The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1908-06-25
BRYAN TAKES PART
in BALL game,
INTERESTING DESCRIPTION OF PIC.
MIC GIVEN BY The COMXONER
FORCE.

river that The C0mmORcr force held
it's annual picnic on Saturday, Jule
6. 1t took IL special tram of two
cars to carry the force and the ne
cessary provisi ms from Lincoln to
Crete, and the entire twenty-five
miles was made merry by song and
story. At Crete e j Bowlby, editor
of the Crete Democrat, took the
party in charge aad escorted 1t to
the banks of the then raging Blue,
som? quarter of mile from the
depot. Three big gasoline launcn
es were soon loaded with men,
women and children, baskets and
ice cream freezers, and then the
boats headed for the picnic grounds,
four miles up stream. 4 prettler
spot could not have been selected
for the days outing, nor could a
prettier day have been provided by
special order. 1t had been raining
for days and days, and the night
before there was a doSnpour that
made the preparing picnickers feel as
blue as the ma me of the river. But
upon the high banks of the Blue
the ground was as dry a powder as
house. The sun shone warm and
there was just enough wind to keep
the leaves stirring.
There are always two numbers on
the Commoner programme that ere.
ate great excitement-the dinner
and the ball game. Candor COM
pels the statement that average
ability as eaters exceeds the average
ability as ball players. Every body
ate, but only eighteen of the force
of sixty played ball.
Just imagine, if you can, a
"bunch" of fifty or sixty people,
men and women, who work in con-
genial surroundings and under the
same roof from month to month,
getting together as one big family
and around one table-everybody
happy and everybody anxious to
make everybody else happier-and
you can imagine what time The
Commoner 'bunch" has at Its annual
outing. The snowy cloth, which is
made of paper, is spread under the
trees and piled high with fried
chicken, baked beans, sandwiches,
salads, baked meats, more beans,
additional sandwiches, oranges, oil.
ives, pickles, additional beans, veg
etables and other sandwiches.
Slowed away in the big baskets are
cakes galore, aud over yonder, wait
ing for a later hour is a freezer of ice
cream. With laughter and joke the
crowd settles around the banquet
board, there is moment of silence,
and then clearly and sweetly the
strains of "Nearer, My God, to
Thee" float upon the summer air.
After dinner an hour of quiet
rest, and then the annual ball game.
AS an exhibition of the national
game it may have been open to crit
icism, but as a provoker of fun 1t
had Weber & Field, DeWolt Hop
per, Francies Wilson, Frank Daniels
Tim Murphey, Roger Brothers,
Lew Dockstater, Al Fields and all
the rest of them backed off the
boards. About half or the partlcl-
pants were impeded by skirts, but at
that they played as we'll as their
comrades Of the other sex.
There were two remarkable fea-
lures about the game-the wierd
umpiring by G j Bowlby and the
remarkable fielding of W J Bryan.
To the great surprise of his support
ers and himself, aud to the conster-
nation of his opponents. he dragged
down couple of long fly hits, field
ing them in without a bobble. The
performance, however, was some
what mitigated by his nsistence
that the game end right there.
The contesting mines were made