THIS IS HOW BASEBALL
STRIKES A BRITISHER
Sometimes the picturesque slang of
‘the sporting page is puszsling even to
the man who knows American sport.
But far more mystifying must be
the game itself to the uninitiated.
This is how an Englishman—Ar
thur Machken, in the London Daily
Mail-—describes baseball:
... There was a brief mental struggle
at the beginning.
I went up to the Arsenal ground at
Highbury on Saturday afternoon mur
;muring to myself: ‘‘Baseball is just
rounders, and that's all there is to it.
Jtis ,mct,ly' simple.”
i X to be firm and take the
match between the U. §. A Army and
Navy in this spirit, but when I found
“%t through a friendly American that
‘the third innings between the U. S.
‘A. Army and Navy in this innings was
well begun, I gave up all notions of
understanding baseball and settled
down to enjoy the game—and enjoyed
it very much.
; Describes Diamond
Thus comfortably settled, it may be
- stated that the fleld is marked out in
@ large square. At each angle there is
a big, rough stone. There is a fifth
Stone about the middle of the square.
- To this stage entered the two
teams. These were dressed in cos
‘tumes that suggested a. bit of polo
player, a hint of jockey and dash of
running men. They scattered about
“and began to fling balls at each other
‘and’ to catch these balls. Some of
them swung bats in their hands.
These baseball bats are not at all un
&Q the eighteenth century cricket
“bat. The ball is about three ounces
_heavier than a cricket ball.
; n & gray-bearded naval officer
~#toad by the middle stone and danced
aadly in the air—it looked like that.
But is was Admiral Sims, of the U. 8.
" A. Navy, throwing the ball to General
Biddle, of the U. S.-A. Army. The
General did not succeed in locating
“the ball in his palms. And then the
.. Bo far as 1 gathered, there are
amflncipals in the wonderful
_base drama. They are called the
&lymt, the striker and the catcher.
o cofrespond, roughly, sometimes
vo? roughly, to the bowler, batsman
‘pand wicketkeeper of cricket. The
_pitcher stands at the stome in the
.fiddle of the square. The striker
_Btands at one of the angles holding
_his bat. Behind him stands the catch
. er, who wears padded armor and an
- elaborate face mask, with helmet at-
Lt A Wonderful Game
. Now, I say, the game begins.
Frenzy seizes the pitcher and claims
“him for her own. He writhes. He
“twists. - His limbs are terribly con
torted. His head appears to be
. wrenched round about. He leaps in
%" air as if he had taken poison.
enly the ball leaves his writhing
_hands, and you know he means mur
[der. The ball {8 thrown, not bowled;
- and it looks as if it were thrown with
. savage violence.
The striker hits that ball, and be
&to run for the next stone. He
throws his bat away as he runs. Bv
erybody seems to be rumning. One
“man is dancing between two stones,
or bases, feinting now toward onme,
now toward another, in a mad jig.
This is to puzzle the fellow who has
got the ball and is to throw it at one
Dbase or another and 8o put the dancer
fllfi . Occasionally a man running for
& base, and one of the field with the
Pall, will meet just over the stone and
erash to the ground together. This
:;‘gv’p‘ a pleasant little dash of Rugby
otball’to the game. :
. That is baseball. And all the while
the Uniied States Army and the Uni-’
ted States Navy on the stand kept up
@& stream of comment that far sur
_ passed anything that the most ambi
tious Greek chorus ever dreamed of.
] yelled, they hooted, they uttered
. gtrange cries, they contested every
_decision of the umpire, they yowled
wild encouragements.
+ * “Very poor play,” said my friendly
‘American.- “The runs are coming
maueh too fast.” -
*~ Too fast! The board showed four
runs at the end of an hour and a half.
- -Baseball is a wonderful game. ;
.. Gas-proof food containers are now
“ peing furnished by the Quartermas
“fer’s Department to the American
‘ goldiers in the zone of operations in
France. These containers prevent the
“seepage of gas into the contsiners and
. guard .g.fl contamination of the
“sood. The men carry their emergency
“gations in the containers, which are
herm ; sealed with parrafin.
. ""he containers now in use are made
“of- but the Quartermaster’s De
- partment is experimenting with a wax
" pape gwhlch is expected to meet
“all requirements. .
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T T Too e S b i eol eot e R T e R T ST
Five Brothers In One Company
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Here is a record which the Editor of “Trench and Camp”
believes will stand : o ,
Five brothers in the service and all in the same company.
The photograph and information were furnished, by R.
Ww. Dfl!ffl, Editor of the Camp Shelby Edition of “Trench and ®
Camp. ~
The soldiers are: :
George Shaffer, 29 years old. ¥
Guy Shaffer, 28 years old. . :
Clint Shaffer, 26 years old. :
Walter Shaffer, 23 years old.
Newton Shaffer, 20 years old.
They are the sons of William Monroe Shaffer and Mrs.
Ollie Shaffer, of Kingwood, Preston County, West Virginia.
They come of Scotch-Irish fighting stock.
All five brothers enlisted on March 30, 1917.
* They are members of Company C. Motor Section, 113th
Ammunition Train, and are on duty at Camp Shelby. i
Is there any camp in the country that can beat this
record? { %
I KNOW IN JOY THERE IS A FULL HIGH TIDE; .
FOR SUCH A TUGGING AT HEART STRINGS,
j AND RUSH OF ECSTASY IT BRINGS, :
WHEN SAFE IN HARBOR RESTS, AT LAST, ,
A LITTLE BARK WITH ANCHOR CAST; "
AH, THIS IS SURELY RAPTURE UNSURPASSED! 3
I KNOW SO WELL, THERE'S NOTHING ELSE ON EARTH
-CAN MATCH THIS JOY OF MINE, IT SINGS,
AND NOTES OF LYRIC SWEETNESS FLINGS
IN CLEAR, HIGH STRAINS; ALL, ALL, FOR ME; :
I NEVER DREAMED THAT THERE COULD BE ;
SUCH JOY, MY SON, AS THY NATIVITY.
: “SOMEWHERE IN FRANCE,” HIS LETTER READS, TO-DAY;
AND S(_JDDENLY, THAT SAME SWEET STRAIN
RUNS RIOT IN MY HEART AGAIN;
NOT QUITE THE OLD HIGH TIDE FOR ME, ,
FOR I HAVE GROWN, AS WELL AS HBE, :
, SINCE THOSE DEAR DAYS 1 HELD HIM ON MY KNEE.
‘ MY JOY TO-DAY 1S IN HIS BRAVE DEEDS DONE;
MY ECSTASY IS THAT HE STANDS
FOR FREEDOM HERE, AND IN ALL LANDS;
| FOR HOMES, AND MOTHERHOOD TO BE.
FOR ALL THAT MAKES OUR COUNTRY FREE, .
, AND THIS, MY SON, O'ERFLOWS HIGH TIDE FOR ME.
i ANNE DE B. SCOTLAND,
o EVERGREEN, COLORADO.
et st
American Soldiers Carry More
Cartridges Than The Germans
The War Department authorizes
the following statement from the
Acting Chief of Ordnance:
The American infantryman in
France carries 100 more rounds of
rifie ammunition on his person than
does the German soldier.
The American carries 220 rounds
and carries it with ease in the 10
pockets of HMis light canvas web belt
and his two bandoleers. The German
soldier has only 120 rounds and 30 of
the 120 are awkwardly carried in his
knapsack, a weak feature, since he
must lose valuable time in securing it
at a critical moment.
American web belts are immeas
urably.superior to the German leather
bandoleers. They are not affected
by prolonged rains, nor torrid
weather. They are serviceable and
efficient in any temperature. :
The manufacture of web ammuni
tion belts is one of the most intricate
operations in the textile fleld. United -
States Army belts are made almost
entirely of cotton which is waterproof
and will stand almost any amount of
moisture and will not shrink or
stretch.
The British equipment is of web.
Few realize that this is one reason
why, with inferior numbers, they
have, time and again, beaten off the
enemy. This was demonstrated in
the early days of the war, particularly
in the retreat from Mons. The large
number of cartridges carried by the .
British’ soldier, coupled with the
cheap cotton supplementary bando
leer system of renewing his supply of
ammunition, has served to counter
balance the enormous superiority of
German troops in point of numbers on
many occasions.
The exact weight of the 220 rounds
carried by the American lol%n &n
France is 12 pounds. Wi @
Springfield rifie 23 aimed shots m
be fired per minute. Firing from
hip (magasine fire without aim), 40
shots can be fired per minute, The
new. United States model 1917 (mod
ifled Enfleld) does even better.
| PFiring point blank into German
waves, as our troops have done near
Amiens, pumping 12 shots a minute,
which any average shot can do when
aiming at a large mark, an lnf-mz{-
man’s ammunition is exhausted in 18
minutes. Assuming that the rapidity
of fire of the German rifie is equal to
that of the American rifie, which 1t is
not, the American infantryman, be
| cause of his web equipment, is better
by eight minutes and by 100 rounds
than the German infantryman.
90 PER CENT INSURED
. 'The following cablegram from
- General l’mhfnc to Secretary
ll\‘(cAdoo was recently made pabe
c:
“All ranks of the American
Expeditionary Forces appreciate
deeply the gencrous meature the
. Government has taken to provide
_insurance for their familles, in .
proof of which more than 90 per
cent of men have taken out im~ |
surance. To wisely provide for |
their loved cnes heartens our :
men and strengthens the bonds °
that unite the Army and Jeop!o 7
in our strong determination to
triumph in our most righteous
cause.
“PERSHING®
In reply Secrwéeey NMeAdoe
sent g‘l_ne following cablegram:
“I Yejoice with you and our
heroic men on this just and hu
mane provision the generous
Ameorican pcople have made for
them and I am proud to have the .
Treasury Departmment administer
this great law. Please congrate
ulate the men of younr gallant
foree for me on the wisdom they
have shown in taking the ben
efits of the insurance law, and
eomatuhttbee ;loflou
for me on work
are doing on the delocnted%
of noble France for suffering hu
manity and world freedom. Ev
ery American heart is thrilled by
the valor and achievements of
our splendid sons.”
IMPROVEMENTS COST $22,000,000
Additions and improvements to the
camps and cantonments throughout
the United States during the six
months ending June 1 cost the Gov
ernment $22,000,000, according to
War Department announcement. The
work consisted of additional buildings
for housing the men and providing
for their comfort and needs. Among
the buildings erected were quarters
for officers and nurses, repair "
additional barracks, ecoffee
plants, ' kitchens and bakeries,
atres, new roads, general n
and fire prevention measures. o 4
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