Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-10-17
AN ENGLISHMAN'S VIEW.
Arnold BENEFITS Impressions o.
American Base Bal.

Arnold Bennett in Harper's.
How mighty is base balll Its fa~'n
floats through Europe as someth'n rrD
d gious, Incompetent -ib'e, romantic a3,:
terrible. After being entertaine5 at ear:
lunch In the correct hotel for this k;ra
of thing. I was taken in a state % grea.
excitement, by a group of excited bushes
men. and flashed through Central Pa =.
in an express automobile TO one OF TIE
great championship games. I noted tie
excellent arrangements for dealing with
feverish multitudes. noted the splendid
and ornate spac!ousness of the grand
stand crowned with innumerable Gag es.
and the calm. matter-of-fact tone In which
a friend informed me that. the grandstand
had been burned down six months ago. 4
noted the dreadful prominence of adver-
t.sements. and particu ar,y Of tina. one
which announced 1.-The thfee-dollar hat
with the five-dollar look" all very Euro
pean. 1t was pleasant to be convinced In
such large letters that even shrewd
America is not exempt from that univer-
sal human naivete which Is ready TO be-
lieve that in some magic emporium
philanthropist is always waiting to give
five dollars worth of goods IN exchange
for three dollars OF money.
Then braced my intelligence to an I'M
Outstanding OF the game. which, thanks
to is classical simplicity. and to some
training in the finesse OF cricket and foot
ball, did soon grasp in its main outlines
A beautiful game. superb'y prayed. We
reckon to know something OF ball games
in Europe: we reckon to be connoisseurs:
and the cd foot baller and cricketer IN
me came away from that immense In
closure convinced that base ball was
game of the very first class. and that
those players were the most finished ex-
ponents of it. 1 was Informed that during
the winter the players condescend to fol-
low the law and other .ibe. a; professions.
But, judging from their apparent import
ance in the public eye I should no, have
been surpr sed to learn that dur ne the
winter they condescend to be Speakers OF
the House of Repre- entat YES or gov
errors of states. Ii was relief In Eno'
that in the matter of expenses they W re
treated more libera'ly than the a.i ba
sadors of the republic.
They seem to have carried the art q:
pitch ng ball to a more wo ,drpu &c re
of perfection han il has ever been 2rritd
I'm cricket. The abso ute certitude h"
fielding and accuracy OF the thrown Was
profoundly impre ssive to a ccnno'ssedr
Only n a certain lack OF ELEGANCE - Ses-
ture, and i'm the unshaven dowd ness OF
the ground on which it was p.ayed. couls
this game be sa to be inferior to the
dramatic quality 1 should place il above
cricket. and on a level with association
foot bal.
In short, I at once became an enthu-
siast for base ba l. For nine inn ngs L
watched ii with interest undated, until a
vas purple shadow. creeping gradually
eastward, had obscurely yelled the sub
me legend OF the three-solar hat with
the five-dollar look. 1 began to acquire
the proper cries and shouts and mcnaces.
and to pass comments on the play which
was assured were not utterly foolish.
In my honest yearn.ng to feel myself
habitue. I did what everybody else did.
and even attacked a morsel of chewing
gum: but all that European can say or
this singular substance is that ii is. final
ly, eternal and unconIuerable. One slip
did quite innocently make. rose to
stretch myself after the sixth inning In
stead Of halfway through the seventh.
Happily a friend with marked presence
Of mind pull ed me down to my seat again
before I had had time fully to commit
this horrible sacr.lege. When the game
was finished I surged on to the enormous
ground, and was Informed by inner-ring
experts Of a few of the thousand subtle
tactical points which / had missed. And
lastly. / was flung up on to the elevated
p atform. Uttered with pieces OF news
paper. and through a landscape or sloven-
ly apartment houses, pnnctuated by
glimpses of tremendous quantities of dry
ing linen. l was shot out OF New York
toward a calm week end