Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 243, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 October 1918 — INTERESTING FRENCH SOLDIERS IN THE POPULAR AMERICAN GAME OF BASEBALL [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

INTERESTING FRENCH SOLDIERS IN THE POPULAR AMERICAN GAME OF BASEBALL

The birth of baseball on one section of the French line where the game had. never been seen before, Is described in an interesting report by a Y. M. C. A. secretary 'in charge of a foyer du soldaL ■ “The paraphernalia at my command,” he writes in telling of how the great American game became popular, “consisted of a backstop, an Indoor baseball dnd two bats. The bases were im-provised-by-sawing a plank Into four squares. - As I walked out of the foyer one evening with that equipment under my arm, the lounging groups of. French soldiers cast sidelong glances of curiosity and scorn. It was evident they were not optimistic in regard to the success of the innovation. “After I had established the home base, there were only two Pollus audacious enough to show that they entertained somfe degree of listless interest in what was going on. I began batting the ball at the backstop, knocking out a few base hits into the wire netting. Then suddenly wheeling about, I threw the ball at one of the spectators. He dodged it, but another Pollu went after It and threw it back at me.

Becoming Interested. “I swung at the ball, but it passed me, and the Poilus laughed to see me carried around by the momentum of the swing bat. Others had been attracted by that time, and it was evident that interest was beginning to grow. "The man who had thrown the ball back volunteered to pitch, and after a while lie was able to land the ball near enough to the bat to enable me to give it a wallop that sent it way out into the field. “There were some who by this time had become sufficiently interested to accept an Invitation to do outfielder work, and after 15 minutes of batting I yielded the bat to another. "Some of the Poilus got onto the knack of batting very quickly and this, of course, engendered an ambition to surpass one another in sending the ball to a great distance. “I had taken, position in the field and chased the ball with a far greater liveliness than would have sufficed under ordinary circumstances and always took care to pull off some sensational or amusing acrobatic stunt to win as many laughs as possible. Recruits came ‘flocking to us by this time and in a short while there were enough Poilus jin the game to constitute two teams. ISo, taking the ball on the next fly, I walked Into the home base and called ,the other players about me. “Then I proceeded to give explanations for a corner-lot championship congest, with drawings on the ground, and (everybody lending an open ear and eye, Ibut nearly all of them scouting the possibility of making a ‘go’ of it. Then we began to choose sides and place the players. Forgot to Rim, "The first batter to hit the ball forigot to run. The fielder who should have fielded the ball, yielded to his impulses st football and kicked the ball as far as he could, end the first baseman started to run around all the bases to home plate. A country circus clown could not have wanted a better combination to amuse an American audience. But after five minutes of explanations I had succeeded in pushing the batter to first base; in convincing the first baseman that It wasn’t his turn to run, and in filling the fielder with chagrin that he had lost a good chance to hurl the ball against the moving physiognomy of the batter.

“After this, some of the players began to grasp the principle of the play. Having one or two allies was a great help. They were able to cuss out their comrades much better thah I, for their mistakes and it enabled me to save my voice for the important crises in the I play, when a third baseman might istart to run home, or the second base;man, having found a friend, renounced mil interest at a critical moment with 'two on base and a line drive toward (second, to engage in a conversation that lasted for at least three minutes. Interest Kept Up. • "By this time, an audience of at least a hundred had gathered around and the blatant Indifference of this second baseman compelled him to retire from the game before the hoots and Jeers of the crowd and particularly of his teammates. At the end of an hour and a Half the game was well en route and [the crowd kept up the interest for an-

other hour —in fact, they played until it began to get dark. “They agreed, at the end, that it was ‘interesting,’ once one knew the gamd, and they volunteered to come around the next evening. They held good to their promise, too. The next night they started in in earnest, needing but little direction, and playing with the keenest interest. After two or three nights they developed into'lovers of the game, and as long as those troops were in town we were sure of .having a ball game every clear evening from 6 to 8.”

American Soldiers With an Autombbile Load of Y. M. C. A. Sportinfl Goods for Men on Duty at the Front.