Davis County Clipper | 1938-07-08 | Page 3 | "-Was the Author of-" (That is, Unless - Wrote it!)

iI 19 r 7 Was was the fre Author Authoress of o 1 H e That Is Unless ess r Wrote F If It Recent Celebration of Casey Night in Baltimore Recalls the Dispute Over the Poem Made Famous by De Wolf Hopper Casey at the Bat Bati Theres There's Also Argument Over Who Wrote The liThe Face on the Barroom Floor and Many Oth r Old Favorites C e Western Newspaper Union r By ELMO SCOTT WATSON ATSON V HEY celebrated Casey THEY Night in Baltimore recently re re- recently recently in honor of the theman theman theman man who is said to be the I original Casey of the poem made famous by De Wolf Volf Hopper As a prologue to a night game between the Bal Bal- Baltimore Baltimore Baltimore Orioles and the Jer- Jer Jersey J Jersey er- er ersey sey City Giants of the Inter Inter- International International International national league they had arranged ar- ar arranged art t ranged to have the once mighty Casey strike out t just as he did more than half halfa a century ago agot t e Up to the plate stepped old Dan year six seventy six year Casey of Silver Springs Md Rogers Hornsby coach of the Orioles and pitcher for this special occasion wound up and shot the ball across the plate Casey swung and missed by a foot Again the wind-up wind again the pitch and again Casey missed And now the pitcher holds the ball and now he lets it go and now the air is shattered But wait Theres There's something wrong here herel I There goes the ball streaking across the diamond out into left field Its It's a single For once the last line of the immortal poem isn't true Mighty Casey has NOT struck out Anyway it was a good stunt even if it didn't come off according accord- accord according according ing to schedule for it served its purpose of being a sort of cur tain raiser to next years year's celebration cele cele- celebration celebration bration of the centennial of Amer Amer- Americas America's Americas America's Americas America's ica's national game Also it re re- revived re- re revived ived a header double discus discus- discussion discussion discussion sion that has raged for years viz Who was the tha original Casey of the poem Casey at the Bat t Who wrote that poem There have been various claim claimants claimants J ants to the title of original Casey but officials of the two major leagues le gues and others in charge of the plans for the cen- cen centennial centennial tennial seem to have decided that the Casey who didn't strike out in ini i 1 1 Baltimore Bal the other night is the theman man And here is his version of the th incident that has brought him foil immortality f y I Iwas was a left handed pitcher for forthe forI forthe I the Phillies I guess you'd call calI calIme me the Hubbell of my time We were playing the Giants in the theold theold old Philadelphia ball park on Au Au- August August August gust 21 1887 Tim Keefe was pitching against me and he had a alot alot alot lot of stuff but I was no slow poke myself It was the last of the ninth and New York was leading 4 to 3 Two men were out and there were were runners on second and third A week before Id I'd busted up a game with a lucky homer and folls folks I thought I could repeat But he didn't repeat Instead he struck out and and the baseball fans of Philadelphia forgot that they were citizens of the City of Brotherly Love Instead they were just as enraged as any rabid i fans of ay Mudville in the theUn Un ted States would be when their p pc lIar ular heroes fail them The Version As to the authorship of the poem one of the persistent claimants to that honor was was George W. W who spent his last years in the Home for Aged and Infirm in Cambridge Mass His His version of how he came to write the poem which incidental incidental- incidentally ly 1 makes Mike Kelly instead of Dan Casey the hero of the piece is this It uIt was back in August 1886 when I saw the great Mike Kelly play with Chicago against the Boston club Kelly the Babe Rut f his day had a chance to wint a game with the bases full fulI fullin fullin in the ninth but he struck out before a huge and spellbound throng The Boston fans were more grieved to see Kelly fan fanthan fanA fanthan A than they were happy to see their theiry y j team win and I felt something c of the same thing too The UThe next day a Sunday I Iwas Iwas Iwas was lying on the grass in Franklin Frank Frank- Franklin Franklin lin Park in Boston thinking about the game and Kelly and the disappointment of the thc fans and into my mind came the opening stanza I That night I finished the poem I I sent it to the Sporting Times in ins s New York anonymously because my father a burly sea captain looked upon poetry with horror Other claimants to that honor include Joseph Quinlan Murphy Will Valentine and finally the theman theman theman man to whom most authorities award oward credit for its authorship authorship- 1 Ernest L. L Thayer once a resident r of Cambridge and now living in x Santa Barbara Calif J Thayer a n native of Worcester Mass was graduated in 1885 1835 from Harvard Har where he was s 's president of the Lampoon and ivy orator of his class After r. r leaving college he started on a atour atour tour of the world pausing in San Sant i t Francisco long enough to get a n ati M ti r l. l Lug da 1 Fla r A 4 4 tr w t y 4 r 5 Y Dan Casey the original Casey at the Bat is shown recreating the historic scene when mighty Casey struck out Behind him is Bucky Crouse catcher and manager of the Baltimore Orioles and Umpire Roy Van job as a reporter on the paper owned by his friend and fellow Harvard man Willie Hearst While thus employed he wrote a poem called Casey at the Bat a Ballad BalIad of the Republic Sung in inthe inthe inthe the Year 1888 which appeared in Hearst's San Francisco Exam Exam- Examiner Examiner Examiner iner June 3 1888 1838 Thayer Has lIas Best Claim Despite the fact that others have claimed the authorship of Casey at the Bat Thayer's right to it seems to be pretty well established Albert G. G G Spaulding gives him credit for it in his ac ac- account account ac- ac account count of the poem in Americas National Game a history of baseball Several years ago Thayer himself in defending his claim wrote to the New York Times as follows I uI note in the Times a dispatch from Cambridge Mass in m which G. G W. W is reported as claim claim- claiming claiming claiming ing the authorship of Casey at the Bat He says he sent the poem in 1886 to the New York Sporting Times where it was published anonymously The first number of the New NewYork NewYork NewYork York Sporting Times appeared in 1888 and the first or a little later number printed Casey at atthe atthe atthe the Bat as a clipping and duly credited it to the San Francisco I Examiner where it originally ap ap- appeared appeared ap- ap appeared over my initials initials initials-in in June 1888 In uIn the Christmas 1908 issue of the Scrap Book an exhaustive examination of the question Who wrote Casey at the Bat ap ap- appeared appeared ap- ap appeared over the signature of Har Har- Harry Harry Harry ry Thurston Peck at that time professor of Latin at Columbia h r y t k kt kA kt A t t 3 n 4 r ei tt r g Y r rv y John Henry Titus reciting The Face on the Barroom Floor university In the light of all the evidence Professor Peck reached the conclusion that for this per per- perhaps perhaps perhaps haps the greatest of my sins I Iwas Iwas Iwas was exclusively to blame More difficult to establish or original original original authorship is the case of another famous poem known by two titles The Face on the Bar BarRoom BarRoom BarRoom Room Floor and The Face Upon the Floor The rivals for recognition as the author of this classic are John Henry Titus still living at the age of ninety- ninety one and Hugh Antoine DArcy D'Arcy who died November 11 11 1925 Titus born in Jefferson Ohio began writing poetry at an early age and in 1872 produced a seven- seven canto poem called The Ideal Soul Sou The fifth episode in it he called The UThe Face on the Barroom Floor The first stanza was wasl wasI l I a barmy autumn night and a goodly lot was there That oversaw Joes Joe's barroom as court upon the square re And as a song In wit and story ekes through the oaken door A vagabond slowly In askan upon the thc floor According to Titus the scene of this incident was a tavern in Jef Jef- Jefferson Jefferson Jefferson ferson Ohio and his use of the word barroom meant court courtroom courtroom room since the tavern was once the site of county judicial ses ses- sessions A Different Locale In the version of the poem writ writ- written written written ten by DArcy D'Arcy which appeared in 1887 under the title of The uThe Face Upon the Floor the locale is is- in New York city instead of the little lit lit- little littIe tle tIe Ohio town The circumstances under which it was written ac ac- according according ac- ac according cording to Porter J. J White a vet vet- veteran veteran veteran eran actor who died in 1934 and who claimed to be the first man manto manto manto to recite the poem in public were these One night in August 1887 White was awakened in his room in hotel hotel in New York city to find his neighbor from the next room Hugh Antoine DArcy D'Arcy character actor and theatrical manager standing beside his bed bedD DArcy D'Arcy D' D Arcy was clutching some pieces of paper and seemed greatly ex ex- cited The reason was an incident in in- incident incident which he had just wit wit- With some friends DArcy D'Arcy D' D Arcy had wandered into Joe Smiths Smith's saloon at Fourth avenue and Fourteenth street As they sat there talking a tramp walked in and begged for a drink He drew a picture of ofa a womans woman's face in chalk on the floor As he put in the finishing touches tou hes the he bouncer spotted him and out he went DArcy D'Arcy D' D Arcy followed hini him offered him a little money I learned that the vagabond had been a cultured man and an artist driven to drink by the loss of his sweetheart and the treachery of a friend Concluding his account of the incident DArcy D'Arcy D' D Arcy thrust a manu manu- manuscript manuscript manuscript script into his friends friend's hand and White now thoroughly awake aw ke began be be- began began gan to read THE TIlE FACE UPON THE TIlE FLOOR a balmy summer evening and a goodly crowd was there Which filled Joes Joe's barroom on the corner of the square And as songs and witty stories came through the thc open door A vagabond crept slowly in and posed upon the floor floor floor- When he finished reading the remaining 16 stanzas White expressed expressed ex ex- expressed pressed his thorough approval of the poem and aSked permission to recite it in public Temperance Propaganda In subsequent years year Mr White successfully recited the poem many times on the vaudeville and burlesque stages Years later The Face Upon the Floor was renamed The Face on the Bar Bar- Barroom Barroom Barroom room Floor by some self ap pointed editor and was converted for use as temperance propaganda da much da-much much to D'Arcy's Arcy's D D' Arcy s vexation who intended the poem as a plea pica for kindness to derelicts One interesting angle of the dispute over the authorship of pf this poem is the fact that both claimants at nt one time or another went into court to establish their rights to the honor of having writ writ- written written written ten it The uThe Face Upon the Floor was set to music and became a favorite of vaudeville and barber barbershop barbershop barbershop shop tenors who however however to to D'Arcy's disgust gave disgust gave it the title of The Face on the Barroom Floor In 1922 DArcy D'Arcy sued Frank Harding veteran song publisher pub pub- publisher lisher for not giving him rum credit for being author of the poem and anda a few years later Titus sued Harding to recover his title from rom the desecration of the ballad So far as is known neither author ever sued the other so the tho dis dis- dispute dispute dis- dis dispute over the poem is still unde unde- But since Titus is still living liv liv- living living ing at least he has the last word in claiming authorship r I Although Casey at t the Bat was frequently reprinted in newspapers after its original ap ap- appearance appearance ap- ap appearance in 1888 the thing which started the poem on its road to immortality was its recitation by byDe byDe byDe De Wolf Hopper an actor In Inthe Inthe Inthe the summer of 1888 Hopper was appearing in an operetta Prince Methuselah at thea thea- theater ter on Broadway One night the players on the Chicago White Stockings baseball team were guests of the theater and the management of gave Hopper a copy of the poem clipped from the San Francisco Examiner to read between the acts In honor of the ballplayer guests Hoppers Hopper's serio-comic serio rendition of the poem brought a storm of applause and from that time on he was repeatedly called upon to recite it He once said Where or what I may be playing I must before the evening is out come before the curtain ind and pitch to Casey It has been estimated that Hopper Hop Hop- Hopper Hopper per recited the poem no less than times in the theater Add to that his rus recitations of it over the radio in recent years and the number of times tunes his phonograph records of the poem have been played and it is easy to under under- understand understand understand stand why it is listed among the known best poems in the Eng Eng- English English English lish language Another dispute over authorship of a popular poem which was taken tak tak- taken taken en to the courts was the case of Solitude better known by its I c. c I DE WOLF HOPPER opening lines Laugh L ugh and the World Laughs With You Weep and You Weep Alone It was claimed by both Ella Wheeler Wilcox and Col John J J. J Joyce Mrs Wilcox asserted that she wrote it in February 1883 in the home of Judge A. A B. B Braley in Madison Wis where she was visiting and read it to the judge and his wife before it appeared in the New York Sun on February 21 over her maiden Daiden name of Wheeler In May 1883 it was was in included in- in included included in her book Poems of Passion