The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-12-09
THE GAMES thai
chill DREINl PLAY !.
They Come and Go as Regularly as.
the Seasons.
1oP-sPINNING AND KITES.
Hon-scutch Now the Rage With the
Little Folks-Games Played by the
older Set in Their Young Days
That Are Seen No More.
1oP-sPINNING AND KITES.

The games played by children. varied
and numerous as they are, follow each
other in a rotation as regular as the sea-
sons come and go; a little more So
perhaps, for we read of Winter Inger-
ing in the lap of Spring. and announcer
poet sings that 1.-THE spring comes slowly
I'D this way while nothing interferes
with the coming and going OF top sea-
SON.
At the present time "hop-scotch'' is
the rage with the little ones, and there
are few squares in the residential part
of the city whose sidewalks are not deco
rated with strange, circular-iike chalk
marks, that vary more or less IN the
symmetry of outline. according to the
proficiency of the petite artist
These circles are usually about SIX OF
seven feet in diameter, and are divided
by lines into segments, while at the
centre is a smaller circle, marked nome.
The small tots can be seen these bright
days, hopping with one foot In ar.
endeavoring to get home without touch
ing any of the bisecting lines.
The game as played by the children Of
Richmond now Is greatly different from
the ''hop-scotch'' known to the older gem
Grafton Not only is the ring different
from that formerly used, but the stone
which played principal part of the game
has entirely disappeared. The game
was then more difficult, the object being
to kick the stone with the foot used IN
hopping and at the same time to aEold
the danger line. The amended form
was probably adopted for the use and
enjoyment of younger children for whom
the older game was too difficult.
MARBLE SEASON.
Of course, to the older generation this
innovation is sign of degeneration.
When they were boys things We're done
better Old games, as well as old friends,
and old wine, are better than the new
In this calendar of games the marble
season occupies an important place.
Chanies and agates are terms familiar
as his garter and bull in the ring
is as exciting and interesting a pastime
to the small Boy as the real bull-fshts
are to the grown-up folks in Spain and
Mexico. Plots bare of grass are eagerly
sought for and the chanies change hands
as one or the other grows more expert
in driving them from the ring. In years
gone by ring men was the great game
at marbles, and even now in the rural
districts it is no unfamiliar sight to see
groups OF men around a country store
engaged in this sport, while the older
men sit eagerly looking on and .ellinS
tales OF how in their younger days this
or that one could KNOCK buck from
taw' and Kill an opponent at any
distance .'Plucks'' ''venchany,'' and
such like classic expressions, which are
puzzle to the purists seem likely to be
lost to our vocabulary, unless some one
shall start a revival of the game of ring
men.
Top season is another well-defined
period of tue year and strings of ell
descriptions preferably of leather, are in
great demand. The top OF the season
becomes the season of the top, and,
though the boys toll not. it cannot be said
that neither do they spin. Indeed spin
ming seems to become their one object
and aim in life. and pedestrians have to
step aside to make way for the tops.
especially on the asphalt Payments. 1t
is not the boys alone, however, that
thus amuse themselves. Many of the
girls learn to spin the small bits of
wood with peg in tfem-stranse as it
may seem.
KITE FLYING.
when the stormy winds do blow
that is, in February and March-the kites
begin to fly, and the boy with the largest
ball of cord is more envied than the owner
of the prize bull at a county fair. The
network of wires in a city is great him
drance to the full enjoyment of the sport
and many q bark made to sail the breezes
high llD amid the airy clouds meets a
lower fate on some telegraph or electric
light-wire. Thus does the mighty spirit
take its revenge upon that kite which.
in the hands of the great Benjamin
Franklin. snatched its secret from the
thunderbolt.
Shiny or handy, and ''catty'' are
among the other games that were the
delight of the older generation, but now
seem to be passing away before the
advance OF golf and baseball and tennis
There is one other that was a delight
to those whose heads are now turning
gray-Anthony, over. l doubt if any of
the boys now play il; certainly I have
not seen it played in years, but it is
Il fine game and deserves a revival. 1t
is true that the houses now built would
not be good for playing the game. as
a peaked roof is one of the requisites.
There are many men. l dare say, who
would involuntarly look up for the tough
rubber ball if they heard the cry familiar
to their youthful ears. Here she c0re.s'<
There are many other. games the very
names of which recall the time of youth
and happiness, but which have departed,
and serve only as a sweet memory of
''the days that are no more