St. Louis Post-Dispatch
RUBE WADDELL THE STAR
IN A PITCHER’S BATTLE; OPPOSED BY HOTEL FIRE
Well Supported by His
Teammates
He Shuts It Out
Before Alarm Strikes
Special to the Post-Dispatch
WASHINGTON,
July 11 [1908]—Rube Waddell figured in another bit of heroism this evening,
just after the Browns had returned from the ball grounds where they were beaten
by the Senators.
The boys were dressing on the
fifth floor of the Arlington Hotel, when they heard the cry of “fire” from the
street below.
Waddell rushed to the window.
Smoke was pouring out. The awnings on the windows just below his room were in
flames. For an instant he disappeared. A crowd was already gathered in the
street below, but no one had turned in a fire status.
Then Rube appeared at the
window. In each hand he carried a big pitcher of water. Leaning out of the
window, and, avoiding as best he could the smoke from the fire, he poured the
contents of the two pitchers on the flames.
The other boys brought more
water, and in five minutes Rube had put out the fire and was cheered by the
crowd below, nearly everyone of whom recognized the great pitcher of the Browns
team.
The attendants did not know of
the fire until it had been put out. It probably started when someone threw a
lighted match out of the window above.
