Democratic Sentinel, Volume 13, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 April 1889 — BALL-BATTERS RETURN. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

BALL-BATTERS RETURN.

THE CHICAGO AND ALL AMERICA TEAMS AGAIN AT HOME. A Pleasant Trip of Over 30,000 Miles at a Large Expense—lnteresting Account of the Journey—Matters of Interest to All [ Oklahoma Boomers.

TH E members of the Chicago and All-Amer- ! ican trail teams have ; returned home after an (absence of six months. Evlerybody except Williamson is ’in' good health and spirits. The tour and voyage home were very pleasant. In an interview Mr. Spalding said that he could not state how he had made out financially, but he thought he would come

out all right after the games in this country. ' The expenses of the trip amounted to about

$50,000, but no money had been made outside of Australia and England, and veryfew people in those coun- ■ tries knew anything ; about the game, Continuing, Mr. Spalding said: “I have traveled over the entire world, and I have supped with royalty in Australia; I ’have partaken of the hospitality of bushwhackers ; I have re--ceived the kindest of‘ welcomes from the hands of the sheepranchers of that country ; I have eaten cur-

rie in India; I have drank the native wines of the Egyptians, and have tasted their saffron-flavored dishes ; I have gazed on the ruined palaces of the ancient Romans; I have looked into the siren-like eyes of Parisian beauties ; I have grasped the hands of men who are in line for kingly thrones ; I have been entertained by the nabobs of merry England; I have seen the bonnie lasses of ‘me ain’ Scotland, and I have wept at the scenes of poverty in Ireland, and have rejoiced when I saw how nobly ; and heroically her loyal sons have sustained and are sustaining the burdens imposed upon them by unjust laws. Be that as it may, I never fully appreciated anything nor experienced such keen delight in all my travels as that which swelled through my breast when I stepped ashore. I am I proud to be called an American, and you would, ’ too, if you had passed six months in such sightseeing as I have. When you go over the same ' ground you will return to your native land with your heart overflowing ■with gratitude. “I’m gladlt’s over. I have wanted to get back to the land whore I can eat pie. The trip was a

success in every way. I did not make much money, but I have the Eroud consciousness of aving established our game throughout the world, and feel certain that many countries will adopt base-ball as a gome. The English people, both in Australia and Europe, are pleased “ with base-ball, and the way in which we were received by them was royal and pleasing. They are far ahead of

.ANSON, captain chicagob. America on the question of grounds, and in no instance did we strike an English-speaking place where a large, beautifully kept cricket field was not o'ffared. The Government presents the cricketers With these . grounds and allows a certain appropriation to keep the grounds in order. “In Rome we got a permit to play a game in the Coliseum, but we were warned that the old building was falling to pieces and we concluded not to play there. Had we done so it would have been the first sport which would have taken place there in 50U years. We did play in the Villa Borghese at Rome. It is a most beautiful spot—like an elongated basin, with terraces .and stone steps running up on the sides of the hill. “In all forty-four games were played, of which the All Americans won twenty-four, tied and lost seventeen. The All Americans ex--celled nt the bat and in base running, but were outplayed in the field.” Captain Anson said: “If you think they’ll •ever get me out of this country again you are greatly mistaken. I’m going to present a bill to the Senate in Washington to send abroad every American citizen who kicks about our country, just to give the kickers a taste of the life they would have to lead under those foreign moguls. I think if such a scheme as that could be perfected that there would be no more Anglomaniacs in our fair land. There isn’t a blade of grass, a potato, an item of fish, flesh, or fowl in America that isn’t better than the best of what I,found on the continent. And what surprises me the most is that Eurppe is not depopulated by its inhabitants flocking to these shores. Scenery! The grandest, the best advertised spot on the other sidetisn’t a patch on the most insignificant spot in this country. Hereafter it will be dangerous for an Anglomaniac to belittle this country in the presence of any member ■of this party.” During the trip not one of the party had suffered from a day’s sickness, and they had traveled nearly 32,000 miles. One familiar face was missing from the party of returning tourists, and the first question

asked by everybody was, “How is Ed Williamjson?" The -answer in each case was that the ’big short stop would i soon be all right; in fact, it was stated that he ! has already started. It -appears|that when Will- , iamson injured himself, i some sand and gravelS .-remained under then , skin after the doctor! had put five stitches in the torn portion. The ■ result was that inflam|mation set in, the wound ■had to be opened again . ■and was found to be

: worse than at first. After it had been fixed up , again the doctor said Williamson would have to remain at the hotel several weeks, but no one t doubts that he will be able to play by the opening of the season.

THE TRIP ABROAD. A Graphic and Interesting Account of the Great Journey.

As originally planned, the trip was intended to take in only Australia and New Zealand, and arrangements were made to spend most of the winter in the antipodes. On the arrival of the party in -Australia, however, a cordial invitation was i- received from the Marys’lebone cricket club to i extend the tour westJ'ward and to return by ' way of Europe instead of coming home across the Pacific again. This invitation decided Mr. Spalding to adopt the . western route. On the arrival of the party in

England its reception by the Marylebone club was such as to more than justify the decision. For some years past it has been the fashion for base-ball clubs to take a winter tour. Some have gone to the Southern States, and some to Cuba, where the game has taken a firm hold of the affections of the sport-loving people of the island. California, too, has been a favorite winter resort for ball-players. It was therefore only an extension of an idea that had been previously put in execution to plan a trip to Australia. The two teams of ten men each, which constituted the playing strength of'the party, assembled at Chicago Oct. 20, 1888, almost immediately upon the conclusion of the professional season. By Nov. 3, after playing several games on the way, they . arrived in San Francisco. There they remained until the 18th, when they took passage by the steamer Alameda for Auckland and Sydney. On their way across the Pacific the party stopped one day at Honolulu and were received with wonder and admiration by the Hawaiians. ■The next stop was at Tutuila, now famous in

connection with the Samoan difficulty. The steamer merely touched here and went on to Auckland, where there was a stop of twelve hours, and the teams went ashore and limbered up their sea-stiffened joints by playing a game of ball. Finally, on Dec. 14, Sydney was reached. Accounts had been cabled to thia country of the interest with which the Australians were awaiting the advent of the party, and of the reception prepared for them; but the party themselves were surprised and almost overwhelmed by the attentions that were showered upon them. First there was a grand public reception, at which the provincial and city officials did the honors. Then, within the next eight days, there were sixteen more dinners, lunches and receptions. Indeed, an Australian correspondent, who has been familiar with Sydney for years, writes that never was so much fuss made over the arrival of a new Governor General as greeted the Spalding party. The time of the visitors was not, however, entirely taken up with receptions and dinners. They bad come to play base-ball, and play they did almost every day. By the time the Spalding party finally left Melbourne, after playing in Sydney. Adelaide, and Ballarat, there were eighteen clubs already orriuized in the three provinces of Victoria, New South Wales, and South Australia, and Mr. Simpson, who has accompanied the party thus far, was left in Australia as a sort of instructor and organizer general for the Australian leagues. It mav be mentioned here, too, that a New Zealand league was formed also, with clubs at Auckland, Wellington, Brisbane, and other places. The single games the teams were able to play at Auckland stimulated a base-ball fever that had already been caught, and the New Zealand league seems likely to prove a success. The stay in Australia was shortened by the determination to return home by way of India, Suez and Europe. It was the intention at first to go from Colombo to Calcutta and play a few games there and at Bombay; but on reaching Ceylon the advices from Calcutta were not encouraging, and after playing one game on the ancient island, very much to the astonishment of the natives, who could not understand why men should exert themselves in such a violent manner who were not compelled to do so, the players continued to, Aden and Suez. Cairo was the next objective point, and on Feb. 9, the day after Suez was reached, the party were under the shadow of the pyramid of Ghizeh, and in full view of the Sphinx. Here a game was played, and although the shifting sands of the desert made fielding rather difficult, the players felt that forty centuries were looking down upon them, and exerted themselves to the utmost. Such a sight was never seen before, and may never be again; the most ancient monuments of almost prehistoric man and the most modern diversion of the newest man, and the most progressive on the face of the earth, here were face to face. The game at the pyramids was the only one played in Egypt. No stop was made at Alexandria, and the quickest tiihe possible was made to Brindisi. Rome used to be a great place for physical contests, but the Italians of the present day are not sportsmen. Almost the only spectators of the game at Rome were the Americans resident there, more especially the Irish-American youths attending the College of the Propaganda. To be sure, King Humbert and the Queen are reported to have passed by the Villa Borghese while the game was going on, and even to- have stopped for a moment or two, but there were very few Italian spectators. At Florence a fine game was played, but the attendance, as at Rome, was almost entirely of American residents and travelers, together with a few Englishmen. At Nice the experience was repeated. At Paris there was a largaconcourse of people, but the French did not at all understand the game, and are not likely to take to it. After a short stay in Paris the party crossed the channel in one of the worst storms known there for years, and reached London on the 9th of March. The experience of the party as guests of the Marylebone Cricket Club was very like their experience in Australia. The first game on Kensington oval was honored by the presence of the Prince of Wales, the Dukes of Buccleuch and Beaufort, the Earls of Londesborough, Coventry, Sheffield, and Bessborough, Lord Randolph Churchill, and no end of smaller lordlings, besides that great civic dignitary, the Lord Mayor of London, and about 8,000 people without any title at all. The next game in London was played on the famous Lord’s ground, long sacred to cricket. Others were played at the Crystal Palace and at Leyton’s, in the famous “East End," where there was an immense crowd of spectators. It is possible that base-ball may now be added to the list of the diversions of the “people's palace.” The journey from London through the “provinces” was made in grand style in a special train of seven cars, which included two sleeping and two dining cars of the American pattern. Nobody but the Queen has ever before traveled in such fashion in Great Britain. Games were played in Bristol, Sheffield, Manchester and Liverpool, which were all well attended, and which elicited some enthusiasm among the onlookers. In fact, the English trip was as pleasant as possible, and the great American game was favorably received everywhere.

WARD, CAPTAIN ALL AMERICANS.

A. G. SPALDING.

E. N. WILLIAMSON.