Page:America's National Game (1911).djvu/416

 together for practice, and, on the occasion of a visit of Buffalo Bill's "Wild West," played a game with his cowboys. This game—played in the rain—attracted a large concourse. It was won by the cowboys by a score of 13 to 5.

Although this game was played at London, it was in the North and Midland counties that the sport first took on regularly organized form in the way of scheduled games between contesting teams. This was because of the fact that Base Ball in England seems to appeal rather to the mining and factory men than to the denizens of the metropolis.

It is not known just how many clubs are playing the American game in England to-day; but probably twenty-five would cover the entire number.

The strongest supporters of the game in England are the large American business firms, such as the Messrs. Fuller, the great confectioners; Messrs. Dewar, of whisky fame; J. Earle, of the Remington Typewriter Co., and many of the first music-hall artists here, Americans by birth; and last, but no means least, Mr. Francis W. Ley and H. Newton Crane, for many years American Consul at Manchester, and more recently a practicing barrister in London. These gentlemen assist the game, both in a monetary sense and by personally attending the games and bringing their friends. One of the music-hall "mummers" is said to have spent close upon £2,000 ($10,000) pushing the game forward. The amount of their subscriptions it would not be politic to state, but it can safely be said that they all give about the same