The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-11-03

years, says the New York Times, and
. throughout that time it has had its ve,a
taries and devotees who have cherished
and made sacrifices for it.
Of course cricket is an English game.
That is to say, it is so described and rec-
ognizd in this country. Why it is thus
singled out is probably because in many
places it is played only by English resi-
dents, and because the quiet and ORDERLY
manner of it's procedure suggests the
saying. of the Frenchman that certainly
the Englishman does take his pleasures
seriously.
And yet cricket was played in this
country long. before even the crude forms
of early baseball. fired III. Wright, OF
this city, an enthusiastic collector of
cricket literature, preserves an account
of game which was played in New
York, where Fulton Market now stands,
in 1751 and it is known that cricket was
played in this country even several years
before that. The ST. George Cricket club
wass organized in 1885, and occupied
grounds in the vicinity of Broadway and
Thirtieth street. 1t moved to Hoboken
in 1861 where it still maintains an ex~
istenee and ground, although its menu
bersshave long since scattered.
There are many old cricketers in New
ners at the club house in Hoboken, where
roast beef and ale formed the chief re,
past The cricketer who partook of one
of these dinners never fails to draw COM
parsons when he sits down to the eiabor-
ate course luncheon with which the pres
ent-day cricketer is RECALLED.
In Philadelphia also the early clubs were
composed almost entirely of Englishmen,
but it was not long before the young
American recognized the merits of the
game, and contests between eleven Amer
leans on one side and eleven Englishmen
on the other were fought out with all
the. fervor of international battles. The
Germantown and Philadelphia clubs were
organized in the fiftieS and the Young
America club, which many years after
ward amalgamated with Germantown,
was also organized at about the same
time.
Richard L. Ashhurst, veteran of Phil
adelphia, recounted some interesting
memories of the game when asked for
some of his old experiences. Mr.. Ash
hurst was a member of the old Philadel-
pha club in the fifties. "Our ground at
that time" he said, was a square field
containing about three acres encompass
ed by an ordinary poSt-and-rai1 fence,
which answered the purpose of bench
and grand stand during the matches.
This ground was about three squares
south of Federal street, and-was separ,
ated from the river by a road and on
the western side of the road by a row
of frame houses, whose yards backed
ON the Delaware.
1.-THE Philadelphia club at that tiraa
was principally made UP of two elements
of certain number of Engiishmen
a ha
had learned cricket in the old country,
and were beginning to advance in years,
and a body of much younger Philadel-
phians, principally lawyers, who were en-
thltsiastic lovers of the game.
THE American players were quite a re-
markable aggregation, comprising many
men distinguished in professional and
business life. Richard G.. McMurtrie, Nor
ton P Henry, James B. England, j. Dick
inson Sergeant, William Rotch, John Wis
ter, Hartman Kuhn, Col. Charles H..
Banes, Benjamin W. Richards, J.. War
ner Johnson and Thomas M. Hai., are
among the names [ recall as actiye
playersGn those old Camden days. Jones
and Frank Wister played with German
town, so there were two Wisters on
each side when we played our frequent
matches.
THAT is. we tried to have it so, but
could not always get John Wister down
from Duncannon. He was the best
round-arm bowler on our American eleV-
en-, and when we had to play without
him. disaster was likely to ensue. Our
only other round-arm bowler was War
ner johnson, who bowled very high
slow ball, and kept wicket when he was
not bowling. Our long stop was Howe,
one of our Camden members, although
Pol ,oti, In,
that capacity. Perhaps the nearest to a
scientific cricketer on our American eIev-
ems was Tom HALL who was a particular
-Iys good ,off-hitter,. rather a rare thing
in those days Unhappily, he did not
survive the exposures and hardshipSs OF
the war where he did admirable service
as adiutant Of the One Hundred and
Twenty-first Pennsylvania. SO that we
were without, him when, the war ending
we went back to green pastures and the
cricket ball.
The club houses. of those ta-ly days GER
tainly bore little resemblance to those OF
the present. The Germantown club had
room in stone house to the north of
their old grounds. Inc Young America
club had a. room in the stone cottage to
the@west of the railroad bridge crossing
Main. street, at Wayne Junction. The
Merton. which thirty years ago played
the second elevens. of the larger clubs,
had a chest in the loft of the school
house. which stands near their old
grounds at Wynnewood; they had no
facilities whatever for getting meals.
None of the cricket grounds. was in
closed by other than ordinary post and
rail fences until the Germantown put up.
a high board fence. It was done to
make gate on the occasion of visit
from some English professionals.
The grounds were badly kept and
Wretchedly poor, and the scoring conse-'
auently very low. Shooters were very
common and were responsible for the
downfall Of many good wicket. About
eighty was a respectable score for all
eleven to make, and often enough a side
was out for less than half that many
runs. Any player was satisfied if he
Got double figures, and centuries were
unknown. The conditions of that time
and the present are SO different that
no comparison of merit between the play.
ers of the differtn periods can be made.
Previous to the breaking out of the Civil
war cricket fourislled famously in Phtla-
sdelphia The hero of the cricket field was
the sportsman of the hours, and if the
they were better understood than they
have been ever since.
With the Civil war which robbed cricket
of its foremost opponents, the game was
practically suspended throughout the
West: in New York no one had the heart.
to arrange a match, and although in Phil
adelphia a desultory existence was pre-
served, still most of the players were at
the front, and it was only those too young
to bear arms who We're left to carry on
the game. It has been said that of the
thirty three men constituting the first
elevens OF the Philadelphia, Germantown
and Young America clubs at the break
ing out of the war, twenty-six went into
the army, many distinguishing them
selves on the field of battle, as they had
on the field of cricket.
Among these was Walter S NeWhau OF