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Show American Who Is Teaching Britons to Like Baseball CHARLES KING. TEACH BRITONS BASEBALL GAME Americans in London Are Making Mak-ing Another Effort to Introduce In-troduce Pastime. LEAGUE IS FORMED AND HAS GOOD PROSPECTS Big Names Back of Enterprise Go Far Toward Insuring Its Success. Special Cable to Tho Tribune. LONDON, July 22. Once more pushful Americans In England are making an attempt to plant baseball' on tho British playing fields, as a counter attraction to cricket and football. Four years ago a number of young enthusiasts from Harvard, Har-vard, Yale, Princeton and elsewhere found themselves In and around London, so for awhile they ran games at the Crystal Palace, Clapton and other famous grounds, gaining considerable publicity thereby. But the spurt did not last. The men left London, or felt other claims too pressing on their time. There followed a period during which the fortunes or baseball fluctuated, till two years ago Tommy Burns determined to try his band at popularizing It .encouraged .encour-aged by the new Itfe ho had been able to nut Into British boxing. Ho found the few clubs, then forming the basis of the baseball association, but an Indifferent medium for an active campaign, cam-paign, but very soon his own enthusiasm and personal magnetism began to convince con-vince men that it was better to take a hand in a baseball game than to loaf round the ringside walenlng professionals Ptay either of the British pastimes. When he had found his men he had difficulties, for tho Britisher does not take very handily to now games, so every time a contest was arranged, any team with an American or two In It literally wiped tho floor with its opponents. Then Tommy Tom-my Burns had to answer the fistic challenges chal-lenges that came across the ocean, and tho spur of his activity was removed from the budding baseballers. But he left a bunch of players In far better shape than when he took a hand at baseball organization. organi-zation. British Baseball League. So. out' of that, came the present British Brit-ish Baseball league, a governing body to which,' when this season- began; four clubs were affiliated. Within a month with a lfttle pioneer work In likely quarters" the number rose td six nnd ns yoling Americans, Ameri-cans, arc plentiful ov'er ' here ibis year, scattered up and down the country, there will be at least a do2en clubs In operation opera-tion before the season is' otit. Among the best workers In this mission of sport me the American Rhodes scholars, schol-ars, whoso scholastic accomplishments at Oxford have been criticised, but whose athletic prowess finds few detractors. At both Cambridge and Oxford several games have been pcd, but. as in London, the only way to keep tho enterprise afloat has been to sprinkle the Amorlcans over both teams, so as to make the games more like contested struggles than mere walkovers. John Bull. Junior, lacks the American nerve at a Game like baseball till he has had whole pile ot practice, so unless there 's somebody on hand to jolly him along he is apt to figure badly for a few games and then give It up In disgust, light his pipe and sprawl on the ground by the side of a cricket patch as a languid onlooker. Today the chief boosters of the alien pastime are Charles King, a well known figure In the football world, and A. A. Atkins, At-kins, another all round sportsman in other fields before baseball gained possession of his fancy King is presdent and Atkins At-kins secretary of tho league. "It Is too much to hope." said King, "that baseball wl)l ever oust football nnd cricket as the British national game, hut that does not by any means destroy tho possibilities of baseball as a very popular and attractive secondary pastlmo. even in England These- things are affected by climate and national temperament to so great an extent that It Is difficult to explain ex-plain just how different games become associated with various countries. But we hope to graft bnscball on to the liking of British 'snorts' and we believe wo have a very fair prospect ot success." One of the biggest aids towards this end was the special coronntlon match played a day or two after the crowning of King Gcorgo between teams representing represent-ing Englnnd and America. It created an Interest In baseball hitherto unparalleled In England, for the promoters were able to ropo In a wholo host of coronation notables ns supporters on tho grand stand and today many an aristocratic soortsnmn Is discussing wnysand means of "liavlng a cut at It" Big Names Count. What that moans to nny variety of sport can only be seen tn England, where it Is necessary to head your enterprise, no mnttor what, from a bazar to nn athletic meptlng. with the big games that count in public opinion. Just as Genoral Booth's Salvation Army was derided till King Edward made it a pet subject for social patronngo, so upper class aid Is needed to make baseball tlie reul goods In English eyes. And ns all the royal family aro keen on open air snort from King George ! himself to Utile Prince John, there Is hope that they may be Induced to attend a baseball game or two beforo tho year Is out. If they do. and express nhy enthusiasm en-thusiasm for the play, then the game Is madrt in Englnnd. Apart rrom tho difficulty of getting British Brit-ish loams to train up to the efficiency standard, the main problem of tho promoters pro-moters hitherto has been the lack of funds. But now that has been overcome, because several sportsmen with long purses have como forward to sot the baseball league on a sound financial foot- : Ing. Ordinary British plavers have found I biisebnll a more expensive game than I cricket or football un to now and as cash I is not plon'lful among thoHo who are likeliest candidates for a lively team, the game has beon abandoned In consequence. I Now thnt these obstacles have boon romovod bnscball has the best chance It has ever had on English soil. It is a common thing to find up to 70,000 spectators spec-tators round n football or cricket match, antl tho excu8c Is that there arc not enaugh grounds available, for the onlookers onlook-ers to become players themselves. But all the summer there are amnio football grounds lying Idle that might bp used for baseball A fcore or so of ndmlrablv placcd fields of this sort are scattered round London and it Is on these, first of all. that, the revived baseball league plan to make the American game popular. TJiey havn hit on a good year for tho experiment, for 'London Is full of Americans, Ameri-cans, largo contingents of whom attend mntuhes and "root" with n vlrcor that almost al-most slartlen prosaic John Bull out of his phlegmatic dcnlm. In tlmo he may loarn to rival Dnolo Sam as a baseball faxi. |