The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1918-02-02
BLEACHERS Are
DOOMED BY new
war TAX PRICE
Time-honored Institution
of "Two-bit" Admission
At Ball Games To Go
NEW SCALE NOT
DECIDED UPON
Believed Only Question of
Time When Minimum
Will Be Half a Dollar

New York, Feb. 2.--When the Off
Gals OF the internal revenue depart
ment make their announcement from
Washington within a few days on the
| tax on baseball tickets, it will mark
the end of the 25-cent admission in
| the major leagues. The famous two
i bit" ticket for the bleachers, which is
1 an institution as old as the game it
| self, will be no more. 1t is expected
| that the new scale of prices to include
| the war tax will eliminate the penny,
/ for the baseball committee in Wash
| ington Monday explained to the OFF,
Gals that IL pennies were handled at
the turnstiles at the baseball parks,
| hopeless confusion would result and
| it would be an impossible task to han
die the big crowds which flock to the
parks on Saturdays, holidays and on
double-header days.
So the 25-cent admission has gone
forever. and hereafter the lads who
| decorate the bleacher seats will have
| TO pay 80 cents, and the 76-cent ad-
missions will be IS cents. The hand
| ling of pennies was the thing which
worried the club owners, so they have
decided to do away with il. 1t was
| calculated that it would require about
$3.50 In pennies to make change on
the 25-cent and 75-cent admissions on
big day If the 10 per cent war tax
were collected on the basis Of the old
prices. Consequently Ii was deemed
advisable to boost the price OF the
bleacher and stand admissions ana
thus do away with the pennies. The
club owners pointed out that ii would
be impossible to get pennies enough
to go around. s..
New Scale Not Decided Upon.
For many years the baseball club
owners have been trying to do away
with the "two-bit" admission to the
bleachers. Each year the number OF
25-cent seats has been cut down until
at parks like the Polo grounds and at
Ebbets field the number has been re-
duced to a minimum. In cities like
Philadelphia, st. Louis and Cincinnati,
where the greatest number Of bleach
er admissions have been retained, the
club owners have found 1t a difficult
task to cut down the allotment. A
ascent admission to a baseball game
is time honored institution, and
with the war tax boosting 1t up to 80
cents there are sure to be violent pro-
tests from the fans who have limited
their investment to rs cents per game
for many years.
The way for the elimination OF the
25-cent charge having been opened, 1t
is not likely that 1t will ever come
back, even after the termination of
the war. Club owners insist that the
high cost of parks and the high cost
OF maintenance, and the increased sal
aries of players make ii impossible to
continue the game any longer with
So II is only a question Of time before
the minimum at the major league
parks VIII be so cents.
BIeacher Seats Popular.
The bleacher seats at baseball |
parks have been growing constantly |
in popularity among fans. Once only
the super-fans, the young men with
the high powered voices, occupied the |
sunny seats in the outheld, but the
bleachers have never been as popular |
in New York as in other cities
1t will be different in the future, |
however, for many men who usually |
go TO the grandstand were forced IS |
occupy bleacher seats at the worlds |
series games, at the Polo grounds last |
fall and they were so pleased wNa |
witnessing the game from the outfield |
angle that il is doubtful liz many OF |
them will want to return to their |
grandstand places again. The fact is |
that many enthusiasts never believed |
that they could get a good view OF /
the game from the outfleld bleachers,
and when they discovered that they
could see just as we'll from the cheap
er seats, they Immediately became |
converted and hereafter will. occupy |
the bleachers. "