ONE REASON WHY FRENCH CHILDREN ADORED THE BOYS IN KHAKI 



This was one of a series of "tank sports," which had no reference to the British tanks, 

 though they were about as rough. 



to have admired and wondered at the 

 American dough-boy, whacking out 

 three-baggers amid the booming of Big 

 Berthas, issuing occasional rain-checks 

 in mid-inning when the downpour of 

 bursting shell became too distracting. 

 In one cramped trench, so the story 

 goes, was a quartet of Yanks who ex- 

 hibited the same spirit in playing "five 

 hundred;" in others it was poker or 

 "rummy." A whizzing shell all but 

 ripped off the thatched roof. Drawled 

 a lank, prairie-bred Yank: "Gosh, if 

 Fritz does that again, I'll trump my 

 partner's ace." 



Not that taking one's games to war 

 is an American invention ; the Yanks 

 merely did it on a larger scale. Drake 

 insisted on finishing a game of bowls 

 before going out to encounter the Span- 

 ish Armada. Englishmen played cricket 

 at Ladysmith while the enemy shells 

 burst above them. When the sea was 

 calm, Captain Cook, on his long voyages, 

 made his men dance the hornpipe to 

 keep in trim. 



Qualities of initiative and courage and 

 endurance implanted upon American 

 gridiron and diamond shone with glori- 

 ous luster at Cantigny, at Chateau- 

 Thierry, and in the Argonne. That is 

 why one of the most valuable by- 

 products of this crucible of suffering 

 will be a realization in this country that 

 the sinews which won the war are just 

 as needful for the rigorous, bloodless 

 battles of peace. 



AMERICA'S CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE 

 WORLD'S PLAY 



Back home, before the war, America 

 had contributed two new things to sport : 

 baseball and the city playground. 



It has been noted that sports of a 

 nation afford an almost invariable ba- 

 rometer of its progress in civilization. 

 Baseball is one of the most complicated 

 and highly organized pastimes known to 

 any people. It is a veritable instrument 

 of the most delicate precision in the 

 world of sport. A South Sea islander 

 no more could play it than he could 



