The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-04-03

America now is on the eve Of the
 most remarkable sporting year Tn lts
 history; a summertime when the whole
 nation will indulge itself in pursuit
 of ourdoor pleasures.
 After living for five seasons under the ominous cloud of world warfare
 after two summers of depression
 sport-loving America plans In 1919 to
 pursue it's favorite pastimes on more
 elaborate scale than ever was dream
 ed of before.
 Youths who laid down their sport paraphernalia with the first call to arms, and gladly took up the fight Tor
 world democracy, are now back home. And they mean this summer to make up for all the time that was lost through 1917 and 1918 from the base | ball diamonds, the tennis courts, the golf links and the waterways. Sporting goods dealers report unpre- cedented sales of every form of sport ing equipment despite the fact that prices of all articles have scared sky high. Many manufacturing establish
 ments cannot keep up with the demand
 for baseball goods, golf and tennis arr ticles and similar sporting commodi- ties.
 Never before has there been such an amazing call for goods early in
 the spring." declares a dealer. An ticipating a big demand for sporting goods of all kinds, we laid in big stock during the winter We ex- pected it would last until June l. But not only-ha we sold out that suppiy but another that came in to a hurry call on March IS. And every new spring day brings crowds of buyers into our stores"
 Every vacant lot and every field in l the big cities--and in the country dis tricts-aiready are ringing with the cries of baseball enthusiasts. The ! boys who in other years were content to wait until mid-April before sound ing the first play ball" trotted out
 the bat. the ball and the glove with the first few pleasant days in March, and they have been baseballing ever since. And it isn't only the young
 sters who are playing the game. The older boys in their leisure hours after work have been out limbering up and before the first of May, baseball will
 be played as extensively throughout
 the country as it was played in any other year by midsummer.
 The golfers, too impatient to wait for the formal opening of many of the links. have been out on the courses for weeks. Just as soon as the snow cleared OFT the ground ana l1e courses became something other than swamps. they became peopled with lovers of the Scottish game. The very fact that the links in most of the northern sections have not been pre- l pared for summer duty. has not balk ed ] the golfers at all So intense has been 1 their desire "get busy that they have | played over courses that would be | termed impossible by them at any | other time.
 | Sensing the fact that this is to be perhaps the greatest golf year that the 1 United States ever experienced, the 1 city administrations which control the public links, and the club officials, who dominate the private ones have l decided upon opening dates weeks ear- 1 Her than were originally scheduled. Golf will be played as generally 1 throughout the United States by the latter part of April as it was by June l 1st in any other year.
 l Tennis is a game that usually comes | into its own toward the latter part of May or June. Rarely does it reach | the full height of it's popularity be- fore mid-July. But tennis lovers be- 1 gan frequenting the courts during the l middle of March and in many of the
 cities the game is in full swing at
 the present time. The courts in many