The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1906-1907, 1907-06-29
Rnthnaaaam Over nasehaIl.

this country. not born fun grown, but
gradually developing from town baIT'
or perhaps from ''three cornered cat
TO its present scientific aspect.-a thing
Of Joy forever to about nlne-tenths Of
Americans. This includes practically
all the men and boys, except Mr..
Roosevelts molIycoddle class, and II
Includes also an increasing number Of
women, who in late years have come
to know the difference between a foul
and a safe hit.
All of us know In a general way Of
the remarkable popularity Of the ma
tionnl game, but in current magazine
article Ralph d. Paine, who writes
from intimate knowledge, lays bare an
array of facts concerning baseball
which are calculated 10 cause the true
"fan" to take on bis hat almost any
where, in the middle Of the street or
sitting at his breakfast table, and
whoop his enthusiasm. We learn that
about 5000 young Americans receive
salaries for playing the game, in leagues
major ana minor, scattered from Maine
to Texas and from Seattle to savan-
nah, not forgetting the Florida PENN
suia. These are the professionals.
Then comes a class Of semiprofession-
ais, young men who pick up q Ave dol
lar bill now and then Tor pitching 3
.....,,, a., = sos.ka~k hat,vr~ov, &ba uanv,a
town Athletics and the smithvilie
Reds. Most numerous and probably
most enthusiastic Is the amateur army,
made mp OF unnumbered thousands Of
boys and men who play baseball just
for the sheer fun Of II. Their dia1
monds are legion. Then comes the
mighty multitude Of baseball enthusi-
asts who pay their money to sit In the
grand stand or on the bleachers and
roast one player or rave over another.
No matter whether you play or look
on, you get all sorts Of exercise, In
Guiding lung testing. and the outdoor
afternoon undoubtedly prevents many
case OF tuberculosis and other deadly
disease, thus reducing the death rate
in addition to making life the happier
while II IL being lived.
MIR. Paine calls attention to the re-
spectabllity OF baseball az a sport. A
generation ago, when the game was IN
les infancy, boys who showed q pre-,
objection for the diamond were looked
upon IN their towns as loafers and
ne'er-do-wells, The game itself was
prescribed in most communities, but
this probably was due to the fact that
II was played almost exclusively on
Sunday. AS baseball developed and
became an amusement industry, with
performances ON week days. the sport
won the favor even OF the Sabbath
rians, who had tried to kill II or In It's
boisterous babyhOod Now nobody de-
cries baseball, 1t 10 a clean sport-the
cleanest we have II IL as innocent
~ croQuet and considerably more ex-
hilaFating.
In his enthusiasm Mr., Paine, who
used to be a college athlete Of note, de-
llvera this eulogy;
The pallid student with bullying brow
may croak that Il IL a wicked economic
waste Tor thousands OF grown men TO DO
paid large salaries for hitting a ball with
9 stick OF wood. On the contrary. these
dean built. aunburned, vigorous athletes
ef the league diamonds are the faculty
members % the National University OF
Baseball Culture and their pupils are to
Be found In every other American home.
The greatest day Of the sporting oalen-
dAF IL ''the opening Of the league season. ="
Thon Il Is worth the price OF admission
Just 20 zee 20 900 cheering Americans bank
ed halfway round the velvet turf In the
sparkling April weather. when the heroes
In their apick and span uniforms parade
grandly across tho field behind the band
when the big hag scars to the top OF the
tall pole; when the mayor or governor
toaaea the dedioatory horsahids sphere
from his box, when tho hrat gladiator
strides up to the homo plate and the UNI
plre eroRks. "piay banr'
Poe'a Raven" and LonRfellow'a TEX.
celaloT' may be reeited BY school children
yet unhorI but Il Il not rash prophecy
that their claim 10 Immortality IL no
stronger than tho claim OF that matches
lyric. Casey at the Bat"
II IL also q significant fact that tho
japanese have taken to playing base
ball. They have chosen It in prefer
ence TO the British cricket. which they
have had ample opportunity to learn
In view Of the remarkable aptitude OF
thu japanese In picking up the good
things In western civilization their
eholee may - considered highly com
plimentary to the American national
sport