Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1900-09-23

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the lack showed king and queen. It
Old device Even In the time OF Hoyle
was the showing Of number. that was
instituted jointly by Cavendish and
Trist, that rounded and perfected the
system into what is known as Ameri-
can leads.
Many conventions of the long-suit
game are the reasonable result of prac-
tical mthods For instance. the trump
call though attributed to Sir Henry
Bentinck was really an outgrowth or
the practice among sharp players OF
dropping an unnecessarily high card
in the hope OF inducing the enemy to
lead the trump. Sir Henry Bentinck,
using experience as his guide, made
the unnecessarily high card a manda-
tory trump call, and is said afterwards
TO have greatly regretted having done
so.
There can be no question that GER
tain regular methods of play are OF adj
vantage TO the game; the only difficult
ty in the matter being that every lit
tie team-captain, thinking himslf ON
a level with Cavendish or Trist, will
seek to graft onto the game certain
ideas of his own. 1t matters not that
these have not been proven of value.
They are tried in match, and II the
experimenting team by any chance
wins. ara pronounced sound and adopt
ed as a part of the teams tactics
Sometimes the players do not even
perceive that these innovations contra
dict other parts of their system already.
in use and go on playing In manner
Al. fo-s1 To he i-,aF nrphauCfhip
A team in New York. last winter, that
met with varying success allowed the
queen to mean two other honors besides
herself. or a short-lead queen and one.
The partner was supposed by his own
holding or by the drop TO guess where the
cards were. Now If the queen had been,
when strong. sure indication of the king,
the double meaning given the card might
have been fashionable, for either adver-
sary holding the king would probably have
played it on the queen, or 1t the partner
had il the situation would have been ex-
planned. This queen lead, however, meant
ace, king, queen, and small; king, queen,
jack, and small: king, queen, ten, ana
small; queen, jack, ten, and small; or
queen and any small card The conse-
Quence of the many meanings given THIS
one card was that the partner might be
counted upon TO always do the wrong
thing In one important trophy match
that came directly under the notice OF the
writer, the partner, taking the queen to
mean strength, lead the trump with the
idea of establishing the suit from which
the queen had been led. The suit was es-
tablished all right. but, unfortunately.
tn af he causing loss
of four tricks in the deal
Another complication made by this same
team was in the use of the ten which
meant king, jack. ten: ten and one other,
and call for trumos through the honor
turned Now. if the honor happened to be
turned and the system called for lead
from the ten and one other. either the
method of play had to be violated or
trump-call made when trumps We're not
wanted. These are but few of the SER
ious faults that have been noted when
players, thinking that every new idea Is
worthy of adoption, crowd a lot of new
tangled fads into the old game. That they
meet with occasional success is either be-
cause they happen to meet teams who
play even a more silly system than their
own, or else becouse some OF their signals
are misunderstood by the enemy
No one supposes for one moment that
a uniform system should be adopted by
all league players. Such a plan could not
fail to cripple whatever development there
still remains to whist A large amount
of independence is the right of every play
or of the game, and 1t is only to be re-
GREETED that that very independence is
frequently much abused.
1t was hoped few years ago that as
new fads arose they would be tried. and
when found unsound be speedily cast
aside. This has not worked just as IL
should have done, for convention will, II
is true, be tried by one team and given up
as worthless only to be taken up by others