Norwich bulletin., 1917-03-03
and l1~ E1
By PETER P. CARNEY.

baseball mogulS as to the reason, or reasons, for the falling off in the at- terest in the pastime by Americas great population of spertsmen.
 The magnates agree on one point that there h,er is Son1s.nin9 sn, E., radically thing is most of them profess not to know. They are only fooling them selves. There are few ma agnates who see the light. These are the men who pay attention to the trend of the times.
 Dick Kinselfa, scout of the New York Americans, says that the movies have hurt baseball. President Navin of Detroit says that motoring is caus- Jack Hendricks, the Denver manager, says that golf is the lure of many from the ball parks. Grantfand Rice, one of the ablest writers in the coun- try on sport subjects, clainA that the continued bickerings of the players and magnates are driving the fans to other forms of amusement. and James McGill, the owner of the Denver club, asserts that the decline of baseball is due to the increased interest in other outdoor sports by the people who were formerly baseball fans. MT. McGill is convinced that baseball is on the de- cline.
 The Reasons Why.
 Mr. McGiH may or may not be cor rect about the decline of baseball It
 
 the increased interest of the once baseball fans in other lines of outdoor sporting activity. Here are the reasons why: Golf, tennis. motoring. trap shooting.
 It is a long story why the sport loving American has turned to these sports from baseball. The modern young man takes up a sport that he bench warmer. For many years magnates grew prosperous as the turn stiles clicked their sweet refrain; but the clicking hasn't been so industrious during the past couple of years Poli- tics in baseball brought charges and counter-charges; then came one scan dal after another on worlds series ickets-the cry of cornmercia1isn, the continued wrangIe between the mag mates and the players, and the threat parks. And some of the magnates still wonder why the people do not take as much interest in baseball as Of yore.
 Money has done more harm to sport than any other single factor Baseball is the only professional sport that has thrived for any great period of time. The continued arguments in the public press over salaries never went well with the fans. Idols were knocked from their thrones and the fans began to stir themselves and look for other forms of amusements. It is impossible
 
 team play all around-and there is anything but team play in the base ball world now.
 So the baseball fan of yesterday is the tennis, golf, motoring or trap shooting bug of today. Athletics are compulsory at nearly every school and college in America, and when the boy drifts out into the world he is more or l of sport as an actual participant. The | day or the proxy sport has passed for | the ive-wire American. Let us look the thing right square in the face.
 Increase in Other Sports.
 There were not more than 300 ten his clubs nor more than 50,00o tennis l players ten years ago; today there are | neighborhood of 500, 900 racquet play | CTS. And they have about S3O, OoO. 900 | invested in the sport There are near ly 400 golf clubs in America, a gain of | over 100 per cent. in five years; and 1 golfers have more than S50,o00, 900 in- | vested in the sport. This of course includes the magnificent homes of golf 1 clubs
 The low priced motor car brought | joy to many, and plenty of men who | were interested in baseball now spend | their leisure moments in short tours.
 Then there is trapshootins. It's the two sports to which no admission is charged, no matter how many champions may be performing. The former is a sport in which the ma jority of the players are of middle age. while trapshooting is the real sport of contrasting ages. You can find them at the traps from the little fellow in | short trousers to the gray and srizz2ed veterans. More than 15, 900 GOO shot guns have been sold in the United States in recent years, and there are more than 60e, 900 trapshootere Five l years ago there were less than 100 O00 ,1,~J> | increased in that time from less than 500 to more than 4,000.
 Now you have the reasons why sportsmen are doing other things be- tides sitting in the stands watching ,thers do something.