nual tour of the White Sox to Cali fornia next season. Indeed, some of the managers now are asseverating that they can train their teams at home and benefit, ful ly as much as they do in some sea sons in the south. This refers to the seasons that are called "unseasonable" by the native southerners but to their sorrow some managers have found that the "unseasonable" spring in some parts of the south is the rule rather than the exception. Incidentally it has been brought home to the owners during the past few seasons that there is not as much money in these southern train ing trips as there was once when major league baseball was more or less of a novelty to the southern fans who during a regular Beason of play never saw anything better than the Southern league brand of baseball. The common statement now is that major league teams can't draw flies in the south. Even the glamour of the New York Giants has palled upon the southern public and McGraw with possibly the best drawing card in the major leagues has not made a mon ey-maker of hts last several trips to the south. JfOT ENOUGH WORK. But while the money side of the equation carries its weight with the owners particularly the thing that has soured some managers upon the southern trip is the fact that their teams do not get enough genuine work in the south to condition any kind of an athlete. We have in mind one team that went to one of the flourishing cities of eastern Texas last year and in 30 days had precisely two days that were suited to real baseball practice. There are some authorities who claim that a team could not condi tion itself indoors, but Branch Rickey, the manager of the St. Louis Browns has been credited' with the statement that with just enough cross country work to get his ball players used to the feel of the earth he could put a team in condition north of the Mason and Dixon line as well as he could south of it As a matter of fact, the veteran players hardly ever do get into con dition until the team comes south and the sun begins to boil them out. They may be said not to hit the top of their stride until early in May anyway and hence the spring train ing is regarded as a somewhat cost ly diversion by the owners insofar as theirr veterans are concerned. >0 GOOD FOR YOUNGSTERS. Youngsters with more supple « muscles and less stiff bones could condition themselves for a pea son's play in a now-storm and the trip to the south is superfluous for them also. The cost of the southern trainfng trip to the owner is large. While he does not pay salaries to his players until the curtain is raised upon the season he does pay railway fare for his men and in addition he must board them at some first-class hotel. Railway fare and hotel hills for some 30 or 40 athletes makes consid erable of an item, and if it in real ity is not accomplishing what it purposes to do the southern trip certainly may be regarded as an un necessary institution. Heretofore the owners have been able to pay some part of their bills through the gate _ receipts which they drew in the south, but with the baseball interest in Dixieland on the wane the "gate" in no wise approx imates "the nut"—"nut" meaning the total expense of the trip. It would not be surprising there fore.if iu another year or two most of the major league clubs took a chance upon. conditioning them selves at home —both because they can get into actually better condi tion" than in the south and be cause the expense of training at Jiorne is greatly leBB than in the south where enormous railway fares must be paid. TO TttAIN AT HOME. If the teams do not train at home there will be an effort on the part of major league managers to estab lish permanent camps in the south and perhaps build club-houscs to house their own men in during tte training season. The difficult part of this is to secure a town in which the climate may be definitely relied upon and this is a hard thing to do. The west coast of Florida seems to be one of the best spots in the south from the standpoint of the number of days that work may be done or in which the weather is suitable to the "sweating out process." St. Petersburg and Tampa are so highly thought of by the Philadel phia Nationals and the Chicago Cubs, respectively that they have taken what is tantamount to perpetual leases upon the training grounds in these two cities. It is a nice commentary upon St. Petersburg that the Philadlphia Na tionals jumped into the lead of the National league after returning from there —It was their first season in Florida—and never were headed for the National league honors. With the greater cost of running a team with each recurring season; the greater salaries and the higher cost of other necessary incidentals, the owners are glad to seize upon any chance«to lessen the gross cost of promoting baseball. One of the first slices is to come in the southern training trip. It will be the abandonment of the southern training trip. Kites Aid Germans, Most people are under the impres sion that the only aerial machines being used today by the armies that are at war are aeroplanes and air ships. As a matter of fact, ordinary balloons and kites are much to the fore, and it is recognized by all the great powers that their uses are in valuable. During the last few years the Ger mans have recognized the advant ages gained by the use of man-lift ing kites, and a certain number of their soldiers have been trained to fly them both by day and by night. It is said that the passenger of a German war kite is supplied with a camera capable of taking photo graphs under almost any conditions. It is declared that the Germans are photographing some of the posi tions of the allies with the assist ance of pigeons. Herr Neubronner, a German chemist, some time back invented a mechanical camera capable of taking instantaneous pho tographs which can be fitted to the breast of a pigeon by means of an elastic strap, leaving the wings en tirely free. The camera weighs less than three ounces and is capable of reproducing objects when the bird is traveling at a velocity of twenty yards a second. At regular intervals a clock work arrangement opens the shutter of the camera. Bnt It Was True! Former President Mellen of the New Haven likes railroad stories and was immensely pleased with one of the lesser officials *the other day when he told him this one as being not only true, but as an occurrence in the New Haven station. A nervous lady stopped a baggage master and demanded to know why her train was arriving so late. "Well," said he, "it's just like this: The train ahead is behind and this train was behind before besides." The lady could not figure it and neither for a moment could Presi dent Mellen. He Got $.">,000 Order. "A cyclone is not such a bad thing after all," remarked the portly sales man as he settled himself comfort ably in his chair. "One saved $5 for me once." "How did it happen?" asked a lounger. "I was in a little town out in Kan sas about two years ago and wanted to get to another small town 15 miles distant. There was no railroad be tween the two points, and I was standing in front of the livery sta ble arguing with the liveryman, who wanted $5 to take me and my sam ple cases over, when a cyclone came along and, picking me up, landed me right in the little town to which I wanted to go." "Eh—how about your sample cases?" faltered an awed listener. "Oh," suavely replied the sales man, "the cyclono landed them just ahead of me and had my goods all spread out on display when I got there." Ought to Have Life. A lot of old-timers of the army and Navy Club In Washington were swapping stories. "One 3i Hankins," says a retired brigadier-general, "decided to enlist. He burned with a desire to serve his country. So he applied at a recruit ino nffim and wan dulv nunched and lng office ana was amy puuuueu «uu prodded, trotted up and down, jump ed over chairs and tables and so forth. "Then came the questions. All manner of them were fired at him;/ and he answered most of them satis factorily. Then came the stern in quiry: " 'Have you ever served a jail sentence?" '"No, sir,' stammered SI, 'but,' he added hastily, 'l'd be willing to serve a short time If it'i sary.'" A bunch of keys and 50 cents in small change will rattle louder than a hundred dollars in bills, but the trouble is, if you don't rattle some thing others will think you ar# broke. 1
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers