That night after the gentlemen of the party had donned their dress suits
and the ladies their best bibs and tuckers, we repaired in a body to the
Royal Theater, where a large and fashionable audience had assembled to
bid us welcome. The theater, presided over at that time by Jimmy
Williamson, an American, was handsomely decorated for the occasion with
American flags, and as we took our places in the private boxes and in
the section of the dress circle reserved for us, we were greeted with
round after round of applause.
After the closing act of "Struck Oil," in which both Mr. Williamson and
his wife appeared, our entire party passed through the box circle to the
stage, upon, which we were arranged in a semi-circle facing the
audience, which cheered us heartily as the curtain rose.
Just as the curtain went up a kid in the gallery, who must have been an
American, who at some time in his career had seen me play, and to whom
my face and form were familiar, cocked his head over the rail and
shouted in tones that could be heard all over the theater, "'Rah for
Baby Anson," a salutation that came so unexpectedly that it almost took
my breath away and that caused both audience and players to laugh
heartily. Mr. Daniel O'Connor, a member of the Australian Parliament,
then introduced us to the audience in a brief address that was full of
kind allusions to the country that we came from and eulogistic of our
fame as ball players, he referring particularly to our pluck in coming
so far without any guarantee against financial loss or artistic failure
except our own confidence in the beauties of our National Game and in
the sport-loving spirit of the Australian people. He tendered us a
hearty welcome on behalf of the Colonies, and bespoke for us a generous
patronage on behalf of the lovers of square sports, both in Sydney and
elsewhere.
To this address Mr. Spalding responded for the American ball players in
happy fashion, his remarks being greeted with generous applause on the
part of the audience, after which we returned to our seats to witness an
after-piece illustrating in farcical style the evils of Chinese
immigration, and then, returning to the hotel, we were introduced to
many of the leading business men of the city, remaining up until a late
hour.
At eleven o'clock the next morning we again assembled in the office of
the Oxford for the purpose of making a formal call upon Mayor Harris at
the City Hall, and as we drove through the principal streets to our
destination we were greeted all along the line by cheering and
enthusiastic crowds. We were received in the Council Chamber of the City
Hall by the Mayor, who was dressed in his official robe of purple and
ermine, and who escorted us across the hall to his chamber, where an
elaborate lunch awaited us, and the champagne corks were soon popping in
lively fashion. The Mayor's speech of welcome was what we Americans call
a "dandy," and I wish right now that I had a copy of it in order that I
might reproduce it for the benefit of my readers. He stated among other
things that, while he did not understand the game of baseball thoroughly
himself, yet he thought well enough of it to predict that in time
Australia would have a league of her own, the professionals of which
would be able to hold their own with the professionals of the United
States. He then tendered us the freedom of the city during our stay, and
bade us make ourselves at home. This address was responded to in our
behalf by U. S. Consul Griffin, after which his Honor again arose to
remark that so long as America treated Australia with the kindness and
consideration that they had in the past, the Australians would do their
best to make it pleasant for their American cousins while they were on
Australian soil.
"My reason for believing that our athletes will emulate your ball
players," concluded the Mayor, "are manifold. In the first place, we
have adopted your American ideas of trading, and we have managed to
scrape up material enough to beat you! best oarsman," here his Honor
turned toward Ned Hanlan, the ex-champion sculler, who had quietly
entered the room and taken a seat near Mr. Spalding, the reference
securing a cheer for the modest little athlete from the members of our
party, "and," continued the Mayor, after the applause had subsided, "if
all Americans will yield the palm with as good grace as Mr. Hanlan has
done, we will entertain as high an opinion of them as we now do of Mr.
Hanlan." After responses to the Mayor's address had been made by Messrs.
Spalding and Lynch, and a dozen or more toasts proposed and drunk, we
gave the Mayor of Sydney three cheers and a tiger and returned to our
hotel, feeling certain that if all Australians were like the ones we had
met thus far, a good time in Australia was assured to us.
We played our first game in Australia that afternoon upon the grounds of
the Sydney Cricket Association, and it is but fair to say that we had
nothing in the United States at that time, nor have we now, that will
compare with them either for beauty or convenience. The playing field,
with its covering of green turf, was as level as a floor and was
surrounded by sloping lawns that were bright with flowering shrubs,
while the club houses were models of their kind. The great annual
foot-races at Botany that afternoon, and the horse-races elsewhere
proved to be strong rival attractions, but in spite of them, and of the
threatening weather, 5,500 people had assembled to see how the American
National Game was played. Fortunately the members of bath teams were on
their mettle, and the result was a game full of exciting features from
start to finish, the pitching of Teller for the Chicagos and Healy for
the All-Americas being of the gilt-edged order, while the fielding and
base-running of both teams was up to the mark. At the end of the first
inning the game was a tie, each team having scored four runs, and it so
remained until the ninth inning, when the All-Americas sent a man across
the plate and scored the winning run in what proved to be one of the
hardest fought games of the entire trip. At the end of the sixth inning
there was an interval of fifteen minutes, and during that time we were
received at the Association Club House by Lord Carrington, who was at
that time Governor of New South Wales, and who gave, us a warm welcome
to the Colonies and wished us every success in introducing the game in
Australia. After Mr. Spalding had thanked Lord Carrington for his good
wishes on behalf of the players, and we had cheered everybody from Lord
and Lady Carrington to Queen Victoria, we returned to finish the game,
being heartily cheered by the crowds as we again took up our positions
on the diamond. That exhibition gave the game quite an impetus in
Australia, where it is now quite popular, thanks, I believe, to the
visit of the American ball players.
The ride back from the grounds was an enjoyable one and after dinner
there was a general exodus from the hotel on the part of the tourists,
who were determined to see everything that there was to be seen and to
let no opportunity in that line escape them. Just how Mrs. Anson and
myself passed the evening I have forgotten, but that we passed it
pleasantly I am certain, for how could it be otherwise in a place where
everyone had combined apparently to make our visit a pleasant one, and
where nothing was left undone that could add to our comfort and
pleasure.
The following day, Sunday, was bright and beautiful, and in parties we
drove over the city and its suburbs, going, among other places, to
Coogee Bay, the fashionable watering resort of the Sydney people, and a
beautiful place, too, it is. Sydney Bay was in itself a sight well worth
seeing, when viewed from the surrounding hills, and the "Point," from
which a magnificent view is to be obtained, impressed one with its
rugged grandeur. Many of the residences of Sydney are extremely handsome
and picturesque, and Mrs. Anson and I picked out more than one during
the day's outing that we should like to have owned, that is, providing
that we could have moved both the house and its surroundings back to
Chicago.
The next morning the Chicago and All-America teams played their first
game of cricket on the Sydney grounds, Messrs. Spalding, Wright, Earl
and George Wade doing the greater part of the bowling, and this game
resulted in a victory for the All-Americas by a score of 67 to 33. I had
been bragging considerably during the trip in regard to my abilities as
a cricketer, and was therefore greatly chagrined when I struck at the
first ball that was bowled to me and went out on a little pop-up fly to
Fogarty. This caused the boys to guy me unmercifully, but I consoled
myself with the reflection that they had to guy somebody, and if it were
not me then somebody else would have to be the sufferer.
That second afternoon we played our second game of ball in Sydney, in
the presence of some 3,000 people, the batteries being Baldwin and
myself for the Chicagos and Healy and Earl for the All-Americas. It was
another pretty exhibition on the part of both teams, the All-Americas
finally winning by a score of 7 to 5.
We played our first game with the Australian Cricketers the next day,
and, though we played seventeen men against their eleven, we were
ignominiously beaten, the Americans making 87 runs while the Australians
ran their score up to 115, for only six wickets, the game, which had
begun at eleven o'clock in the morning, being called at four p.m., to
allow of another game of base-ball, which resulted at the end of five
innings in another victory for the All-Americas by a score of 6 to 2,
both teams being too tired to do themselves justice. The cricket game
was the last of its kind that we played in Australia, and I am confident
now that had we been as strong in bowling as in fielding we would have
beaten the Australians at their own game, though our batting on this
occasion was also decidedly on the weak side.
That night we attended a banquet tendered us by the citizens of Sydney,
at the Town Hall. Two hundred plates were laid in the reception hall of
the big building, the columns, dome, and windows of which were almost
hidden by the English and American flags with which they were draped.
The marble floor was covered with soft carpets and great banks of cut
flowers and rare plants were arranged on every side, while at the end of
the hall a raised platform had been built upon which a musical and
literary entertainment was given after the banquet. That banquet at
Sydney was certainly a memorable affair, and one that overshadowed in
magnificence all that had gone before. The toasts, which included "The
Queen," "The President," "The Governor," "Our Guests," "The Ladies,"
"The Press," and "The Chairman," were responded to by U. S. Consul
Griffin, Daniel O'Connor, M. P., John M. Ward, Leigh Lynch, Newton
McMillan, E. G. Allen of the Sydney Star, and others, after which
followed a musicale in which some of the best amateur and professional
talent in Sydney took part, the cornet solos of Mrs. Leigh Lynch being
the bright particular feature of the entertainment. Mrs. Lynch, who was
formerly a member of the Berger Family of Bell Ringers, is a most
accomplished musician, and one that afterwards helped us to while away
many an hour when time would otherwise have hung heavily on our hands.
The next afternoon we were to depart for Melbourne, and as we had
nothing else to do we spent the greater part of the time in strolling
about the streets and in bidding farewell to the many friends that we
had made in Sydney. With button-hole badges of the Stars and Stripes and
red, white and blue bands on the soft straw hats that we wore, it was an
easy matter for the Australians to distinguish us wherever we went. At
the Grosvenor Hotel we all assembled about an hour before departure, at
the invitation of the Hon. Daniel O'Connor, to bid farewell to himself
and to other prominent representatives of New South Wales. Here we were
handsomely entertained, and when we left to take our seats in the
special train that had been prepared, it was with cheers that fairly
shook the rafters. My memories of Sydney are all pleasant ones, and it
was with sincere feelings of regret that I left the many friends that I
had made while there.
The coaches in which we journeyed to Melbourne were built in the English
style, with compartments, and are not nearly so comfortable as the
sleeping and drawing-room cars to be found in America, and had the old
gentleman been with us I am afraid he would have kicked loud and long
over the poker playing facilities that they afforded. The road itself is
excellently built, however, and the country through which it runs rich,
fertile and well wooded. It was a little after nightfall when we got
supper at a small way station, after which we proceeded to rest as best
we could. At 5:30 in the morning we were routed out on the borders of
the Colony to have our baggage examined by the custom house authorities,
which caused Mrs. Anson and myself but little annoyance, as we had left
all our dynamite at home on the piano. At 6 o'clock we were again on the
way and at eleven o'clock that morning we pulled into the station on
Spencer street in Melbourne, where quite a crowd was waiting to greet
us.
The Reception Committee, made up of American residents of Melbourne and
members of the Victorian Cricket Association, met us with four-in-hand
drags appropriately trimmed with the American colors, and as we entered
them and drove up Collins street we felt that we were the observed of
all observers. At the Town Hall we were received by Mayor Benjamin and
the members of the City Council, and here a crowd of several thousand
people had assembled to bid us welcome, which they did in the hearty
fashion of the Australian people, who are as warm-hearted and as
hospitable a class as any people that I ever met. In the audience hall
up stairs, was a great pipe organ, and there we were treated to some
beautiful music by the town organist, Mr. David Lee. The rendering of
"Home, Sweet Home," carried us back again to the land that we had left,
and as the strains of "God Save the Queen" rang through the hall we
stood with uncovered heads until the music died away along the lofty
corridors. In the Mayor's private room a generous lunch was awaiting us,
and among those present to receive us were the Hon. Mr. Choppin, Consul
General of the United States at the Melbourne Exposition; Mr. Smyth,
Acting Consul; the Hon. J. B. Patterson, D. Gaunson, and Messrs. Smith
and Pierce, together with a large delegation of the lovers of outdoor
sports, including cricketers and base-ball players. The Mayor's speech
of welcome was a plain and hearty one, and was followed by addresses of
welcome by the Hon. Mr. Smith, of the Victoria Cricket Association;
Acting United States Consul Smyth and Mr. S. P. Lord, the latter being
introduced as "an old Colonist, who came from America in 1853," and a
"base-bailer." Mr. Spalding followed in a brief speech, expressing our
appreciation of the cordial welcome that had been accorded us and hoping
that the Victorians would take as kindly to the game itself as they had
to its exponents, after which Captain Ward and myself were called upon
to say something, which we did to the best of our ability, though I
somehow have never managed to acquire fame in the speech-making line,
and would rather play ball at any time than make even a few remarks,
that is, unless I could talk to an umpire.
Brief addresses by Mayor Wardell, Town Clerk Fitzgibbon and Mr. David
Scott followed, after which we were driven to the Grand Hotel, where we
found most comfortable quarters and a good dinner awaiting us.
This hotel was in close proximity to the exposition buildings, the
Treasury building, the Parliament building and the Fitzroy Gardens, and
was convenient to a great many of the objects and places of interest
with which Melbourne abounds. One feature of the hotel, and one that
greatly pleased the majority of our tourists, was the fact that a number
of pretty colonial girls were employed in nearly every department,
they waiting on the table and taking the place of the bellboys, in
fact, doing everything except to fill the positions of porter and
baggage-smasher.
That evening, at the invitation of Manager Musgrove, a partner of Mr.
Williamson of the Royal Theater, in Sydney, we occupied a full section
of the dress circle in the Princess Theater, where we witnessed a
splendid production of "The Princess Ida," by an English company. At the
end of the third act we were called out to drink the health of Mr.
Musgrove, who informed us that the door of his theater were open to us
at all times.
It was after midnight when we returned to the hotel, and so tired were
we that we were glad to go at once to our rooms without stopping for the
customary chat in the office or corridors, knowing that we had yet to
make our first appearance as ball players before a Melbourne crowd, and
must rest up if we wished to make even a creditable showing.