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Show CUT IN ADMISSION PRICES JTAL STEP Ten cent Baseball Vastly Increases Attendance and Enhances Interest. Reducing the admission fees from 7& to 60 en s for grandstand seats aod from 25 to 10 cents for bleacher seats haa been the most Important step ever taken n rofess onal baseball says J B She dan n he St Lou s Globe Demo crat J eagruee have come and gone there ha c been n ereague fights to which Indurated In-durated ra&eball reporters have attached! great unmer ted significance players have olated contracts Jumped etc. come and gone there have been stars and great pe formances but always the prices ot adm ss on have tended upward until Au gus 19 o when the Federal league edu ed he prices of b eacher seats from. 6 to 10 cents pavll on seats from SO to 25 ents and grandstand seats from 75 0 50 cents There may be d scuss on as to the lass of the Federal league It may be eald that It does not furnish first class baseball That Is a matter of opln fon Clajs counts for little In baeebalL-Experts baeebalL-Experts agree that there was little, lass to the National league that here is a good deal of class to American eague teams But there was a great race n he Natrona league The National eague lacking class but having a good ra e had a nfost profitable year The American league having class In at east four earns d d not have as sue because the Ame lean league race was conf ned to two clubs Elht clubs had chances In the National This disposes of the class question. It is a ho race hav rtg a bearing on the world s championship not class that attracts the spectators The two best teams e er p eked could not draw In an exhlb tlon game in a c ty to which ne th er belonged Why and Wherefore This brings the question down to ac commodat ons and the response to a sweeping general reduction of the prices of admlss on The Federal leaguers who made the reductions say that It is a great success because 1 It gives the boy who gets 2o cents weekly spending money a chance to spend 10 cents car fare 5 cents for peanuts and 10 cents to see a league baseball game The 25 cents fee demanded at organized ball parks stops the boy who gets 2a cents spending money He pays car fare one way has on y 20 cents and must stay ou of the ball park Thus organized baseball deprives the ; boy to whom baseba 1 most appea s of ! h s game i 2 Ten cents adm ss on to the bleach ers letb fathers of the small uage earn Ing c ass take two three or four chil dren their wives o the basebal park. In other words the reduction of the ad mies on fee from 25 to 10 cents makes baseba 1 games fami y parties 3 The educt on of pavilion prices from 50 to 25 cents gives men who paid 2a cents to sit in the distant open bleach ers looking at a game wrong end to a chance to get under cover near by and see a game right end to Secre ary W His E. Jdhnson of the St. Louis Federa s says that the 'reduction of pavl on prices from 50 to 25 cen s has brought about the most notable change in attendance he has noticed From 500 to 5000 At Newark sa d Mr Johnson the j reduction of 2d cents raided the pavilion attendance from 500 to 5000 and the re ce pts from he pavilion from 50 to $1250 I regard the great Increase of atten dance in the pav 1 on as more -s gnlf cant and remarkab e than tne aet increase due to the reduction from 5 to 10 cents the b eachers. 4 The reduction from 5 to 50 cents n the rand stand Is he d to work bene f s n that t has greatly Increased at endance and the e enue The 50 cents has aken many former patrons of the pavl! on nto the stands I has increased attendance bv inducing many pe sons to take guests and to spend $1 The pre lous ta. for two of II 50 would resu t n the Indi ldual spend ng but 75 cen s i for one Thus the c ubs ost 2a cents a patron and he poss ble ncreased sa e of I score cards m neral waters peanuts . etc 5 The grand fina argument is th s f That it s bette to p aj to 5000 or 10 000 persons at $1500 than to pay to f d 0 persons at $1500 The argumen s emplojed to Justify this s atement are 1 That the larger crowd at reduced prices makes a game much more inter esting Insp es p a ers lends good cheer exc tes enthusasm and j e ds at least as much revenue as the sma er crowd at ' hi he pr ces ! 2 That the arger the crowd the bet ter opportun ty for the sale of the usual . wares soda water peanuts etc We I ave g en the arguments in favor ! of reduced p ces n baseball The argumen s aga nst the reduction of prices a e 1 That the educed prices must result n a t emendous educt on of plavers sal a es hence the game w 1 be less attrac ive to oun- men of class and d st nc on and that baseba wi 1 ret ograde to what tl ej cal he o d rough neck davs 2 Tl at pre ent da cro vds demand 1 lgh c ass accommodations t lat specta to s wil not be sat sfled w th the meager accommodations of the 80s and that l6 cent ba 1 v U not pay for the fine accommodat ons demanded 3 That owerlng the pr ces to 10 cents w 11 let In the ough necks make the game touh tha 5 cen s In the pa 1 on br ngs he. toughs too c ose to the eac osanc nMhe grandstand 4 Ten ce t ba 1 mav be a good thing bu club owne s w o ha e bu t the r stands on he 25 50 and 5 cent bas s t nt I he new enture proves s v rt e befo e rearrang ng their stsnds fo t O one of hese argu en s No 4 Is sound I may be prudent to wait and see how the venture turns out before adopting I |