BASE-BALL. 



77 



West Indies, Norway, Brittany, and Italy re- 

 turned 83 stations, 432 sub-stations, 130 mis- 

 sionaries, 292 native evangelists, and 3 female 

 teachers connected with the West African mis- 

 sion. Mr. H. M. Stanley was present at the 

 anniversary of the society, and spoke of the 

 good results that were following its work in 

 the Congo country. 



The Baptist Zenana Mission returned receipts 

 amounting to 6,209, and the expenditure of 

 5,543 in behalf of its work in India. It had 

 agents at 15 important towns in that country, 

 consisting of 38 lady zenana visitors, 15 assist- 

 ants, and 83 native Bible-women and school- 

 teachers, by whom 960 homes were regularly 

 visited and 1,270 pupils looked after. The 

 society supported 2 boarding-schools with 80 

 girl pupils, and 30 day-schools with 950 chil- 

 dren, and returned 7,000 dispensary patients. 



The autumnal meeting of the Baptist Union 

 was held in Swansea, Wales, beginning Octo- 

 ber 6th. The Rev. Dr. Green presided. A 

 paper was read on the progress of religion in 

 Wales, which was claimed to be due chiefly to 

 the work of Nonconformists. A resolution 

 was passed, calling upon all members of Bap- 

 tist churches possessing the franchise to vote 

 in the coming general election, " to be loyal to 

 their conscience and the Saviour at the polling- 

 booth, and so to recognize the responsibility of 

 Christian citizens." 



BASE-BALL. The now national field-game 

 of the United States known as base-ball was 

 evolved from the old English school-boy game 

 of ;> rounders," which is almost obsolete. Be- 

 yond the fact that the form of the field on 

 which both games are played is similar, there 

 is scarcely any resemblance between them, 

 the original sport being a mere boyish pas- 

 time, while the American game of base-ball is 

 a sport requiring the trained skill of manly 

 athletes to excel in it. The development of 

 base-ball in the United States has quite an in- 

 teresting history. It first appeared in the At- 

 lantic coast cities in the form of an improved 

 phase of rounders known as "town-ball," and 

 about the oldest town-ball club in the country 

 was the Olympic, of Philadelphia, which was 

 first organized in 1833. The game was also 

 known in New England towns about that pe- 

 riod, but not to the extent of its being played 

 by any special clubs. Afterward, however, it 

 was modified somewhat and became a recog- 

 nized Eastern States field sport under the dis- 

 tinctive title of " The Massachusetts Game " ; 

 the difference between town-ball of the Phila- 

 delphians and the " Yankee game " lying chief- 

 ly in the delivery of the ball to the bat and in 

 the size and weight of the ball used. The pitch- 

 er in " town-ball " was only allowed to toss or 

 pitch the ball to the bat, while in the " Mas- 

 sachusetts game " throwing the ball to the bat 

 was the custom; the ball in " town-ball" was 

 ten inches in circumference and weighed six 

 ounces, while in the "Massachusetts game" 

 the ball was not more than half that size or 



weight, besides which smaller bats were used 

 in the latter game. Ten or twelve years after 

 the organization of the Olympic Club in Phila- 

 delphia, a still further advance in the devel- 

 opment of base-ball began to be made, two 

 or three base-ball clubs springing into exist- 

 ence in New York in 1845, prominent among 

 which was the Knickerbocker Club, the Nes- 

 tor of the national game in the metropolis. 

 The organization of the Knickerbocker Club in 

 itself presents a brief but interesting chapter. 

 As early as 1842 a number of the votaries of 

 the 'then existing game of base-ball used to 

 meet for practice on the vacant lots at Twenty- 

 seventh street and Fourth avenue, and here it 

 was that the old club may be said to have been 

 born. A year afterward the advance of the 

 city's boundaries obliged the ball-players to 

 change their field to the vacant grounds on 

 Murray Hill. When this latter locality became 

 untenable from the advance of residences up- 

 town, the players emigrated to Hoboken, and 

 prospecting for a permanent place for settlement 

 they selected the southern end of the Elysian 

 Fields, and in 1845, after playing on their new 

 grounds during the summer, the Knickerbocker 

 Base-Ball Club became a permanent organiza- 

 tion, the date of the adoption of its club-play- 

 ing rules being September 23 of that year. 



The Original Rales. By way of showing the 

 contrast between the old rules of the game in 

 vogue thirty years ago, and those of the mod- 

 ernized and perfected game, we give below the 

 first code of rules adopted by the Knicker- 

 bocker Club in 1845 : 



SECTION 1. The bases shall be from " home " to sec- 

 ond base, forty-two peaces ; from first to third base, 

 forty-two paces equidistant. 



SEC. 2. The game to consist of twenty-one counts 

 or aces, but at the conclusion an equal number of 

 hands must be played. 



SEC. 3. The ball must be pitched and not thrown to 

 the bat. 



SEC. 4. A "ball knocked outside the range of the first 

 or third base is foul. 



SEC. 5. Three balls being struck at and missed, and 

 the last one caught, is a hand out ; if not caught, is 

 considered fair, and the striker bound to run. 



SEC. 6. A ball being struck or tipped, and caught 

 either flying or on the first bound, is a hand out. 



SEC. 7. A player, running the bases, shall be out if 

 the ball is in the hands of an adversary or on the base, 

 or the runner is touched by it before he makes his 

 base ; it being understood, however, that in no in- 

 stance is a ball to be thrown at him. 



SEC. 8. A player, running, who shall prevent an ad- 

 versary from catching or getting the ball before mak- 

 ing his base, is a hand out. 



SEC. 9. If two hands are already out, a player run- 

 ning home at the time a ball is struck, can not make 

 an ace if the striker is caught out. 



SEC. 10. Three hands out, all out. 



SEC. 11. Players must take their strike in regular 

 turn. 



SEC. 12. No ace or base can be made on a foul strike. 



SEC. 13. A runner can not be put out in making 

 one base, when a balk is made by the pitcher. 



SEC. 14. But one base allowed when the ball bounds 

 out of the field when struck. 



Prior to the adoption of this simple code of 

 rules a base-runner could only be put out if he 



