Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-07-22
SUMNER PASTIME.
Maine Building-i Favorite German
Game, in Which the Wisest Pays for
Least deer.
From the New York Sun.

/ From the New York Sun.
/ There are several resorts in the upper part of
the city which are frequented only by particular
sets of Germans, and more nearly resemble
club rooms than beer saloons. While some one
plays the either, the usual company assemblies
shortly after dark these summer evenings, and
resolves itself into groups. A few play at chess,
others at domnoes, still others prefer to discuss
music painting and literature over their beer
and wine. Apart, in far corner, sit company
of six or eight gentlemen intent on a game
which tree translation might describe as His
| torical Puzzles" The faces of the group are
keen and critical. A few wear an intent ex-
preston; Others look perplexed; one or two
bask in serene contentment- possess the
/ key. The game requires few accessories. The
essentials are ready wit, ability in historical
controversy, a table, a bit of chalk. and
| sponge. The gentlemen seated about this
| table are, without exception, experts in his
| torical controversy, and to stagger them you
| must call to your assistance q vast amount of
| eruditiOn.
The immediate object of the game is to
! achieve some historical name, either that of
person or some event Usually the game is con-
| fined to names of persons. One of the party
writes down a nucleus of letters as they fol-
low IN proper order in any name. and then each
participant. in turn. adds, if he can. single
| lCttti oiic tuu VI tue OlHeF, Until TIC luil
name is set forth. No capital letters are al
lowed. and the Christian and surname. if both
are used. must be run together. Thus George
| Washington" If written according to the rules
| OF this game, will present himself as george
Washington
| Taking the chalk. No. writes "ercO." No. 9
| takes the chalk. He looks at ''ercO" with
troubled expression. He has two minutes by
the timekeepers watch in which to distinguish
himself. He fails to do so, and the timekeeper
cries ''Schwam' (spOnge) and drops that ar
ticle Ohe insignia of his ofiice) on the table
The result is that the tally man gives No. 2
marx No. 3 now grapples with the stua-
ton. He has had the benefit of No. 2's two
minutes and has. besides. two of his own to
draw upon. light breaks in on him, know
ing look comes into his eyes, and he adds an
[ 81, making ''ercOl." No. 4, to whom the chalk
is now transmitted, is still in the dark. and at
the expiration of two minutes takes mark.
No; sees the problem open before him. and
adds an III, thus-"hercol." No. fails, but
No z adds p, and We have .'phercol." No.
8 also makes an addition, and thereafter it is
plain sailing-'phercOlu.' '"phercolum, gopher
column" until Observation-Disclosures stands
forth.
| No. L might have begun with any other Sc
quence OF letters composing the name. as, for
instance, chr ''stOphe," ''bu." ''rist." The
final period must not be neglected 1t counts
as letter and is in order whenever it can be
appropriately employed. 1t frequently acts like
the previous question in debate. and cuts off
all controversy, at least at one end. Thus you
have in mind the father OF your country, and
| write ing" The next man. to your surprise.
| adds period. Your intended ''Washington"
is now spoiled and there is no going beyond
the period, all additions must be made to the
| lett. Finally the word turns out ''Irvlng,"
| 'Schelhng, or another name terminating i'm
| ing" Sometimes name is completed, and
needs but the period, yet Outlandish is it that
| none are aware of this fact except the person
who adds the last letter; and it has happened
TO larEn 1,ipn i,o,I ell
| the one in the secret, and that when his turn
came he quietly added the PERIOD to the intense
disgust of all the rest Parenthetcally. it may
be mentioned here that no initials are permitted.
| only full names, either with or without the
Christian name names. Thus, "Channing."
or William Ellery Claiming" but never wv
| f. Claiming"
| When a name is completed he who has scored
the most marks is entitled to start the next. If
| he feels confident that lie has hit upon a good
| one it will be to his interest to put down as
many letters possible without betraying his
| secret. lnasmuch as his nucleus" may be used
for any historic name to which it can be adj
| Justed. Let us take these letters-"Obrah."
Should he omit the so" and write .'brah' the
result might be ''abrahamlipcoln" which is sew
eral centuries beyond the period he wishes to
distinguish with selection. All go down be-
| fore ''Obrah." each scoring mark Now the
original scribe adds an 'h' thus '.hobrah."
Again all are in the dark and receive another
| mark. Next the original inventor makes it
| "chobrah." Matters are still as bad as before,
| and mark follows mark perchance until the full
| name is completed in order. as follows: 'ChO-
| brah. 'ychObrah." "ychObrahe." ''tychObrahe"
| And it might happen, even i'm fairly intelligent
| cOmpany-uness some member were astrOnom-
| cally inciined-that none would recognize the
name and add the final period, and thus all
| would reap another mark each.
AS In game of draw now and then some
| member will attempt to ''bluf" his way through
At a loss to make an intelligent addition, he will
In sheer desperation add any letter at random.
| trusting that he has, perchance, made lucky
hit. and that the next man will see his way to
solution or himself indulge in bluff. In either
such case the original "bluffer' is saved
mark. Should the next man give up the prob
| lem, however, and. perchance, suspectn9 a
bluff. call for 1.-The word. then No. l has nothing
TO do but confess. Any member. when his turn
comes to chalk, can at any time demand 1.-THE
word" from the man who made the last aGdi-
ton. If this one made correct addition and
| is able TO show that he was working toward an
intelligent conclusion, then the one who called
| takes mark and new word is begun. Should
the ''call " detect bluff. then the buffer takes
a mark. while all the rest subtract each mark
from his own score, unless it happens that none
stand against their names. Ii it is found that
! some member of the company is given to bluff
Ing he will tee called frequently.
| Whatever you do. be sure the name YOU are
attempting to achieve is in its best sense hstori-
| cal. As the company engaged in play constitute
the jury and decide this question by a majority
vote, these aggregate judgments will frequently
vary. and in any particular instance it will be
we'll 10 study the historical sense of the COM
| panv. so to speak. before yentGrDg upon doubt
| iul ground. The more learned tine players, the
more eXactng will they be in Their judgments.
! 1t does not suffice that name be incidentally
mentioned III some historical narrative Tile
name should be some real historical factOr--in
the language OF Carlyle. it should ''staBd for u
/ fact" or course, local and national pael,l,s;ees
/ and predictions must lie taken into account
An lrishElan for example. might contend that
his native isle has been doing little else than
/ tur ming out historical characters ever since it
was bit of dry land An Engiishnan Or a
! German. perhaps unduiy prejudced, would take
| quite q different view OF the case. Besides.
| name must be in no sense apOcryphal Among
| the unprecedented. Homer would pass. if at ALL
under serious 'msgivings. while in party of
Gerinans especially biblical names would be
likely To be excluded in bulk
Assume q company of eight. composed equally
OF Americans, Germans, Frenchmen and irish
men. You as one of the two Americans present
"ingb-' 1t proves q poser. The entire COM
pany goes down before it. You are finally
called" and write - sittngbutl." The name
Is greeted with howl of dersion espec:ai,y
from tine, German and p,t, h.,