The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1879-07-23
oUR WASHINGTON LETTER.
gFrm our Regular Core sponaent.)

ORR WASHINGTON LETTER.
From our Regular Core spondent.)
WASHINGTON. July 10, 1879.
Probably 5000 persons, including
many ladies were on the Eagle bas'
ball grounds on Wednesday to wit
ness q fearful and wonderful exhibi
tion Of eie hteen girls from New Yori
aud Philadelphia try their hands il
the fascinating game of baseball. A
base exhibition it was for womer
who dared 10 play in the diamond
field. The New York nine were
dressed in red tunics, red stockings
and red fatigue caps, and the Pbila
delphia crew in the same style o
garments in blue color. Veteran
base ball players saw Whist they nevel
saw before, and they were given hinti
in every deps rtment of the game
which were orr insl, if not scientific
and technical. The crowd was I'm
usually harmonious and good aatur
ed, acted as impartial umpires and
cheered the girls with such good and
kindly words as to put leetness ia
many a fstigued feminine foot, and
force in many q failing feminine fist.
The reds were victorious, their score
standing 80, while their opponents
only made % runs.
A high old game it was. As soon
as the first bali was pitched, it be-
came evident to the bloods and bald
heads that they had come out TO wit
ness a farce. The efforts of the
pitchers were simply excruciating,
the catcbers couldn't catch, and the
batters either made q feeble punch at
the ball or struck downward at it.
When a ball was touched, no matter
how lightly, the batter was sure OF
her run. Not q player could pick up
the ball until she had made six or
seven hysterical grabs at it, and
when it was picked up she was no
better off than before, because to
throw over a few yards or anywhere
near the spot desired was q physical
impossibility. The running was
another amusing feature of the game.
The players all waddled, some wad-
died more, some less, according to
size, but they all waddled. Ia catch
ing they placed their wrists together
and opened the hands like an alligator
does his mouth. Sometimes the ball
struck the hands, sometimes it struck
elsewhere on the body, but more
frequently it never came within a
half q dozen feet of tine alligator trap.
The size of the diamond had been
considerably reduced, nevertheless
there were not more than four balls
knocked outside its boundaries into
the crowd a few feet beyond. This
feat always insured a home run.
Some fingers were injured, and
once the whole field went over TO
condole with the catcher of the blue
nine who caught a ball on the side.
But one Of the players wore short
hair, the others had theirs done up
in the high caps on the top of the
head. Frequently the cap would
come off and the hair come down.
1t was soon fixed again by o hairpin
and one or two indescribsble rolls of
the finger. The captains yelled at
their mines, and sometimes pretended
to kick against the umpire. The
fact that the gate money was all that
was being played for was too patent.
Some of the girls were pretty, some
hemely, and some were somewhat
aged, and on the whole it was decid-
ed a farce by the crowd, and by the
time six innings were played the
audience had thinred down to one
sixth of its magnitude in the begin
ming. As to the play, no one ever
saw a female who could throw a ball
or stone. To see them fall over n
another and get bit with the ball is
simply disgusting. One was hit and
tainted, another was hit near the
middle, and-but this reminds Is of
a story by the late lamented Lincoln.
He was visiting one of the hospitals
during the war with some ladies.
They came across a poor fellow in
excruciating agony, and n of the
ladies was anxious to know how he
was wounded. Old Abe inquired,
but was loath to impart the informa-
ton to the lady. She would not be
denied. Abe's answer was, MADAM,
the ball that hit him would have
missed you" That's just where this
young lady was bit with the bsll.
Washington in addition to our
Doctor Mary Walker and Judge
Bella Lockwood, is now to have a
Ladies' Physiological Society" The
preliminary organization was formed
yesterday afternoon at McCanley's
Hall. DR.. Lucy b. Abel opened the
proceedings by giving a dissertation
upon the Laws of Life and Health"
The Doctor is smart, knows how to
use lots of latin, draws down her
eyebrows and tries to look through
her gold spectacles in a piercing and
observing manner. The immediate
result of ner lecture vas the organi-
cation of this society and the taking
up the usual collection to pay for the
hall. Her lecture which she pre-
pared before she left Boston was fine
in many particulars. Mrs. Abel,
said "The human body and it's
processes are the type of everything
good and beautiful in heaven and
earth. 1t suggests all the great ideas
in art and mechanics" She described
the processes of circulation, respira-
ton, absorption, secretion and excre-
ton, and showed what a perfect
balance Of forces nature furnishes and
demands, and how careless and igno-
rant habits interrupt the healthful
operation of Natures laws. 1t is far
more important, she said, that a
young woman should possess a
strong, active, graceful body, a
clear, healthful skin, bright eyes, and
the cheerful disposition which natu-
rally accompanies these external indi-
cations than that she should be mis-
tress of many accomplishments. The
powerful magnetic influences CT these
conditions upon the mind produces
intellectual results otherwise impos-
sible. She deprecated the time vast
ed in acquiring knowledge a girl