The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-05-02
AROUNDTHE WHIST TABLE.
,,ccrSS or III TOMEN,S WHIST
C0NGRFSS IN PHILADELPHIA.
pc,nancnt ''Womcn's whist League" Or
,r,yrd-Thc winners OF the Matches Not
Vet prtcrmincd-About Leading rumps
y..crptInu Problems - Club Notes.

po,nancnt "Nomcn'a whist League" Or
,r,I,ri-Thc winners or the Matches Not
81 decentralization Leading Truinps-
,.,ceptInu Problems Club Notes.
Tho Wimcn's Whist Congress met at tho
u,,cl walton, in Philadelphia, on Tuesday last
and continued in session for throo days. Mayor
warwick OF Philadelphia and w. II. Barney OF
pr,,itcncc. President of tho American Whist
Ico,ur. made the opening addresses. and then
tho ladies lot down TO work and disposed of tho
,o,,inc business in n remarkably short time.
Mr.. r.. II. Andrews Of Philadelphia was in tho
,lpir. Mrs. VI. A.. krcbbs OF San Francisco was
Scrr,,..y. aud they were assisted Ivy the rcInain-
,,y members Of tho original committee: Mrs.
Jo,rrl H.. Niwlcy OF Washington, Mrs. Waldo
ADAMS o. boston. Mrs. Clarence Brown OF
Toledo. and Miss Susan ID. Biddlc OF Detroit.
ucgmlncnt organization was effected on
wednesday, and tho namo of tie "Womcn's
whist League" adopted, with tho insignia of
the acc OF diamonds. bearing the initials w. w.
l.. The constitution and bylaws, together with
the Laws OF Whist, were copied from those OF
tme American Whist League. Each club will
pav $40 annual dues, and individuals not belong
~ = en- 5 Clubs wero represented at the meeting,
and they all signitlcd their intention of joining.
There were three principal contests to be de-
for mixed nairs. ladies and gentlemen playing MS
p9rinGrs. Play began on TUESDAY ~ afternoon,
pctitors ont OF nearly 800 entries. This is nearly
twice as many as the largest representation at
three tables and 1872 players Mt Manhattan
Beach being the best before this. The players
were divided into three sections. the hands to DO
played in each having been previously dealt and
duplicated, so that tho same cards were played
in eth e n , n,s5ST t, rhe second md r9 = Wa was snn nmisGSd
that those who had made the highest aggregate
score for the two days, n and $ and f and " in
match among themselves for the championship.
Who these fortunate pairs were could not be as
ing employed; but it will perhaps be known be-
fore next sunday.
The match, for mixed. players was played on
not duplicated. Hiawley's, Slips were used
knew the result. even next day. but the mat
Ter was, TO be settled in time for them to play
and Mrs. f.. I. Baker OF Brooklyn were known
to have made the top score in both rounds in
HrooR SSgi.1 MADE I,f the Mri top pn score nlsT one nu eSenin S:so and %
within one of it the other. The final result OF
neither contest. nor that OF the women's fours,
was known when this column went TO press, but
will be given next week.
Take it altogether. the Congress was a much
greater success, than any one expected, and
quite eclipsed the mems. The delegates were
all prominent women in the cities from which
they came. and when the 800 of them assembled
ing toilets, they made a most impressive specta-
S !; Not ) only M Was ne En @ttendahhS ni iiq Ia aSf d dnhn an
Of the best judges. the play was steadier and
better all through than it was among the men at
Western, women. especially. the teachers, ex-
pressed their surprise at finding everything was
sbe eSn s Ied t to ibe eliPPSc the safu ecmm r19s nae
game, had few followers; instead of which
ions-suiters. although many called themselves
such. y teacher from Chicago. who had come
on expressly to study Eastern methods. told THE
SUS representative that she was much. inn
pressed with the improvement that the short.
suit idea had made in the women's game. and
in their inlay here as compared to that in the
West. There was an entire absence Of the oppo-
sition to short-suitism so apparent at Manhattan
Beach u year ago, and the general tendency
seemed to be to get the best expert opinion as to
Just how much Of the short suits made a good
LEADING TRUMPs.
Several correspondents of THE Sun have
called attention to the fact that the trump,
these articles are evidently finding favor with
the crack teams, and they point to the recent
Hamiltons of Philadelphia and the Americans
Of Boston as an example. Hamilton was twelve
end Of deal No. ii, Remak's team having won
five singles, two doubles, and 2 triple. Capt.
gethcr and instructed them ito lead trumps, re-
~gardless, of number, whenever the hand pre-
scntcd the least excuse for such tactics"
This style of game was SO successful that not
only did the American team pull down Hamil-
toms lead until it was only ono trick, but Hamil-
IVA VIC AfAtAN w 'AAh 'A tAfAA h'At
and q double on the next thirty. hands played.
making breaks of seven, five, four, and three
hands in succession. without winning n trick.
or course ii was claimed by the Hamiltons that
the hands were admirably suited for bold trump
leads. and for that reason the tactics were sue
cessful. But. as has been pointed out by THE
sCN all along, the majority OF hands are suited
to this style Of play i they belong to the class
reasonable excuse for leading trumps." There
Is probably no part OF whist strategy that works
60 well as bold trump leading, II there is any
likelihood OF the players hand being benefited
II the trumps can be got out of his way.
One Of the common results Of the trump lead
is to prevent the adversary from leading trulnps
when he should do so. The hand published in
THE Sun last week was an excellent example of
this. ii being clearly rs game to lead trumps
every time he got in, which he would have done
but for the fact that A had led them, and u
counted him for four. when he had only three.
Here Is another remarkable example of the
same tactics. which resulted in "a swing of five
tricks, all of which were due to the fact that
both sides could gain by leading trumps, but
the one that did it first scared the other out of
IT,. The hand was played in a practice match
last week. ABB were, partners against T-I; y
dealt and turned the heart acc. Tho underlined
card wins the trick. and the card under it is the
next one led. Buftinton and Kelley held ABS
cards on tho ORIGINAL rlny