Excerpt from Mutual Benefits and Close Connections: Baseball and America’s Streetcars in the 19th Century by Robert G. Cullen
http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/trnews/trnews266.pdf
Earlier in the century, railroads had established a pivotal relationship with baseball. Trains made it possible for teams to travel hundreds of miles to compete and to bring the games to an expanding pool of spectators. Streetcars, however, could offer a transportation benefit that steam locomotives could not, by carrying spectators directly to the ballparks, further expanding the fan base for games.
The up-and-coming relationship between streetcars and baseball was not coincidental. An estimated 15 percent of the nation’s business leaders in the 19th century were transportation executives. Moreover, transit companies serving a total of 78 cities had some financial stake in professional baseball.
Albert L. Johnson, a streetcar executive who was also a baseball magnate, gave an unsentimental but candid explanation of the synergy. He characterized his own considerable efforts to link streetcars with baseball in Cleveland as a “good investment” and freely admitted to “visions of millions of dollars of profits.”
Johnson’s comments exemplify the unvarnished financial approach taking hold of the business of baseball. More specifically, he voiced the view that capitalizing on baseball was a logical extension of other business interests. Streetcar companies found that their engagements with baseball strengthened their ties with government. The companies could watch over more closely—and safeguard—their stakes in local property values, rights-of-way, and long-term leases.
Johnson and his colleagues addressed a burgeoning grassroots need. The middle and upper-lower classes still had their share of hardscrabble times in the late 19th century, but generally they enjoyed more discretionary income and leisure time than before. Consequently, more of them rode streetcars bound for the ballpark.
The streetcar companies worked to advance and sustain the trend. They built ballparks and leased playing grounds. Several companies subsidized baseball clubs—in the South, Augusta, Birmingham, Charleston, Macon, Mobile, Montgomery, and New Orleans received significant financial backing from companies that sponsored teams. In smaller municipalities as well, streetcar companies often were one of the few sources of local capital that were able to maintain a professional team and became important benefactors.
Streetcar executives in the 1890s, therefore, promoted the construction of ballparks near transit lines. Frank D. Robison, owner of the Cleveland Spiders, built a new park for his team in 1891 at Lexington Avenue and East 66th Street, after the previous park, in another location, was destroyed by fire. The new park—remembered today as League Park I—was situated conveniently near a couple of Robison’s streetcar lines.
According to Cleveland legend, Feller brought home with him the telescope he used for anti-aircraft sightings on the U.S.S. Alabama and had it mounted in the scoreboard at League Park. There, he and a few others in on the scheme (including Lou Boudreau) could observe the visiting team's pitching signs!
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
Dec. 11, 1941. “Bob Feller (C), Cleveland Indians' star pitcher, is sworn into the Navy by Lieutenant Commander Gene Tunney (R), as Chicago recruiting officer Lieutenant David N. Goldenson looks on. Feller got a rating of Chief Boatswain Mate and will assist in the Navy's athletic program.”
"...a blue Major's uniform of the Marine Corps branch of the State Naval Militia..."
Well! That's a new one on me! I've never heard of such a thing. Well, as we used to say in the Corps, "It's a wasted day if you haven't learned something new."
Or old, in this case.
At any rate, it's a much better look at the mystery insignia. Looks very similar to the US Armys staff insignia.
Firelock, on Sept. 24, 1926, the day after the fight in Philadelphia, Major General Lajeune ordered Tunney be commissioned a first lieutenant. He was a captain in 1933, according to the reserve register.
https://archive.org/stream/registerdirector00unit#page/34/mode/2up/search/Tunney
“James J. Tunney, wearing a blue Major's uniform of the Marine Corps branch of the State Naval Militia on Governer Wilbur L. Cross of Connecticut's staff”
https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.503392/2015.503392.autobiography-wilbur#page/n267/mode/2up/search/tunney
Great shot of Gene, Wanswheel! Looks like he stayed in the reserves post-war and eventually was comissioned. Good for him! Hard to tell from the photo but those look like major's rank insignias on his shoulders. The officer's Mameluke sword is unmistakable. Not sure of those insignias under the " Eagles,Globes and Anchors" on his lapels. Staff insignia, maybe. Theres nothing displayed under the EGA's nowadays and certainly wasn't in my time 40 years ago. The fourregere' on his right shoulder could be an indication of a staff assignment, Marine generals aides typically wear them.
OK, I went deep into the archives here at the "Fortress Firelock" and pulled out a 1917 copy of "National Geographic" with First World War era American military insignias pictured and explained. It looks like that mystery insignia Gene's wearing is the old "Adjutant and Inspectors Department" insignia. It may have been used up to World War Two, I can't find out from any of my reference works, but certainly didn't last past it. I've never seen any photos of Marine officers wearing it.
One thing's for certain, some Marine general got first-class bragging rights if he had Gene Tunney for an aide/adjutant!
There is some very good perspective here, particularly from Schlimm, CSSHegewisch, CMStP&P, NKP Guy, and Balt.
I had a great grandfather who fought for the Union as a private and had a finger shot off. A great great grandfather fought for the Union as a Captain and lost his health for the rest of his life due to camp conditions in Virginia. There were people who were trying to kill them, and I care nothing for the sentiments of those people's descendants. Commemmorate history, but don't glorify insurrection or pretend it was nobler than it was. After the war, Confederate General Longstreet accepted the new realities and worked to make reconstruction work, even though he probably didn't like it very much. His reward is a serious dearth of memorails to him, throughout the South. It should be clear that devotion to the Lost Cause in the South is disproportionate, and it's time to accept what was settled over 150 years ago.
As for the original question, the locomotive "The General" was built in 1855. Lee was in the U.S. Army at the time, and did not join the Confederacy and take command of the Army of Northern Virginia until about 6 years later. Lee never rose above the rank of Colonel in the United States Army, and was not promoted to General until he joined the Confederacy. To think "The General" was named for him is to misunderstand the actual events. The name is generic.
The comments are generally correct about the B&O Museum's equipment contribution to Disney's Great Locomotive Chase. The "Lafayette" portrayed the Yonah; B&O 25 "William Mason" portrayed the General; and one of the V&T 4-4-0's was transported from the West to portray the "Texas". I think it was the "Reno", but could be mistaken. By the way, B&O 25 did not carry the William Mason name until after retirement.
As for the Warther Museum, featuring the remarkable carvings of Mooney Warther in Dover, Ohio, it is absolutely stunning. I was privileged to meet Mooney Warther in the 1960's. It's really a must-see, and would be a great thing to add to your itinerary on a visit to the Age of Steam Roundhouse in Sugarcreek (scheduled, prearranged group visits only at AOS!)
Tom
Firelock76 OOO-RAH!
OOO-RAH!
“Le champion de boxe américain Gene Tunney en uniforme militaire le 16 janvier 1931”
https://books.google.com/books?id=TpgPaRf3pywC&pg=PT67&dq=%22no+one+at+the+marine+corps+base+in+parris+island%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjMzNjVkIzWAhXmxYMKHfP7BycQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=%22no%20one%20at%20the%20marine%20corps%20base%20in%20parris%20island%22&f=true
The 'new' rules are the same old rules - stated again!
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Maybe the new Forum rules scared everyone off if they can't crab, hurl insults and promote an agenda. The weather reason seems more plausible. It is glorious up here by the way, sitting on my back deck with my coffee and housecoat enjoying the quiet and stillness as I type.
Now if only I could hear a steam whistle off in the distance.
Miningman Wanswheel-- Love that last line " as eager as school boys going on the grandest lark of their lives" Going to use that! Where did everyone go? Crickets on the forum. 370,000,000 folks and maybe 6 very sporadic contributors? Long weekend I guess!
Wanswheel-- Love that last line " as eager as school boys going on the grandest lark of their lives"
Going to use that!
Where did everyone go? Crickets on the forum. 370,000,000 folks and maybe 6 very sporadic contributors? Long weekend I guess!
I've been wondering about that myself.
Maybe everyone's just plain talked out? I have noticed that Forum participation always seems to go up when there's "dirty weather" across the country keeping people inside. No biggie, while the weather's nice get outside and enjoy yourselves!
And all that good Canadian beer falling off the train? Reminds me of the old Irish saying, "It's a mortal sin to waste good liquor!" How careless can you get?
And, there was a famous toast here during Prohibition days, folks would lift their glasses and say "Strike a blow for freedom!"
One more thing, I just have to point out Gene Tunney was a Marine. OOO-RAH!
Speaking of holidays, and not to belabor "the fight of the century and a half,” excerpt from Harrisburg Evening News, Sept. 23, 1926:
As one of the Pennsylvania Railroad trains hurtled through Middletown conveying hundreds of western fight fans to the Dempsey-Tunney imbroglio at Philadelphia tonight, several cases of beer, later determined to have been brewed in Canada, started falling from the windows of coaches. Several of the cases, containing twenty-four bottles each, plunged into the Swatara Creek. Another case landed a short distance east of Catherine Street and came to a stop after some fancy open field dodging. Beer bottles, even though they contain high power beer, may not be expected to sustain such treatment. Eleven of them didn’t, and the liquor seeped through the case to stain the arid section of the street in the immediate vicinity. Local railroad officials can give no reason to explain the deluge of beer. There is a possibility, however, that the merry fight fans, having imbibed, had reached the stage where they thought it was New Year's Eve and, according to custom, determined to quit drinking.
NY Times, Sept. 19, 1926
Railroads Prepare To Transport 50,000
Fifty thousand New Yorkers will go to Philadelphia by rail alone for the Dempsey-Tunney fight if the minimum expectations of the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Central railroads are fulfilled. Elaborate preparations have been made by both lines.
Traffic will be taken care of by three methods—special private car trains, special excursion day coach trains, and the regular service. The trains, no matter what kind, will be of ten or more cars. The Pennsylvania Railroad expects to run about fifteen private car specials, about thirty excursion day coach specials, its regular “every hour on the hour” service, and as many relief trains as may be necessary to take care of the overflow from the regular train service.
The New Jersey Central will run about five private car specials, fifteen excursion day coach specials and also maintain hourly service of regular trains.
NY Times, Sept. 24, 1926
75,000 Fight Fans Leave City By Rail
An army bigger than all of Caesar’s legions poured out of New York yesterday bound for the Dempsey-Tunney fight. Seventy-five thousand fight fans, according to the railroads estimates, streamed through the gates at the Pennsylvania Station and the Jersey Central terminal, necessitating so many special trains and extra sections that train dispatchers were dizzy with the rush. Other thousands traveled in automobiles and buses to the Quaker City.
Most of the railroad passengers chose the four hours between 1 and 5 o’clock in the afternoon to make their trip. The result was that extraordinary scenes were witnessed at the Pennsylvania Station. The great glass and steel concourse was black with people all afternoon. Sixty thousand were handled by the Pennsylvania—an unprecedented number, officials said, to make so long a trip as from New York to Philadelphia.
Early in the afternoon the railroad had little trouble, but later in the day they were hard pressed to keep up with the throngs. Special trains and private club trains left the station from forty minutes to an hour late, while the fans waited good-naturedly outside the gates. All in all, it was an exuberant and happy crowd, as eager as school boys going on the grandest lark of their lives
Firelock76- Too funny! How about "Make America great Again" and bring back the Pennsy! ....New York Central while you're at it.
Yes you could see how that styling lead to the T1 and then the Sharks. The Pennsy sure as heck had its own image. Beautiful, smart, enduring.
Now about that horn....
I saw a sight very similar to that Pennsy painting in 1975. I was on a bus heading north on I-95 and at the time the route went past Washington's Union Station yard. Parked in the yard were a number of GG1's, Conrail by that time but still in PC black.
Not being a railfan at the time I just thought they were a bunch of cool old Art Deco diesels and was amazed any were still around! It was a sight to remember at any rate.
How can we go on without the Pennsy? Well, we had to go on without General Washington. Many people didn't think we could, but we've done all right just the same.
Hey, some people wondered how we'd get on without being in the British Empire! Some people wish we still were, but not openly.
I want that bus for my field trips!
Count 12 GG1's ...seen that painting a hundred times and it never fails to hold your attention...magnificient and stunning. How can you folks possibly go on without the Pennsy? I mean ...come on!
So Trains Magazine 80th anniversary bash will not be as big as the 75th?
"Wooden ships and iron men." Certainly true.
And of course, if you're an explorer you have to go with what's available. Columbus, Cabot, Verrazano and the others had the best of the technology of the time, even if we think nowadays they must have been out of their minds. You don't miss what you've never had.
Hey, my brother's an Air Force veteran (USAF Academy, '88) and he thinks the pioneer aviators like Lindbergh, Admiral Byrd, Alcock and Brown, and Amelia Earhart, and Howard Hughes were crazy as well! Well, Howard, maybe...
Who knows what future generations will think of our space program from the 1960's?
I should add that replica of the "Matthew" did have modern features like a diesel engine, radio, modern navigational equipment, modern lifesaving gear, et al. Not 100% authentic, but without all the aformentioned gear they'd never have gotten the vessel insured, which meant it wouldn't sail. Honestly, I think I might have enjoyed a transatlantic trip on the replica. Couldn't have been much worse than that transatlantic trip I made on a Navy LST, that damn thing didn't stop rocking, rolling, and corkscrewing for two weeks!
Ya know, I went looking for something concerning "Cabot 500," didn't have any luck but I did find this...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1QSZ_iexoY
Pretty cool, isn't it? That's Newfoundland.
That sea, that coastline. I wonder what John Cabot thought when he saw it for the first time?
Actually, I should point out with a certain amount of ethnic pride the man's real name was Giovanni Caboto, when he moved to England he changed his name for business reasons, kind of like Columbus did when he moved to Spain.
Found the "Matthew." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7yBWrhLTDA
Watch that, and remember the old sailors prayer...
"Oh God, have mercy on me, for thy sea is so vast, and my ship is so small!"
Firelock76Too bad Canada's Sesquicentennial's turned out to be a bust. Now on the other hand, Lady Firestorm and I were in Newfoundland in 1997 for the "Cabot 500" celebrations. That was a lot of fun, and we got to see and board that superb replica of Cabot's ship, the "Matthew." However, it's a certainty we won't be back for "Cabot 1000." PS: Considering the size of that ship I'd have to say Cabot and his crew were nuts! I'd think twice about crossing the Hudson River in that thing!
Now on the other hand, Lady Firestorm and I were in Newfoundland in 1997 for the "Cabot 500" celebrations. That was a lot of fun, and we got to see and board that superb replica of Cabot's ship, the "Matthew."
However, it's a certainty we won't be back for "Cabot 1000."
PS: Considering the size of that ship I'd have to say Cabot and his crew were nuts! I'd think twice about crossing the Hudson River in that thing!
Something about men of steel and wooden boats?
Too bad Canada's Sesquicentennial's turned out to be a bust.
Sesqui's are done for the benefit of those born in years where a centennial celebration is likely not a reality, and that is a lot of people.
Perhaps the name sesquicentennial needs to be remarked, rebranded.
Canada sesquicentennial is on this year and it also is a bust.
A mid-century hoopla is a good idea but the name sesquicennial seems to be a dud.
Probably neither. The "William Mason" has bee rebuilt several times, I recall reading the boiler was replaced by B&O shopmen in 1927 to make it operable for the B&O's "Fair Of The Iron Horse."
As far as the "knife and blade" analogy, I think the best rule to apply is the Lloyd's of London rule. As far as they're concerned a ship, let's say the "Suzy-Q," is always the "Suzy-Q" no matter how much of it's replaced over the years.
So, the "General" is still the "General" and the "William Mason" is still the "William Mason."
Per Penny Trains idea of running the "General" in 2062, maybe that's not so farfetched. The Civil War Sesquecentennial was a bust compared to the Centennial in 1962, trust me, I remember the same. Maybe the Civil War Bicentannial will be a lot more fun. Won't matter to me, I won't be here.
Now that I think about it, the Revolutionary War Sesquecentennial in the 1920's was supposedly a bust as well. Mabe we shouldn't bother with "sesqui's."
Could the General Work? Sure after a Inspection and Rebuild that will cost Hundreds of Thousands of Dollers.-
BTW-
The Union lost the Civil War as far as railroads go when Chessie System-Atlantic Coast Line and Norfolk Southern bought up Conrail. Each one is treating there workers like serfs on a plaintation from there Manors in Jacksonville and Norfolk VA. Also most of the Army bases are down south along with many of the personal hail from southern states.
After reading here about all of its re-buildings, it seems to me that the General is like a wonderful old knife that's had both its handle and blade replaced.
Question: Which would you consider to be the more original or authentic to the way it was built: the General or the William Mason?
Firelock76 Certainly true, when the L&N's shopmen restored the "General" back in the 60's they essentially took a "SWAG" as to what it should look like. No matter, they did one hell of a job just the same. I'd love to see it out for a romp on the main line again, it was operable when it was put away in 1964, but there's little likelyhood of that happening. Too bad.
Certainly true, when the L&N's shopmen restored the "General" back in the 60's they essentially took a "SWAG" as to what it should look like.
No matter, they did one hell of a job just the same. I'd love to see it out for a romp on the main line again, it was operable when it was put away in 1964, but there's little likelyhood of that happening. Too bad.
Yeah, 2012 would have been the year to do it. Oh well. Maybe 2062?
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