NEW YORK, Apr. 17 (U.P.) -- Babe Ruth and Mrs. Claire Hodgson were married at 5:45 a.m. today in St. Gregory's Roman Catholic Church.
It was the start of a busy day in the busy life of baseball's best-paid employee, for at the Yankee stadium this afternoon he expected to shoulder his bat and begin earning the yearly salary of $70,000 with which he hopes to furnish an apartment and buy groceries for his bride.
The ceremony was performed by the Rev. William. F. Hughes.
Ruth had announced that he mould be married at 6:30 a.m., and after the ceremony he grinned at newspaper reporters who arrived just in time to see the conclusion.
After the wedding Ruth and his bride took seats in the second row and stayed for early mass.
The bride wore a purple georgette dress, a purple toque hat and black stockings and pumps. She barely came up to the Babe's shoulder as they stood at the altar. Ruth was attired in a double-breasted blue serge suit that had been rumpled by the rain.
The Babe fidgeted throughout the ceremony, but came through with a loud, brave "I do" at the crucial moment.
A hundred persons gathered outside the church during mass when the word got around that Ruth was being married. At the door of the church, after mass, the Babe's broad face broke into a grin as he wedged his way through the crowd.
"When and where are you going on your honeymoon?" a reporter shouted at him.
"This afternoon to the ball park." yelled Ruth, dashing for a limousine that was parked at the curb and dragging Mrs. Ruth along with him.
The crowd surged against the automobile as the chauffeur blew a blast on his siren in an attempt to clear a path. Someone tossed a hat into the car. Ruth grabbed it thinking it was his own, and stuck It on his head. The throng howled for the hat was three sizes too small.
The automobile finally got under way and the couple drove to Mrs. Ruth's apartment.
It was the second marriage for the baseball player and also the second for the former actress who as Claire Merritt, once was a showgirl in the Ziegfeld Follies.
Mrs. Ruth's first husband died in 1924 and the Babe's first wife was burned to death recently.
Mrs. Ruth, 28 years old, has a daughter by her first marriage. Before going on stage she was an artist's model and during the World War her face appeared on billboards all over the nation on Liberty Loan posters.
The Babe's name has been linked with that of his bride for sometime. She has been a baseball fan for years and recently she and Ruth have appeared at the theater together several times.
Ruth would reveal nothing concerning his plans, beyond the fact that they expected to take an apartment on Riverside Drive.
