The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-07-17

clergyman who, when he went out for a game, took with him an unregenerate friend for the purpose of getting him to swear for him when occasion arose. Whether true or not, this tale suggests to us the boon that would be bestowed on the fastidious golfer by the inven- tion, of a choice number of explosive but harmless words and phrases, wherwith they might relieve their feel ings without committing sin; patent might be taken out for "A Vocabulary of Golfers Swear words, warranted per- fectly innocent, for use at the tee and In bunkers.'' p
 The accusation that golf weakens the power of a mans memory-we say nothing of a woman s--in the matter, for instance, of keeping a correct rec ord of the strokes he has taken, is one that might require somewhat more trouble and ingenuity to rebut. The golfer has yet to be discovered who can be depended upon, when left to his own unaided devices, to count accurately beyond seven in a bunker. Men of high honor and unblemished reputation in all other walks of life have been known to drop a stroke (of their own) out of their memory at three consecu- tive holes. Some have suggested that there is a lacuna or blind spot in the golfers vision of his own performance; and into this gulf of oblivion odd strokes have a trick of falling and get ting lost.
 Not for worlds would we suggest that the errors are made consciously. It is only that, such is the nature of man and of golf, in playing the game one wishes vehemently, and often ends by
 believing what he wishes, In short, there Is vast deal of human nature in golf This Is the worst, as we'll as the best, that can be said of the golf course as training ground in morals. Those who object to it on this ground may as well, or better object to the great game
 of life itself. A medical authority has
 described golf as an invention for add ing ten years to a mans lifetime. The
 moralist can condemn it only by taking the standpoint of the pessimist, and subscribing to the opinion of the High | land minister that i've are aal meeser- able wurrums, craaling on the face of | the earth" so that by increasing years we are only increasing sorrow and
 heaping up iniquities. Golfers are Of a | more bracing faith. They recognize i'll their favorite pastime grand school | for the manly virtues.
 | It is curious, too, to note how justly
 and impartially the blessings of golf are distributed. On some it showers
 smiles and favors; while others it takes
 more seriously in hand, and puts them | through harsh but salutary course in l the bearing of disappointments. The
 good player may get the cream of the
 round in quantity; but the bad player l has long pull of him in quantity: ne | gets twice as much exercise and expe-
 rience (and turf) out of the green in go- ] ing over the same space It may be I questioned, also, if the champion, play l ing at the top of his form. takes so keer I a pleasure as that which, once at leas'
 in every golfing day, must visit the yer. l fest duffer that ever handled club. The l one miraculous putt; the solitary l chance-led approach shot that dropped
 dead beside the hole; the single ant
 most inexplicable clean drive from tho tee, is remembered and cherished, ane all the disappointments that come be l tween are forgotten. It was unexpect ed; and in golf, as in life, blessed ar' they that expect little.