champion and overlord of baseball, the American national game. How that
came about I will leave one of the Chicago newspapers to relate:--"Cap.
Anson surrendered to golf yesterday. The capitulation of the veteran of
America's national game took place on the links at Wheaton during the
race between Harry Vardon and J.H. Taylor. 'Cap.' says the game of golf
is a go. He has stood out against it and ridiculed it ever since it
began to get the people. Anson knows Charles S. Cox, Vardon's manager,
and accepted an invitation yesterday morning to look in on the game. On
the links he balked at the proposition of walking four miles in one trip
around the course, but he lined up with the crowd to see Vardon drive
off. The ball went higher than any fly 'Pop' ever saw in his life. It
sailed 220 yards. Anson was first to start the applause with a 'Good
boy. She's a homer.' Then he led the gallery to the first green. He was
puffing when he pulled up at the eighteenth hole, but he felt better
than if he had stolen second base. 'I'd like to take a crack at that
golf ball,' he said. 'You can put me down for a trial the first chance I
get. Wouldn't mind togging up in kilts just to give the Prince of Wales
a run for his money.'" For the sake of giving prominence to it, this
paragraph was put in a fancy border and let into the middle of the sheet
of newspaper, so the Chicago people evidently attached some importance
to the capitulation of the worthy captain, and I hope that by this time
he has had many thousands of cracks at the golf ball and that his
handicap is low.

I was intent on making a bold bid for this American Open Championship.
Victory in it seemed to be the one thing essential to make my trip the
greatest possible success. My friend Taylor, who had just beaten me for
the Open Championship at St. Andrews, had himself come over to the
States, and was also a candidate for the premier honours of American
golf. As it turned out, we had practically the whole contest at Wheaton
to ourselves, and a rare good duel it was, at the end of which I was at
the top of the list, but only two strokes in front of my English
opponent, while he was eight in front of the next man. The system of
deciding the championship was the same as on this side, that is to say,
four medal rounds were played, two on one day and two on the next. At
the end of the first day's play I was just one stroke better than
Taylor, my score for the two rounds bring 157 to his