The Seattle Star Newspaper, April 2, 1923, Page 13

92 MONDAY, APRIL 2, RAMAGE AND WELSH ARE BEST ROOKIES IN SEATTLE’S CAMP What of This Slugger—a .350 Hitter Without a Steady Job EMINI SCENCES D-EDugdate .>'| Gray Wolf Wolverton CHAPTER LXXXI. OU can’t beat experience line of endeavor, That's why I think that Harry Wolverton wom manager for t coupled with ability in any | will be a great he Seattle Coasters, Wolverton has had experience as a player in every position on the club, starting out as a pitcher team. time, but also caught and pl sides the Gray Wolf was quite field. And be a hitter. This gives on his perience how much to expect from each one | met of his men. Wolverton Dubuque, in the old We the last year in 1896 with the Columbus He played third base most of the |°#™plonship, ed the out- him the perspective of every club, and he knows from ex- a third sacker with } stern league, in 1897, that I served as a catcher in roke in a that part of the country DUGDALE here a month or so ago, abc I was talking with Harry while he was nut the old days, and he told me that he started out as a pitcher, but never liked the hurling game becalse he could Wolverton bh a ee th and was so! I he fi famous Pong Wolverton On the way > n ¥ talking about I know what my league.” said Joe. plenty of games “What do you mean, win plenty?" pitch this year. 1 don't like that regularity I won't play at all. f But Cantillon olled Wolverton tnte perienced man to replace him nque with his pitching to Harry ars can You had a on ing year, rd the fi big n't be in there every day. Tom Loft where he played ur Columbus under the ret day determination to play wed, Cant! regularly he ar lon started and you ought tb burn and ab p this Year last season, uld win asked Wolve le of the game, rton, “I'm not going to and if I can't play Harry » pitching until he the staff, promising Id get to play an Fegularly as soon as he could get a pitcher. | ‘The season wore on and, altho Wolverton won most of his games tint Year, he still wanted to play every day. Finally he threatened to quit, and Cantillon asked him to pitch the next day and said it would be his | fina) request. Harry did, and towards the efid of the game something snapped in his elbow and the whole arm tightened up on him, getting black and biue. He had snapped a tesdon He was thru as a pitcher. He si! and the regular put in his place 1 Jem across with that bum arm.” “TT get ‘em o answered Wo On the secon: n, 4 or third chance he the diamond and something clicked tr back in place with the heave. was throwing as well as ever. and he served « Jong time as a third Wolverton’s refusal to quit and his idea of the kind of a man the Gray tuck third sacker was seriously til Wolverton volunteered ¢ “Why you can’t throw ‘em over there,” round the club a week or no, hurt. There was nobody to play the bag. sald Cantillon; “you can't get r there if I Rave to carry the ball across the diamond,” had Wolverton hopped the ball over hia elbow. The tendon had slipped And in two or three weeks Wolverton They never did get him off of third base | sacker In fast baseball company. | desire to play regularly gtve some | Wolf Is, | | What Kvans thinks Charley White is the mystery man of the ring. No fighter in the history of the sport has had a more erratic career than the Chicago lightweight. . . The possessor of a fine physiqu the ideal build for a fighter, packing @ deadly punch in the left hand, able| to take punishment and endowed by nature with plenty of courage, White has been the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of the ring. Xo fighter has been more touted “is % championship possibility than White. As a featherweight he was fooked upon as a champ. outgrew that division without having landed the title, the fistic experts im-| mediately began to hand over to him the lightweight laurel: Freddie Welsh wasgthe holder of the lightweight title when White was fegarded at the top of his game. Weish, always clever, and a great ring general, never won much fame sg a knockout artist. White in those days, as now, “knocked ‘em flead when he hit them on the but- fon,” to use the slang of the ring. cee It was felt that the first time White got into the same ring with Walsh the title would change hands. White was sure to wear Welsh down, and then slip over punch, was the view of a majority ‘Of the fistic experts. * . White got the big chance, in fact, @ couple of chances against Welsh, but failed dismally to make good the many things that were predicted When he} the knockout | for waltzed around him. Welsh | White, gently tapping him he| |Pleaxed, and never gave White a) single opportunity to put over the} sleep-producing wallop, cee Benny Leonard won the title from | Welsh. In due time White secured al }bout with Leonard, He was given an outside chance by the expertn. At Jone stage of the fight he had more| |than s chance, the cha |within his reach, but b portunity slip away |later Leonard kno: ionship was let O14 Op, A few rounds ‘ked him out. | . | Having worked himself back { the good graces of the promoters by his fine showing In a number of |bouts, White was In a position for & second meeting with Leonard. Re cently he took a bout with Rocky | Kansas to fill In. Kansas, Inst sum-| |mer, was stopped by Leonard at} | Michigan City, Ind. oe . | White figured on disposing of Kan |sas in handy fashion and then fore- ling Leonard tnto another champion ship bout. Kansas decisively de- feated White, who was a 3 to 1 tav-| orite. White, who han had a half} dozen shots at the champtonship, sees another opportunity gone giim- mering. | | White's rea! trouble i» lack of co-! Jordination. The mind and the hand} that packs the punch constantly | |clash. He gets an opponent on the! ropes and then lets him recover. Co-| ordination would have made White one of tho greatest fighters |history of the ring. Lacking it he continues to remain a mere ponsi- I bility for championship honors. in the| MOTHER IS MANAGER AND _ TRAINER OF YOUNG BOXER) ACON, Ga, April Being “mama's boy" Is the makings of Young Stribling. To date, it has made him weiter. weight champion of the South, and garried him undefeated thru a series OF ring battles. For Stribling’s mother ts also his Manager, trainer and spiritual ad. viser. Just before he steps over the ropen for a bout, the youth bends over and Kisses his mother, He gets his final instructions from her. at this time. He sticks to these—and his work has brought a call for him from the East, where he hopes to wet a crack at Mickey Walker, the welter champion. too, “If I ever get anywhere in the boxing game it will be because of my mother,” declares Young Strib- ling, And altho she advises and trains her son for battle, Mra, Strib 290000000000000000 WANTED A Few More “Rummy” Players at The ZERO 214 Jefferson St. Just back of L. C. Smith Bldg. Card Tables, Pool, Cigars, Candies, Soft Drinks, Fountain Lunches Pay Cheeks Cashed ©000000000000000 | ling {s the gentlest mother imagin- able. She watches his fights with utmost confidence in his ability to win. It was she who first taught him the use of his fists, and It waa she who taught him with equal enthu siasm and faith the habit of evening prayer which #he depends on even now more than she does on the ntrongnesa of his ilthe arms, “I dream of the time when T shall sit by and watch my aon battling |for the world's championship,” Mra. | Stribling ways, “1 won't be afraid, tor 1 pray for my boy every night, and I know that as long as he ives Mean and fights square he's bound to get on top sooner later, I haven't mianed a single one of his fights so far, and you can bet I never will “Ever since my boy has been able to walk, I've taught him three things: To be able to defend him self, to live an upright life, and have 4n abounding faith In the hereafter, Mrs, Stribling saya | “And he's day he'll arriv for he's those three tenets, and backed by brains, and nided | clean life, cannot be stopped. |keep your eye on my boy." | _— | DR. WO | CHINDSE DOCTOR Nature Chinese Merbs Romedion 6 Wa Chinese | a en a good boy. Some stuck to brawn by a Sunt poer cont, and they will make ft that | Monroe's fighting logger. | moans of defense fora groe McTigue _ a Cheese | Champion Conqueror of Battling Siki Is Second-Rater, Writes Boxing Scribe } BY HENRY L, FARRELL N= YORK Sikt should not mourn too much the his April Battling about toms of Lightweight He ian't the only one} | who has been year, and he tan’t wot it, Siki wasn't going any cular, anyway dethroned this the last one who will o# in par: | He was always in anger of “the first good man” he| and Mike McTigue, 10> | ceeding champion, t* in the same fix | M Tigue whe ng an he Id remain champion | from first:| the middie. | an't hit and his| him popular | in heavy on his title Mike rk over ays Away t Mike « weights up make about in| ms to we « of the ma Joe Gans, white d George ducking also kno after ing to Johnny out bad giver amy f the experts are fi old ¢ known ng back ack, always made about pe who pulls the unex th he ts ever ven being | MeT conaidored falr | when he was around here before. He| was a tapper and a dancer and he| couldn't get work because he wasn't | a card Ho tm still a tapper and a| dancer, but he may be more of al ard now because he has the phony | Je hanging on him. hat lght-heavyweight champion ad experience in last three years, and i as been variety of han Battling Jow, held tt until Carpentier Frenchman, | him jaw. Battling | k it away from dit on to Mec If Pancho Villa of flesh, he} the ractal ted—"he is better edit for > haw a hectic Georges racked Siki Car er and pa Tigue, an DP should take might be able irele complete. Harry Greb, Pancho Mike O'Dowd are with Siki as ex champions of the year. It was pre dicted that 1923 would be a bad year for the champs, and the prophets are making good. Johnny Kilbane, Johnny Wilson and Joe Lynch can help along in making the doping 100 on the a Senegalese, + ma: on a lot to make Villa and if they'll take anything upé. Krache Is Ready for Hard Test BY SEABURN BROWN ALK about the main event of to morrow nigh t's| smoker, whic Austin & Bait will put on at the Arena, ts not | centered on the| Question of whether Ted Krache, Ho- quiam’s light weigh! sensation, | will or will not whip Jack Jomphs—but on whether Krache's firat Seattle showing will make him look like a likely oppon: | for “Bearcat” Dode Bercot, | Krache is taking his coming clash with the redoubtable Minneapolis miller quite seriously, realizing that Josephs, while not a world-beator, has boxed in rings of many parts of the U. 8, A. and has the repu tation that experience brings. A win would establish Krache in the main event class in the Northwest An injury received in training has knecked Harry Anderson out of his share of the semi-windup money. The veteran 136-pounder was to have met Pat Williams, but | another mate must be found for the lanky Irishman, Anderson sustain. | ed a hurt Saturday that makes it| impossible for him to box this week, Sailor Eddie Buell, who ta a real glutton for work, in to atep for the Seattle critics again this week. His opponent for the specia: event in Eddie McCarthy, an Olympla feath erwelght Red Campbell, of Everett, who beat Boy McCasslin in four rounds last week, has signed to tangle with a tough proposition in Soldier Woods, the “California Wild Man," in the nd bout ddte Moore and Ludwig Jones of Tacoma will open the show, LIFE IS SOFT FOR O'CONNELL Nothing like putting confidence in young fellows, When Jimmy O'Con nell reported to the Giants, he was in danger of carrying a swell head or over-anxlety in living up to @ $76, 000 reputation, McGraw didn’t want lim to try too hard, so he told him to work out in the afternoons, The rookies work out i the mornings, Maybe when the Giants hit the rond, Mir James will get a lower berth That's the last sign of “regularity,” RABBIT PUNCH IS LEGITIMATE Because a poke on the back of the neck has become a popular weapon of modern ring warfare, the moral. iets aro anking that the rabbit-punch be barred, ‘There can be no effectual way of logisinting Ape the punet if it whould be listed an a foul, tt would be a fine and very effectual] boxer to cover up his jaw and stomach in 1 croueh and expose nothing but the back of his neck, Jout wt the ball jor Marry Hallmann. Center shows Stephenson, a great batter, who thus far has no regular berth on the In- dians, Upper left, Billy Evans “doing his stuff” over the shouldrer of Luke Sewell. Up- per right shows Walter Lutzke reaching for a wide one, Summa, lower left, and Myatt,| lower right, are two other newcomers who are expected to be seen in the regular lineup. AKELAND, Fla, April man without @ job. —A There you have the baseball sta of Riggs the greatest right-handed batters In the major leagues Stephenson, one of Stephenson t# one of those right- handed batters who takes a healthy The former collegian Is a player capable of hitting better than .300, Probably close to .350 If used regular, There's the rub. tephenson is a man without a job, altho Manager Speaker of the In- diana {s busily engaged in trying to find a title that will fit him. Stephenson came direct to the In- dians from University of Alabama. A few yearn back, when an injury to & la Rogers Hornaby | | Bir Wambeganss mtarting the season, Speaker sur prised the baseball world by | nouncing the unknown college recrult jas hin mecond-sacker. Right well did | he the bill, His great hitting featured the early play of the In diana In w Gestre Into the r used the youngster at second, #! 5 third and tn the outfield Bome alight fault crops out that keeps him | lfrom winning a regular berth Speaker hasn't lost faith, nelther has yhenson. Eddie Collins didn't ar-| rive overnight. | The tough part of It ts that a batsman capable of whaling the ball| |to the extent of @ .250 average as a lregular is viewing the gam: from | kept him from| an to lar lineup w Stephenson Speaker hax the bench. “For the present I guess the best title 1 can bestow on ‘Stevie’ is utility Inflelder,’ anys Speaker, “Old Hoss can play any of the infield positions, and play them well, do a turn in the ield, and how he can murder that ball. He should be a great help to me this year regardless of what hi title ts.” In some ways Stephenson's case ts similar to that of Dode Crisa, who, back 15 years ago, was with the St. | Louls Browns. Criss sure could hit the ball. He came to the Browns as & pitcher, but was used at first and in the outfield to make use of his hitting, but he never won a berth in the regular IIneup. Yet he won many a ball game for the Browns with his ability to hit ‘em where they ain't. Gardner on Mound tor First Game| BY LEO H. LASSEN F@ SNO, Cal. April) 2—Harry ardner, the venerable Oregon mpud heaver, will tons the first game | | of the seanon for the Seattle Indians | against Salt Lake here tomorrow aft ernoon, Gardner hag been showing excel jont form here tn the training sea- son games, and he should give the Been plenty of trouble. Frank Tobin in expected to catch Gardner's splitter, as ho worked with the veteran Oregon hurler last year. The rest of the lineup will be the |mame as Harry Wolverton has used most of the training season. Rilly Lane, left fled; Doo John- aton, fitat base; Ray Rohwer, right field; Brick Eldred, center field; Biil Orr, shortstop; Hal Janvrin, second base; Ted Baldwin, third base; Frank Tobin, catcher and Harry Gardner, pitcher, is the expected Hneup. Duffy Lewis, pilot of the Bees, hasn't announced his definite Mneup yet, but ho ts expected to start Pud- ky Gould, star right-hander, against the tribe, He also has Elmer Myers and Rudy Kallio ready for the opener. Lewis probably will start his team as follows: Sheehan, necond bas; Vit, third bane; Lewis, left fleld; Strand, center field; Wilholt, right field; Lenlle, first base; Pearce, shortstop; Peters, atcher; Gould, pitcher. After more than a month of per fect weather at San Jose, Jupiter Pluviua got on the job over the week: end and knocked the Redskins out of two practice games. The second games with the Chicago Cubs was postponed because of rain In the third frame, with the Indiang lead ing, 3 to 1, Saturday, and the Sun- day game took a sock in the chin from Jup, the tribe being scheduled to wind up the training season with Santa Clam college. The Indians are playing the Bees on a skin diamond here this week neither the infield por the outfield being: gransed, Wolverton In putting the regulars thru a practice seasion this after. noon, to get them used to the new grounds, The gang plays here a week, two games being booked for Saturday, and then they hop to Sacramento a week before coming home to open the season, The week following they tangle with Lon Angeles, MOLLA DROPS ANOTHER MIX NES, Irance, April 2.—An other net defeat was suffered by Mra, Molla Mallory, American wom: an tennia champion, here yesterday, when she and Senorita de Alvaron Jont In doubles to Mra, ‘Lambert Chambers and Miss Kathleen Me: Kane, in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2, CA KUGHNE, Ore, more than 40 men out spring football praction will ppen within the fhext few weele, Head Conch Shy Huntington an nounced today, April 2 ready to turn With IPREP HOOP TOURNEY IS UNDER WAY HICAGO, April 2-—The survival of the fittest will be the rule in} opening of the national inter-| j holastio basketball tournament at} | Bartlett gym, Chicago untversity, at J. p.m | Enat will meet West tn the first game—Walla Walla, Wash., and Glo-| | Veraville, N. Y., being the first two} teams acheduled to take the floor, | Games will continue hourly from the opening of the bell until late at} night for three days. The semi-finals and finals will be played Saturday. The 40 competing teams, coaches Jand officials will attend a banquet |tonight at which rules will be ex plained. SUCCESS IS WITH EARLY FISHERMEN ORKING under unusually fay: orable weather conditions, a ma Jority of the great Northwest army of anglers who ventured after apect- mens of tho elusive finny tribe on the opening day of the 1923 sea. son Sunday, were favored with ex: cellent catches, according to first reports received by local sporting goods hounes, Trout fishermen were the lucktest. | ‘The sunshine wns a handicap to| Inke anglers, but a direct ald to] those who traveled to mountain streams, Most of the catches reported were of medium sie trout and bas Whether trout of extra sizo are plentiful thiy year could not be Judged from the scanty reports, as most of the Seattle men who went out of town returned late Sunday evening or early Monday-—and tm: modiately “hit the hay." Ono catch of more than 20 trout was made by @ party who visited Lake Sammamish, and a few bass fore taken on Lake Washington, hear Madison point. \t | CREW RACE COURSE. IS SELECTED D” to the fact that the upper course on the Oakland estuary, where the crews of the Universities of Washington and California will hold their annual race on April 21, Is swept with cros currents, Coach “Rusty” Callow, of the northern oarsmen, has selected the lower course for the clash, according to an. nouncement Monday, The privilege of selecting course was offered to Callow Coach Ben Wallis of California, Callow's men are in the midst of a hard training grind and the crow ts rapidly rounding Into form. The following lineup will probably start for Washington on the day of the race: Walling, stroke; Dutton, No, 7%; Shaw (captain), No, 6; Murphy, No. 5; Parkins, No, 4; Spuhn, No. %; Luft, No. Tidmarsh, bow, and Grant as coxswalny the by % Luis Firpo Only Title Contender EW YORK, April 2—Where the path leads for Luts Firpo, the Argentine giant, depends largely on where Luis chooses to turn his steps. Firpo has more natural fighting ability and he is the best prospect of any of the young heavyweights who have come to the front since Dempsey got his start. Firpo has everything promising, but he has one of the Latin tempera- ments that may spoil what looks like sure fame and fortune for him. Because some of his fellow coun- trymen In South America warned him to beware of scheming Ameri- cans, Firpo ts suspicious of every- one. He looks upon all who approach him as connivera who are out to do him harm, Even with Jimmy De Forest, who trained him for a few weeks when he first came to this country and who handed bim in the Brennan fight, he Iy restrained and wary and It docs hot permit him to get the full valuo out the excellent education that De Forest is capable of giving him, As an example of the peculiar type of a pupil that Firpo is, De Forest tells the story that when he was working with him last year, one of Firpo's friend’ went to him and told him that De Forest was Dempsey's | trainer and that Jimmy would teach him wrong, #o that Dempsey could beat him. Firpo became suspicious and quit De Forest. If he continues to suspect every one he will make the way harder, altho it might not necessarily keop him from winning the title, De For- est is about the one trainer in the country who knows enough to make & great fighter out of the South Amertoan, Nearly*all of the veterans who have looked over the South American find In him a striking resemblance to Jim Jeffries whon he first came out, Tex Rickard, who is one of the moat enthusiastic boosters of Firpo, ways that he really Is another Jim and that he will bo the next cham. pion, The most impressive things about Firpo are his ability to take punish- ment and his tremendous hitting power, He also has a great fighting heart—and little else is needed, Firpo must learn to box a little, but that ts only a minor detail, His left hand also needs attention, but that also can come with training, It seems now that Dempsey has only two men as real contenders for the titleFirpo and Harry Wills, Perhaps Wills ts only a prominent contender because ho has been adver. tined as one and everyone thinks so, Many competent Judges of boxing have expressed the opinion that Wills couldn't go three rounds with the champion, Without any more training, IMrpo could go six or seven rounds with Dempsoy juat an he is today, Hoe was a little fat around the walst in the Brennan fight and he didn’t like the pokes to the mid-sectton, but he had a very short time to train, and the neat time he will be in better phape, Infielders Will Get Call If to Carry Any Promising Is Reviewed and head the Oakland Welsh is a f also p and could .be a 2 -_ ae drive away fror tamage resembles Spencer in the field. second, If Wolverton decides to \fellows will probably get the ¢ | Next to Welsh and Ramage loutfielder, He takes a nasty the best hitters in camp. He's also pretty fast in the field jand throws well. He will be placed without difficulty in some Class B league. He has }no chance of breaking in on the Seattle outfield. Clyde Mearkle, the Penn State infielder, looks Mke a pretty fatr prospect, but he ts a choke hitter and his throwing hasn't looked any too good. He knows quite a bit about the game, however, and may land with a slower league. Bud Davin, the Seattle youngster, lacks experience, and he needs more hitting against good pitching. He has been having considerable trou ble hitting a curve ball y the outfield. can hit, run and throw school star, a lot in appearance. Oliver Is Also Young Player of Big Promise Harry Wolverton Decides Rookies; Yannigan Squad BY LEO H. LASSEN (Sporting Editor, The Star) AN JOSE, April 2. shoulder: rookie squad on the ing season close: toss young San Diego infielder. ~Two youngsters stand over the rest of the eattle club as the train- They are Jimmy Welsh, er, and Bill liamage, the irst sacker by trade, but can He has a lot to learn bit more aggressive. But he and he’s hard to n the plate. He’s a left-handed former Seattle high He is a regular ball hawk sticker and a right-handed thrower. Harri Manager Wolverton has been using him most of the time at shortstop, but he can also play third and He's a starboard hitter. any of the rookies these pall is young Oliver, the cut at the ball and San Jose is one of | Joe Doran, the Mary's third sacker, is a fast fielder, but not any |too good with the willow. ‘either Spike Maloney nor John I @ rookie catchers, is given much chance of breaking in on the regular staff this season, altho both |have been looking good Irish” Dennison, a big rawboned |righthander with the best curve ball in camp, looks Ike a good Prospect, altho he has a lot to learn. He has an iron arm and no experi lence. , | Bill Praul, the Ban Diego young- ster, is a good hurling prospect and has a good noodle. The rest of the squad cangot be classed as rookies, all of the others jhaving had some experience in league at one time or another. BY BILLY EVANS \ ESBURG, Fla., April 2—aArt Fletcher, new manager of the nillies, is an optimist, Fletch reached the ranks of atar- dom as shortstop for the New York Olants. ‘Trained tn the school of John Mc | Graw, Fletcher thinks victory all the |time, Defeat has no place in his vocabulary. Placed in charge of a team that many critics are unkind enough to consign to last place, Fletcher ts in no way discouraged. He plans a better showing than the Phillies did last year, He feels that he will be able to carry out his plans. Regardiess of where they finish the Phillies of 1923 will play with a much better spirit than did the team of last year, Fletcher's aggregation will battle all the wny. When defeated they will go down fighting rather than meekly accept Ing the reverse, with the thought that the playing of the game merely brought the season that much nearer to the close. THEORIES OF FLETCHER Fletcher never falls to impress upon his players that they did not finish last in 1922. The Phillies have held down the taifl-end position for so many years that Fletcher wants his players to keep in mind the fact they did not finish there last year. ‘Tho other point that he keeps driv- ing home is that by finishing sixth the club will show a substantial im- provement, In various ways he tries to show where the team fs stronger than last year and should make a better showing. Sixth place ts the spot Fletcher ts shooting at. There are some who will insist that he might as well shoot at the moon, but the Phillies manager refuses to see it in that Lowly Phillies Area | Bit Imovroved for ’23 [Mght. | Keep out of last place. Fletcher | keeps preaching that theory to his athlet He doesn’t want his team to hit the cellar a single time dur- jing the season. He seeks to stay out of last place because of the psychological effect he iw certain it will have, 7 Pitching that is certain to be bet- ter. An infield that will be 25 per cent better, Catching that will be worthy of a pennant winner. An outfield that wil show a much im- | Proved player in Curtis Walker, picked up by Fletcher to soon de velop into a real star. There you have the reasons for Fletcher’s op- timism. Fletcher feels that Boston is bet. ter than an eighth place team. How- ever, since the Phillies beat out Bos-- ton last year, Fletcher sees no rea son why they cannot repeat. Incl © dentally Brooklyn ie the other club that he feels he bas more than an even chance to nose out, THE PROBABLE LINEUP Unquestionably the Philltes of this year will be a considerable improve- ment over last year. The club will present practically the same lineup of last year, with the exception of Sands at short and Holke at first. — Sands looks good. In all probability Williams, Wal- ker and Lee will start tn the out- field. The ability of Williams is well known. Lee has promise, while Cur- is Walker looks like @ sure enough — star, Walker is the youngster se- cured from McGraw in one of the _ several deals made by Philly with ~” ‘ew York. * Fletcher's ball club doesn't look so much on paper, but {t is displaying a spirit in-training that will be something entirely new to the Philiy fans. Even that should help, ‘Cue King Slipping at Last EW YORK, April 2.—Willie Hoppe ts still the world’s cham. pion at billiards, but he tsn't the In- vinelble champion he used to be. He still holds on to the title, because he was so far ahead of all other players that even when he slips back and back no one can yet reach him. The strain of years of the most ac- tive playing and the strictest. train- ing have exacted thelr penalty and affected his nerves. About Hoppe's gamo, when he was in his prime, was an atmosphere of supreme confi- dence that Is missing now, Hoppe used to rattle off a succession of dif. ficult shots with the east of a pianist playing the scales, Now he seems to ponder and deliberate and he never seems quite certain that he ts playing the right shot. nm if he t# slipping and reach. ing the ond, Hoppe needs have no regret, He has made a record that perhaps never will be equaled and he will be known for years as the greatest of them all. No other player today ts within miles of the Hoppe who used to be. Jake Schaeffer, on the surface, has come fast in the Inst two y Howevor, it was not that Schaeffer was improving #0 much and bring ing himself up to the standard of Hoppe's game, as it was that Hoppe was going back and getting down to the plane of Schaeffer's game. Schaeffer may be the next cham pion, but he never will be a great champion, because he hasn't the smooth, even temperament that |x ossential in a billiard champion or in nourly any other kind of a cham pion. BON STEIN IS BEATEN _ BY SPIERS VICTORIA, B. C, April 2.—By a. margin of one up, Clark Speirs, the Seattle Inglewood club's crack ama- teur golfer, defeated Bon Stein, amateur title holder of Washingy ton, in thelr match here yesterday. The men met in a semi-final of © the tourney under way at Oak Bay British Columbia. Speirs will meet Bernie Schwem gers In the final today, Schwengers _ qualified by defeating A. V, Ma con In the other semi-final yester day, one up, SAYS BIG COIN "i NEW YORK, April 2.—“Talk of million-dollar purses for fighters In: South America ts all bunk. I've been there and I know," Sailor Maxted, New York heavyweight, sald on his return here, Maxted, who was knocked out once by Luls Firpo, said he tried to get a return fight and couldn't, ENTRIES CLOSE IN RELAY MEET ~ PHILADRLPHIA, April 2—Team entries for the Penn relay carnival on April 27 and 28 close today, At the present time 105 colleges, 12 high schools and 69 prop schools have ene tered, Bntries for college champion. ships do not close until April 18, up autekly and he sulke when he © thinks tho breaks are going a@ainat — him. Ho watehes the house too — much, tnstoad of keeping his mind Schaffer lowes his hoad, ho gives on the ganio, for the amateur championship ef TALK IS BUNK