Evening journal., 1898-01-01
THE GAME or colr.
II Il Really a Linguistic Disciuiinc
Lcnrncd Ont Of Doors.


II II Really "a Linguistic discipline
Learned Out Of Doors.
a celebrated metuphysician once said
shat the llegelian philosophy consisted
entirely OF scientific terminology
which no two people interpreted In the
same sense. hence It's value as source
OF endless discussion" The more you
talked the further you were from
conclusion, but you had a grand train
fng in diaectcs" 10 is eminently
proper that the game of golf should
originate with the metaphysical race,
the Scotch, for it consists partly Of
hard rubber ball. number OF peculiar
curved sticks and a becoming negieee
costume, but chiefly and primarily OF
a vocabulary. IL can be played, but
not properly played, without master
ing the vocabulary. II cannot be thor
oughly enjoyed unless the name
golf is rightly pronounced, but, as no
one knows how TO dothat, and all think
they do, the pronunciation is a matter
OF comparatively little consequence.
The proper use of the technical terms
however, is a matter Of vital impor,
tance. 4e
The principal words in the new lam
kuage are; Driver, putter, cleeS, loft
ing iron, niblic, mashie links, tees and
caddy. One who has thoroughly mas.
tered these words and wears a costume
ISL golfer" To confuse their inean-
ings, TO speak, for instance, Of ''holng
a caddy" or "lofting a links" or.call a
putting green 'niblic" IS as serious
a breech of good form as it would be
TO call fishing rod fish pole, as boys
did 25 years ago. before the tyranny
of the technical term set IN. To be
ure, you do walk about out Of doors
and strike the ball with the clubs, but
the real essence of the game lies in
wearing the costume and using the
words. A thorough mastery OF them Is
a liberal education.
Other subjects have their peculiar ter
minology, but in none of them is II SO
extensive and Of such educationalyalue
as in the game of golf. An eminent
authority defines an electrician as one
who thoroughly comprehends the word
potential and the notions collateral
AhhA't0s II 1u w ihAN lNi "WOllNt
and live on canned food and crackers,
you must speak Of the place where you
try TO sleep, not as a 'shanty," but as
"a camp" The name at once elevates
the place into the region Of sylvan po-
etry and makes discomforts enjoyable.
IT really is a shanty; call it so, and the
result is complicated discomfort; call it
a camp, and the result is happiness.
The right words are still more vital in
golf, because the vocabulary is more
extensive, though perhaps not con-
tanning any word of the peculiar po-
tency of the monosyllable, "camp."
But take the entire technical vocabulary
Of golf, IL is more productive Of a large
amount oflow-grade Joy than any other
agency in the world Low-grnde JOY
is far better worth attaining than high
grade Joy or excitement The great
value Of the game of golf can be read
lily seen. It presents an the advantages
of studying q language. It is less diff
lcu.t than Latin or French, and is
learned outdoors. 1t is called a game,
but in reality IL is a linguistic disci-
/ piine undergone in the open Dir un-
consciously, accompanied by moder-
ate pedestrian exercise and the wear
ing of n very sensible Scotch Uniform
Hartford Comm Courant.