The Democrat. (Scotland Neck, Halifax Co., N.C.) 1884-1896, 1891-08-13
ain the spring young mans fancy
Lightly turns to thoughts of';-ball.


ain the spring young mans fancy.
Lightly turns to thoughts of''-ball.
The aOove lines were composed by
| Tennyson, the immortal, and the writer
of this present article. There are thirteen
words in the couplet. The public will
! please give Lord Alfred credit for twelve
Of these. The remainder is original. We
use the singular of the verb advisedly.
But we were going to write something
on baseball. The athletic fever has
recently broken out in our town in its
most virulent form. 1t has spread among
all classes OF our population. A visit to
the ball ground will verify this stat lament.
We find the doctor there, no doubt re-
joicing in the prospect of unlimited prac-
tice IN the way of setting broken bones.
The lawyer has forsaken the magistra ties
court and has gone to the umpire to
get judgement. The air is filled with
melodious cries, such as: tout on the
| firstn' ''slide unde:.' ''go down." and
other cheerful admonilions. We arc now
in the midst of an exceedingly warm
summer, a summer destructive to inmac-
ulate linen and standing collars; but on
the diamond the two prevailing seasons
are sudden spring, generally followed
| by en- early fall.
We confess that we are glad to observe
these signs of life and activity in the
boys. We would like to say word to
the citizens Of the town about encourag-
ing the ball club. Some compl ANTS have
been made that they take but little inter
est in such matters. We think this is a
great mistake. We have never vet heard
valid objection urged against the game
It is true that some timid souls are in the
habit of discoursing at length upon its
dangers, and they viii cite you to some
place, where some one at some time was
killed by flying bat or wild ball O
course there is some danger attending
baseball. as it is PLAYED. But the same
thing can be said Of all other manly. out.
door arnusements. Horse back riding is
extremely dangerous. We read every
day Of serious accidents happening to
those who engage in it. Yet the sale Of
saddles in the United States is not lessen
ed thereby. We read not long ago OF an
unfortunate carpenter who fell from a
scaffold and was instantly killed. An
lamentable circumstance, truly, yet
people Will not stop building houses on
that account.
AS to the benefit which can be derived
from PLAYING baseball we can cit high
authority. In recent articles the Pre>i-
dents of Yale AMI Princeton take the
ground that athletic sports are exceeding
" helpful to young men. You cannot
make staid. sober man of sixty, out Of
an active, vigorous boy Of eighteen. Time
alone can accomplish that. Youth means
activity. In every young man there is
generally a surplus of animal spirits
which must find expression through some
channel. We are all familiar with the
sad fate of the proyerbial Jack
upon whom so much work and so little
piav had most disastrous effect. If this
Astounding life is checked, and restrained
from asserting itself in healthy amuse-
ment, it will find an outlet in eneryatlng
and vicious past-times. Ifyou shut off
the escape valve of a steam engine, the
result Will, in all probability, be dlSas-
tr0uS.
There is nothing which has a greater
tendency to foster town pride than
good base ball team. You have but to
visit the diamond where match game
is in progress to see this provet.
| All men, of all POLITICAL and religious
opinions, forget their digerences for a
| season and " rite in praise worthy ete
! fort to "whoop it up for the home club.
| Here is a common ground on which they
can meet and mingle together. A sem
timene of fellowship and good feeling
among the people is thus akened. In
! order to build up town no means look>
| ing towards united effort should be neg
lecteG 1t i safe to say that there Is not
n man in Winston who does not feel
/ proud of the record made by the Blue
| SluggerS; ard their achicveme nts have
given that town an Immense amount tf
/ free advertising.
We see no reason why Scotland \ OK
! should not have first class base bail
club. The material is here and the spur
it is alive and growing among the boys.
All that is needed now. is proper
amount of encouragement, and our cub
will make itself lolt IN the athletic ciTcc.
But wheu men turn the cold shoulder to
an enterprise and predict for it
disaster, its fa1 lure is a
! f3regone conclusion. 1t IS possible to
talk thing upon to talk it down. For
| one to say that the Scotland Neck club
can't play ball, is an excellent method
Of throwing cold water on their zeal; OF
giving them firm grasp on the tail
end Of the procession Of the clubs,
Of Eastern North Carolina.
Some have urged that there is 10 use
help,ug the bJ5s. tney wont play bnt a
week or two anyway" or course they
won't play but a week or two If this i,
the help that tney IeceiTe. The proper
spnit i to give them good word, and a
liberal supply of the sinews of war.
Then we'll guarantee that they iii play
long enough to make a record of which
no citizen Of Scotland Neck need be a.
] sh3med