Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-12-08

kept on reading out "Empcy. and par
cells came through the air like u bonn
bardment
The first parcel ! picked up was
stamped, PASSED by Censor" and con-
,nincd twelve brund-ncw buseballs. or.
at least. eleven. and the remains OF
one. This twelfth ball was stamped.
"Opcncd by Censor" but search as
could, could ind no stamp reading
"Sewcd up by Censor" We did the
sewing up but that ball looked like
u ducks egg when we had finished.
Stewart and | roundly cusscd ths cen-
sor. Later. we both cusscd tho invcn-
tor OF baseball. There was reason.
The readers Of the Telegram had
nobly responded TO our appeal There
were enough gloves and balls for two
teams. ana ven a chest protector aud
mask. Tic mask WAS all article OF
great curiosity to all. Some OF them
thought ii Was bomb protector.
Everyone In turn tried ii on and every
one. upon learning that the catcher
WAS to wear the mask. wanted imine-
diatcly TO SiSu up for the position.
Stewart and [ could have been elected
to Parliament right there. If these
Tommics could have had their way.
The next afternoon the ndidates.
forty In all, aud the whole company.
turned out Ell masse on tho baseball
field. which We had In Id out during our
previous stay in rest billets.
begin a logs Life.
From that day on, stewart and / led
a dogs life. Though Oh paper every
thing looked bright, and the candidates
were letter perfect in the game. or
thought they were. on the field they
We're dubs Of the worst caiiber--regu-
lar boneheadS. II McGraw. of the
Giants. had had that mob wished on
him. he would have chuckcd up his
job ara taken the stump Tor woman
suffrage; so you can appreciate our fix.
Stewart WAS Il really good pitcher;
plenty OF curved stun. having played
semipro ball i'll the United States. II
was my intention 10 catch for him. and
MI in the other positions with the most
likely candidates. This scheme did
not work in with til" popular version a
little bit. But uf tife forty trying for
the team. twenty eight insisted on be-
ing catcher. They wanted 10 wear that
mask. II there had been a camera.
each OF the forty would have had Il
wire cage" Here was Il great diem
ma. At that time | only pri-
Hate, and there were scri cants. corpo-
rails and even an officer who wanted
To catch. Stewart nsan came 10 the
rescue. Calling me aside. he said:
Leave il to me. Emp. III fix EN-. I'll
try out each one in turn. Let them
Wear the mask. and I'll send in some
curves. and when the ball cracks them
on tho shns couple of times you
couldn't pay 'em to put on the cage
The Tpmmies were strange to curved
balls. and Stewart had speed II did
my heart good to see him dampen
their ardor and dent their anatomy at
the same time. The TommicS would
soc the ball coming 10 them and would
reach up their hands to get il. Then
the ball would break" and hii Them
on the shin OF knee. After five or six
had retired. rubbing sore spots and
GUESSING Stewart out. no ono else want
~ TO catch. and the situation was
saved
Tommy stupid With Hands.
Tommy is a natural born soccer play
er and clever with his feet. but stupid
with his hands when il comes TO base
ball. Several Of them had a bad habit
OF stopping crouudcrS with their feet
especially our shortstor. He would sec
"A hot srass-cater coming his way. Their
iuGlcad Of using his hands, he would
put His foot in front of It, Tho ba!
would climb his leg and get him or
tn, ohm. or in the eye. After receivin.
q putcd-up lip and :, beautiful! bIacl
we. Ne fatty refused to play unless
w"Ild let him wear the mask. Amer
leans, picture q Shortstcp wearing
catchcrs mask. and then sympathiz'
with Stewart and me. The shortStol
was serGe ant. and through diplomatic
reasons ! gave the mask to him. y
this every ln1cldcr wanted to wear ii
stewart solved tho problem by puttinl
in another shortstop and giving m
! the mask.
l In England they have = game Gale
/ ''Rounders." in which you are suppose,
30 hit the bascrunner with the ball &
! put him out. This Is generally tenni
7 ball and does not hurt very much.
Well. those Tommios had habit o
! lamm;ng the baseball with all thei
b might at the unfortunate runner Man
( an early practice was broken ny tn!
! way. because the team would lose in
torcst in baseball when they had
chance to view q fight between q give
i and receiver.
After about ten days practice we ha
picked two pretty fair teams and ar
ranged a scrub game. Stewards sid
won, duo TO his pitching.
Then. as is usual in baseball. t:iins
began to happen. A jinN seemed !