The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1895-02-08
SEEN AT THE WHIST TABLE.
Mannerisms and Weaknesses Observed
Among Devotees of the Great Game.


Among Devotees of the Great Game.
The methods and mannerisms observa-
BILE among whist players are exceedingly
various, and some of them are extremely
amusing Peculiarities are by no means
confined to weak players, but are nearly
as prevalent among those of the first rank.
No one who has taken part in tournaments
can have failed to notice scores of indiVid-
ual eccentricities. The nervous players
form quite considerable class. Such men
wear their nerves not only outside of their
SKINS but also outside of their clothes. A
whisper in far corner of the room, the
shuflling of single pair of feet or any
other noise that would pass unnoticed by
a person of average physical constitution
sets man of this class fairly wild. He
squirms in his chair, plays badly and
finally tries to secure silence by thunder
ing raps on the table, making ten times
the disturbance that the original offender
did.
Next in prominence is the player who
cannot help abusing his partner. OF this
genus there are several species. Probably
the most common is the denunciatory. He
informs his partner in strong language
that his play can only be explained on the
of the idiot asylum, or gives him to under
stand that he is a whist ignoramus. The
mildly sarcastic is another type, the man
who in a gentle voice asks for an explana-
ton of the exact mental process that led
his partner to believe that some peculiarly
diabolical blunder could not be of advan-
tage to their score, or who quietly remarks
that he is pleased that only two tricks
wero lost on hand, when it would have
been possible for his partner, by the exer-
else of little ingenuity, to throw away
four. Then there is man who uses
bludgeon, informing his partner that it is
not necessary for him to use a shovel to
throw tricks out of the window, and re-
marking in loud tone that it is hard for
a man to win when he has three oppo-
nents.
There are number of ways in which
such criticism is met. Some maintain, in
spite of absolute proof to the contrary,
that their play was correct. The more
common method is for the malefactor to
grow nervous, turn red and play ten times
worse than before. A not unusual method
is to claim that a wrong card was drawn
by accident, or that the player had made
a mistake as to who had led. The fact
seems to have no effect on the men who
make them.
There are two particularly exasperating
kinds of players-those who are too rapid
and those who are too slow. Give one Of
the first class good hand, and when he
leads winning card he seems unable to
wait until the rest have played, but holds
his next card in his hand separated from
the remainder. This practice gives rise to
any number of improper intimations.
The slow player is almost as exasperating.
With only single card of a suit in his
hand he will reflect for half minute be-
fore putting it on the ace led. Then there
is the man who keeps his eyes glued to
his hand, as if in fear that it would escape
him, and sees scarcely anything that Is
played by his partner or his opponents.
This fault is very common one. Then
there is the man who puts every winning
card with bang on the table. He is usu-
ally of bucolic antecedents. 1t is nearly
always the case that the man who hest
tates is lost. When a player is seen gaz-
ing upward toward the chandelier, as if to
extract inspiration from that article of
furniture, his partner shoulders, for he
knows that he is nearly certain to commit
some outrageous abomination. The man
who plays good game when with medi
OGRE partners, but goes to pieces when
with experts, simply because he thinks he
must do something extraordinary, and con-
sequently never plays a natural card, is
peculiarly trying. If players would follow
two cardinal rules-to keep their eyes on
the board and never to become "rattled"-
the game of whist would be greatly inn
proved.-St Louis Globe Democrat.
New York City's Highest Point.
1t is popularity supposed that the highest
point on Manhattan Island-that is, the
highest natural point, for skyscraping
buildings do not count in the computa-
tions of surveyors--is the Block House in
Central park. This is an error. The high
est point is on Washington Heights with
in the property owned by James Gordon
Bennett. 1t is 265 feet above tide water.
Prior to the building of the One Hundred
and Fifty-fifth street viaduct access to
Washington Heights was by wooden steps,
and any one who ever had occasion to
walk up these steps to reach the Fort
Washington bluff will be ready to believe
that the elevation is at least $50 feet above
tide water and probably good deal more.
The high points of New York are nearly
all OH the west side. The top of the Tenth
avenue hill at One Hundred and Thirty
sixth street is 1876 feet above tide water.
The Tenth avenue hill at One Hundred
and Eighteenth street near the Powder
House is 1874 feet above tide water. These
two hills, as all true Harlemites know,
slope downward to the natural valley at
Manhattan street, where the cable cars
turn into Tenth avenue. The highest
point ON the east side is at the intersection
of Fourth avenue and Ninety third street.
1t is 100 feet above tide water. 1t would
be untrue to say that New York is an ir-
regular city, for the half of 1t beyond the
Harlem river is tolerably level-intolcr-
ably so some persons tbink-but Manhat-
tan Island is certainly irregular, though
less so than some American cities, particu-
larly Boston. The leveling process has
been going on moro and more rapidly in
New York than elsewhere.-New York
Sun.