Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1915-01-08

Crossing these orientals is dangerous
business. Yours.
L. C. BILsTRUTHER. NJ. d.
1t was with feelings of %trepidation.
as the novelists say, that | undone that
long bundle. When the last wrapping
was peeled off there was a life size bat.
It was made out of some heavy. lark
colored wood.
1t didn't swell in the middle just to
my liking, but it seemed to have a good
balance for all of that. When | swung
it there came a tingling sensation that
shot up my arms and stirred the very
roots of my hair. as the novelists say.
| never felt stronger-not eve In the
brave days when | was twenty-one and
smashing batting records every week.
l swung from the shoulder and
chopped from the wrist and practiced
all the other batting moves l know to
the imminent danger of the gold plated
chandeliers in that bridal SCOT, and the
more | swung the club the better l
liked it and the stronger grew my
of power.
1t don't seem quite modest to set
down all the batting feats | done in the
game that day, but this is a veracious
record of unimpeachable fact, as l once
heard a stump speaker say. and the
details have got to go with the general
outline of the plot. Out of five times
up l hit for a single and a two Dagger
and lifted three home runs over the
fence, the last one going through the
window of a brewery two blocks from
the grounds and nearly knocking one
of our solid Dutch citizens into a beer
vat he was grooming.
The sporting writers didn't whisper
to each other and jot down hints about
my being a has been without a come
back attachment. Instead, they just
stood up and whooped with the rest
of the wild, crazy crowd. | was car
ried off the grounds to the hotel auto
by an admiring delegation of fans from
our home citWand even made a seven
word speech from the steps of the bus
but through it all / clutched that
magic oriental bat with a death grip.
The fear of losing that bat was
strong upon me, as the novelists say.
My batting average got better and bet
ter. Never had Walloper Murphy hit
at such a terrific pace.
The care | lavished on Dinjir Meb's
bat didn't escape the attention of the
newspaper man in the press box. Moth
ing ever does. They wrote all kinds
of fancy stories about that b~at-every
kind but the right kind. | hired a
plain boy at a fancy salary to do moth
ing but grab that bat, after | had
thrown it down, and guard it till had
come back from the base lines.
He had strict orders not to let 1t go
out of his hands when l was playing
in the field. | was peevish about let
ting the other players so much as heft
the bat, and come near losing some
friendships of long standing OF that
account.
1t was getting well toward the close
of the race. with our team holding the
lead by an eyelash. There were only
three more games to play, and the club
management was looking to me to pull
them out of the fire. for our pitchers
wasn't going any too well, and it was
only by free hitting that we could hope
" vi III a LIZ L ld0
been dreading. 1t vas just a note, in
a strange scrawl, handed in by a bell
boy. 1t said:
Please give bearer Dinjir Meb's bat.
1.-THE note was give to me by a dark
skinned man with blue goggles, and he
said he'd wait in the reception parlor,'
said the boy In answer to my demand.
l rushed down to the parlor. but
there was nobody there.
But along about 1 o'clock, just be-
fore | was starting for the baseball
grounds to begin the final and deciding
series of three games with our nearest
contenders. along comes another note,
handed in by another bellboy. 1t read:
Dinjir Meb will take his bat this after
noon, since Sahib Murphy will not sur
render it willingly.
l chung to that bat with a feverlsh
grip all the way to the park.
| gave my private bat guardian spe-
cial Instructions about grabbing the
stick as soon as l had thrown it down
after making a hit. Then l bribed a
special policeman to keep an eye on
the boy. Even then l didn't feel safe.
Dinjir Meb's bat never did any great
err execution than on that day. 1t had
the long distance hits caroming off the
outield fences, and up to the ninth in
ming / had driven in seven runs and
had the game practically cinched. In
the ninth l sent one to the 1agpole in
center. l knew 1 could just stretch it
into four bases by hard running.
1t was all a matter of machine-like
calculation with me. | counted every
step and knew | must be two seconds
ahead of the ball when l jumped into
the ten foot slide at the finish. As !
slid and heard the umpire call "Safel"
I glanced toward the players bench to
see what had become Of Dinjir Meb's
bat.
My bat boy had carried 1t almost to
the players bench. The policeman