The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1893-10-04

eight hundred years old, from China,
End the fourth purchased in a Chicago
store Although separated in time OF
manufacture by more than a thousand
years, the four playthings are almost
identical In pattern and material, the
only difference being in the substitu-
ton Of steel point in the modern toy
for the sharp-whittled wooden point Of
the Egyptian and Peruvian tops The
American small boy, when he discov-
ers this evidence Of brotherhood with
the aneients. fingers about the place,
marveling and asking questions until
he is literally dragged away by the
parents who have him in tow.
The older visitor is almost as greatly
surprised 70 find that the aneients
knew how to play what IS now known
Is the shelf game, and probably for
money as Il IS now. The implements
Of play are there 70 show how the
adopts Of old beguiled their victims
with the elusive shell under a thimble-
shaped cup, with its suggestions Of
''capPers" and fraud.
Then there are chess boards and men
from all the civilized nations addicted
to the game. The Chinese show mar
Feious sets, carved in ivory and inlaid
with pearl, beside the ornate though
more commercial-looking pieces and
boards from the European nations and
America. All Of them are the regula-
tion sets. showing that the oriental
people follow the game in exactly the
same fashion as their rivals Of the oc-
eident- In playing-cards the same uni
f0rmity OF pattern Is observed, though
the designs are worked ont in varying
degrees Of finish and workmanship
The most singular pack Of cards IS a
trophy of the Apache raids which ended
in the capture and exile OF Geronimo
and his followers in southern Arizona
and New Mexico. The entire pack Is
made OF human skin. evidently taken
from some captive Of the savages. The
skin is tanned and the spots marked
in for a monte" deck with the crude
pigments used as paint by the Apsehes
and other southwestern tribes When
Geronimo was finally captured the vii
lage which he had left was raided by
United States troops and the deck
taken by an army officer as one relic
OF the campaign. Other less gruesome
tokens Of the game OF all nations are
elaborately-decorated cards from Italy,
France, Spain and complete editions
Of old English cards
The games In which balls are used
show the same general similarity Of
ideas regardless OF latitude or longi-
tude- There IS the polo of East India,
which is very much the same as the
game played by the American Indians
mounted on their ponies; there is the
Scotch golf and the game we cal
.shinny;" there are cricket, baseball,
handball and the numerous variations
Of the same games as affected by the
climatic conditions Of the people who
play, but all showing the skill OF the
player on the same general line
AS in peace, 50 in war, the nations
Of the earth all show the influence of
primary conditions. Primitive man
everywhere takes 70 the club as the
FIRST weapon Of offense and defense.
The South Sea islander and the South
American Indian use exactly the same
pattern Of club, differing only in the
nature Of the wood and the Ornamental
ton Then came the spears and darts
"a remarkable collection from Aus
traiia, South and Central America,
Africa, Asia and Europe. a curious
thing observable Of the shields is the
custom of marking the tribal or family
coat of arms on the front of the shield
and using il as civilized nations use
their fiags-a standard 90 be followed
in battle and fought for 20 the death IL
It is in danger of capture. Some of
the South Sea island shields, for in
stance. are covered with designs that
have served for hundreds of years as
the heraldic token of a family gen
ealogy beside which an English family
tree would seem miserably new and
tawdry.
A still further stage Of development
in the weapon line is shown by the
formidable array Of blow-guns
equipped with poisoned arrows Here.
too, the parallel between separated
peoples is shown, for the forest natives
of Africa and the savage forest tribes
of South America follow the same sys-
tenn OF manufacture and use of weap-
ons and depart from the parallel only
in the different poisons used.
Manufactures for domestic use, such
as the making Of cloth, weaving of
baskets, pottery manufacture and other
processes. naturally follow the diseov-
cry of domestic necessities, and the
first man everywhere seems to have
conceived one general system TO be
varied by the individual according to
his fancy, preserving always the dis
tinguishing mark of q primitive