Page:America's National Game (1911).djvu/287

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AMERICA'S NATIONAL GAME
257

know the need of the money that is received for Sunday games by the management, especially of minor league clubs, whose gate receipts on weekdays are inadequate to meet expenses. All this I know, and yet I also know that it is of paramount importance that the laws of every city and state and country should be respected and upheld; that the youth of every community should be educated to honor and obey the laws. And so, whenever this problem presents itself for my decision, I first ask the question, "Is Sunday ball playing legal?" If it is, I say "Play Ball." If not, my answer is the same as that given to the petitioners at Honolulu. This rule obtained throughout our world tour. Wherever and whenever the law forbade, we played no games. Wherever and whenever the law allowed, we played games on Sunday.

Notwithstanding the mutual disappointment of visitors and visited at Honolulu as regards the failure to pull off a game of Base Ball, there was no law forbidding King Kalakaua, then on the Hawaiian throne, to entertain our party, which he certainly did in royal manner.

Sailing from Honolulu on Monday morning, November 26th, we were on the Pacific for over two weeks before reaching Auckland, New Zealand, on the 10th of December. Here a game was played to the great delectation of the New Zealanders, very few of whom had ever seen it, though many were proficient at cricket.

Leaving Auckland, we sailed direct for Sydney, Australia, where we arrived December 14th. We were now in "topsy-turvy" land for sure. It was the middle of December, and right in the midst of summer's heat, with