St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-03-25
CANADA'S NATIONAL GAME.


Lacrosse Players in st. Paul Pre-
pairing for an Active Season.
For the first time in its history the St.
Paul Lacrosse club now has assurance
of that essential to its success and per-
manence, suitable ground for practice
and match games. More especially for
practice, since without that. the matches
would ever be as they have been during
the past two years, mere parodies on the
game. Now that good grounds are
available, the game will become rein
vigorated and the coming season will
see it gain the position of prominence
and popularity among outdoor sports
that it merits.
The st. Paul team has always had
players of sufficient ability to defeat
any other team in the United States
with comparative ease, as was demon
strated during the seasons of 1885 and
1886 before the energetic st. Paul build
ers had succeeded in locating houses in
the middle of every available practice
is particularly rich in players so that,
with the all-necessary practice that the
new grounds will afford, there is no
doubt that st. Paul will again hold the
championship.
During the past winter new amateur
lacrosse association was formed, en-
bracing such clubs as are In the West
and Northwest. The distances to be
travelled by the competing teams being
so much shorter than formerly, match
games will be more frequent, bringing
the game into more constant notice,
keeping the players interest up to the
proper notch and so enabling the club
to recover from the hard blow given its
poorly conditioned players by New York
two years ago.
The two winters of inactivity through
which the club has passed will assure a
successful season-the season now be-
fore us. Moreover, when any of the
boys get together, their conversation
Invariably drifts upon 1.-THE game" and
the interest that they manifest in it is
commendable. Hardly day passes
that some of the colts do not want to
know what the club proposes to do, and
why meetings have not been called.
They have been told by Secretary Ralph
Martin that the unreasonable persist
ence, the idiOtic vitality of this winter
made such meeting undesirable; that
if meeting were called too soon, the
enthusiasm that such an occasion would
arouse, would die out before the snow
had disappeared, and that it would have
spring should finally come. However,
since their enthusiasm is such that it
: lives without a meeting, ameeting won't
hurt it, and one will be held Oh Tuesday
evening.
QDuring the winter several lacrosse
players of national prominence have
settled in st. Paul. Now it looks as
though there would be material in this
city for two or three teamS-a very de-
sirable state of affairs, for the more men
there are on the field at practice, the
more valuable that practice becomes,
and without good, stiff practice games
there will be little hope for success in
the matches.
With the introduction of series of
interesting games between st. Paul and
such clubs as the Calumets aud Chica-
Cos, of Chicago, the Detroit club, and
league, such as are proposed for this
summer, the public will have chance
to become acquainted with and form an
opinion of this fascinating Out-of-dOOr
sport. Unlike base ball, there are
no moments of quietude, no time
when the interest in the game is conferred
in two or three players: when the only
active life discOverable on the field is
that displayed by the pitcher as he ex-
pectorates on his hands preparatory to
sending the ball on its zigzag course to-
wards the apprehensive batsman and
the Gagged and tn oroughly disguised
catcher. At no moment after the game
is called is the lacrosse ball still. 1t is
here one moment and there the next, as
suggested by the skill or judgment of
the players.
1t is game in which skill, pluck and
endurance are continually called into
play. 1t combines the chief features of
polo and foot ball, and an added charac-
ter of fineness that is found in no other
out door game. Most of the plays are
as beautiful as a brilliant billiard shot.
Although the plays are as varied and
often as brilliant, still the game is as
readily understood by the spectators as
is billiards.