Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-05-21
Marbles.

1t is little curious that we are so ig-
nOrant about this game. 1t seems to
be known everywhere in some form, and
to have been known avery great while.
Stone marbles, like our commons,
have been found in the ruins of POmpeii,
which was destroyed many centuries
ago.
Painted marbles were first called
"Chinese," because they were brought
from China, where the boys liked them
as ours do. They were first taken int5
England about A. d. 1850. They weru
taken from Holland, and were intros
duced to prevent children playing
"bowls," by giving them a gentler
sport.
The first marbles were what we call
peewees and commons, and many were
made from clay by baking. They were
very welcome to the boys, and soon
came into such use that factories were
built to manufacture them. They are
chiefly made in SaXony, and at Ober-
stein, in Germany, where they have
works for that purpose. In these there
is always a flat, stationary stone, with
burrows on its surface. A large plank
or block of wood is suspended over th0
water-pOwer and sometimes by animals.
The stone to be used is first broken into
small squares by workmen. Then hun
dreds of these squares are thrown into
the mill, and water is allowed to run
among them. The moving plank or
block keeps the bits of stone rolling and
grinding within the burrows, so that the
edges are rapidly worn away and they
are rounded.
This work is so quick that a single
mill can make quite 10000 commons in
one day, and that is more than a city
full of boys could lose and win in
week, if they didn't play " hockey" at
the same time.
This is the way in which all the cheap
est marbles are made. 1t is cheaper
than the way in China, whatever that
may be; and now the people of Ger
many sell marbles to China, and India,
and Australia, and South America.
The agates cannot be made so. Tho
workmen first chip the stone with
hammer by hand, and then round the
agates on n grindstone. The colored
and variegated glass balls which are
used for playing are sometimes cast and
rounded by grinding, but they are most
generally blown.
The boys year begins with marbles.
Soon after this sport has begun, the
rainy season ends, the earth becomes
dry, the grass is green, the trees are
covered with foliage, and new amuse-
ments are in order. There are fish to
be caught, and squirrels, birds and
rabbits TO be trapped. 1t is pleasant
to take long walks in the forest or in
the field. Then kite-hying and base
ball, and football, and cricket, and
boating, and berrying come along,
with slings, and bows and arrows, and
swimming. Marbles really introduce
outdoor exercises.
1t is shown in this account of the
game how closely sport is related
to business. Thousands of men and
many mills, and much money, and
numerous ships gain profit because
boys play marbles. 1t is shown, too,
how much boys to-day are like the boys
who lived hundreds and thousands of
J years ago. They not only believe that
"all work and no play makes Jack a
dull boy,n but they select the very
, plays which were best liked when Rom
illus and Remus were fed by the wolf,
! and when Confucius was trying to
| learn what the queer characters used in
Chinese writing and printing mean.
This explains what the poet meant
when he said " the boy is father to the
/ mani" whereas every boy knows that
he has no grown-up sons, and that none
Q of his playtellows have.-J T. Wood,
t in Golden Days.