Connecticut western news., 1878-03-14
THE GAME OF LA CROSSE. How the Indians Play It---An Exciting
 Contest.

Two famous clubs of Indian players, the Iroquoiso of Caughnawaga, Canada, and the Onondagas of Syracuse, joined in La crosse contest in New York. The Sun gives us the following idea of this famous Indian game
 The Onondagas ranged themselves ill line before the western goal, the Iro- quois before the opposite one. There was moments silence. Then MT. Tileston, standing in the centre, shouted, Are you ready ?" There were twenty-two Indians, and twenty-two guttural grunts responded affirmatively to the query. He tossed high in the air white ball, like base ball, there was 8 simultaneous rush from both ends of the feld and the melee was fairly begun. It was then to be seen that each club sprang quickly to certain assigned | osts of action, and as- stunned clearly defined duties. There were ''rushers," as Ill football, dashing fellows, who were reckless of cracking the shins of others, or of having their own hammered. There were "runners" upon whom the success of the game de- pended There were ''right and left felders," who stood ready to join in a rush whenever the ball went near them. Finally, there were ''goal keepers, who stood in the goals, one at each, keeping vigilant watch to do desperate duty as the forlorn hope. A very fat Onondaga was one of these, and he blocked up nearly all the space between the goal flags. Each player wielded stick like long hickory skinny club, with net work of deer throng woven into it's curv ed end, so that it looked like big bur lesque upon fattened tablespoon.
 With wild chorus ofyells and grunts ejaculations, exclamations, cautions, and fray. Two went down in the first dash, with the ball somewhere under them A dozen braves were scooping for the ball, striking down each others sticks, and crowdlng each other away. Suddenly an adroit movement flung out the little sphere half across the field, and 8 new force of combatants were engaged. One caught it up on his suck and started to ran with it, and two or three others knocked the stick down, caught the ball and tossed it far away--now to one side, in moment to the other one instant near the eastern goal, the next threaten ing the opposite, it flew, while the play CTS performed prod1gies of speed, agility and skill. No one in the game was safe in the enjoyment of an idle moment. A player running with the ball might hurl it with the swiftness of bullet from gun before him or backward over his shoulder, or to either side toward one of his own party, and if one to whom it was thrown lost only an infnitesimal part of a second in deliberation or hesitancy, | half dozen eager adversaries were upon him. Down and up, scuffiing, running, striking, yelping, and wild with excite ment they pushed the contest.
 The Iroquois, by desperate effort of sheer force, drove the ball to within few feet of the Onondaga goal, and the fat Indian was fairly bowling with anxie- ty and making his single bat fly around him until it looked like a halo, when in second the strife ceased and all stared into the air watching the course of the ball, which some Onondngan, by skill | ful t1irt, had tossed clear down to the Iroquois goal. Then there was a com bined rush after it. Again it was on the ground and being fought back, with l ch of SfI olyC If fon and hoarse exclamations that sounded like aboriginal profanity, until finally it was hurled through the Onondaga goal, and the Iroquois gave yell of victory, to which the excited spectators responded with hearty applause.
 For the next round black ball was substituted, and instead of being thrown up was laid on tle ground between two lacrosse sticks, held by opposing players, who, at the word "go," initiated the contested. This time the Iroquois guarded the western goal. The Onon- dagas, spurred by defeat struggled harder and yelled louder than before Their captain, in a trying moment, when an Iroquois runner was flying fast away with the ball. lodging half a dozen pur- suers, shouted to his men something that sounds like Shob-a-hama-holl a-hay, and solitary voice responded from among the spectators, "What do you say?" The tone of earnest curiosity in which the inquiry was put evoked a roar | of laughter. The dark ball was not so easy to see as the light one had been. l Now and then it was thrown so swiftly that to some of the players it seemed to have vanished, and they stared about for a moment with amusing surprise and doubt. Then, catching a glimpse of it, they darted into the affray again. Several went down together in one grand rush, but scarcely touched the ground when, agile as cats, they were on their feet and away. One actually fell, rolled over, had three adversaries piled on him, and yet got out from them all and away without ever losing from his lacrosse stick the ball which was balanced on it when he first went down
 But there was no such runner as Kiro
 wanie of the Iroquois. He sped along with the feetness of greyhound, pur
 sued by several of his adversaries, sud
 denly stopped and doubled on them, ano
 was several yards away before they
 seemed to realize that he had eludec
 them, or when they were actually upo1
 him he gave twist that seemed almos , like a half somersault, shielding th' ball, which he carried in all his quickes
 manoeuvres, as he did so, and then dar