The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1888-07-13
eAsE-eALL LITERATURE.
Blli Me- Grappies with the New style q
Reporting Games.


Bni NJs Grappies with the New style Of
Heporting Games
| am extremely sorry that Matthew
Arnold did not live To read more Of
our American baseball literature.
think he would have liked IL better II
he had done so. In saying that we
were vulgar people and that the
American humorist was National mis-
fortune. l think he criticised us hastily.
Tor he was only In this country little
while and judged our humor largely
by the supply he read while here and
which he brought with him In his
trunk. but II he could have seen the
baseball word-painting of our glo-
rious country he would have loved us.
II he could have read that Richard
son went out Irwin TO Farrar. that
Foster hit safely and stole second,
that We!eh flied out to Wood, and all
about Tiernan's scratch hit. and Ew-
ing 3 failure to sacrifice. and Ward's 5
miss Of n grounder that went through
him. Mr.. Arnold would have said that
he had done ns an injustice.
We do not claim much for our long
line Of ancestry, and those of us who
came over In the May flower try To CON
ceal IL as quietly as possible. but here
in this wild and savage land we are
trying to build up classic style Of
writing up our National game that
Will make the mother country tired.
admit that can not understanl | 1t
at all yet but am striving To do so
and ! am willing To work hard.
sometimes wish that Lord Tenny-
son could come here for one summer
aud sit with me on bleaching board.
with his numerous hair hanging oy ,r
his top-coat while explained To hi m
that IL looked rather squaIly for the
GiIsnts, for Instance. till Slattery iolted
merry thunder out of the horsehIde.
tore the tar out Of the willow. smashed
the leather, and then. while the Phillie
fumblers were pulling dandelion greens
beyond she Harlem. the metropolitan
I in-iielder lit out like future punishment
beating tan-bark, accumulated n one
bagger. two bagger and three bag.
ler. Strengthened himself out like a
long-waisted jick-raobit across the
/ plate and made his royal red home run
/ Just as the Ne York Central got in
with the bail aud the band PLAYED
/ Tommy Make Room for Your
/ Aunlie "
I | think that Alfred would like that
/ II me Lord likes vivid and scare him.
/ style he would inl Ii here. | am only
/ beginning TO write in this way. and IL
/ Is new TO me. but | think / can nlti-
mately give "A description of ball
| game that will appeal TO every heart.
When began would have said, for
I instance. that O Rourke swatted at the
/ bali aud missed it. till the pitcher hit
O'Rourke's person with il and then he
went To the first aud gradually got to
I the third base. but now / would say
that o. Rourke. the Gothic extended
catcher for the Giants. strove to belt
the blooming ball TO windward, mauled
I he atm osphere two times and con-
russed the life preserver on the right
1 leg of Umpire Daniels. was presented
/ with one base as a mark of esteem and
with blister as big as hornets nest
\ where he had tried To bisect the orbit
IF hot ball with the bosom of his
knickerboc ckers. he bungled a second.
and while Hallman was muffing the
orb. catching invisible crabs. fluking
svery thing in sight and corking himself
/ generally. ORourke Lit out like 9
scared-to-death bobtail cornet. fell fae-
" feet horizontally. and with his ear
meridian, a fractured thigh and his
mouth full of sand. hoarsely calculated
"Judgmentr'
There is a description that appeals
to every heart There is literary
moss agate that ought to tickle man
ike Tennyson. unless he has foolish
prejudice against American writers.
My ambition is some day TO writ,
the lurid description of a base bal
game which will go snorting dow tn,
corridors of time. along with Bstlak-
lava. Marco Bozzaris and the stubborn
| youth who stool on the burning = deck.
want TO write it so that it will b,
bright aud jauut in style. and yet
| would like to sock little sadness in
it, a description that should be rich in
coloring and yet free from informa-
tion. carefully and professional,
prepared gem of literature that woulC
contain ABOUT column and nothing
else whatever.
The London Saturday RerteO sayi
shat "what America wants is liter
ature that shall smack of the soil. ,
Hsre is the opportunity. Let the um
pire take down the remarks of i:
Giant who has tried to reach min 9 fee
and catch no ld of the third base witt
his front teeth, and then demand
Judgment before splitting out the nortl
end Of the Polo ground. Bill Nye, i
N. Y. World.