El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-08-10
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land 1t above the line on the wall.
| When the ball Is served by the de-
lanterc, one of his opponents, the front
or rear one, must return the ball be-
fore 1t has struck the ground more
than once, or catch it in the basket on
In q strongly contested game all four
players are active in catching and re-
turning the ball against the front wall
from his respective place of action.
| When the server or his partner mis-
ses catching the ball his side goes out
and the other side takes the ball in
hand for the purpose OF serving. l
and forward between the opponents for
three minutes at time, with terrific
speed, endurance and activity.
| Such playing often ''pumps" q man
out ard sometimes he falls exhausted
and the game Ia checked afor his reco-
| very.
The games often last from one and
and half hours. In the hand of q
skillful player there is considerable
advantage in having charge of the
ball, as'the player can serve it with
limited or greater force, SO throwing
the bali against the wall as to have it
rebound only q few feet from it, or to
any distance to the 80 feet.
The game is played for 25 or 35
points and each time the ball is missed
counts against the eide missing it.
The ball is about the size of tennis
ball. made of strips of rubber drawn
until it becomes transparent and ia
therefore quite lively indeed in its per-
Torrance when dashed from one of
those baskets against the solid wall.
The bat or basket is doubly curver
wicker work instrument, two feet long
| H., f1,,, ri TIL
Its appearance, requiring much train
ing in its use to become graceful and
proficient. Each player wears in his
right hand this basket called q "chis-
terra" of horn shaped construction. 1t
| is fastened on above the wrist and
curves inward like the palm of the
hand. It ends in tip with very
the hand entirely against the impact
of the ball, and enables the player to
drive it with tremendous force.
An athletic and muscular player can
send the ball in this basket to the
front wall and bring 1t to the back
wall, a distance, as before said, of $50
feet, after one bounce only. The ugly
looking basket is useful in enabling q
man not only to throw the ball from it's
tip end with great force, but also to
pick q low one out of the corner or
catch one high in the air.
One curious feature about the game
is that two umpires watch it and pre-
vent the players from speaking to one
another. less they should alter the re-
suit In order to to profit by the bet
ting.
This is q very popular game with all
classes In the city of Mexico, especially
the better class, the lower class not
being able to raise the entrance fee,
and this game is not as enticing to
them as a bull fight, which they can
see at smaller sum. Thousands at
tend this game every Sabbath after
noon, and hundreds attend during the
week, it being carried on or played
about three or four times q week. It
is conducted in the most Renteel way.
no rowdyism whatever being permit
ted. Betting is allowed, and it Is often
the case thousands of dollars are lost
and won on each game. I think such
q game would pay largely in cities like
Chicago and New York, ST. Louis and
Philsd elphia, and especially SO in New
Orleans, where there Is such large
foreign population from tropical coun
| tries.