The record-union., 1892-11-26
FOR WHIST PLAYERS.
Systematic Play Begets Accurate
Deduction.
Strong Study in the School of Express
sion-Some More Reliable Data in
the Great Modern Scientific Game.
lInter-Ocean.1

Of play that any accuracy in deduction
can be obtained. And as it is through
this essential medium-correct inference
that the finer points of finnesse are
reached, it is quite necessary that there
should be tacit agreement among the
contestants, supplemented by the "honor
bright" of childhood days, as to the
proper leads, follows and discards, from
the many combinations of cards that the
game Of whist admits. The so much
talked and written-about possibilities of
the great game depend entirely upon the
rules which regulate the play. If one
player prefers the Foster system, !"
which advises leading the kingwith ace
or queen, or both, regardless of number
OF cards in suit, and another stands by
''Cavendish," who wisely dictates the
necessity OF informing the length of suit,
as with a heading of ace and king, the ace
is led if more than four is held, the king
II only four, it is evident the possibilities
are rather mixed. The confusion result
ing from lack Of consistency pei ierts
ana degrades the higher order of cslcula-
I IlOn, which should evenly progress along
the line of perfect development. Great
care must be given to the opening leads
OF the lOur suits, because these form the
corners OF the square on which the mind
structure of the game is built. Should an
architect in erecting a building allow an
imperfect foundation the fabric would not
hold together.
AN IDEAL EDIFICE IN PLAY.
Each time game of whist is played in
teIIisenty four persons cooperate in
erecting an ideal editice OF great strength
and beauty. DO you think this fairy
IKE castle dlSsOlVes and is no more, when
the participants disperse and take up
other threads Of thought? Not So 1t
hrmIy adhcres together. The economy
OF nature permits nothing to be lost
some day this INTERVENING Of thoughts
/ Will mysteriOusly float before the bur
/ mshed mirror Of justice. which will re-
! veal All the different shades and degrees
/ OF impulse employed in its construction.
/ Not till then can the great possibilities
/ lhat are III deal of cards be realized
I Y ME there is one Interpreter OF the
game OF whist, whose observation, con-
centratIOn OF thought, acute perception
and sk!lIiuI management mark him q
\ brilliant man. there are hundreds who
I can not penetrate beyond the cards within
their own hand, and to whom The glow
/ ing truths that are ever "betWeen the
lines" are meaningless nothings.
The symmetrical proportions of the
game depend upon the equality ofthought
used i'll its management.
Ii the mind structure proves imperfect
/ the stimulus afforded to the senses gives
a new Impulse TO try again." and in
each reproduction greater satisfaction
is felt
E. a. PoE's OPINION.
Hear what Edgar Allen Poe says about
the all-absOrbing game:
Nv Inst has long been noted for Its in
Huehce upon " Aat IS termed the calcu-
Iatlng power; and men Of the highest or
der OF intellect have been known to take
an apparently unaccOumtaDle delight in
1t, escheWing chess as frivolous. Bevond
a doubt there is nothing OF a similar ma
ture 50 greatly taslling the faculty of an
alysis. The best chessplayer in Christen-
I dom may pc little more than the best
player Oh chess; but proficiency in whist
implies capacity Ior success in all those
! more important undertakings where
mlnu struggles with mind. When | say
| prOhcleucy mean that perfection in the
| game which includes a comprehension of
/ all the sources whence legitimate ad-
! vantage may be derived. These are not
! only manifold, but multitornI, and lie
/ frequently among recesses of thought al
together inaccessible to the ordinary un-
dtrstandlng. To observe attentiveIy is to
remember distinctly; and, SO far, the con-
! templative cheSsplayer will do well at
whist, while the rules Of Hoyle them
selves based upon the mere mechanism of
the game are sufficiently and generally
comprehensive.
SKILL OF THE ANALYST.
But it is in matters beyond the limits
OF mere rule that the skill Of the ANALYST
is evinced. He makes in silence a host of
observations and inferences. He exam
ines the cOuntenance of his partner, COM
pairing it carefully with that OF each Of his
! 70 Il, !.
asserting the cards in each hand, often
counting trump by trump and honor by
honor through the glances bestowed bv
their holders upon each. He notes every
variation of the face as the play pro-
crosses, gathering fund of thought from
| the differences in the expression of GER
tainty, of surprise, of triumph, of chagrin.
| From the manner of gathering uD a trick
he judges whether the person taking it
can make another in the suit. He recog-
nZes what is played through feint by the
air with which it is thrown upon the
table. A casual or inadVertent word; the
accidental dropping or turning OF card
with the accompanying anxiety or care
lessness in regard to its concealment: the
counting of the tricks with the order of
their arrangement; embarrassment, hesi-
tation, eagerness, or trepidation all
afford to his apparently intuitive percep-
ton indications Of the true state OF affairs.
a MENTAL SCRAP-BAG.
''The first two or three rounds having
been played, he is in full possession Of
the contents of each hand, and thence
forward puts down his cards with as alb
solute precision Of purpose as if the rest
of the party had turned outward the faces
of their own"
Poe must have fallen among thieves
and robbers i'll his whist experience. In
the present manner OF play his noble
faculties would be engaged in a higher
order of surveillance than scrutinizing
the facial changes and peculiar arrange
ment of cards for penetrating the secrets
OF a hand.
His tacile pen would picture the very
plth Of understanding of the modern
game of whist, with its inaudibIe lam
guage of the card alone unalIoved with
any demonstrations of physical nature
TO aid in conveying information. Each
card is stamped with its own individu-
allty, and, with the order ami dignity Of
well-disciplined soldier, takes It's post
of duty, silently proclaiming its desire
for usefulness. Success depends upon
something more reliable in the modern
scientific game than the varying and Oft
times assumed expressions of the players.
In those days whist was not language.
and every card played an intelligent sen
tence, as Clay has said, who was mostly
right in his estimation of the game Of
whist.
THE CAUSTIC CLAY.
But he was away off in his denuncia-
ton of his countrymen, as follows:
ra.ah al H.