Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-12-11

Princeton's fiftieth anniversary of ath-
letics was marked last month. On Oc-
tober %, 1860. just on the eve of the
civil war opening, Nassau" played
Orange a game Of base ball at Orange,
and the game ended in a tie. with runs
forty-two in number on each side Oc-
annals as the day on which Princeton's
seal Of the province of New Jersey, and
was attested by Acting Gov. John
Hamilton Of his majesty's council; as
the day in 1888 when Congress was in
session in Nassau Hall, and when the
trustees adopted a letter of congratu-
lation on the arrival in this country Of
Peter Van Berckel, the first foreign
minister to the young republic; as the
day when President James McCosh ar
rived in Princeton and began his great
work for the university, and, finally, as
the day when the title was changed
from the College of New Jersey to
Princeton, and Grover Cleveland de-
livered the sesquicentennial address.
In the old days the college athletic
teams took their name from that his
toric relic Of revolutionary times, Mas
sau Hail. AS early as 1852 Yale and
Harvard had met on the water. but
their efforts in base ball had been con-
fined to campus play. Amherst and
Williams had met on the diamond July
1, 1853, at Pittsfield, and the first game
in which Princeton took part was the
second played between American col
leges. Foot ball started generally
among the Big Four colleges in the
year 1876, Princeton defeating Pennsyl-
vania and losing to Yale, and Harvard
defeating the blue. Princeton and Har-
ward did not meet until the following
year.
March 1, 1860, the modern base ball
game was born at the famous conven-
ton of the National Association of
Base Ball Players, held at Cooper In
Princeton Orange game was the first
college game under the rules OF the
game as it is known today.
Because of it's early interest in base
ball and it's formation of such celebrated
teams as the Eckfords. the Putnams, the
Excelsiors, the Atlantics and the Stars
Brooklyn is considered the real home OF
base ball, and it was due to this Brook
lyn influence that base ball was started
at Princeton. Lewis w. Nudge of Brook
lyn. q 1.-THE, sandy-haired lad, who had
played with the old Brooklyn Stars. con-
ceived the idea of forming nine OF
Princeton College students, and he asso-
ciated with him H. s. Butler and II
Sampson, also Of the Stars. March IA,
1859, these men organized the base ball
club of the class Of 1859, with the fol-
lowing officers: Lewis w. Nudge, presi-
dent. secretary and captain; Alexander
Marks, vice president; Henry s. Butler,
treasurer.
While Nudge and his Brooklyn cohorts
were busily organizing at Princeton an
other son of Old Nassau. f. ID. Person
"a was busy at Orange. and the forma-
ton of the Princeton team led to chal-
lenge from Orange, which was promptly
accepted. The communication was ad-
dressed to the "first nine" of Princeton.
On the Orange team were several old
Princeton and Yale graduates, among
whom were Pierson. J. Addison, Prince
ton, 80: c. I. Harrison, 90. and c. Con-
dit. Yale, 40.
The game was played on a rough pas
ture, Nassau taking the lead. But the
use of q Give" ball made almost double
running necessary, SO that the legs OF the
Orange and Black men began to tire. and
the Orange team tied the score in the
ninth inning. Darkness put stop to the
contest. Sporting pages and sporting
columns had not started fifty years ago.
so that a detailed account of the game
does not exist. Talk of war Was abroad
over the land. and the game received
little notice until later. The old Nassau
Literary Magazine, then the purveyor of
news, failed to recognize the game as an
item of general interest, and subscribers
to the Lit didn't get line of it,
Treasurer Butler had hard time get
ting money for the association, because
of the system. although the expenses for
the first season totaled only $9.43. The
labor Of his Office was due to the manner
of collecting revenue, which came from
fines for disciplinary purposes-1O cents
for "profane or impious language while
assembled for exercises" '5 cents for
disputing with the umpire or disobeying
Capt. Nudge" and ''3 cents for audibly
an opinion of a play in adj
vance Of the umpire's decision"
Capt Mudges team prospered as class
through its contests with
other class clubs, and soon it became
known as the Nassau base ball club.
Other colleges began to fall into line in
organizing teams.
After the Orange game Nudge took his
team to Philadelphia and played the Ath-
letics, and October 10, 1868. the team jour-
neyed to Brooklyn for a series of
four games with different teams-the Res
olutes, October 10; the Excelsiors. Octo-
Der 20; the Stars, October q. and the At
lantics, October %. The Resolutes were
defeated by score of 1879 in three hours
and a quarter of play; the Excelsiors were
beaten by the Nassaus, 12-11; the Stars