Page:History of Oregon Newspapers.pdf/531

522 shooting, yachting. Golf still received little or no attention from him (half an inch out of 5 columns July 12, 1911, and nothing at all in the Sunday paper immediately following that date). Nearly two the paper of January 5, 1913, had 31 columns years later, Sunday of reading matter and cuts in the sport section, and not a single mention of golf.

In 1913 Fawcett was using a seven-column banner across one of his sport pages: "Watch-Tower Observations," followed each week by a new wisecrack, such as (January 12) "Here is a suggestion for paragraphers: Why not say something about the waterwagon losing its passengers?" There was two or three columns of varied comment, terse and otherwise. In the January 3 issue this "Watch-Tower" department contained 21 items, ranging from 2 lines to half a column, each decorated with an enlarged initial letter. Sports covered were baseball, football, prizefighting, with a brief Bronx cheer for golf. "Naughty squirrels," related Mr. Fawcett, "are causing great excitement in California by stealing the golf balls at some of the high-class links. Golfdom is wildly agitated, and various remedies, taming, feeding, etc., have been suggested. While they are talking it over, someone ought to go out with a shotgun and kill the nutty creatures."

Fawcett had an outspoken, original way of expressing his preferences and peeves. For instance, this "crack" at the Northwestern League baseball club in Portland, conducted by Judge W. W. McCredie as a sort of stepchild as contrasted with his Coast League favorite:

"When Horace Fogel turned the Philadelphia Nationals over to his successors, he left only $500 in baled certificates in the treasury; yet the new owners value the club at $1,000,000. W. W. McCredie made $.75 on the Portland Northwestern League club last year, but is willing to sell for $1.

While the Judge has made public no detailed estimates, his stenographer quotes these prices f.o.b.—Manager (Nick) Williams, 33 cents; Frank Eastley, 9 cents; Pat Doty, 12 cents; Bill Speas, 8 centavos; Bob Coltrin, two-bits; Skin Harris, a nickel; and the rest in conglomerate, 8 cents.

Nowadays good ball-players come high."

The status of girls' athletics in Oregon in the early 1900's is indicated by an item in the Portland Evening Telegram of January 24, 1903, relating that intercollegiate athletics for women had been barred at the University of Oregon, greatly to the co-eds' grief.

This stand was later reversed, but still later the University of Oregon, in harmony with other such institutions, eliminated girls' intercollegiate competition—not, however, for the reason assigned in 1903, that "it is a little out of the sphere of the girls to take trips around the country, even for a day."