Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-10-04
KITE-FIGHTS In INDIA.
A POPULAR PASTiME AMONG THE
BOYS OF HINoosTAN.

Ho~ Fighting Kites Are Made-Amount
of Thread Consumed-ysrious Kinds Of
Motion-Cuttins an Antagonist Thread
| All Delight in the Game.
In India there are shops where they sell
kites very cheap; so very few people MAKE
them at home. Besides, 1t wants a fine
| and praticed hand to make the thin, we'll
balanced fighting kites. They are made
Of one (square) shape, but of various sizes,
| the smallest being eight inches square and
| the largest two feet square. The most
common and useful ones are foot square.
Very thin but strong paper, resembling
tissue or cigarette paper, of all colors, is
used for the purpose. But whether the
kite is made of one or different pieces Of
paper. il must be of the same thickness
| throughout The backbone is a straight,
fiat, strong, well finished lath, and the
bow is made out of a cane or piece Of
plant wood half as thick as the back
bone, round and knotless. The latter
must be Of equal thickness and weight
throughout its whole length, as on it
mainly depends the balance of the kite.
The tail. which is merely finish or an
ornament is triangular or round meas
uring only two or three inches at the
longest.
THE THREAD USED.
Strong card thread is used to fly kites
with. The English manufacturers would
be surprised TO learn the amount OF cotton
thread consumed in India for this pur-
pose; one lad using as much as 10,Uoo
yards in the course of a year. Silken
thread is a lso used, though rarely. The
knots joining the pieces being made fine,
smooth, and strong the whole length of
the thread is drawn through a mixture of
fine pounded glass and light starch,
which give it keen edge The dried
thread, which is now ready for fighting
purposes, is then wound up on-a wooden
frame resembling a spool, Great ingenu-
ity Is spent in making this spool or roller
light useful, and handsome.
Next, as to the motion OF the kite. Two
pieces exactly equal in length off the
main thread are tied TO the kite; one at the
meeting point Of the bow and the back
cone; the other few inches lower to the
backbone only. There are two useful
kinds of motion besides the ordinary
straight one; the wheeling motion, in
which the kite wheels round and round,
the quivering motion, in which its head
Keeps on quiyering sideways as It fles up
ward; both being very graceful A prac-
tical hand can give to the kite either mo-
tion as he pleasss. or course a good deal
depends on the proper fastening of the
kite. II it wheels too much you must
make the lower fastening thread shorter;
or II it leans too much on one side you
should stick a piece of paper or fine linen
to the bow on the other side. Similarly
there are other little means to regulate
the motion Of kite.
As in all warfare, great skill and prac-
tice are required to fight well with kites,
and maneuvering counts a great deal in
paper actions. Sometimes the enemy has
certain advantages over you. For in
stance, his house is higher than yours Gn
India kites are usually flown from the
fiat tops Of houses, commanding greater
swoop, or his kite may be a little bigger
than yours. in which case his thread will
have greater tension. These disadyan-
tages one must learn to counteract; but
these are details.
METHODS OF FIGHTING.
There are two methods of fiZhting-the
pull method and the loose method In
the former, which is the quicker and
more skillful of the two you attack the
enemy by leading your kite by deep
swoop under the other, and then at q
judicious time pulling it so fast that your
antagonist will fail to make the point
where your thread touches his loose
enough by letting out his thread
You have good chance of cut
ting his thread. In the other
method, which is more common,
and which requires great patience and
wa,chfulness, you lead your kite either
over or under his, AMI then let out the
thread, in which he follows One has TO
be careful in this kind of fight as to which
of the two motions-the wheeling or the
quivering-he gives to the kite at different
times The chances OF winning are in
creased by a keener edge, a favorable
breeze, or other small advantages. One
might think that, everything being equal,
ii is a mere chance that you will cut the
many other things which look simple and
seem to depend ON chance. a good deal Of
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