The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-06-29
Female Base-BaIlers.


The only attempt on record of Dan
bury trying to organize female base
ball club occurred last week. 1t was
rather incipient affair, but it demon
strated everything necessary, and in
that particular answered every purpose.
The idea was cogitated and carried out
by six young ladies. TWAS merely de-
signed for an experiment on which to
base future action. The young ladies
were at the house of one of their num-
Der when the subject was brought up.
The premises are capacious, and in
clude quite a piece of turf, hidden from
the street by several dropping, luxuri-
ant, old-fashloned apple trees. The
young lady of the house has a brother
who is fond of baseball and has the
necessary machinery for a game.
This was taken out on the turf
under the trees. The ladies assembled
and divided themselves into two
mines of three each. The first three
took the bat, and the second three went
to the bases one as catcher, one as
pitcher, and the other as chaser-or,
more technically, fielder. The pitcher
was lovely brunette, with eyes full of
dead earnestness. The catcher and
batter were blondes, with faces ahame
with expectation. The pitcher took the
ball, braced herself put her arm straight
out from her shoulder, then moved it
around to her back without modifying
in the least its delightful frigidity, and
then threw it. The batter did not catch
it. This was owing to the pitcher look
ing directly at the batter when she
aimed it, The fielder got long pole
and soon succeeded in poking the ball
from an apple tree back of the pitcher,
where it had lodged. Business was
then resumed again, although with a
faint semblance of uneasiness general
ly visible.
The pitcher was very red in the face,
and said 81 declared several times.
This time she took more careful aim,
but still neglected to look in some other
direction than toward the batter, and
the ball was presently poked out of an
other tree.
"Why, this is dreadful said the
batter, whose nerves had been kept at
pretty stiff tension.
Perfectly dreadful" chimed in the
catcher, with long sigh.
81 think you had better get up in one
of the trees" mildly suggested the
fielder to the batter.
These observations somewhat nettled
the pitcher, and she declared she would
not try again. Whereupon a change
was made with the fielder. She was
certainly more sensible. Just as she
was ready to let drive she shut her eyes
so tight as to loosen two of her puffS
and pull out her back comb, and madly
fired away. The ball flew directly at
the batter, which so startled that lady,
who had the bat clinched in both hands
with desperate grip, that she involun-
tarily cried: g o myr' and let it drop,
and ran. This movement uncovered
the catcher, who had both hands ex-
tended about three feet apart, in readi-
ness for the catch, but, being intentfy
absorbed in studying the coil on the
back Of the batter's head, she was not
able to recover in time, and the ball
caught her in the bodice with sufficient
force to deprive her of all her breath,
which left her lips with ear-piercing
shrillness. There was lull in the pro-
ceedings for ten minutes to enable the
catcher to take some camphor and the
other members of the club to arrange
their hair.
The batter again took position, when
one of the party, discovering that she
was holding the bat very much as a
woman carries a broom when she is
after a COW in the garden, showed her
that the tip must rest on the ground
and at her right side, with her body
tritle inclined in that direction. The
suggester took the bat and showed Just
how it was done, and brought around
the bat with such vehemence as to al |
most carry her from her feet, and to |
nearly brain the catcher. The party |
shivered, and moved back some fifteen |
feet.
The batter took her place and laid the
tip of the bat on the ground, and the
pitcher shut her eyes again as tightly as
before, and let drive. The fielder had |
taken the precaution to get back of a
tree, or otherwise she must have been
distgured for life. The ball was re-
covered. The pitcher looked heated
and veXed. She didn't throw it this
time. She just gave it a pitching mo-
ton, but, not letting go of it in time, it
went over her head, and caused her to
sit down with considerable unexpected
ness.
Thereupon she declared she would
never throw another ball as long as she
lived, and changed off with the catcher.
This young lady was somewhat deter
mined, which argued success. Then
she looked in an altogether different di-
rection from that of the batter.
And this did the business. The bat
ter was ready. She had a tight hold on
the bat. just as soon as she saw the
ball start she made tremendous lunge
with the bat, let go of it, and turned
around in time to catch the ball in the