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Show The Latest Insanity. If Sterne had written "Tristram Shandy" in this day he would have added a more modern hobby to those which are so prominently set forth in that noted work. A fearful insanity is upon us. It is a question whether the present mania does not go so far beyond the term hobby that the epithet epi-thet is entirely inapplicable to it. Base ball fills the air; we hear it at our meals; in all our buaiuees houses; ; the lover talks it to his sweetheart, and she in grateful response, raves frantically over Bome "love" of a pitcher, catcher or first baseman; it is the staple of daily conversation, and the youth murmurs in his dreams, "throw it to first base, lively, you d d bulterfingers I" It has become a disease, and is as contagious as cholera or email poi. Nor do any appear to be free from its influences. When a match of any moment is to be played on Washington Washing-ton equara, lawyers, merhants, bankers, bank-ers, . clerks, mechanics, laborers and boys and young girls and old women may be seen wending their way to the place indicated, with the same feeling that animates them when going to hear an opera or witness a fine performance at the theatre. Here they will Bit for two or three hours on ud planed and uneushioned benches, and laugh, yell and applaud and drown their sorrows in base ball and good looking players. It is difficult diffi-cult to account for this mania, and it is not an object of censure as it is harmless only so far as it is carried to extremes and takes the mind away from more beneficial objects. It is sven claimed that Salt Lake is the paragon of indifference as regards base ball when compared to other cities; but from the growing tendency it is a tolerably safe presumption that erelong our city will be fully as large an insane asylum on this topic as any other, the number of inhabitants being taken into consideration. This is not exactly right, but it is not anticipated that this article will have the eflect of banishing bass ball from the face of the earth. The only apparent cause for the present extreme insanity is a lack of business occupation. If times were very lively here, there would not be heard so much about the matter, and there are many worse ways of spending one's money than visiting the base ball grounds. However, there is a possibility possi-bility that the extreme inclination to base ball now bein engendered, may have a pernicious tendency on persons when times are better. Boys forget their duties, neglect their lesson a and would sacrifice almost anything for the pleasure of witnessing or participating par-ticipating in a game of base ball. It is simply a habit, and is becoming ao confirmed that it will assuredly result in evil extremes always do. Boys come by this habit honesty, and can hardly be blamed for their proportion of the insanity since those older and who should be wiser set them an example. Ai a sport it is proper and should, perhaps, be encouraged, but are should be taten that it may not obtain Buch prevalence in a whole community as to send it crazy about a base ball game. We spare you the moral. |