Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-07-24
LONDON TIMES TELLS
OF YANKEE BASEBALL

three parts of the time, were lords
of the situation. 'Rooters' are the
zealots who assemble in companies to
howl their respective sides to victory.
There were boards at the entrance to
the ground directing Army 'rooters'
to go one way, Navy 'rooters an
other, and telling them the number of
shillings they must pay for their
places. 1t struck one as a small sum
before the game began; but when the
game had ended those shillings ap-
peared an unjustifiable and impudent
tax on the hard work of honest men,
The 'rooter' tolls with his mouth,
to which sometimes he attaches a
megaphone. Judging from yesterday
the Army 'rooter' is a tame and in
articulate creature compared with
him of the Navy, whose voice is that
of ocean storms.
Songs of the Field
The Navy sang like this;-
Give 'em the axe, the axe, the axo
Give 'em the axe, the axe, the axo
Where? where? where?
Right in the meek, the neck, the
necko BE
Right in the neck. the neck, the
necko
There! there! there!
Who gets the axe?
Army! (Very loud)
Who says so?
Navy! (Much louder)
Then it sang like this:-.
One. two three, four, five, six, seven
All the Navy goes to heaven.
When we get there we will yell,
Army. Army, go to -" (groan).
The strain changed. with the words
Strawberry. shortcake, huckleberry
pie.
Victory!
Are we in it? Well, guess!
Navy, Navy! Yes, yes, yes!
In honor of the King and Queen
arose the chorus:A-
'Rah! 'Rah! 'Rah!
'Rah! 'Rah! 'Rah!
'Rah! 'Rah! 'Rah!
King George. Queen Mary,
Great Britain.
No printed page, however. can deal
adequately with the merits of the
'rooters.' He needs music to get JUS
tice; something more, or something
less, than music.
The King Hands Autographed Ball
THE Army players wore green with
blue caps the Navy blue trimmed
with red. They assembled before the
Royal box, and the King, descending
among them, shook hands with the
captains. His, Majesty had written
his name on a ball, which he handed
over for the play. Another was soon
substituted however. the intention of
the Anglo-American Baseball League,
which had arranged the match. being
to hand the autographed ball as a
memento to President Wilson.
The onlookers, who were estimated
to number forty to fifty thousand in
ALL were gently persuaded to encroach
no further on the field of play; and
the game began. Now, baseball
tempts every man to eXaggeration.
AS all London ought to know by this
time, it is one of the fastest and most
exciting methods of getting breath
less ever invented. 1t calls for great
SKILL and its rewards are salaries be-
yond the dreams of avarice. The
dignity of cricket it disowns; the
tremulous tumult OF football is as
the recreation of well-mannered mice
by comparison to it. The players live
on springs, possessing the activity of
high-grade machine. They think by
lightning, and field. catch, and throw
with the certainty of a stop-watch.
AS if the chaff of the spectators were
not sufficient for them. they chivvy
one another. The pitcher can grin
diabolically, If he be a good pitcher;
LII
sured and the striker daunted. The
catcher is paddel like an armchair.
and must be. able to take punishment
with the calm of a prize-fighter.
Victory of the Navy
"All the qualities were superbly
displayed in this match. We should
not care to say which was the better
side, because, frankly, we do not
know. But the Navy won by two to
one, and appeared to deserve its vic
tory. Some of the catches in the long
field, or whatever the baseball fan
calls it, were enough to rouse a Gum
or a Bonner. those past heroes of the
pavilion rails, to emulation. The
throwing was as near perfection as
the human arm can make 1T. Those
who saw baseball for the first time
must have agreed that a first-rate
player Is worthy OF MS hlre.
Many present made no secret of
their innocence. 1t may be that the
prize for hard work, had one been Of
fered to the whole assembly, would
properly have gone to the American
officers who strove hard and contin-
uous'y to explain fine points to their
English companions, fair and other
wise. These people, though often cor
rected, persisted in describing the
pitcher as the bowler the catcher as
the 'wicket-keeper,' and the striker
as the 'batsman.' But American
kchivalry was very patient. 1t smil-
ed through every mistake. and never
once vaunted the ball game at the
expense of cricket. For the credit
of England it should be added that
the superiority of cricket, when be-
lieved in as an article of faith, was
most courteously suppressed.
Nothing really dimmed the brill
liancesof the afternoon. OF good play
there was plenty, and 1t was admir-
ed by Americans and Englishmen
oIf Az n ..