We played our first game at Melbourne on Saturday, December 22d, the
second day after our arrival from Sydney, and in the presence of one of
the largest crowds that ever assembled at the Melbourne Oval, the
handsomest of their kind in Australia. The surroundings were of the most
beautiful character and the day itself as perfect as any one could have
desired for base-ball purposes. The lawn in front of the Club House was
thronged with ladies in light attire, and the many-hued sunshades that
they carried gave to it the appearance of an animated flower garden. The
Club House balconies were crowded and even the roof had been pre-empted
by the ladies and their escorts as a coign of vantage from which to view
the game. The grand stand was filled to overflowing and the crowd that
overflowed from it encircled the field, extending from the grand stand
clear around to the Club House grounds. The scene was indeed an
inspiring one, and it is not to be wondered that a good exhibition of
the beauties of the game were given under such circumstances. The
base-running was of the most daring character, the fielding sharp on the
part of both teams, and the batting heavy. Baldwin and Crane were both
at their best and pitched in superb style, while the exhibition of
base-running that was given by some of the boys brought the onlookers
fairly to their feet and they cheered themselves hoarse in their
excitement.
Up to the seventh inning the score was a tie, but we managed to get a
man across the plate in the seventh inning, as a result of Burns'
three-bagger, and Baldwin' single, and another in the eighth, the result
of a single by Sullivan and a long right-field hit for three bases by
myself, and that I foolishly tried to make a home run on, being put out
at the plate by Brown's magnificent throw from the field. The game
finally resulted in a victory for Chicago by a score of 5 to 3, and
leaving the field we congratulated ourselves on the fact that both at
Sydney and Melbourne we had played first-class ball.
Supper parties and banquets were now becoming every-day occurrences with
us, and that night we were handsomely entertained by an English actor of
note, Mr. Charles Warner, who was at that time touring the colonies, the
place selected for the entertainment being the Maison Dore, the swell
restaurant of Melbourne. Here we spent a very pleasant evening until it
was again time to retire.
The next morning, in the big reading room of the hotel, the boys were
given some information by Mr. Spalding that I was already acquainted
with, viz., that we should continue our trip around the world, returning
home by the way of Egypt, the Mediterranean and Continental Europe. In
spite of the fact that it was Sunday morning, this announcement was
greeted with a burst of applause by the players, many of whom, even in
their wildest dreamings, had never thought that such a trip would be
possible for them.
After giving the players some good advice regarding their habits and
physical health, Mr. Spalding stated that he wished to land every member
of the party in New York sound and well and with only pleasant
recollections of the tour, and that he hoped that all would, co-operate
with him to that end. That morning the proposed trip was about the only
subject of conversation among the members of the party, and pleasant
indeed were the anticipations of one and all concerning it.
There was scarcely a spot of interest in or about Melbourne that we did
not visit, the weather being delightful, while so constantly were we
being entertained that there was scarcely an evening that our dress
suits were given a chance to rest. It was the day before Christmas--not
the night before--that we played our second game of base-ball in
Melbourne, and the crowd, while not so large as that which witnessed the
first game, was still of goodly proportions, some 6,000 people passing
through the gates. Ryan pitched for the Chicagos and Healy and Crane for
the All-Americas on this occasion, and all three of them were pounded in
a lively fashion, there being a perfect fusillade of base hits on both
sides, and the hard hitting seemed to the liking of the spectators, who
cheered every drive to the outfield frantically. In spite of the hard
hitting the game was closely contested, the All-Americas finally bearing
off the honors by a score of 15 to 13. Following the game Prof.
Bartholomew gave his first balloon ascension and parachute drop in
Australia, a performance that was new to the Australians, and that they
watched with almost breathless interest.
Christmas day in Melbourne the weather was terrifically hot and the
lightest sort of summer attire even was uncomfortable. It seemed strange
to us to think that at home on that same day there was probably snow on
the ground and an icy wind blowing. Christmas in a hot country somehow
does not seem like Christmas at all, an opinion that was shared by both
Mrs. Anson and myself. That afternoon at three o'clock we departed for
Adelaide, where we were scheduled to play three games, and this time we
were delighted to find that "Mann boudoir cars" had been provided for us
instead of English compartment coaches.
We missed the ladies on the trip, they having been left at Melbourne
because of the heat, as had Ed Crane, with whom the hot weather did not
seem to agree. At Ballarat, about four hours' distance from Melbourne,
where we were scheduled to play a game on our return, we found 'a
reception committee at the depot to meet us, together with a number of
ladies. The country through which we journeyed that afternoon was fairly
attractive, but thinly settled and literally overrun with that pest of
the Australian farmer, the rabbits, which, like good race-horses, seemed
to come in all shapes, color and size. The country swarmed with them and
for the first time we began to realize what an immense damage they were
capable of doing to the growing crops in that section.
It was about half-past ten o'clock the next morning when we reached
Adelaide, and so hot that a Fourth of July day in St. Louis would have
seemed like Arctic weather by comparison. At the depot we found United
States Consul Murphy and a committee of citizens in waiting, and were at
once driven to the City Hall, where Mayor Shaw made us welcome to the
city. The usual spread and speeches followed, after which we were driven
to the hotel. That afternoon we played our first game on the Adelaide
Oval, which was the equal of either the Sydney or Melbourne grounds, so
far as the actual playing grounds were concerned, though far inferior to
them in buildings and natural surroundings. Owing to the intense heat
and the fact that it was the opening day of the great race meeting at
Melbourne there were only about 2,000 people present, and they witnessed
a game remarkable for its heavy batting, both Teller and Healy being
severely punished. The game went to the credit of the All-Americas by a
score of 19 to 14.
That night our party occupied the Governor's box in the Royal Theater,
where we attracted far more attention than did the play, the house being
a crowded one.
The next morning we were the guests of Mayor Shaw, who took us for a
drive in a big four-horse drag, and this proved a delightful experience
to us all, the Sea Beach road, over which we drove, being cool and
comfortable. Ten miles out we stopped at the wine yard of Thomas Hardy &
Sons, who were at that time the most extensive grape and fruit raisers
in Australia. Here we were shown over the immense wine yards and wine
cellar, after which we drove to Henley Beach, returning in time for the
game that afternoon.
At this second game the attendance was somewhat better than the first,
and with Baldwin pitching for Chicago and Healy and Ward for All-America,
we managed to turn the tables on our conquerors of the day before and
win by a score of 12 to 9.
The next day was a holiday, and of these the Australians have many, it
being the fifty-second anniversary of South Australia's existence as a
colony, and as we were to leave in the afternoon we played our farewell
game in the morning, play being called at ten o'clock. With Ryan in the
box for Chicago and Simpson for All-America we won the easiest sort of a
game by a score of II to 4, having Sir William Robinson, Governor of the
Colony, for a spectator during the last four innings. After the game he
came out on the grounds and shook hands with us all, complimenting us in
a nice little speech on the skill that we had shown and expressing his
own liking for the game that he had that morning seen for the first
time.
That afternoon we left for Ballarat, the great gold-mining center of
Australia, and at one time famous as the home of the bushrangers who for
years terrorized that section of the country.
It was six o'clock in the morning when we arrived there, and we were
just climbing into the drag that was awaiting us when some one missed
Tom Daly. After a search he was found fast asleep in one of the
compartments of the car, and being awakened was released by an obliging
guard, looking a bit the worse for wear. In the early gray of the
dawning we reached Craig's Hotel, where lunch had been arranged for us,
after partaking which we were driven to the Botanical Gardens, the
roadway winding along the shores of a beautiful lake. The gardens were
well worth a visit, and after spending a brief half hour in admiring the
flowers and statuary, we were driven back to the hotel for breakfast,
stopping on the way for a plunge in the great Ballarat Swimming
Aquarium. After breakfast we were driven to the Barton Gold Mines,
situated on the edge of the town, going down to a depth of ii,000 feet
after we had attired ourselves in overalls, slouch hats and other
nondescript disguises. From the mine we were driven to the Town Hall, of
West Ballarat, Ballarat being divided into two municipalities, West and
East, where we met with the usual Australian welcome at the hands of
Mayor Macdonald, thence to East Ballarat, where Mayor Ellsworth did the
honors, the latter afterwards accompanying us on a visit to the Ballarat
Orphan Asylum, where an invitation was given to the youngsters to the
number of 200 to witness the game that afternoon, and that they were all
on hand is a certainty.
The crowd that attended the game was 4,500 strong, and they saw the
All-Americas win a rather easy game by a score of 11 to 7, the boys being
too nearly tired out to play good ball. The ascent and fall of Professor
Bartholomew was, however, the sensation of the day, the parachute
failing to sustain his weight in that high altitude, and as a result he
came down with great speed, and, striking a cornice of a building in the
business district, was laid up for a month, it being a lucky thing for
him that he was not killed outright. At seven o'clock that night we left
for Melbourne, arriving there some four hours later in an all but used
up condition.
The next day, Sunday, our whole party started for a drive of twenty-five
miles over the mountains in a big four-horse drag, we being the guests
for that day of Mr. J. K. Downer, a wealthy citizen of Melbourne.
Through a rolling and well-settled country we bowled along until we
reached the foot-hills, that were green and well-wooded, the clear notes
of Mrs. Leigh Lynch's cornet every now and then waking the echoes. After
three hours' ride we reached Fern Glen, the residence of a Mr. Bruce, a
friend of the gentleman whose guests we were, and to whose broad veranda
we were soon made welcome. The scenery here was beautiful, the house
itself being situated in a rift of the mountains and surrounded by giant
trees on every side, the grounds about being possessed of great natural
beauty. After enjoying a splendid lunch provided for the occasion at
Melbourne, and sent out ahead by wagon, we strolled through the
beautiful glen, with its great ferns that arched the pathway, and the
roots of which were watered by a little mountain stream.
After an extempore entertainment we again climbed to our seats in the
drag and were driven back to Melbourne, stopping en route at the stock
farm of J. H. Miller, who had gone into the business of breeding
American trotters, and who again persisted in wining and dining us
before he would let us go. "The Travelers' Rest," "The Golden Swan,"
"The Bull's Head Inn," and other resorts of a like kind were stopped at
on our way back, and it was eleven o'clock at night when we were finally
set down at the doors of the Grand Hotel, having spent one of the most
enjoyable days since our arrival in Melbourne.
A great day's program of sport had been prepared for Monday, the last
day of the year, in which cricket, baseball and foot-ball were all to
have had an inning. The weather, however, interfered with the base-ball
and cricket part of the program. The foot-ball game between the Carleton
and St. Kilda foot-ball teams proved to be a most interesting contest,
however, and one that we were glad to have the opportunity of
witnessing, a heavy shower driving us back to the hotel before we could
indulge in either base-ball or cricket.
Two games were scheduled for New Year's day, but only one of these was
played and that in the morning, the attendance being 2,500, and the
Chicagos winning by a score of 14 to 7, Tener pitching for us and Healy
for the All-Americas. That same day there were 4,000 people at the races
and probably as many more at the various cricket matches and athletic
games going on in the city and vicinity, so it can readily be seen that
Melbourne was a decidedly sporty place and that we had pretty hard
competition to go up against, even for New Year's day. After luncheon at
the cricket grounds we were treated to an exhibition of rope-skipping
and boomerang throwing by a lot of aborigines that was little short of
wonderful, and that must be seen to be appreciated. The natives could
make these curved pieces of wood do all kinds of seemingly impossible
things, while for us they would simply do nothing, but I expect that
with a set of billiard balls several of our party could have made them
look as much like monkeys as they did us with their boomerangs.
We were booked to sail from Port Melbourne for Ceylon on Monday, June
7th, and Saturday afternoon we played our farewell game in the Victoria
capital before a crowd that tested the capacity of the grounds, the gate
count showing that 11,000 people had paid their way into the enclosure.
The program for the afternoon was a varied one, a two-inning game
between the Australian Cricketers and the All-America team being the
starter, and in this the American players easily demonstrated their
superiority. Next came a game of foot-ball between the Port Melbourne
and Carleton teams that was played under a modification of the old Rugby
rules, and that proved close and exciting. A four-inning game between
Chicago and All-America followed, Baldwin and Daly and Crane and Earle
being the batteries, and it is safe to assert that a prettier exhibition
of base-running and fielding was never witnessed in Australia than the
one given on that occasion. With not a fielding error on either side my
boys won by a score of 5 to 0, Pettit finally ending the game with a
splendid running catch of Earle's long fly to right field, a performance
that the spectators cheered again and again.
An exhibition of long distance throwing followed, Crane, Williamson and
Pfeffer attempting to beat the Australian record of 126 yards 3 inches,
for throwing a five and one-half ounce cricket ball, and this feat Crane
accomplished, he sending the ball 128 yards 10 1/2 inches, a performance
that the crowd appreciated.
At three o'clock on Monday afternoon, having said farewell to all of our
friends in Melbourne, we took the train for Port Melbourne, seven miles
distant, and were soon assigned to our staterooms on board of the
"Salier," which was to begin her voyage the next morning.
The scene about the dock where the "Salier" lay that afternoon was an
impressive one, the Turks and Hindoos, with their dark skins, red
turbans and bright costumes, the circling seabirds with their peculiar
cries, and the many craft of various kinds that moved hither and thither
over the blue waters, all combining to make a picture that once seen can
never be forgotten.
We left Australia with many genuine regrets. In the matter of
hospitality that country easily stands at the head of the list of all
of those that we visited, and if we could have shot a kangaroo or two
before our departure and run up against a party of bushrangers,
black-bearded and daring, even though they had managed to relieve us
of a few of our valuables, we should have been made happy, but alas! the
bushrangers, like the bad men of our own glorious West, had been wiped
out by the march of civilization, and even the kangaroo had taken to the
woods when he heard that we were coming, so we bore our disappointment
as best we could, trusting for better luck in case we should ever be so
fortunate as to again visit Her Majesty's Australian Colonies.