, 1889-10-29
OBSERVATIONS ON wnls1.

Some Points on Learning the GAm@The
Best and Quickest Way.
In age cities teachers OF the game of
whist are enabled at present, slch Is the
popularity of the game, to earn quite re-
spectacle completeness at their calling.
Lake dancing masters, they charge a hIed
figure per lesson and agree to give in a GER
tain number of lessons q good working
knowledge of the game. The average Amer
lean, who perhaps in temperament Is half
way between the stolid Englishman and the
mercurial F~renchman, wants, when he takes
n fancy to a thing, to learn all there is about
1t in the quickest possible way, and he
Is perfectly willing to pay for 1t, IL
he doesn't happen TO be too poor,
80 that in America, when any new fad is
sprung" on the people, there is rapidly de-
veloped a number Of experts, and 1t is won
derful what proficiency Americans attain at
a new game in a short time. Witness, for in
stance, the roller skating craze, and how
quickly in every town in the country there
arose a local champion. Now, whist is not
exactly n fad. 1t Ia a more lasting amuse-
ment- But as society becomes welded
together in America the game grows
more popular among that class who are
anxious for intellectual pleasure. The
question which is more often asked me
than any other by novices in the game is,
now hOOu CAn 4 a I anu 4 pTOpDet 10
answer this question as well as 1t can be
answered. In the first place, whist can
never be learned perfectly, and this is one
reason why 1t is 50 fascinating. There is al
ways something more ahead. II is a com
mon expression in whist text books that al
most any one can, by practice. get up to a
certain point, but beyond that few can go.
This Is undoubtedly true, for whist is like
any other art-like music, or painting, or
writing, One must first grasp n certain num-
Der of facts; must learn them so perfectly
that the, are second nature, and then that
subtle something which some call genius
steps In and puts them TO the highest use.
What the beginner in whist wants to know
Is not how he can become n great whist
plAyer-no one can show him that-but how
he can In the shortest time acquire all the
facts 50 perfectly that he will use them in
voluntarily. A child learns a language not
by any process OF reasoning, but by memory.
Indeed, the best way for an adult to learn a
language Is to memorize so many words n
day until he gets vocabulary enough to swim
in. This is only Il question Of memory, and
this Is the most popular way of learning whist
and apparently the best. The beginner learns
certain rules and then certain more rules,
until by and by he knows them all, and then
whenever he makes a play he runs his men
tai fingers over his mental keyboard until he
comes TO the right one, presses 1t and he plays
the card. OF course, II he has got ordinary
intelligence he can't help but draw certain
conclusions, but the point about this
method of play is that it's parrot
play and nothing else. You begin on
memory and your reason in due course
of time is bound to assert itself. What you
want TO do is TO begin on reason and use
your memory ms an aid. Learn the theory
of the game first. Learn why YOU should
play second hand low and third hand high.
Twenty-six cards, divided into two groups
are pitted against tweuty-six other cards
divided into two more groups. Read Poles
essay and find out why certain lines OF play
are reasonable and logical. Think it over
and get the general theory of the game
lodged in your mind. Then go into details,
and this is whore your memory comes into
play.
The best and quickest way to learn the
game is TO reason out every rule as you come
to it. Then you will not only know 1t, but
know why it was made, which is OF most i'm
o~ortance. Tom LANSING.