San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-03-11
DEATH WON THE GAME.

Two Great Chess Players Leave q Mar
veIous Contest Undecided.
Eight months and half the game had
gone on. And such IA game, my children!
Tom Penny, Britisher, against Jonathan
Pym, Yankee; England against America;
the Old World against the New!
Between the Club Electric of New York
and the Club Eccentric of London emula-
ton had exalted itself to patriotism, On
the day of defeat the flag of the vanquished
nation would float reversed from the bal
cony of the dishonored club and all the
chessboards for six months at least re-
main yelled with Grape
Thus openly must be carried, and as
frankly borne, these tokens of mourning
and affront. which no revenge should eff.
face.
For such was the condition of the com
bat-the match to be the only one of its
kind.
The momentous question of the battle
decided upon, then arose the subsidiary
question, Where should the encounter
take place?
They sought ground of Cancellation.
But where find it,
Cornelius Kevick. the impresario, in
charge of the affair, proposed to charter
steamer, which should be stationed in mid
ocean, equidistant from the American and
the English coast, aboard which the two
adversaries should betake themselves and
there remain while the match lasted. In
genious as it was. however, this idea was
forced to the wall They must find some
other way
They found tin the electric cable,
which once more was going to merit its
name of blond of union" between the
Old and New Worlds.
This is how it was that for eight months
and half Jonathan Pym and Tom Penny
had disputed by dots and dashes for the
glorious title of Universal Champion of
the Noble Game Of Chess"
At IL o'clock, SAY, Tom Penny would
telegraph to Jonathan Ppm.
And one hour later Jonathan Pym would
respond
Dating from Oct. u. 1889, the game for a
long while had been indecisive Toward
the end of December Tom Penny showed
signs of weakness, throwing the partisans
of Jonathan Pym into a state of excitement
that set them to quarreling among them
selves like political bosses"
But suddenly. in the middle of January,
the English champion by genial ruse re.
conquered all his lost advantage Down
went Pyml up went PENNY
At last, on the 25th day of May, 1889, the
American had one of those inspirations
that conquer even destiny. On the re
ceipt of his dispatch Tom Penny had cold
sweat.
But he did not give up-oh, nol-and five
dava lafaP tho QNth Of Mou h,l
lively CLEAN of hope A sudden move of
his adversary had opened to him door of
safety. One such blunder at that moment
was decisive. Could it be possibles
Tom Penny examined the board more
closely. The blunder was not certain II
might cover supreme stratagem What
should he think What course to pursue
of the two in view, Was it sham or errors
Should he pass the door that had been
opened to him? If error, Jonathan Ppm
was lost; it sham, Tom Penny was routed
That day Tom Penny wrote out his own
telegram: he played his last stake and
knew It,
An hour later, unfolding his message.
Jonathan Pym smiled triumphantly.
Gentlemen" said he to his colleagues
of the Club Electric, wait until tomorrow!
In twelve hours time England's champion
will have signed his own condemnation"
The next day in London members of the
Club Eccentric found Tom Penny on the
floor of his chamber, struck down by apo.
plexy and still rigidly clutching in his
hand the dispatch that had killed him.
And already for two long hours in the
grand salon of the Club Electric Jonathan
Pym had awaited from London the tele
gram of his vanquished foe.
Jonathan Pym frowned and fidgeted.
That telegram he must have-then, and
then only, could the game be ended. With.
out it the match would remain unfinished.
The door opened and fiunky appeared,
bearing on salver folded paper.
"A dispatch for Mr. Jonathan Pym."
He seized it, opened it and read aloud
the following four words:
Your adversary is dead"
The paper escaped his fin, ;eis and fell to
the floor, caught up at once by those be
side him to verify the text
THAT is not alp they CRIED "they de
mand response"
They shall have itl'' said Pym, and
with firm hand writing beneath the
line "Your adversary is dead" the two
words Il also!" he drew pistol from his
pocket and sent ball through his brain.
The game was still draw between
them, but was no longer an international
affair.-Boston Globe.
When Coins Were First Made.
Certain passages in the Iliad OF Homer
would lead to the inference that coins of
brass were struck as early rs | ,lS years Il
q. Tradition afIirms that the Chinese had
bronze coins IA early as ll20 b. e. But