The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1901-01-03

| l.
it understood that if this infamous
'desecration is stopped it is through
my efforts, and the presidency of the
| club is coming to me at the next
! election
| "The minister and the Sunday school
superintendent agreed to this, so the
deacon went on with the details of his
| scheme.
Even the noble men who conduct
| reforms should sometimes display COM
| mon sense continued the deacon
Now, | understand the sinful game of
Sunday baseball better than either of
you do, SO l will take the leadership.
We can't very well stop anything until
| it has begun, SO we might as well let
them play an inning or two. When l
| give the signal, you can both step for
ward and order the unholy exhibition
| to cease. The crowd will have a rev.
| erence for your character and offices
which they might, through some over
| sight, fail to display toward the humble
man who is at the back of this move
meat for good
|
the Sunday school superintendent that
| they were going to be put in position
where more bumps than tokens of es-
teem would be coming to them. But
they were in sympathy with the move
ment, and the deacon had been the one
who had started it. So they agreed to
do as he directed.
| Sunday afternoon the deacon. the
minister and the Sunday school SUPER
| intendent all bought tickets to the
baseball game and took their seats in
the grand stand. In his younger days
| the good old deacon had been pretty
swift article as a baseball player him
self, and the crowd and the sight of
the men practicing brought back the
memories of former days and stirred
his sporting blood.
"It's a degrading exhibition OBJ
served the minister.
"'It certainly is,' assented the dea-
con, but Bill Medford, the captain of
our team, probably won't come to bat
until the second inning. We can't stop
the game before then. And if Bill
doesn't swat that Williamson pitcher
he ought to be jailed for breaking the
Sabbath and also for being an all
around lobster
Both the Sunday school superintend-
ent and the minister looked as if they
thought the deacon's language wasn't
exactly that of an ardent reformer, but
! just then the umpire called the game,
and the deacon became too occupied to
pay much attention to the effect of his
| speech.
''The first inning both teams failed to
| score. In the first half of the second
| Williamson succeeded in getting man
| around the circuit of the bases, to the
evident disgust of the deacon. In the
| second half, after two of the home
players had been retired, the third got
| his base on balls. Then Bill Medford
lined the ball to deep left for three
bases, bringing in the man on first.
The next minute Bill scored on wild
| pitch.
'Woh, woh. woh!' yelled the worthy
deacon. forgetting the reason he had
| come to the game. Good boy, Bill!
We'I show those Williamson gazaboo
| how to play ball. It's disgusting
spectacle he added, suddenly recollect-
ing with whom he was sitting, and,
turning to tine minister and the Sunday
school superintendent, "a sight to make
man ashamed of his fellow beings.
But that certainly was peacherino of
| a hit he added, emphatically.
Hadn't we better assert our author
| ity and have the game stopped? in
quired the superintendent.
"'Well, don't know that there is any
| more sin in five innings than there is in
| two,' replied the deacon, doubtfully.
| The game won't count if we stop it
| now. Our boys are ahead. Let them
play out the five innings. Then we can
assert the sanctity of the Sabbath and
clinch the championship at the same
| time
"But when the fifth inning was fin
ished Williamson was two runs to the
good. The deacon wouldn't listen to
any proposition to stop the game.
"a man needs to use gumption,' he
growled, in reply to the arguments of
the grieved minister and Sunday school
superintendent, even if he is filled
with the ambition to be reformer and
stop an interesting exhibition of the
national game. If you two are looking
to do IA truly righteous action you'll
shoot that blind robber who thinks he's
performing the duties of an umpire.
If he had given US half show we would
have had those NUTS from Williamson
beaten clear out of sight by this time
''The minister and the Sunday school
superintendent were shocked at the
worldly expressions used by the dea-
con, but, as he was in charge, they
didn't like to take the responsibility of
stopping the game contrary to his di-
rections.
when the ninth inning came Will
hanson was three runs ahead. The
visitors came first to the bat and were
retired in one, two. three order. For
the home team, base hit, an error at
third and four balls filled the bases.
Then Bill Medford. the captain of the