Clipping:Bob Ferguson calls out the pool sellers
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| Date | Sunday, July 27, 1873 |
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| Text | Despite the existence of fraudulent play in the professional arena for a year or two past, it is only this last week that a solitary individual connected with the fraternity has been found possessed of the moral courage to boldly and publicly attack this evil and make an effort to put a stop to it, and this plucky fellow is Captain Robert Ferguson, of the Atlantic Club, who on Tuesday last (so says an eye-witness of the occurrence) walked into the building where pools are sold, and thus “rose to explain” to the men “whose ways are dark and tricks are vain,” in language that was undoubtedly “plain:” “I’ve marked you, you infernal thieves and robbers. I’ll burst you yet; I’ll teach you to buy up my men, you low-lived loafers, every one of you. There’s not a one of you who wouldn’t steal a penny from your dead mother’s eyes and kick the corpse because it wasn’t a quarter. Come out here, if you want to, any one of you who don’t like it, or who the cost fits, and I’ll warm the ground with your miserable carcass till you won’t want to buy up my men again.” The most singular thing in connection with this torrent of invective against the “knaves of the ring” who had been tampering with his men–Britt, Barlow, and Dehlman are the three under the ban of suspicion, though we cannot realize that they are guilty–was, that not a cur of them all had the courage to become indignant at the charge, or to “take it up” as honest men could promptly have done in some way or other. A Philadelphia paper, we notice, has a sensational article on the matter, in which the “Boss” of the ring is referred to. Now, who is this “Boss” or master knave? Give us his name, so that he may be shown up; for it is the temper of the players and the “receiver” of the profits of the fraud who is the greatest rascal of them all, the poor tools he employs being objects of pity rather than of vengeance. New York Sunday Mercury July 27, 1873 No one accepted the gage thus hurled into their very centre, and while in union there is strength, they all knew that Ferguson is a dangerous man to tackle when his dander is up. And still he kept at them until he had exhausted his vocabulary of words, which if not elegant, are extremely forcible and to the point. And they deserved it, too; while Ferguson raised himself many degrees in the estimation of every honorable man by his conduct on this occasion. Desperate disgrace requires desperate remedies, and we rejoice in the Captain’s pluck in bearding the lion in his den, and giving ...wholesome truths in such a convincing manner. It must be particularly aggravating to six square men, who are determined to win, and who are straining every nerve to accomplish this result, to find themselves thwarted at every turn by three others, who, without honor, having been “seen” from their position can render every attempt abortive. The last of this has not come, and we warn certain, not yet to be named Atlantic players that their rope is short and that Bob won’t stand any more such treachery. The Fourth of July commenced the business–at least it became plain then–and we trust the 23d ended it. Philadelphia Sunday Dispatch July 27, 1873, quoting Wilkes’ Spirit of the Times Among the events of the week were the issuing of cards by Britt, Barlow and Dehlman, of the Atlantic nine, against whom suspicion of fraudulent play had been entertained by Captain Ferguson and the directors of the club. Britt, in his card, explicitly denies the truth of the accusation, and demands the closest investigation. Barlow, in his card, says: “All such charges or insinuations are utterly false, and without the slightest foundation; and I stand ready and willing to submit to the closest examination in the matter, and, moreover, challenge any proof from any one to show that I have ever acted otherwise than as an honest player in the professional fraternity.” And Dehlman states that “I never received or was offered a bribe in any manner of shape, and the party who originated that report dare not come out open and above board, and prove that I ever received a dollar to sell a game.” Justice to all three requires that the charges made be investigated at once, and if proved false, that they all three be reinstated in the confidence of the club. We do not believe either have been guilty; but it was important to all that the charges which had been so publicly talked about, should be fully ventilated, and hence our comments. We believe in the full exposure of all knavery on the field as the only way of remedying the existing evils surrounding professional ballplaying. New York Sunday Mercury August 3, 1873 [see Phila Sunday Dispatch August 3, 1873 for the texts of the cards.] |
| Source | New York Sunday Mercury |
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| Submitted by | Richard Hershberger |
| Origin | Initial Hershberger Clippings |
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