, 1879-04-13

l51J---SIA'l'EiEIV FAGE4St5.
pretensions or hopes might as well neglect
party-call nowadays rs to lead from o shor
suit, or fail to return trumps to his partner
at the whist-table. An ignorance Of the gam
Of whist is fast becoming an inexcusablo SO
cial want.
| A1r. Po1E's article in the Fortnightlv ia on
titled ssConventions at Whist" an EnKlls{
term inconvertib1e with "signalu." NJ ',1ct
by American plaYM His purpose i" at once
moral aud scientihe inasmuch Us llo opponct
vigorously and inte11igentIy all tho recent is''
novations which rest upon rroconourto]
understanding That certain plny shall not,s'
ally and arbitrarily inform tho partner Of tho
desired return. Mr. Pole does not, NJ 4 INIT
ter Of course, object to tho legitimacy md
desirnbleness of certain rules which arc we'll
known to NIL good whist-players, such as the
following: Whom q trump is led, tho
Inference of the partner is that
the playor's hand is strong in trumps,
and trumps should be returned at
the first opportunity; SO, when . player
| leads king, the inference is that be has the
ace or queen in his hand; the suit from
which he leads first by preference is nat
urally supposed to be his strong suit. These
and many other similar rules are signals of
expedioncy established BY long practice.
Neither does AIr. POLE condemn such yaria-
ton from the established rules as will indi~
cate to q partner the existence Of an excep-
tional hand, aud leare to his intelligence to
put such m Interpretation upon the play as
may strengthen their natural efforts, But he
is opposed-and we think properly-to tue
so-called signal for trumps," which is an
arbitrary bid for tr11mps by throwing away
III trick high card when the natural play
would be to throw low card, neither being
high enough to take the trick. This prac-
tice, based upon q previous understanding
between the two partners, doesno appear to
ba very different in O moral or scientific
way from IN understanding that q
partner should place the forcdnger
of his right hand on his right
eye when he desires that diamonds shnn
be led, on his left eye when he wants hearts,
on his right cheek for spades, aud on his left |
cheek for clubs. If whist Is to be the |
standard and respectable game Of cards for I
American society, as it has long been in |
French and English society, it is highly de-
sirable that preconcerted signals of this
character be rigidly excluded; for the Amer
leans would quickly invent a variety Of such
signs, which, among tho accepted Freema-
sons of whist, would render the play as OBJ
vious as if the cards were spread openly
upon the table, and at the same time would
make the uninitiated easy victims to their
own innocence. "Intsjectio sleatium ins-
peraas is an old definition OF the term
- whist, and Alr. Po1E conceires it to apply
with equal force to any communication, re-
mark, or agreement previous to the game as
to conduct during the game.
The Objectionable "signal for trumps has
received the approval Of certain authorities
on whist-playing but that it is not generally
accepted in English whist circles is evident
from the fact that tho question, "Do you
ase the trump~signal?" is always asked be-
:ora the game begins, and it is the Only
question asked. It has led, as a matter Of !
act, to other innovations equally objection
'ble, though not SO generally understood.
Thus, lending the lowest card but one, in
tead of the uniform practice Of leading the !
owest, as o means Of indicating that the I
'layer has more than four cards of that suit.
10, a variation of the usual practice OF lead
ng ace and king is used to disclose the short
less of suit to partner. These arc men g
looed simply to show what recognition t
+ arbitrary and preconcerted signals may
7ad to; they could be extended under the q
asenious manipulation Of the expert card
layer to es much of disclosure Of tie | !,
artner's hand as it one could read the cards =
rom the back. Such system would deprive b
10 game of all its scientific merit and much
the pleasure to be derived from it, and it j..
ould rapidly descend to the level of "three- I
.rd monte Or any other svindiing device ;,
the card-sharper. This is tho danger of :,
le "trump-signal as precedent, eren if "
should be tolerated in itself and classified fl
ith the regular rules of the game. It is to
, hoped that the strong ground which AIr.
OLE has now taken against it (modifying
mewhat the views he hos previously ex-
'essed in his little boo on whist) may
leck this innovation in American whist cir g
es. It is certain that oil passionate whist :.
ayers and students at the game will find A'
uch interest in his Fartnfg1tIy article, and
, think also will be impressed by tho "
gepoy Of his reasoning.
=--------= ID
Sanitary science has had new revelation in
gard to the effect Of freezing on the germs OF | r:
low fever. Tie facts in the case Of the
smouth 60 to show that no amount Of frcez- FL
is sufficient to totally destroy these seeds OF "
case. In November 1asr, at Santa Cruz,
'eral deaths occurred on board the ship from tn
low fever. She WIS soon after ordered to | fe
stoB, where she remained all winter and up
the middle OF March. During the winter she -,
5 thoroughly fumigated, disinfectcd, and tn' n
zen out, and every meaus known to sanitary
ence was employed to rid the vessel Of the -.