The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1878-07-24
Games.
SOMETHING ABOUT THEIR ORIGIN

The London Pail HaH Gozett,
? says Men" said Liebniiz. "havt
never shown so much ingenuity as
in the invention of games.n This is
: not quite true, for they displayed al
!, least equal ingenuity for devisine
: methods of destroying aud torturing
one another Nor can it be alleged
that purely utilitarian inventions
: like the mangling Of the smoke-jack,
+. show less sagacity in conception than
:. the bat or the baitledorc. Rabelais
mentions about hundred games
: which PaEtagruel could play, and be
seems TO have eudgelled his brain
for every pastime which be bad wit
messed or ever heard of. This was
more than three centuries ago, but
the list has not received many i'm
portant additions since. Cricket and
rackets are Improvements on some
games with bat aud ball which Pan
tagruel knew whist would have
been novelty to him, bat be could
hold hand at piquet, ecarte, crib
bage and baccarat; be played chess,
dranghts, dominoes, backgammon.
skittles and bowls, and he might
have walized Though it is not speci-
: fed among his accomplishments, for
this dance was Invented 50 far back
as 400 although it did not actually
become fashionable in Paris until
| 1910, when it was imported from
Germany in honor of the Empress
Marie Louise Dancing is the oldest
of recreations. Homer speaks Of a
new dance invented by Dedalus for
Ariadne Tbeseus was immoderately
fond of the reel or fandango, in
which the arms move with the legs.
The Normans revived rather than
invented round dances in the twelfth
century; the Bohemians invented
the redowa the Poles the polka,
first danced ln England in 1910; the
Hungarisns the mazGrka and galop
The cotilion owes its origin to the
courtly Due de Lauzen, who, for
bis audaeity in contracting o clsndes-
tine marriage with the "Grande Mad
emoiselle," was imprisoned for ten
years by Louis XIV To this now
popular and long-winded dance many
| figures were added bv Marie Anton
cite, and some more by the Empress
Eugene. Under the Second En-
pire the post of conductor of cotilions
at the Tuileries balls was one of con-
siderable social importance, and was
long held by one Of the Emperor's
equerries, the Marquis de Caux.
Dice and knuckle. e.boGes were known
to the Lydians 500 years b. G.
Perseus is credited with the inven-
ton Of quoits, and the Hindoo R1sse
wit b that of chess. Ardschio, King
of Persia, invented backgammon
Palamedes draughts, Pyrrbus tennis,
and the Greeks the noble game CT
goose Lotto il comparatively re-
cent discovery, due to az Italian,
Celestino Gallant, in lTa3 DJmin- |
oes, owe their name TO the piety of a /
monk who originated them, and who
was happy to pronounce holy word
while taking his amusement; and it
is nun who is believed to have in-
vented both the game of battledore |
and shuttlecock and the cstgut rack
ct used in playing tennis. Excava-
tions al Hissarlik, the presumed site /
of Troy, have brought earthenware
marbles" to light, end those OF
Pompeii have yielded a number of
jointed dolls in ivory, which prove
that the custom of giving costly |
toys to children is not one of modern |
development Nenophon was ac-
quainted with hoops, and we are
told that Gbalus, father of Penelope,
was q proficient in the gymnastics
of the trapeze, which be had possibly
learned from seeing monkeys swing
from branch to branch by their tails
Gbalus's grandson, Telemachus,
was versed in boxing, wrestling and
chariot racing, which, along with the
riding of races, is supposed to date
from the Thurians but be also con-
trived q new sport of bis own, which /
has been improved upon in a multi
tude of ways up 20 these times. We
read in the Odyssey that be set up
twelve pillars, TO each of which was
suspended a ring, and that from his
bow Re sent an arrow whist!ing
through all the twelve rings-no
mean feat. Here we surely have
rudiments of iiltipg at the ring, at
the quintain, tent-pegging, &c. be-
sides getting precedent for the
difficulties by which it is always
sought to test the merit of good
marksmen. The Swiss in their
stands" (rife alIeysl still have /
something akin.:o the young Greeks
rings, for they aim st their targets
through loopboles pierced in a series
of walls; but if Telemachus really
did send his arrow through twelve
rings be achieved more than most of
the best shots from the Bernese Ober-
land could do with rifle bullets Six
loopholes, ten yards apart, are gen.
orally considered enough to try any
mans steadiness of hand and eve.
The invention of cards has often
been enormously attributed TO a
French physician, who designed
them for the amusement Of the mad
King Charles VI. They are of much
more ancient origin, having come
from China TO Persia in the twelfth
century and thenee into Europe /
through the Arabs They are men,
toned in proclamation OF Louis
IN. (St. Louis, in 1854, among he
ungodly psstimes which the pious
should avoid but Charles Wis
doctor, who was abbot, restored them
to the favor of the Church and thus
licensed a game which has undoubt-
edly excelled all others in universal
Cards are now c)s-
means Of social intercourse.
Four men of different nations can
play rubber of whist without know
ing q word of one another's Ian
gusge; and possibly the lower
orders all over the world viii come
TO adopt some one game as general
favorite. At present each State
boasts game in particular favor
with its working classes. The Eng
lishman likes cribbage, the French
man piquet, the Yankee and bis
Chinese friend euchre, the Dutchman