of those countries know little or nothing about simple amusements which
are so popular in the United States, and acquire from their elders their
knowledge of betting and taking part in games of chance, two evils which
unquestionably have done much to degrade the race as a whole.

Base Ball has caught the fancy of the younger generation and the boys.
Once they get a ball and a bat in their hands they are better satisfied
with them than with all the gambling devices which have been bequeathed
to them by a long and eminent line of forefathers.

So it would appear that the introduction of the national game of the
United States into China is likely to exert a humanizing influence which
shall go further than legislation or sword, and if only the missionaries
had grasped earlier the wishes and the tendency of the younger element
of the Chinese population, the country might be further along than it is
with its progressive movement.

In the Philippine Islands the younger generation simply has gone wild
over Base Ball. Progress has been noted in the GUIDE from time to time
of the increase of interest but it is now at such a pitch that the boys
of the islands, wherever Base Ball has been introduced, simply have
deserted everything for it. They will play nothing else. The cockfights
and the gambling games, which were also a part of the amusement of the
younger men, have been given up. The little fellows who wear not much
more than a breechclout play Base Ball. They have picked up many of the
American terms and one of the most amusing of experiences is to stand
outside the walls of old Manila and hear the little brown boys call:
"Shoot it over. Line it out," and the like, returning to their native
language, and jabbering excitedly in Filipino whenever they arrive at
some point of play in which their command of English fails them.