St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1900-11-03
ORIGIN OF THE SHE'LL GAME.
AS Usual. the Crafty Heathen Chinee
Receives the Credit for Its
Invention.


1T is a curious thing" said a profes-
sor of the chronological department of
western college the other night, ito
trace the origin of some of our gam
bling games. l was much surprised
few summers ago, while tramping
on shooting and fishing trip, to find
the real home OF the shell and pea game.
We stayed few days with the Indians
of the Sac and Fox tribe, and were in
vited one evening to enter little game
Of real cards. Some of our party had
scooped the Indians of nearly all their
ready money in the white mans
proverbially better play, when one of
the tribe thought to redeem the honor
Of his people by calling our attention
to what he called the moceasin and ball
game. It was curious modification of
the old shell and pea game. and was
played by shuffling some baked clay
balls about the size of hickory nuts
under overturned moecasins.
.sThe natural clumsiness of the moe
easins made us inclined to bite at the
game, but really it resulted in the same
disastrous results as with the neat lit
tie shells in the land of the merry-go-
round and race tracks. [ was rather
astonished to hear the Indians say that
the game had been known in their tribe
for over 200, years, and had originated
with them. One of our party impro-
vised some little wooden cups that did
good service for the trim shells and
with some borrowed peas showed the
Indians how his pale-faced brothers
did practically the same trick, which. of
course, was new to them. / am quite
convinced that the shell and pea game
is Yankee Improvement on tie Sacs'
and Foxes moccasin and clay ball
game
.'That explanation is all very well for
the pioneer west" said an eastern pro-
fessor, ''but the explanation won't suit
the effete east. It might pass muster
II it were not for the fact that in my
work in archaeology in Rome last VIM
fer | had this very matter of gambling
games thrust persistently under my
fery nose, and / found the games Of
the golden cups played in ancient
Rome, was the modern shell and pea
game; it was copied by them from the
affete Greeks and was almost identical
with the to many of us painful expert
snces with the shell and pea games of
degenerate days. Probably in the Light
Of your chronological Indian discoveries
y,y.E
and Roman seeds of vice in the folds of
their garments, in the forms of
pastimes of recreation and skill,
showed your Sacs and Foxes this little
game some time in the sixteenth CEN
tury, and the subtle but improyident
Indian used his moccasin and the little
balls of earth, which could always be
obtained wherever he might camp. I
suppose the Jesuit game of recreation
in time ceased to be known as harmless.
as Indian after Indian was feeced OF
his few belongings"
even your explanation does not
cover the ground; in fact, does not GO
back far enough" said a well-known
retired East Indian importer. 1.-THE
little shell and pea game is really In
dian in origin, but it is East Indian.
Several years ago, when was in north
India. I saw the shell and pea game in
the street. I thought, as the first
speaker said. that the game was Amer
lean in origin, but came from the clever
wits of the shrewd Yankee at the race
track instead of among Indians. 1t
seems the Indians never realized the
tricks value as means of gambling.
It is very old form of amusement
among the East Indian nation and is
really of Chinese origin.
"A very interesting fact about the
matter 2 said the importer. with a
twinkle in his eye, sis that as a matter
of pure sport I showed some boys the
gaming propensities of the American
people by describing our manner of us
ing the little shells. It delighted and
amused them very much and since then
I am informed that the game is very
popular with the fakirs who practice
gambling in that city. It is known as
the American game So, gentlemen.
having been born in ST. Louis. you will
see that a pioneer westerner did give
points not only to the effete east, but
to the really very effete east