Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1899-08-19

I ana, second, there Is the legend that
the game is derived from the classical
discus throwing, suspicion which it
must he confessed is enough TO throw a
/ slur on any we'll regulated game.
No treatise ON quoits can begin with
out the time honored pedigree of the
/ quot from the discus. Srutt, who lived
at the end OF the last century. of course
dealt with it, and equally of course he
dragged in the discus even if he did not
invent the descent of qiOits from the
sports "f ancient Greece. The thing. of
course. is absurd To make discus,
; the artisan did net, in the words of the
immortal iris:liEan. take hole and put
; some iron around it. The discus was
more like iattened Dutch cheese and
was a solid missile Moreover. it was
, not held in the same manner as quot,
but was bowled underhand. in which
| indeed it alone differs from putting the
weight. That quoits is now played
chiefly in the countr. is the fault of
/ those who do not play it and bri0g it
into fashion.
It is no doubt Il very ancient English
game, and its beginnings are lost in the
mist of ages. HaAuyt mentions it in
his book of Voyages, so it was well
known in Queen Elizabeth's time, when
it probably was one of the favOrite
SPORTS of Gerrie England. In some
parts of the conutry the rustics used to
| employ horseshoes for want of properly
made quoits, and there are districts in
which the quot is called shoe even
to this day. This gives US the clew to
the most probable origin of the sport
and hints that the first game of quoits
was started by throwing old horseShoes
at the hob or mark, and from this grad
ually grew up the practice Of having
quoits specially made for throwing. So
much for the discus legend. As for the
wcrd "quoit' itself, its etymology is
more than doubtful and it gives us no
clew whatever to the origin of the
game.
Shakespeare, who mentions every
thing except tobacco, of course has d
reference to the sport. and as Hakluyt
was contemporary of his it may be
held to show that the spacious times of
Great Elizabeth were the palmy period
of quoits. 1t is true that he does not
speak of the sport in very reputable
connection, for the only mention of 1t
occurs in the scene in which Prince
Henry, Falstaff, Poins and the rest
We're in the Boar's Head tavern, in
Eastchepe. Falstaff, in giving char
acter sketch Of the young prince, OBJ
serves that he plays quoits well, but the
context very clearly shows that in
Queen Elizabeths time at any rate
quot playing was looked down upon as
the idle man s recreation, much as skit
ties is with US That fat Jack Falstaff,
disreputable old fellow as he was,
meant to imply no good of the pripee
by his reference to quoits is very s7s-
dent. This is the only reference n
quoits i'll Shakespeare, and it is a lir>s,
though the sting is taken out of 1t hS
the fact that it is put into the mouth
of Falstaff. Physical Culture.
He At. His FIJI.
A local clergyman is telling joke on
himself. He went TO Chicago on busi-
ness and was asked by a family in his
chuech to call on a married daughter
there. The pastor called and received
hospitable welcome. They urged him
to come to dinner, but he had an en-
gagerient. Then they remarked. ''Well
will you not eat a little luncheon?
The hostess pointed as she spoke 10 b
email table on which were a small dish
of salad, some bread and fruit. ''WelI.
l dent care if do, replied the caller.
who drew up chair and began an oE
siaught on the provisions. He fancied
they had been arranged expressly for
him, and it was only after he had got
through that he noticed the blank looks
of the family. In fact. he had devoured
the entire luncheon which all had ex
pected to eat
"Madam. what must you think of
me3'' he exclaimed to the hostess
"But let me beg of you not to judge all
Kentuckians by me. | am the sole
stupid one in our state
He was equal to the lady whose
hostess showed her dish of water cress
at side table just before dinner was
served. Thinking it had just been pur-
chased, she stuck her hand in the dish
and took handful of it only to find it
dressed with French salad dressing and
prepared to accompany the birds at the
meal-Louisville Times.