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 CHAPTER XX.

1889-90

O describe in detail the battle royal for the control of professional Base Ball, which raged with unabating fury throughout its entire course, would require a book of double this size. No general ever planned campaign or conserved his forces with more painstaking care than did the commanders of the League and Brotherhood warriors. It was announced at the beginning that it was to be a fight to the death, and it was carried to a finish along these lines. In place of powder and shell, printers' ink and bluff formed the ammunition used by both sides.

If either party to this controversy ever furnished to the press one solitary truthful statement as to the progress of the war from his standpoint; if anyone at any time during the contest made true representation of conditions in his own ranks, a monument should be erected to his memory. I have no candidates to recommend for the distinction. As to my own case, I am sure that I can establish an alibi from the realms of truth. At any rate, if one on either side should now appear laying claim to the lonesome honor of telling the truth in those days, I could convict him by the testimony of many witnesses of having been guilty of disobeying "general orders." 285