Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1905-04-02


pctes The siXtieth year of the life q
base bal. for 1t dates its birth from
the or2auiz tion OF the original Kn elk
erbcrhcr Base Ball club of New
\ ork city. September 2$, 1S45. at
which time The first playing rules
O, tho game were formulated and pub
Iished by that cl0b.
There seems TO be a conflict OF
opinion as to the origin of base ball.
think he game has arrived at an
ace ard at a pcint i'll its Develop
ment when this mooted quest .on
should he settled in some comp~eheH-
slve and authoritative way and for all
time
Some authorities, notably Nj. Hen
ry Chadwick claim. that base bah
is Ct English origin and WIS Gi-
rect descendant Of the Oh English
juvenile pastime called "RoUmaers,'
while others claim that it was entire-
" of American origin and had n9th
ing whatever to do with Roandcrs
or any ether foreign game.
While concede that Mr.. Chad
weeks Rounder theory is entitled TO
much weight because Of his lGna con
nection with base ball and the mag
nificent work he has dan7 III the up
building of the game fGr upward of
fifty years, yet l am unwilling to ae-
cept his Rounder theory without
something more convincing than his
oft-repeated assertion that base ball
did ORIGINATE from Founders .
"Father" Chadwick Challenged.
Fer the purpose of settling this
question I hereby challenge the Grand
Old Man of base ball to produce his
proofs and demonstrate in some tang
ihlc way, if nc can, that our national
game derived it's origin from Round
erS
Mr.. Chadwick, who, by the way.
s of English birth and was probably
rocked in "Rounders" cradle. says.
in support of his theory, that there
is but one game now in vogue on this
continent which is strictly American
in its origin and that one is the old
Indian game of Lacrosse, now known
as the Canadian national game. Base
bail originated from the old English
schoolbov game of Founders, as plain
ly shown by the fact that the basic
principle of both games is the field
Is OF q bat. bah and bases
have been fed on this kind Of
"Rcllnder pap. for upward of forty
z.ars anG | refuse TO swallow any
. 81 q ii without some substantial
Greof sauce with 1t.
n NJ visited England with the
44ston and Philadelphia Athletic Base
9aJ c.'1z5'55s md while these clubs We're
niayinr exbihtion games before Eng
l.sh audiences it VAS not uncommon
to hear expressions lil1, this; IN hA
it's nothing bu our old came Of
Founders that We used 10 play ~r,f
the gals when We were boys.
Again, during our base bah trip
around the world in lSSS-9 we heard
simil-r expressions in the English
colonies of New Zealand. Australia
India ana in Great Bra!an. | made
Il ny inquiries of many people about
th;s sam, ii Round"r&, bur never
coula set very Intelligent explana,
tion ot it and seldom could find any
one that would admit taat they had
ever played the game
After had seen and played in a
me q RCundcrs | could quite under
stand why ii had been so difficult to
find anyone that would admit thar
the! had ever played R0undcIs. and
for a god deal Of the same reason
that q @rcwnup man might be unwill
ing TO admit that he had ever played
Drop the handkerchief "Copenhag
en Ring Around the Rosy" or any
ether of Rounders' sister pastimes.
Founders Game Arranged.
Il ca9.e about in this way: When
e,I AZ un world base ball party
arr we'd in England in 1889 We were
AGAIN rHtcd with the similarity of
cur came o Founders, generally spok-
rn u dtrision and intended to belit-
t.c base bal and finally becoming