The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1899-02-16

One of the most amusing round games
for children of a larger growth is a
game called Emergency" and may be
played by ten or more persons who
draw their chairs into an enchanted
circle, says the ~Gentlewoman.'
The hostess asks each person to whis-
per to his right hand neighbor some
question and to put that question in the
form of an emergency. For instance:
"What would you do If your house was
afre?' or What would you do if struck
by a cyclone?' and to whisper to ones
left hand ~neighbor an answer-not a SIM
pie negative or affirmative, but an ex-
planatory answer, thus: II would call
loudly for help or 81 would hold onto
my hat
When each person has the question and
answer given him from the right and
left neighbors respectively well in mind
Che can write them down If necessary,
the game opens. The hostess calls a
guest by name who sits several chairs
away and asks him aloud the question
which her neighbor has given her: he re-
plies with the answer which was whispered
to him. In this way very funny combi-
nations of question and answer are formed
which provoke much laughter.
OHn shy NOduS uidH WHO was dSktQ
what he would do il Queen Victoria asked
to be presented TO him replied gravely.-eI
would scream loudly for help He then
asked the question which had been given
him. which was: sfWhat would you do if
You found YOU were becoming bald?'' and
the answer was: .rd hold onto my hat"
Thus the game goes on until each one
has given his answer and question, the
last being addressed to the hostess. who
still has her whispered answer unused, as
she started the game with her whispered
question.
Another bit of nonsense is managed by
the hostess aseertaining the full initials
of her guests, and each one is given a pa
per and pencil and requested to write
down these initials in the order given.
Opposite each set of initials they write a
description of the person, beginning each
word with one Of the initials and using
them in order.
p. HIS" might be described as Pride
has spoiled or Pretty homely some
times When each one has completed
his list, the person to whom the first init
ials on the list belong must rise while each
one reads aloud what her initials nave
suggested to them. One young lady
whose monogram was three SIS was posi-
tive that her initials would puzzle her
friends, but when she arose she was as
sailed with, Say, she's silly" Some
times she's savage" "She sees snakes"
Sometimes she's sulky," "Sally's sweets
sugar" until she was quite overcome.
A variation of Initials enjoyed by
those with literary tastes is thus played.
TIL hostess, who may have all the assls-
tance she can get, arranges beforehand a
number of phrases, the initials of which
are those of prominent authors; the words
of the phrases must be in a a measure des-
criptive of the person meant; for instance:
Abnormally lank, Abraham Lincoln;
Stevenson, etc., etc.
Prizes may be given those of the party
who guess the most answers.
Still another amusing game of this
sort is called kilograms" The hostess
select a word of nine or ten letters and
not too many vowels, and each guest
writes It down. Now each one is to COM
pose a Geographic message containing as
many words as there are letters in the
chosen word, and each word in the mes
sage must begin with a letter in the chos-
en- word, using them in order. Ten min
utes are allowed for composition, and
when the messages are read aloud prizes
may be given for the best ones, as one
for The funniest message, one for the
most sensible one, etc.
AT one party the word Regardless
was chosen, and the prize went to the
sender of this gruesome message: Ruth
Edward. grandmother and Rose drowned
last evening, send stretcher."
Another time the prize message was
composed from the word Gentleman"
and read thus: Grandma eloped northern
train last evening; married a native
And a close second was: Get eight new |
teeth; leave eight more at Morals.
An interesting pursuit, and one that
affords real pleasure and diversion to the
individual, is the intelligent and system
attic collecting of some particular line of
curios or articles of virtu, varying in
character and kind in accordance with the
personal taste of the collector. says Hair
per's "Bazar." Whatever it may be that
centers the attention and effort ofthe per-
son interested, it matters very little;
nearly all art objects have some beauty
and intrinsic value, and are appreciated
more or less by the onlooker. But the real
virtue of gathering them in the enjoy
ment it affords the collector, and the ed
ucation and intellectual awakening it is to
study the history and merits of almost
any variety of handfwork.
The amassfng of photographs and auto
graphs of famous p~ersonages is a favor
lite practice Of many collectors, and the
most interesting specimen of the auto
graph accumulation is the b-irthday-boek,
which seems to be the most definite and
tangible mode of getting and holding to-
9ether the names and tho11phts nf fha /