OLYMPIC GAMES IN PARIS FOR ALLIED NATIONS AFTER WAR SANCTIONED BY Y. 1.1. C.A,
How Pitcher Kelly Used to
Put the Shot With Toothpick
Two Yankee ball players in khaki i
hopped from an ammunition wagon |
in Clytmps Elysses, Paris, the other I
day And began to warm up with ball •
and glove. A crowd of Parisians {
gathered instantly and found intense j
amusement watching the antics of j
these huskies who regaled them j
with curves, drops and shoots while :
they kept up the style ot kidding j
• familiar to home fans.
The incident has brought forth |
many a narrative of eccentric big j
leaguers who have all the elements |
of an entertainer. Since being before
the public so much, this spirit p
--• pears to get them. Furthermore
the professional ball player is a no
torious "ktdder" and famous toss
ers have been known to sit up nights I
conjuring some stunt with which
to annoy or amuse. \
The late "Bugs" Raymond, for
one whole season kept the cities of j
the National League agitated with a
spool of thread inside his coat and j
pulling the loose end through, so it j
hung out conspicuously from his j
shoulder. He never had to wait
long for some stranger to offer: "Ex- J
cuse me, sir, but there is a thread ;
hanging down; I'll just pull it off." I
"Bugs" would wait until the kind j
stranger had a good hold and then j
start and run as far as he could go, |
with the first aid victim foolishly'
holding to the thread. He pulled I
this on a respectable millionaire in
the Hotel Schenley in Pittsburgh |
one day, and he worked it so far.and
wide that the whole Giant team j
finally came under suspicion, and J
McGraw ordered "Bugs" to cut it
out. I
Raymond also toyed with the tooth
pick and shot game, but he never.
achieved such renown as James R. |
, Kelly, who was drafted to Pittsburgh <
in the spring of 1913 from the Great |
FalhOClub. "He donned his Pirate i
uniform the same year," relates Ed.
F. Ballinger, sporting editor of the
Pittsburgh Post, "and shortly intro- j
duced a new' form of delivery, al- ■
• though he was not a pitcher. On the
contrary, he was an outfielder, but
he could groove a buckshot from 1
betwixt his teeth with just about j
as much accuracy as the late Buf
falo Bill could fire bullets from a
repeating rifle.
When Kelly first appeared in
Pittsburgh, some dispute arose as
to how his name should be spelled.
Finally it was decided that it should
be "Kelley," and some of the writers
clung to that style and boasted that
'. they were correct. It turned out,
however, that neither "Kelly" nor
'Kelley" was correct, for he was
playing ball under an assumed name,
tie hurdled to the Feds and after
their blowup drifted around and
finally got back into fast company.
He finished the 1918 season with the
Boston Nationals, playing under his
teal name, which is Taggert.
But it is desired in this article to
tell about some little incidents that
took place when Mr. Taggert wore
the raiment of the Pittsburgh Pi
rates. Consequently we will con
tinue to speak of him as Jim Kelly,
purely an athlete who could "put
trie shot" as cleverly as could this
lad Kelly deserves recognition upon
the calendar of sport. With a twist
"t of his fingers and a tiny bit of lead,
driven through the air with a tooth
pick, he once sent a trolley car up
' for repairs, and often made strong
"Shall I Fix the Fire for
the Night?"
"You may as well, Dick. It'll save coal and our
Perfection will keep us nice and warm for the rest of
the evening."
Is there any reason for any family to keep the whole
house warm whan only one room is in use? No, it
simply wastes coal. And it's entirely unnecessary if
you have a Perfection Oil Heater to make that room
warm and cozy.
PERFECTION
OIL/MOVERS
saved coal in millions of homes last year. How they
do get "all het up" the minute a match strikes! You
wonder where all the heat comes from. But it does
come—quickly, steadily, any time, anywhere. It's the
handiest heat ever devised. And a Perfection is safe.
This iB the year above all others when you should have a Perfection.
You may be able "to get along" without one but you surely will
•f have a more pleasant, comfortable winter with one. And you will
save on your coal bills. For the Perfection burns kerosene, an eco
nomical fuel. Yet, and this is a point that we want to make very
clear, all kerosenes are not the same. To be absolutely certain of
jetting the most satisfactory heat from your Perfection, always use
Atlantic Riyolight Oil. It is so highly refined and purified that it
burns without odor, smoke or charring the wick.
Get your Perfection Oil Heater now. See the new models at your
dealer's. Reasonably priced—ss.6s to SIO.OO.
The Atlantic Refining Company
Everywhere in Penntyloania and Delaware
g&m ATLANTIC g^JXBSSm
Hi Ravolioht SB
WEDNESDAY EVENING,
i men hop lively when he selected
I them in his target practice.
Was Remarkable Shot
Flipping shot out of the mouth
i with a toothpick, is by no means a
I new discovery. Some of our grand
) fathers performed the trick when
I they were little boys. If they didn't,
! many of them surely can remember
| how one or two of their young
1 schoolmates could tire a buckshot
1 or tiny pebble, by the aid of a match,
• penholder, or other slender piece of
I wood, held between the teeth. Many
of these youngsters became so adept
at the stunt, that they could drive
their little projectiles with such ac
curacy as to cause considerable an
noyance to the teacher, or whoever
else might, be the target,
i When it came to being a crack
, shot, however, the crown belongs to
Kelly, in the opinion of anybody who
ever had the good fortune to watch
' him when handling his favorite wea
; pon. He would place several shot
j in his mouth at a time, for conveni- j
| once. When he was ready to use 1
one of them, he would roll it with i
' his tongue, until it settled in a sort
| of depression on the top of a lower \
tooth, pressing down against it, the
j shot was held rigidly in the desired !
| position.
Inserting the toothpick between
i his teeth, with the point back of the
shot, he would swing the pick around j
i with his linger, until another part j
,of the small wood'en stick rested i
I against a tooth which was still fur- j
ther back. This formed a lever, i
1 and when the toothpick had been :
| bent back as far as it would go with
i out breaking, the marksman would |
loosen his bite. The stick would
straighten out the instant the shot
1 was released, li this manner, the |
shot would be precipitated into |
{ space. Kelly, by constant practice,
i became so clever that he could per- i
i form feats of manksmanship which
| really vere remarkable.
Strong Motive Power
One feature of Kelly's success as j
| a tooth-shooter lay in the fact that j
!he made his own toothpicks. He
| would procure a sliver of hickory
or other springy wood from which
i he would whittle out half a dozen
!or more shooters. They were slight
ly larger than the ordinary tootfi
pick, and much more powerful, but
! when protruding from a person's
i mouth, nobody in the world would
ihave reason to suspect one of these
to be a weapon of warfare. One day
j when this ball player was busy carv
ing a batch of these picks, Managei
Fred Clarke exclaimed: "Has hny
• body here seen Kelly'.'" George Gib
-1 son promptly replied: "Yes, Cap,
he's out on the porch making some
i new bats."
' ,Kelly made an ideal shooter. He
i could look his victim squarely in the
1 face without cracking a smile or
i batting an eyelash. He had a counte
nance that seemed as innocent as a
slab of newborn custard pie. He
i usuallv carried a toothpick in his
' mouth and he was the last person to
I be suspected of playing a trick on
i anybody. If someone happened to
I glance at Kelly immediately after
| having received a stinging little
1 smack on the neck, the ball player
! would be found gazing steadily in
I some other direction, idly fingering
the toothpick which protruded from
i between his teeth.
i When it came to hitting the bulls
|eye, Kelly was there with both feet.
He could ping a straw hat at a dts
S noodles >: >:
T " f !. I . 6fc©isW™l " •
RIGHT IN- I-*— [— A (IWISHTI K OTFITALE
I / if _ Jfcr- _ D
tance of 25 feet, with the greatest of |
ease. As an instance of his unerring j
aim, one of the ball players was sit- j
ting in the waiting room of the hotel i
at Hot Springs one evening with both t
eyes closed and his mouth slightly !
ajar, pretending to be asleep. From |
the other side of the room, probably t
thirty feet away, Kelly sent a shot
straight into his comrade's mouth
and caused a lot of sputtering. Prob
ably the only one in the town who
actually knew what was the trouble
was Kelly, who joined those about
him in asking what had happened. ,
'"I believe he's having a fit," ex- j
.claimed the fellow who had caused j
lit all with his toothpick.
All Loaded For Bear
; Kelly would go into a gun store I
|and purchase three or four ounces of j
shot, usually No. (5. 8 or 10. He car-!
(ried this ammunition in a smallsilver
cuse. He could reach into his pocket, j
open this receptacle and procure a|
(dozen -shot, without attracting at- j
i tion. Then at an opportune |
I moment he would place his hand to j
ihis lips and pour the shot into his j
(mouth. Evidently his teammates!
{thought he was taking his last chew ■
•of some loose scrap that ho had
I found in his pocket. At any rate, the ,
i Pirates did not discover who had |
keen painfully stinging their flesh'
with shot, until - many weeks after I
("Jim" had joined the club.
One morning the ball team arrived
> hpme from a western trip, and Kelly |
'with several other Pirates, boarded]
i a Forbes street car to go to his room- (
, ing place in the Oakland district.
Whenever the car would come to a
i stop, he would take a shot at the
little glass bulbs which shield the
incandescent lights at the top of the
jconveyance. The conductor heard a
'tap against the glass. He looked up i
but saw nothing. Kelly fired an- j
(other shot. The conductor reached,
!up and unscrewed the bulb. After 1
inspecting it, he replaced it and as j
ihe did so, he heard another cracking j
I noise, for "Jim" had blazed away
(again. The conductor was a conscien
' tious young fellow who believed in
| reporting everything. At the nfext
stop he went inside and listened.
I Kelly promptly poled a shot or two
(against the nearest bulb. A' little
(further along the line, an inspector
was directing was improvements.
(The conductor gave one bell and told
' the inspector about tht; cracking
; noise he had heard.
"Where is it?" inquired the trou
jblehunter, as he boarded the car.
I "It's somewhere in those lights above
(the aisle," replied the conductor. The
| moment the inspector stepped in-
Iside, Kelly drove a shot against the
bulb over his head. He heard the
tap and listened for more. Kelly saw
to it that the tapping did not flag.
Without wasting more than a min
ute, the inspector exclaimed: "She's
short-circuited; give all the passen
gers transfers and run this car
straight into the barn." This caused
the ball players to fairly choke with
laughter, but Kelly showed no sign
of surprise.
" One morning while the Pirates
were in Cincinnati, Fred Clarke step
ped into the Havlin and exclaimed
to the group of players seated in the
lobby: "What do you think of that
man Kelly? He's out in front shoot
ing shot at a Wop with a long butch
er knife. If the man cuts him, it will
serve him exactly right."
The gang rushed for the street,
and sure enough there was a fellow
working at a grindstone and talking
angrily to Kelly, who stood near,
idly picking his teeth. Flourishing
the big knife he was sharpening, the
man sung out: "If me ketcha da guy
dat hitta mewid da slungshot, me
cutta."
Every time the man with the
grindstone turned .his attention back
to his work. Kelly would wing him
with a shot. The fellow would put his
hand to his face, stop grinding and
gaze around. Kelly was the only per
son within a stone's strow, but he
looked so innocent that he did not
arousethe slightest bit of suspicion.
Consequently, the grinder again
would confide in Jim, and give him
to understand that he was worked up
to the proper pitch for doing a thor
ough job of carving. The man finish
ed his task and went away rubbing
his neck and wondering what had
caused the painful little stings upon
his anatomy.
Once when the Buccaneers were in
Boston, Kelly was making long dis
tance shots at a very valuable paint
ing that hung in the lobby of the
Brunswick Hotel. One of the clerks
heard the tapping against the can
vass and decided that the frame had
commenced to crumble. Workmen
wererushed In. They overhauled the
picture, placed new hooks in the
frame and after attaching a larger
wire, returned it to its place on the
I wall.
At the Planters' Hotel in St. Louis,
Kelly produced intense mirth for
those who were "wise" by pegging at
a newspaper in the hunds of an aged
guest. The old man would jump
every time the paper creaked. He
wouid gaze all around and resume
reading, only to be startled by an
other mysterious tap. Finally he
arose, flung the paper to the floor
and exclaimed: "Now isn't that
hell!" Then he took the elevator,
went to his room and called in the
hotel physician. ,
Kelly and his trusty toothpick al
ways kept the crowd in good humor
when he was a Pirate. He continued
the sport after he Jumped the Feds.
After returning to organized base
ball he resumed the little pastime,
just to keep from growing stale. Jim
once caused two old soldiers to ex
change harsh words while standing
on a corner in Philadelphia, each ac
cusing the other of flipping paper
wads at him. He worried the life
nearly out of two barkeepers at a
cafe in Long Branch, N. J.. one day
by plugging away at the big mirror
back of the mahogany. Once in Cin
cinnati die even had the audacity to
fire a volley at the face of Henry
O'Day. Hank glared about and then
walked away. Kelly and his tooth
pick have furnished enough incidents
to fill a book as big as Noah Web
ster's famous ..collection of words.
fi>BiUSBUBO TELEGRAPH
Olympic Games in Paris
at Close of the War
Twenty thousand persons gathered
recently in Hyde Park, London, to see
100 American soldiers, including: 20
negro Sammies, cut loose with games.
Baseball is almost an old story over
there now, but, as one London paper
comments, it was a mere nothing,
compared with the sight of big
Americans (some of them very big |
indeed) behaving more like school- ]
boys than schoolboys themselves, j
Most human boys assume with long i
trousers an air of dignity and de- |
corum for which they keep some re- j
gard even in their play; whereas the ,
United States soldier possesses a |
beautiful faculty for letting his fun
defy his years. The negroes, too.
with their wide grins, delighted
chuckles, and gurgling incantations,
helped manfully to make the whole
assembly, "performers and spectators
alike, realize that, after all, folks are
only as old as they feel.
The negroes passed from boxing j
blindfolded to chasing toy balloons; |
and It would be hard to say which 1
was the more diverting to look dn. j
Perhaps the boxing, since that had a
comical climax. After the boxers had i
been thinned out and the ring was j
held by one huge fellow alone, his
white comrades baited him as bull
lighters the bull. They tapped hi\
on the shoulder, trailed their great-
I coats against his knees and elbows; I
anything to make him suppose his i
| rivals were still before or behind h)s |
i blinded eyes. Finally one ingenious :
tormentor placed a boxing-glove on j
! the end of a long stick and gently ;
| tapped the pugilist in the face with i
I it. But the glove must have felt
i empty, for the black man at last
j realized that, like Don Quixote, he
j was sparring at fictitious foes. But
| he may not have read "Don Quixote."
j The white Americans played a
larger variety of games than can be
easily remembered. They ran rates
entwined with one another much less
comfortably than the Siamese twins.
They gave capital imitations of the
1 classic military tortoise, only, in
! stead of bearing shields on their
i shoulders, they pushed a football
down the long line of their extended
legs. They reminded one of the fate
of the two blackguards in "Huckle
berry Finn' by riding on a rail. They
ran relay races with mutually clasp
ed hands. They played a composite
leapfrog by piling more on the frog's
back than he could bear, and laughed
with delight as both came to the
ground together. And they did other
intricate feats, rollicking and un-
Parklike.
♦ lie sole trouble, of the spectators
was to persuade men inside the
square to sit or crouch down, in order
that the view might not be obstructed.
I This led to another demonstration—
of the American way with such peo
| pie. It was an American officer, on
I a seat, who appealed to an English
officer, standing up. to "have a heart"
for those behind him, and who, when
his cry was unheeded or unheard,
shouted, "Eh, King George, sit down!"
which, of course, there was no re
sisting.
The games over, the game began.
Two games met in an exhibition
match at baseball; and, to everybody's
surprise, these teams were not [Amer
ican, but English; soldiers from
Knightsbridge Barracks, who had
been Instructed in the art and science
of baseball by a member of the Amer
ican Y. M. C. A. In blue and red. they
looked the parts they were playing;
and they played admirably, consid
ering that they never even saw base
ball before last July. Their batting
seemed especially good; the fielding
I not so good; and the pitching, though
adequate, as critics say, was possibly
undeserving of more than 10,000 dol
lars a year. No man on the ground
was better pleased than the Ameri
can instructor, who considers that
his pupils have made wonderful pro
gress in a short time. An American
sailor umpired; and anojher Ameri
can sailor, with two wounded Can
adian soldiers in the highest spirits,
did all that was necessary In the way
of advice and "rooting" for both sides
impartially.
Such has been the popularity for
sports introduced by Yankeeland that
the Y. M. C, A. has now taken up the
proposition of holding a vast Olypmic
contest for the Allied nations at the
period of demobilization of the war.
These contests, which may eventually
be part" of the peace celebration at
the close of the world war will be
held in Paris, according to a cable
gram received at the headquarters of
the United War Work campaign here
to-day.
Work on the plan already has been
started by the athletic department of
the' Y. M. C. A. abroad and the pro
gram will be submitted to General
Pershing for his sanction, as well as
the commanders of the other armies
>and navies forming the Allied forces.
It is realized that the field of wel
fare work will be greatly widened
during the demobilisation period and
special efforts will be made to pro
vide entertainment and instruction,
for the soldiers and sailors after the
close of hostilities.
With this In mind those in charge
of the work have outlined an exten
sive campaign, a prominent part of
which includes a series of .competi
tions In various branches of sport.
As tentatively grouped at. present the
series will be composed In part of
maximum mass games to reach every
man; championship coptests for the
members of the American Expedition-
Forces to be conducted in various
war regions with the finals to be
held in Paris, physical pageants and
demonstrations illustrating the best
in American sports for the French;
in Allied championships in the form
of a military Olypmic.
Summed up this practically means
that the world of sports la only wait
ing for war to lift its grim hand for
the staging of the greatest athletic
events that have been held since the
memorable Olympic games in Sweden
in 1912.
It also means that the greatest
athletes remaining in th# world will
once again meet in competition and
lit means that America's best will
I again face the cream of all the other j
I nations in the field pf fair competl-
I tion and probably win as they have
; won in every one of the great Olym- j
| pics.
J Virtually all the best atletes of
j this country are now with the colors,
| which will make them eligible to
compete for Uncle Sam. To even start
to enumerate them would merely
mean the citing of names that are
famous on the cinder path, on the
field, in the swimming pool, on the
tennis court and in every other event
i that composes the realm of sports.
■'
French Deputies and
Newspapers Want Peace •
Dictated by Gen. Foch
Paris. Oct. 23. —The newspapers
of Paris are united in demanding
j that peace with Germany shall be
'of the "unconditional surrender"
j type and that negotiations be called
! off. except through General Foch.
; The same view is taken by members
jof the Chamber of Deputies, and
j there is no question as to where the
| representatives of France will stand
! when the question of peace is dis
cussed in the supreme war council.
War Conditions Make the Price of
OK OSCAR CIGARS
7 Cents
tjf When war time costs of material and if We had already settled the size and
labor shot skyward, we were confronted quality question for all time so there
with cutting the quality and reducing was nothing to do but to increase the
the size of King Oscar Cigars or in- price again. •
creasing the price. (j § 0 today King Oscars are seven cents, j
IJ Up to that time there hadn't been a H Not too much for a cigar of King Oscar
single complaint registered in 27 years goodness, at any time, to say nothing of
against the 'quality and regularity of these war time days:
this favorite smoke of thousands. & more than you have been ac
gu . 1 1 1 •1. .1 customed to pay, that's true—and you
Q And we made up our m.nd. right then feel that you ca „. t stand an in
and there, that aland or fall we would creaße in your , moke expense.
continue to serve up to King Oscar
smokers the same 100 per cent, of quan- i In that event, cut down the number o.
tity and quality they had been accus- smokes per day.
tomed to for the past quarter century. v [j Qr, if you should decide for the time be
. ing t6 cut out your smoking altogether,
Q So we put the price up to six cents. remember this—
That was some months ago. ." <3 That when you get {he hankering for a
real good smoke, King Oscar is waiting
q But costs have been going still higher— for you at the nearest dealer, with the
we hung on to the six cent price as long same quality Havana in a Sumatra
as we could —and the time came again wrapper, quantity of the same that has
when we had to do something. made it regular for the past 27 years.
' * #
JOHN C. HERMAN & CO.
\ 9 • ■ '
Manufacturers King Oscar Cigars, . v
1 Harrisburg, Pa.
"Jump Shift," New Stunt in
Football, at Georgia Tech
Here you are, Coach Smith of
Tech, something new. Well, perhaps
not to you, but have you ever tried
out the Tech experts on the "Heis
man Jump Shift," a football forma
tion invented at Georgia Tech, At
lanta, and used with marked re
sult by the elevens of 'ls, 'l6, 'l7
and 'lB. The man who conceived this
strategy, John Heisman, has been
couching Georgia for nearly fifteen
years and ho says there is "nothing
complicated about it," describing the
shift as follows:
"When the shift is put into ef
fect every man except the center is
back of the scirmmage line. The
distance that the guards, tackles,
ends u.\d backfield men are removed
from the line sometimes depends
upon what kind of play the boys
are about to make. The whole idea
of pulling ten men of the team back
of the line is to give to the team
concert action and a preponderating
force when it is driven against the
1 enemy line.
"In 1910 It occurred to me that
nothing much was gained by ask
ing my tackles and guards, standing
shoulder to shoulder with the enemy
linesmen, to batter down those men.
It was a task almost impossible be
cause, to get a ramming power into
j a drive, a certain momentum is nec-
Itssary. And that momentum is
! gained only by a run.
' "So 1 pulled my guards and tack
les gack to form a first line of in
terference. The halfbacks and end
form the second line. The. moment
the ball is passed, the two lines of
interference move forward with all
possible speed and when, in a con-
OCTOBER 23, 1918.
certed formation, it hits a straggling
enemy line the inevitable happens.
The enemy line iirknocked down. In
cases where an end run, a lake kick,
a forward pass or some trick play
Is to bo engineered, the double line
of interference serves as an effectual
mask.
"The beauty of that formation is
that every conceivable play can be
made from it. Georgia Tech makes
practically all its plays from that
formation line bucks, end ruhs,
criss-cross passes and forward pass
es. Just how successful the "Jump
Shift" has been when using the atr
ial attack is shown by the fact that
75 per cent, of all Georgia Tech's
forward passes during the past four
years have been completed.
"It takes tremendous patience and
painstaking effort to drill players in
to executing the Jump shift with
smoothness and speed. But general
ly my boys have succeeded in per
i fecting it by the middle of October
j after which time it invariably causes
1 a heap of trouble for the opposition
teams. Georgia Tech has been using
that play for eight years—and we
never yet have encountered a team
that has been able to devise a con
sistent defense against It. That ap
' parently #hows its .worth."
Georgia Tech is using this same
| stunt right now and it has helped
i greatly in her extraordinary scoring
i in the three games she has played
i thus far with a team made up of raw
! recruits but which has totaled 269
j points. She trimmed Clemson, 28-
J0; Furman, 118-0, and Fort Ogle
• thorpe, 123-0.
Next Saturday Georgia faces a
hard game with the Camp Gordon
eleven, stationed in Atlanta. This
is a team made up of some of the
most famous football stars that ever
walked on the gridiron. Included in
the lineup Is Everett Strupper, w ho
just a year ago, was the backfield
satellite of Georgia Tech, and was
ranked universally as an All-Amer
ican back. Mt. Pleasant, the fa
mous Carlisle quarterback of a few
years ago, is occupying a similar
position on the Camp Gordon team,
and another of the stars is Beers,
the Great Dartmouth center.
The Camp Gordon team, consid
ered one of the greatest service
teams in America, certainly will put
Heisman's squad to perhaps the se- >
verfest test of this season.
"But wo are going into that con
test with the thought of victory,
declared Heisntan. "One of the
things that handicaps us is that
Strupper, now with the opposition,
knows many of the tricks that were
successful for us last year and which
we have used with splendid results
in our first tht-ee games of 1918.
Naturally, we cannot depend upon
those plays to win for us against a
1 team which will get the topoff on
I how to stop them from Strupper. So
I am spending the week drilling my
youngsters in the new formations
and a few new aerial plays which I
hope will bring results that will be
gratifying to Georgia Tech."
AV'TO STOLEN
The Police Department has been
notified by Joseph McDermott, 142
i Sylvan Terrace, that the letter's auto
j mobile was stolen at about 9 o'clock
; last night while it stood before the
1 residence at 72 North Seventeenth
: street. The missing car is an Over
land roadster, green in color, with
extra wheel and tire on the rear and
a spotlight on the left side. The li
cense of the machtfie was No. 330509
11