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Show AMERICANS PLAY CALL GAMES BETWEEN BATTLES ARMY TEAMS IN PARIS LEAGUE Uwu. v a w x ii ioto b t4 MASKS HANDY IN CASE HUN SENDS OVER GAS. Raymond B. Fosdick, returning to London from Franco, where be fcss been making a study of welfare work for the soldiers of Uncle Sam, gives Hn Interesting Interview in which he dwells at some length on what part baseball is playing, in which he says: The moral condition of our men is so gratifying that any improvement would seem superfluous. No army ever before enjoyed such provision for recreation. rec-reation. I vsa in France several weeks for tte i-urpose of observing and coordinating co-ordinating the work of various organizations organ-izations represented in our commission commis-sion and I found the activities dovetailing dove-tailing perfectly. Nothing could be better than the spirit with which all entered into; baseball, superintended by T. M. C. A. nnd Red Cross officials, at the American Ameri-can Soldiers' and Sailors club in Paris. There is as much baseball enthusiasm en-thusiasm among our troops in France as in Chicago, New York and Philadelphia Philadel-phia combined. The language of the game lis heard on every hand. Baseball is played right up at the front and at some points too 'lo-e to unfriendly shells the boys play catch at odd moments. ' I was almost up to the trenches just before one of the recent American attacks at-tacks that so surprised the enemy, who apparently was not aware until then that our troops were prepared to go over the top In such strength. The night before the attack I watched watch-ed our men playing ball as long as daylight permitted, and I am sure each player was a better soldier on the following days as a result of the diversion. di-version. I witnessed a game in the historic Tuilleries garden between sailors and Y. M. C. A. workers. The onlookers included a good sprinkling of temperamental tempera-mental French trying to sympathize with the players and cheering the Yanks without understanding what was going on except that the ball was traveling at great speed about the diamond. The Paris Baseball league is composed com-posed of various army, Y. M. C. A. and Red Cross teams with a regular schedule of weekly and Sunday games. The English papers in Paris print the scores with percentages, standing, and so on. |