The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1878-10-05
Women and Base Rail.
IDanbury News.l

Women and Base Rail.
GDanbury News.l
The only attempt on record of Dan
bury trying to organize female base
ball club occurred last week. 1t was
a rather incipient affair, but it demon
strated every thing necessary, and in
that particular answered every purpose.
The idea was cogitated and carried out
by six young ladies. 1t was 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 include
quite piece of turf, hidden from the
street by several dropping, luxuriant,
old-fashioned apple-trees. The young
lady of the house has brother who is
fond of base ball, and has the necessary
machinery for game. This was taken
out ON the turf under the trees. The
ladies assembled and divided themselves
into 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 afame with
expectation. The pitcher took the ball,
braced herself, put her arm straight out
| from the shoulder, then moved it around
least its delightful frigidity, and then
threw it. The batter did not catch it.
This was owing to the pitcher looking
directly at the batter when she aimed
it. The fielder got a long pole and sue
ceeded in poking the ball from the APP
pie tree back of the pitcher, where it
had lodged. Business was then resumed
again, although with faint semblance
of uneasiness generally visible.
The pitcher was very red in the face,
and said az declared several times.
This time she took more careful aim,
tut still neglected to look in some other
direction than toward the batter, and
the ball was presently poked out of
another tree.
Why, this is dreadful" said the bat
ter, whose nerves had been kept at a
pretty stiff tension.
Perfectly dreadful" chimed in the
catcher, with long sigh.
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 change
tainly more sensible. Just as soon 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 in
voluntary cried, ooh, myP and let it
drop, and ran. This movement uncov-
cred the catcher, who had both hands
extended about three feet apart, in
readiness for the catch, but, being in
tently 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 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 broom when she is after
a COW in the garden, showed her that the
tip must rest on the ground, and at her
side, with her body trife 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 almost carry her from
her feet, and to nearly brain the catcher.
That 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
disfgured 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 that she
would never throw another ball as long
as she lived, and changed off with the
catcher. This young lady was some
what determined, which argued success.
Then she looked in an altogether diff
ferent direction from that to the batter.
And this did the business. The batter
was ready. She had tight hold of the
bat. Just as soon as she saw the ball
start, she made tremendous lunge with
the bat, and let 60 of it, and turned
around in time to catch the ball in the
small of her back, while the bat, being
ON its hook, and seeing stone figure
holding vase of flowers, neatly clipped
off its arms at the elbow, and let the
flowers to the ground.
There was a chorus of screams, and
some confusion of skirts, and then the
following dialogue took place:
No. Lets give up the thing.
No. 2-Let's.
No. $50 / say.
No. Ats inst horrid.
This being a majority, the adjourn
ment was made.
The game was merely an experiment,
and it is just as well it was. Had it
been a real game, it is likely that some
one would have been killed outright.
The most important geological dis
covery of the year has been made by
Prof. Snow, of the Kansas University
.o;ac%:6o ovnoI;<soo about fbroa buv