Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-11-23

bers that one day when he
was q very small boy he
~A - was idling down a country
road kicking up the dust
with his bare toes. Suddenly his languid
progress was arrested by the sight of two
cows. The cows were gazing over fence
at strange figure. Little Angus joined
them
lie saw a man standing in a pasture.
The man held an appraised stick and he
regarded with fierce intensity small
white object on the ground.
Kill it, Misterl" shouted little Angus.
Instead Of approaching this encourage
ment the man turned and in a tone Of
suppressed fury cried:
Never do that againl Neverl You
must make no noise when a golfer is
addressing the ball. The worst thing
y you could do. The rudest."
Grown to mans estate with comfort
abe riches, Mr.. j. Angus MacDivot often
laughs at the incident over his cold glass
OF Scotch-and in the locker room. It had
been his privilege to observe one of Amer
1caS first golfers. Now that he is one of
our three million golf bugs he can look
oack upon this pioneer of the COW pasture
with proper appreciation of his sig
nifcance.
N 1890 the game of golf was practi-
Cany unknown In the United States,
Those daring travellers who had been in
England brought back tales of silly for
eigners who seemed to derive a deep
delight from hitting q ball with stick
and following it up to smite it again.
Inc announcement was accepted as final
PROOF That the mother country had gone
eHemlnate and the first players who
dared public opinion in this country were
greeted with appropriate ridicule.
TODAY golf is played-or played at
by so many thousands that it has
created major industry in this country.
More people play golf than any other
game. Golf is a bigger business than
tnat OF mems clothing. It runs close to
the value Of bread and other bakery
products
Angus MacDivot and his multiples have
clubs and some $500 courses. These Iect
include 228 municipal and public links
ana private courses where any one can
pay Ior the payment of fee. OF the
o'Oou,UOO players, about 1,75O 900 belong
70 ciuos. The remaining 100000 are
tne less fortunate fanatics who have to
stand IN line at municipal links or pIav
VilCJ get cn2nce at courses con.
trolied by private capital
America has invested about 81 3Oo ooo
600 in golf courses. Other figures on the
gon balance sheet are so long that thew
look IKE transcontinental Freight trains
Boon AFTER the war group O, statistic
clans VINO also were golf bugs thought IL
would be interesting to make a Complete
survey OF the Nations golf resources
fney burrowed into the statistics only to
emerge some months later with fright
ened. looks on their pale faces.
Well" said their waiting associates
tryc'' e -'u""-
we didn't finish our work." said one d
We got FAR enough to discover that the /
was incredible. It scared us so we decid
go no further and to make no report I,
pubic. The Bolshevil1i are on the ram
you know. If we told how much money
INTO golf In this country it would be an eff.
argument against the American ecor
system"
There is almost as big q laugh in that
as there Is in the thought of the nat
devotee OF the '90s playing in the cow pa,
GoiI mas become so universal in the q
states that 1t Is no longer the rich mans o
penniless radicals struggling with its nitric
as ardently as burly bankers.
You may be frightened by golf statistics
II you are the sort of person who can be
gered by figures prepare to be staggered:
An expert estimates that 5000 a year
average expenditure for a member of a
That includes dues, meals. lockers, green
clothes, supplies, an occasional bottle OF
from the clubs bootlegger, etc. At this
the clubs OF the country are responsible
the expenditure of $1,050. 900 900 every
That does not take into consideration the
lion and a quarter persons who Dig their d
on public and commercial courses Estim,
their expenditures at the mild figure of
o year, we have another annual outpourin
So, 500 900.