The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-04-23
KITE GAMBLING.
. Porto Rican sport That Gains the
Absorbing Attention.
Bv Lucie France Pierce.

BY Lucle france 9leIce.
nm the long slopes of brilliant green
/ grass that stretch away from the walls of
| ,rietobal Colon and dwindle down into the
/ airv of San Juan, a great crowd of curious
and noisy men, women and children stand
every morning, gesticulating half madly at
one another, talking very fast and occas-
sonallv breaking up into little groups,
/ more excited than the rest. Above their
/ heads there is always a fiotilla of big
/ kites, ducking, diving, floating upward,
and performing queer tricks as they flirt
4 end play with the ocean wind believing
Inward from the Southern sea.
There were women In that eager crowd,
mob of pretty girls who wore badly made
| French hats, and their duennas came
/ with rich lace mantillas over their heads,
/ and hundreds of street Arabs, besides a
4 group of solid-looking, sedate priests.
/ American kodak tiends, tourists and scores
Of native men.
l saw a great red paper monster dart
swiftly upward above the others. Then
a shout went up from the crowd. 1t SEEM
led 10 be having a race with a blue one
sailing dangerously near. A hundred
trembling arms with outstretched fingers
IdlSCu lldll III lIle dlT, shaking
i five and ten peso notes, offering bets on
q the red. The champions of the blue made
a verbal pools and so the betting went on.
amid tremendous excitement, more notice
liable than a public demonstration in honor
4 Of the governor general.
Suddenly the flyer of the blue a dirty
<lttle Catanian, unwound several yards
&Of SUNG that guided his airship Its
+ tail was long, striped like the hide of a
zebra, and loaded with strips of cardboard
+ all along its graceful length. Little Ameri-
Ecan flags f1oated from the edges of the
s kiie and the end of the tail, for this dirty
Porto Riquean was a diplomat, like his
[brothers And when he unwound the guild
ling lever, at once the blue shot up. hud-
4 died close beside the red for moment. and
#then at once, with an incomprehensible
Enforcement, it darted across the face of its
antagonist and in a moment the latter
was floating downward incontrollably to-
ward the ground. The sharp curved knife
with which the blue was burdened had
severed the string of the red, and the latter
had lost and the victorious kite flew up
EWard like a newly liberated bird.
The knife Is a necessary and legitimate
Zburden of every kite that enters the bet
4 ting ring, and this seems to enhance the
"a
&masnifcent display of skill to avoid the
BLADES or to attack an antagonist. The skill
(which men and even boys display in this
prospect IS sometimes almost astounding.
In country where cock fighting Is a
Eranonal sport, and where bull fighting
would he in vogue if the American au-
'hor'ttes would permit, where gambling is
Inc chief pastime of both men and women
Is somewhat surprising that so mild a
practice as kite-flying should hold the at
#1ention with the power that It does. The
cement of chance, however and the right
70 unlimited and unrestricted betting, has
carried it swiftly into popular favor, and
fo it remains to-day.
In Porto Rico, Laurie, now moved to Ha-
%ana' has for years been the potentate of
Esltes. He used to sit in the sun there I'M
Eer the soft blue sky, way up on the hill
ear old Cristobal Colon, and he had his
oiofed paper spread about him, with little
&ieaps OF long, slender sticks, carved from
Ehe Dig redwood tree His pastepot stood
eside him, as he whitfield with long
E'een blade like a machete. The goats of
~ hillside below the fort, smelled the
paste and came stealthily up TO daub their
uses. Dirty little "muchachos," stark
n i@Aeu' stood in bold array and watched the
r. making, while old Laurie mumbled
II hiinselt in quaint foreign Spanish that
'Fa as not Porto Riquan.
"A rum the hands of the old Cuban there
n as come many prize winner. l saw one
IA Jay OF Two ago. 1t was five feet in
rs" and three feet in width, and it
II covered over with the flag of
upa' ana it bore itself haughtily in the
"a ,u. lts flyer tossed it up from one of
"a nat roofs of the Cerro and it drew
nalt'erihg crowd bigger than Gomez
q n I.au5' anu II felt its Importance, for it
81 "a natefualy at the string and strug-
WIN emotional jerks to be free. It
ba, ~ symbolic of the spirit of Havana
"a 'd A.. me mob went wild with cheering, and
e u'',e Cuoan police officer, in the brand
Il eoo regulation blue uniform, with silver
I'm C yatn tried to assert his authority