Show LAST ST SOUP STRAINER IN BIG LEAGUES disappears lohn john titus famous right fielder of ph ladolph as parts with his mustache the last soup strainer has parsed from the big league company the strands of golden brown that hid the space between the classic nose and cupid mouth of john titus the famous right fielder of the phillies composed the last survivor now that has passed away tor for de siring string to be able to coach without having to hurl his words through a tangle of red weeds john imbibed a gallon of laughing gas and permitted a savannah barber to lay a legious blade on the last of the soup strainers A link that bound the past to the present thus passed for all time philadelphia had for many years the companion piece to the titus mus tache monte cross held on to his i az 77 till 1904 but when it began to take on a gray tinge at the ends monte thought it about time to change his disguise jake beckley clung to the old fashioned for a long time but even the ger man was forced to bow to modern cus toms once no big leaguer was complete comple t e without upper lip adornment his mustache was only second in imbor tance to his bat or glove photo graphs of the old timers anson kel ly gore Drou brouthers all show a fine piratical adornment some time in the early the fashion changed some baseball modiste of that period decided that the mustache was no longer de rig beur the edict was promptly obeyed and enough hair was shorn from the faces of ball bossers to stuff a mattress to the younger generation of fans the titus mustache was a survival of a remote period a curiosity now even that Is gone the accompanying drawing is from the first photograph taken since john said good by to his chief claim for beauty it shows him with the nude upper lip popular among his fellows |