The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-12-09
HISTORY OF THE
GAME OF WHIST
Something Made Pertinent BY the Re.
vived Interest ln the Game.
SCRANTON VS.. ELMIRA PLAYERS.
This City's Team Lost the Match ny
Small Margin..SOmething About
Ancient Whist..COmparisOn OF Dill.
tcrcnt Kinds Of Whist Games.

aSmalI Margin. About
Ancient Whist. decomposition Of Dii.
fcrcnt Kinds Of Whist Games.
The fact that there is widespread
revival of interest in whist all over
the country is generally understood
and nowhere has the game taken Il
deeper hold than in Scranton. A writer
in the Baltimore Sun in speaking OF the
game says: Whist was originally called
"whisk." by which latter name II Is
spoken of in "Taylor's Motto, pup
lished in 1921. 1t was first spelled
.whist," so fas as known, by Butler in
the second part of his "Hudibras, pup.
lished in 1868. 1t is generally accepted
that. whichever way it was speiied' the
name was derived from the idea Oh
silence or close attention. which the
game certainly requires. There Is
fair basis for the claim made by It's
devotees that whist is the most lntei-
lectual of all games. 1t has been urged
that, as there is no element of chance
in the proper playing of chess, that
science is not correctly classified among
games, But in whist chance does not
enter into the playing, although the
intellect and skill of the player count
for much. At chess single trial or
skill may last the entire evening, keep
ing the brain on continuous Stretch,
while at whist hand lasts but a Few
minutes. and one may play nifty hands
during the evening, none or Whlch are
at all alike and all requiring active
memory, close and keen observation
and sound Judgment. Sometimes bold
ness and daring will carry the day,
while on the other hand. caution,
evinced by forethought, and wisdom,
applied to practice, will be found more
efIicacious.
There are five different games OF
whist known to history, namely:
Long whist, counting honors, game
that is now almost obsolete; short
whist. counting honors. which is still
popular in England; short whist, not
counting honors. which is the popular
form of the game in America and in
France; dummy whist and double dunn
my whist which find favor also in this
country and in France. According to
Hoyle" is a phrase much used, refer
ring to the first great authority on
whist, whose book appeared in l143.
But long whist is no longer played
except by persons who cultivate eccen-
tricity. the phrase is somewhat out of
date. The American game of whist,
as formulated officially by the Wash
ington club" limits the score to five
points and makes no reckoning of hon.
ors. English visitors to this country
are often heard to say that they prefer
American whist to the game as 1t Is
played in London clubs where honors
are still counted, though Hoyle's orig
inal score of ten points has been re-
duced to five. 1t Is obvious that in the
English form of the game the element
of chance predOminates. seeing that
four out of the five points required to
be made to win may all be held in one
hand, leaving only one-fifth of the
points to be gained by skillful playing.
American whist Is, therefore, far
more severe intellectual exercise.
The literature of whist throws much
interesting light on its origin and evo-
luton. 1t was developed, no doubt,
from the old card game of the six
teenth century called triumph" or
trump" This game was called by its
first players ruff and honors." Its
leading feature was that one particu-
lar suit had the predominance of the
other three In the game, and so became
the trump (or trump cards. The IA
nous Bishop Latimer, in a sermon
preached at Cambridge about 1929 used
the terms of the old game of triumph
Cor trump as metaphors. An extract
from this discourse runs as follows:
Where you are wont to celebrate
Christmas in playing at cards, intend.
with Gods grace, to deal unto you
Christ's cards, wherein you shall per-
ceive Christ's rule. The game that we
play at shall be the triumph, which,
II 1t be well played at, he that dealeth
shall win.+ You must mark also
that the triumph must apply to fetch
home unto Him all the other cards,
whatsoever suit they be of. Then,
further, we must say to ourselves,
What requireth Christ of a Christian
MANI Now turn up your trump, your
heart (hearts Is trump, as i said be-
fore), and cast your trump, your heart,
on this card" The game of trump Is
also alluded to by Shakespeare in AN
tony and Cleopatra" Act w, Scene IL,
first published in 1923:
"Antony.-My good knave. Eros, now thy
captain Is
Even such a body; here am, Antony;
Yet cannot hold this visible shape, my
knave.
/ made these wars for Egypt; and the
Whose heart I thought had, for she had
Which. whilst it was mine, had annexed
untot
a million more. now lost-she. Eros. has
played my glory
Unto an enemy's triumph"
Concerning Monday nights games in
Elmira in which a team from the
Scranton Whist club was defeated, the
Elmira Advertiser of Tuesday says:
"The long talked Of and much ex-
pected whist tournament between
teams from Scranton and Elmira was
played off last evening in the rooms of
the Century club. The Scranton party
arrived in town over the Delaware.
Lackawanna and Western road at 43O
o'clock in the afternoon and went at
once to the Rathburn house, where
they dined.
EARLY in the evening they visited
the club rooms, where they met the
most cordial welcome from the gentle
men present. Promptly at O'Clock.
the games were started and proceed
ed. until after II o'clock, to their con-
clusion. The general management of
the affair was in charge of w. NJ Eas-
terbrook and +. A. Hudson, assisted
during the evening by c. s. Sly and
Judge Edgar Denton in distribution of
the boards and arrangement of the
players at the tables.
Twelve men on side were op-
posed to each other and at the end Of
the match, social session was held
with German luncheon, which was
heartily enjoyed by the contestants
and a few friends who dropped in to
share the festivities. All those pres
ent voted the match a great success
and look forward with n.sn anticipa-
tions to the return match to be played
at some time not yet appointed The
Scranton gentlemen were a most agree
able company and made friends of all
who met them. They are exceedingly
careful and well-informed players and
put up good steady game.
1.-The Elmira team expected to lose
the match from their inexperience in