Evening star., 1926-06-20


base ball victory OF the Grotto over
Much mghtbc written OF the
Sidc'jghts. and even more about Il
PLAYED. But sometimes the pcCuia
more interest than the routine prog
one desired TO be pcdantic he might
with some humor or wit, according
OF coal duSt or cindcrS Oh art.
Not much connection between that
and BAH game. it may seem, but ere
the Stafford Pcmberton dancers could
perform their uymphhhe S>epS on 1he
grass just before the game ,hcy mad
to dance merrily through the coal dust
and cinders that line the dugouts, and
il simply is Impossible to associate art
and feet on which is the residue nf
anthracite and hituminous. And then
Nick Altrucll provided the ''scream'
of the occasion when he dropped IN
first base line rolled down his stock
inGs and save his version of art and
eSthetiCS as applied TO tcrpsichorean
performances.
An esthetic dance with Coal-dusty
feet Nick AltroCk's : bare legs and art.
No other Masonic field day has ever
provided anything like It.
A Day Of Varied Moments.
But it was a day OF varied moments.
and Nick Altrocli had been brought all
he way from st. Louis that the crowd
might avail itself of his fun-makinS
abilities. And those dancers provided
just the vehicle Altrocll needed to dis
play at best his idiosyncratic ,end-
encies.
Not music alone. not formal march
Ing and intricate convolutions of irill
squads. not even for the ball game,
nor for the fun-making stunts, do
thousands of MasonS gather annual
ly. Eut Tor all these things together
IA combination Of everything.
No military event could nave been
begun with greater fOrmaEty or more
ceremony. Marching on the field
under the lAadingship of Gen. John \.
Lejeune OF the Marine Corps. high
officials of the Government. men who
control the destinies OF Masonry in
the District of Columbia and influence
II throughout the nation. the uni
formed organizations of the Shrine
and Grottu. the Daughters of job, and
the two hall teams came on the field
without indication that the day was
10 he anything other than one devoted
To- the very formal celebration of some
notable event.
Girls Impressive in Drill
Impressive. indeed. were all the
units, and especially so the Daughters
Of job If any organization We're to
be Signaliy honored, those girls in
their white and purple uniforms. as
accurate IN their drills as veteran
soldiers, would be accorded the Sc
lection, But it is not the purpose to
do honor to any one unit, but to tell
the story of the whole.
The Shrine and Grotto bands al
ways are good, and Yesterday at their
best That is, the Shrine band was
before the game began and until
shortly after that, but by the time
the contest was finished the Shrine
musicians had disappeared. Anyway
they would not have enjoyed the tri-
umphant march of the GrottoiteS
around the field in celebration of their
victory. The drill teams did them
selves proud i'm their formal efforts.
Not much has been written of the
bali game itself, and little more is
needed. Some spots there were that
seemed well worthy of praise, but so
early did the GrOtto get a command
ing lead that the game was over al
most before it had begun.
BuSCher started on the slab for the
shrine. but nothing that he had seem
ed TO myslify in the least those
knights of the Enchanted Realm. Yet.
on the other hand, Flynn, who held
down the rubber for the Grotto, seem
cd TO have at his mercy the men in
whom the Shrine had placed its conf
dcnce one Shriner said it was the
name that did the trick, because, he
continued, 1T was not until after the
first three innings that we could get
going, so aStoniShed were we at
finding ourselves opposed by a chap
with that name"
GrOttO Gets Early Lead.
Two consecutive singles, a sacrifice
ny, another single and three base
wallop by ChaCOnaS sent three men
scamperinS over the plate for Grotto
in the opening inning, and seemed to
Whet the appctiteS of Grottoites for
the luscious meal they had contem-
plated for weeks. The Shrine felt
those first three runs might be a kind
of accident. but right in the very next
inning the Yelled Prophets of the En-
chanted Realm brought their war
clubs into even more vicious play, and
if the FIRST inning had indicated u
slaughter the second seemed to make
certain a wholesale massacre. because
when the dust cleared away after that
period four more men had counted
1t was Grotto day and Grotto men
made the most of il. They got a lot
OF goodnatured fun out of the situa-
tion, and the Shriners meekly and
nanfully took all that was coming to
ihcm. The ShrinerS couldn't do any.
thing else, as Roy Octavius Cohen
might not have said
If Webb had started for the Shrine
well, there are u good many ifs
IN this world, and while the Shrine
prints monthly magazine called
The Allbf. it never offers one. Seri-
ously. though, Webb pitched fine ball
during the time he was in the game.
He went in at the end of the second
inning, got out of a hole, and after
that allowed only two runs. In the
third inning he famed two men and
in the sixth struck out three men
consecutively. He was hit safely only
four times. and. all in all, did an eX.
ccllent job.
Flynn Hurls NasterfulIy.
Flynn. while his name may have
proved somewhat diSConcerting to the
Shrine, really was master of his game
throughout Only four hits were made
off his delivery. and three of those
by one man, Bob Burdette, Shrine
third saCller.
But. enough about the ball game.
The $4,000 or 10000 persons who
Wended their way to the ball park did
not go there especially to watch base
hall. Neither We're they present to
see any one phase Of the days activi-
ties. More truly were they there as
an indication of Masonry'S tribute to
a splendid aspiration--service to
others They went TO the ball game,
1t is true. they watched with intense
interest the drill teams and uniformed
patrols, they laughed with real