Show sports and athletics one of the most unique and lar figures ever appearing on the base ball field will jooa be wielding the in decator in the na dional league cir cult according to a recent report should the rumor prove true it Is sate to assume he will constitute as vt a drawing card as rube waddell H a n s wagner napoleon lajoie and chris SLATS DAVIS mathewson in the aames herein he umpires ref arence Is made to ira J davis known as slats or dixie davis he is now an umpire in the western league and eme say by far the best umpire on western fields he was graduated from the university 0 pennsylvania in 1894 and the same year made his debut as a professional ball player in new england since then his eccel and clown stunts have made him known to fans from the atlantic to the pacific he left first base to be come an umpire because of an acci dent to his wrist three years ago his service in the big league has been con fined to brief seasons with the wash ington and isea york teams but he knows all the big league stars it was while he was manager of the danbury conn team in 1898 that he developed and brought out parent howell and phelps while with new york he was in the employ of john day adrian anson and buck ewing philp playing in the western league slats davis was with st joe which team purchased chased him from new york for 1 of which he received but it was while in the pacific coast league that davis made a showing as an ump re having achieved a notable success there last season he asked tor a berth ir the western league this season that he might renew old ac over the circuit his sue cess in the western league has been more conspicuous by reason of the riot ing ind which has charac many of the games and a dead calm has generally settled down when slats went into the game this caused him to gain the attention of president pulliam of the national league who has been having his brou trou bles V th many umpires davis 19 a comedian and while he holds the play ers light to the rules and don t have to take time to look it up in the books he enjoys good nature on the ball beld it his decisions are questioned he calls good natu redl buy a book of rules ten cents and it the player persists it Is to the bench and perhaps a fine but he likes to see something on the feld besides fighting and long caces one time on the pacific coast a manager wanted him to call a game because of rain and he refused the players of the home team appeared on the field when they went out with life preservers strapped around them slats stood for it and laughed saying that it was just what the crowd needed citizens of canada treat their ath letes different than they do in the united states Is instanced by the case ot wll ot toronto who won the marathon race at the olympic games at athens gherring returned hom e recently when he left for greece he brakeman on the grand trunk at 60 a month when he returned he was made a present of an ag greate of something over 5 coin 0 the realm in addition 1 to full and clear vm title to a house and lot the canadian government took judicial recognition ot the lm of his feat and appropriated out of of the federal treasury the city council of hamilton ontario did the same then ta top it all the do minion government benignant in the reflected glory of her plucky son has appointed the racer to an a sinecure eine cure in which certain government property Is investigated and which will require only a part of his time at a salary of about a year which means a great deal in a country where a dollar goes twice as far as it does in the united states all honor to he deserved all he got if you don t believe it go out and try to run 25 miles then recall that not only ran 25 mils raced the whole distance dis and won from the best long distance runners of the whole world all for the glory of the of canada won but one race all along the route through the extreme east of montreal and other towns he was greeted by cheering mobs who surrounded hia train much as they do the presidential special in the southwest our own athletic team returned from the olympic games where they made almost a clean sweep of the events in which they competed sheridan alone won several world s championships yet how do we greet thema one lone coney island steamboat chartered by the irish american athletic club goes down the bay and barks a belle at the conquering heroes saturday night the irish club gave them a banquet at the hotel astor that s about all there fore the peerless american athletes as fine a body of men as ever walked forth to battle and delivered the goods return to their native heath practically unheralded moral when about to be a hero move to canada |