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Show I MM BIDDERS TAKING CHANCES Few Knov History of Chicago 5 Cubs as Business Enterprise , Average Earnings. , (TOTAL CLUB EARNINGS Murphy Immensely Unpopu-' Unpopu-' lar Club Has Distinguished Distinguish-ed Line of Presidents. New York. March 7. Practically (.all these men we have read about recently as bidding to buy the Chi- jcago Cubs from Charles P. Taft .of i 'Cincinnati arc going into what is to I (them a blind' proposition. It is known kthat one of the bidders admitted he was taking simply a gambler's chancet not knowing really what he rwas buying or what the history of the Cubs was as a business enterprise. The figures on the Cub's profits of j last season are not available, but it tcan be stated with absolute authority j that the average earning of the Cubs tin the previous seven years was $85,-1 iOOO, Most close students of the fi- -nancial end of baseball rate the Cubs' itotal value at a million dollars, which would make the annual not clearings -of the years mentioned eight and a half per cent. This may seem like a tremendous return on an investment, invest-ment, but when the various risks of i -baseball are taken into considera tion, it is just about the proper in-terest in-terest on the money. The Information as to these figures I comes from Harry Ackcrland of j Pittsburg, minority stockholder in the I club, who purchased Frank Chance's i' ,ten shares of stock when the latter was taken from the managership of i the team p. year ago this winter. -Chance sold to Ackerland for $40,000 1 or at the basis of only $4000 a share there are 100 shares altogether although the average value of one i'. ishare now Is assessed at $10,000. j Chance told Ackerlnnd of hisexperl-y hisexperl-y ment in a money way with the club. I Altogether, in the eight years he led 1 the club, he collected a total of $68,- 000 as dividends from his stock, aside i from the salary he received from the Total Club Earnings. ' ' Chance's total earnings on 10 per j cent being $68,000, the total earnings of the chib were $680,000 in those eight years. This Is an average of t $85,000 a year. But It must be re- f membered that the bulk of this was , collected in the latter halt of the period, -that the game had become a i bigger money proposition and is still 1 growing in a general way all over . ?f the country. Still another important fnct is that, when the Cubs played in the world's series of 1906, 1907 and 1908, they liad only a small grand-, grand-, , stand that would not hold within ten thousand of what the now one -will i accommodate. The 1906 series was v Uv a bigger money proposition than either of the two that followed imme- i dlately, but this was because of two j paramount reasons this series went to a tie and then to an extra game, and the White Sox were the oppo-I' oppo-I' nents, so that a tremendous amount 1 of local rivalry entered into the sit- j uatioru The two clubs split up $62,-. J 493.30 then. In 1907 and 1908 the W receipts also were kept low by the K fact that Detroit was the opposing ; l' club and the Tigers had a very small II park which, though jammed to the J guards, would not admit of any rec- ord-breaking attendance .figures. In 1907 the two clubs split $36,622.26 in .7 1908 $39,363.03. Compare these fig- r ures with the amount dividend In ( 1910, when the Cubs played the Ath- I Ietics. It was $77,510.07. But of I course these numbers do not com- I pare with those of the Giants-Red I Sox series of 1912 when the .record I was set at $293,831.82, to be divided by tho clubs, exclusively of players and national commission shares. But the Cubs now have an even larger park, and the next time they get m a world's series, It will be possible for them to more than double their former for-mer world's series returns. Other Facts Reviewed. Several other facts must be taken Into consideration In computing how much better the Cubs are likely to be as an Investment in future. It lrfust be remembered that Charles W. Murphy, the last owner of the club, was immensely unpopular in Chicago, so much so that the Tans at times even circulated boycott petitions agalnBt his club. Vet they did collect col-lect large portions of coin of the realm at that. What, then, will be I the result if a popular administration should get In. Probably no other club in baseball has hud such a distinguished line of presidents as the Chicago Nationals elude Murphy during the thirty-eight years of the club's life. It was a charter member of the National league In 1876, with William A. Hul-bert Hul-bert as president. Morgan G, Bulk-ley, Bulk-ley, later governor of and senator from Connecticut, was tho original president of the league. When he retires in the following year, lbn, Hulbort became head of the circuit, serving as president both of league and of club until he died In 1881. That is the only case In history where a club president also has headed head-ed the league. Then In 1S82, A. G. Spalding, whose name is known to every fan, became president of the Cubs. He continued in office until 1892, when James A. Hart came in as president, the club being owned then by John. II, Walsh, the banker. Walsh "sold ont to Murphy, who used money borrowed from C. P. Taft. in 1906 and the latter stayed in office until a couple of weeks ago, he was forced to sell back to Taft tho stock he had bought from Taft gradually with his annual earnings. This makes only four club presidents Tor the Chicago Nationals In thirty-eight years, an average tenure of office of over nine years. The club now is without an official head, or president, presi-dent, though Taft owns a big con- 1 trolling Interest. Fifty-three Shares Sold Taft. It cannot be stated with absolute certainty just how much stock Taft bought back from Murphy recently, but it is said by reliable persons that jifty-three shares were involved In the transaction, at a prico of $10,000 I a share making a total of' $530,000 I paid over by Taft. Taft also is supposed sup-posed to own all the rest of the stock with the exception of the) ten shares held by Ackerland, or ninety shares in all. although it is believed likely that a few shares are sprinkled around here and there to a few small stockholders, who may own anywhere from one to five shares apiece, for may be a total of about oight shares. |