The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1907-06-23
BASEBALL.
Disputed Origin of the Game and an
Unfinished Inning Abroad.

NbfOdO.
Real baseball is over sixty-one
years old. But the origin of the ma
tionai game is more in dispute than
the etymology of the term fan" The
veteran journalist Henry Chadwick,
popularity known as the father of
baseball" who is English born. con-
tends that baseball, while all Ameri-
can sport, had its origin in the game
played by the English schoolboy called
FOUNDERS" The basic principle of
both games,' Mr.. Chadwick argues, SIS
the use of a bat, Il ball and bases"
But it is shoVt bat and a soft ball
and the player on hitting the ball en-
deavOrs to make Il circuit-a round-Of
all the bases-in our vocabulary, a
home run. AS clincher Mr.. Chad
wick says that when debating the
question with Albert G. Spaldng
there entered the room a devotee of
sport, Andrew Peck, whose name, cou-
pied with that of his partner. Snyder.
was known to most American boys of
twenty years ago in connection with
popular style of ice skates.
when did you begin to play base
ball?" inquired Mr.. Spalding.
In the latter part of the forties,"
replied Mr.. Peck; ''about 1917 or 1S4S."
What was the game called them
why. rounders,' said Mr.. Peck.
But to this day Mr.. Spalding, proud
Yankee to the core, is unconvinced.
Undoubtedly the foreign faint in base
ball bothered him not Il little for a
time, but he disposed of it to his salts
faction in the spring of 1889 when he
visited Liverpool after a tour of the
British colonies with the Chicago and
All American baseball teams Through
out the trip English subjects had child
ed him with the antecedent of the
American national game. so he issued
a challenge to the champion rounder
club of Great Britain. which was
promptly accepted. BY the terms of
the agreement the British champions
were to play one inning rounder
match two innings make a full game)
with team OF eleven men picked
from the American "baseballers," as
the Englishmen called them, and then
baseball
AS feeder" Cpitcher) for his eleven
Mr.. Spalding was given a leather COW
cred sphere about the size of a golf
ball and rather soft The rounder bats
man faced him with a miniature crick-
of haf-o hnt 70 och
err and penholder. A high ball was
'.fouled," as the Yankees called it, but
the referee declared it fair hit. and
as the batter made a circuit of the four
boundary posts before the ball was
recovered he scored four runs The
there was a total of eight runs to the
credit of the Englishmen. Then feed
er" Spalding resorted to low balls close
70 the batsman's body. and only three
more runs We're made before the eiev-
en- British champions We're put out and
the inning was over. These last runs
resulted from the failure of an Ameri-
can to hit one of the champions with
the ball, as the rules permit
In their half of the inning the Yam
KEGS were inclined at first to try to 4
Zine OUT the ball, and the results
were disastrous. But soon they got
the hang of batting with one hand
and scored eight runs before the elev-
I'll men were retired This left them
three runs behind.
The baseball game was an entirely
different story. Three Englishmen
struck out. and then the Americans
went to bat. Thirty-five men crossed
the plate. and still the side had not
been retired. Because of physical ex-
both teams were content that
he match be declared off. Thus the
irst inning in the baseball game was
never finished. vet the score stood 80
% 0 in favor of the Americans.-Henry
Beach Needham in Success.