Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1899-07-21

tKecord1ng secretary American Whist league.J
decline in this country. Never were there
50 many clubs and private people engag.
ed in playing the game as during the past
winter, nor were the contests for the diff.
ferent trophies ever more hotly con-
tested.
Since the hot weather has come on less
interest has been evinced in the game,
but now that the time draws near for
holding the ninth annual congress of the
American Whist league renewed inter-
est is being shown in many quarters and
daily practice is the word among the var
ious teams that are entered tor the an
nual struggle.
The congress will be held during the
week Of July 1915 at the Auditorium no.
tel, Chicago, and It promises to be one OF
the most interesting and important ses'
sions ever held by the organization. Apart
from the play, the most important matter
that will come up for the consideration
of the delegates will be the adoption OF
the duplicate whist laws which are now
in use under probation. One of the most
important matters under this head re-
lates to the trump slip and the time fol-
turning it down. Were the league tc
adopt the radical measure of abandoning
the turned trump at duplicate whist and
make some one suit the trump at all
matches played under league rules it
would confer a lasting blessing on the
players and give a big impetus to the
proper playing Of hands and infuse new
life and interest in the game.
The usual contests for the various
trophies will take place this year, and
while the Hamilton cup still stands as
the emblem of the championship, many
people think it is not entitled to the posi-
ton Of chief prize of the league. They
think that the A. w. L. challenge cup
SHOULD take it's place as the principal
trophy, and it is thought possible that
some such suggestion may be made at the
present convention. The Hamilton tro
ply is not of much use to any club, for it
is always locked up in a safe deposit
vault, and but few players even know the
name Of the club that holds it, much less
the names of the players on the winning
team. A great element Of luck has near
ly always entered into the play for it, Sc
that but few clubs have been satisfied
with winning it. The only club that re-
ally ever got clean decision over every
opponent for it's possession is probably
the Philadelphia club. Their victory at
Put-in-Bay in 1897 was clear cut, as they
played every challenger and won every
game. The Hamilton trophy is played
for but once a year and is for teams OF
four players from the same club. Last
year the American club Of Boston cap.
tured the prize. The final score was 3
matches for the American club to AZ fol
Cleveland.
The Minneapolis or Pair trophy is for
two players from the same club and Is
also played for only once a year. The
Newton team captured this trophy last
year. (.
trophy is for teams Of four from the
same club and is played for at the an
nual congresses, but Is subject to chal.
June. Any club winning it ten times Is
entitled to a certificate to that effect, and
any club winning it 20 times will retain
it permanently. The first of these cups
was permanently won by the Hamilton
Whist club Of West Philadelphia, while
the Minneapolis Chess and Whist club is
in the lead for the present one, with 16
wins to it's credit. >@1 -
y, Besides these championship events
there are number Of what are termed
progressive games, open to all members
OF the league, whether Of the same club
or not. Some are for teams Of four and
some for pairs. A good many OF them
are for men and women, while some are
for women exclusively. Handsome prizes
are given to the winners in these events,
and they are well patronized. q, s,...5. L.
Among the other questions that viii
come up at the congress is that of allow.
ing league clubs to play for stake. The
general sentiment among the players is
that the game should be cultivated pure.
" as IN intellectual recreation and that
playing for money should on no account
be permitted. The women players espe
cially are opposed to It, as they say that