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Show j BASEBALL ENTERPRISE. j A meeting fraught with unusual in-. in-. terest for ail the people of Salt Lake j has been in progress in this city dur- j tag the last two days. In point of j I numbers it was not much of a meeting,! j but in point of intimate interest for: tho public it was of extraordinary im-1 portance. Although this is but the second year ; of Salt Lake 's membership in the Pacific Pa-cific (.'oast baseball league, this city thus early has won the distinction of being selected as the place for holding hold-ing the annual meeting of the directors. The people of Salt Lako have taken baseball to heart. That is amply proved by the astonishing success which attended the first two seasons of tho club in the Coast league. In 1015 the entire population of Salt Lake twice paid admi.-sion at the ball park gate. That is to say, more than 200.00U persons per-sons attended ball games, the number being approximately twice the city's population. The figures for 1916 will show even a larger attendance in point of numbers. The local enterprise is a co-operative concern, in which the shares are held by some 500 stockholders. stockhold-ers. Jt is a profitable concern, too, since a dividend was paid in 1915 of 10 per cent, and in 1916 of 6 per cent, an average of 8 per cent, which rate, tho directors announce, will be the permanent dividend in tho future. The club is without debts, has a magnifi-ceut magnifi-ceut baseball plant and has a $12,000 interest in the ground upon which the plant is situated. The club is by way of being a good organization, finishing second in the pennant race of 1915 and third in the race of 1916. There is a snug cash balance iu the treasury tor improvement. N 'In 1915 Salt Lake was, perhaps, the only club in the league which showed a profit at the end of the season. The season of 1916, according to the president presi-dent 's report sj was an improvement over 1915 for the league iu general, and indications are that 1917 will be even better. The "magnates" who are interested in Coast league baseball are the highest types of business men. Several of them are millionaires. They take baseball seriously, and conduct it in a businesslike business-like fashion. Baseball property in' the league in money value mounts into the millions. San Francisco 's franchise and appurtenances, for example, would bring half a million dollars in the open market, were they put on sale. Much benefit has come to Salt Lake on account of its baseball prominence. The city has gained invaluable publicity public-ity in the great coast cities of Port-r Port-r land, San Erancisco and Los Angeles and a-lso in the east. Never a day passes during th6 summer months but id-hat Salt Lake figures prominently in hundreds of papers throughout the j country. Baseball for Salt Lake has been not only a means of supplying fascinating diversion for the people, but also has brought the city wide renown. It is an enterprise worth while. |