STOUGHTON QUITS COLD ON HOLLISTON FLOOR LAST NIGHT (Special to the Journal)
Holliston, January 29, 1915 – The basketball game between Holliston Independents and Clarke Five of Stoughton last night, ended in a wrangle. The visitors left the floor and displayed the yellow feather in doing so. 450 persons saw the stunt. Things looked as if Stoughton was in for a trimming, and as the five is aspiring for the championship of the State, rather than get defeated, quit the floor to the disgust of the crowd.
When the Clarke Five quit, Referee Healy forfeited the game to Holliston by a score of 2 to 0. The Clarke Five has only been defeated in one other game this season and undoubtedly preferred a questioned defeat to returning to the court and being trimmed and trimmed properly.
HOLLISTON POLICE IN POETRY With Apologies to Macauley by Hollis Ton
Come, gather ‘round me, children,
whils’t a tale I will unfold,
Of how our brave patrolman, our gallant F_______ bold,
did almost cause a riot at a game we could have won,
When out upon the floor he jumped and
put the C. F. on the run.
The hall was crowded full that night;
the shouts and mingled cries
Awoke the angels up above as they
traveled to the skies.
Our own team was winning,
forging quickly to the fore
From a losing proposition all sensed a
winning score.
Ah! now the score was even, and we yelled
with mirthful glee
For we saw our brave defenders were to
bring us victory.
Alas! Alac! our hopes in vain! with
tears we now recall,
We didn’t win the prize that night the
way we wished at all.
And this is how it happened and this is
how it came
We never saw boneheadedness in that
or any game
That ever could compare with his — we
shudder with affright
When we say our mighty prayers and
we close our eyes at night.
The teams were battling fiercely upon
the hardwood floor
When the umpire blew his whistle; and
yet again once more
The whistle vainly shrieked on high;
the ball now in the air
Was rushing toward the basket when
it fell and landed fair.
“Ahead they are” the cry rang out;
we trembled with dismay
For fear the umpire would give in and
hand the game away.
But he was made of noble stuff like all
the Irish race,
And he motioned to the scorer that
last basket to erase.
A foul had been committed long before
the ball was thrown
And still we had a goodly chance to
bring the bacon home.
Meanwhile the players gathered in the
middle of the floor
To discuss the situation and to talk the
verdict o’er.
Now all would have been settled, that
surely all admit
Had not our brave patrolman a notion
he was “it.”
Tight buckled he the belt he wore and
brave his club he swings
How noble did he look that night as
in the crowd he springs.
The timer round the neck he grabs,
for what is time to him?
“But just one word from you,” he
cries, and I put you in the bin.
I understand the rules you bet and
you all want to know
No play is pulled off in this town unless
I’m in the “show.”
The game was stopped right then and
there; no use to longer play
When such a cop with home made rules
was in the game to stay
Now who can blame the other team
for fleeing from the hall?
“Forget the game” was what they
cried, “we’re off beyond recall.”
No harm was done the cop that night
and this I’m glad to say
But our hearts were filled with hatred
and our minds were bent to slay.
The scorer gave our team a 2 and there
the figure “0” nought
He placed beside the other team and
then beside our cop.
There was a rematch game played between the Holliston Independents and Stoughton’s Clark Five on February 16, 1915. The score was 49 to 25 and reporters described it as a ‘clean game.’
