The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1912-07-26
THE CHINESE BALL GAME.
Group of Young College Men of Char
acter and Standing.

The Hawaiian-Chinese base ball
team which added one to their
long list of American victories yes
terday spent the morning in Ben
nington. The club, who represent
the University of Hawaii are the on
ly Chinese team playing on any con-
tinent. The Chinese of the island
picked up the game by playing with
sailors from the American warships
stationed there The game spread
throughout the island and soon it be-
came an insular sport. The team de-
cided to invade the United States
this summer All are graduates OF
the various Hawaiian colleges and all
are candidates for degrees at the
University of Hawaii.
The team arrived in San Francisco
with sixteen men, March 2Sth. Nearly
the entire team were seasick on the
voyage and the sudden change TO the
more inclement weather of the coast
did not help them. They came TO
America with the intention of playing
only college teams, but with the close
of the schools branched out in to the
field of the semi-professionals. They
have defeated the University of Chic
ago the University of Wisconsin, the
champions of the Northwest, the
University of Cincinnati University
of Utah, Brigham Young University.
Ohio, Wesleyan, Trinity College, Hart
ford, Conn. They were defeated by
Georgetown in a 10 inning game by
the score of 6 to 8.
In 1910 the team defeated the Jap
anese team from the University of
Waseda who have travelled in Amer
lea and in 1911 played two games
with Keio University, Japan. The
rubber game was stopped by the po-
lice authorities because OF the too in
tense rivalry which was rapidly TAX
ing on the aspect of race war.
The team is financed by Chinese
merchants of Honolulu, Hawaii. All
are American citizens and intensely
interested in the revolutionary move
ment in the Flowery Kingdom which
movement they characterize as
great" They have found their
greatest trouble that of the weather.
In the early part of the American cam
paign they say with true American
exaggeration, that they froze to death
but during the middle of July the
intense torridity nearly finished them.
In Hawaii, they say. there is an all
year round temperature of rs de
grees and as F. l.. Akana, the hu.
morist of the outfit says, all the
sports are INDUCED in during thirteen
months of the year Athletically it
is a very versatile outfit.
The team has travelled an average
of a thousand miles a week. Some
of the team wear a curious hat-band
woven from the feathers of Chinese
pheasants.
At the University of Hawaii the list
of sports includes baseball, football,
Rugby, succer. golf tennis, all the
track sports as well as swimming
and the native sport of surfing which
consists of riding the crest of a
wave on a board. Lai Tin, who holds
down the dizzy corner, does the hun
dTed in ten fiat and holds the cham
pionship of the island in the broad
jump being able to make % feet and
s inches. Each member of the team
speaks English with a silibant soft
ness that makes ordinary conversa-
ton sound like crude vocal panto-
mine and each writes the language
like a copy book.
Hawaii has a population of al
quarter of a million and nearly all
races are represented The santa
ton of the island. the members of
the team say, is excellent. They
have model public school system
and the native population is extreme
ly pleased with the American regime
The chief products of the island are
cane sugar and pineapples Pineap-
pies are being sold here from the
home cities of the members of the
team. One individual started to tell
about the volcanoes and earthquakes
but was quickly suppressed by his
companion with the mild assurance
that there are no earthquakes in the
city Of Honolulu.
The members of the team spent the
morning visiting the various local
manufacturing plants and other
points of interest They were ex-
tremely pleased with the treatment
they received in Bennington and
statd that their treatment had not
everywhere been as pleasant and
commended the Bennington team for
its gentlemanliness and good sports
manship. They say that Bennington
is the most beautiful small city they
have visited Thav will rofr,rn "a