Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-03-07
kite balanced, so as to form suitable re-
sistance piane to the air The whole often

kite balanced, so as to form a suitable re-
sistance plane to the air The whole often
weighs less than one ounce.
In the evenings in Bengal steady breeze
blows inland from the bay. 1t is then that
from the housetops the little European COM
munity in the smaller towns often amuse
themselves with the sport of kite flying;
and there is sport in it, as I shall presently
show. AS many as dozen of these little
Rengali kites may be seen In the air at a.
time, of all colors and many of them parti
eolored, giving a very pretty effect The
say red and a blue kite. The ability to do
this. though requiring little skill, may be
soon acquired with practice One kite is
sent up on couple Of hundred yards of
thread; then another on about a hundred
yards, the two threads are then knotted
together. and thus connected with single
line, which may be run out several hundred
yards more.
The inland breeze from the bay is so
suitable, being gentle and steady, for flying
the kites that no difficulty whatever Is ex-
perienced in causing them to ascend; they
is. of course. necessary in so confined
space as q housetop The line may be
paid out quickly, and in a few moments a
considerable altitude Is attained. 1t Is re-
pressure these little Bengal kites will
stand. On hauling them down the sides of
the tissue paper will often be found SER
rated with the wind like saw edge They
suitable atmospheric conditions prevail, as
l have often proved. "a
When number of kites were flying of an
evening, of course. some would get III the
way Of others, and this) started the sport
BY judicious handling of kite its line
could be jockeyed across the line of an
ether, saving the latter through. releas sing
the kite. and thus removing one opponent
the remainder Of the kite flyers, and pro-
pcrtionately to the chagrin of its owner
Then evening after sevening the discounted
one would try with a. fresh kite to pay
back with interest Ethe sinjury he had re-
ceived This soon led ito the survival of
the f1ttest o. So.
All cotton lines we're squickly put out Of
the field. and thread was the order of the
day. The great success Of one competitor
made us all suspicious that he possessed
some undue advantage. aud at last the
secret leaked out-she ehad applied glass
powder to his line by means of some gum
my substance. This was trick he had
probably borrowed from the Chinese who
are adopts in kite flying. as in many other
scientific amusements. For q while he was
cutting our threads right and left, and, be-
Ing an old hand at the flying, all the fun
was for some time on his side. From the
time his secret was discovered a demand
sprang up In the village for thread so
treated. of which the dealers were not slow
in taking advantage, and we were once
more on an equality,
the game was with kite made with half
black and half white tissue paper It was
splendid flyer. and from its color. or OBJ
sence Of color, could be distinguished a
couple of opponents. 1t became known as
the pirate" and accordingly received a
great deal of attention from all colored
kites. which might APPLY be described in
ties"
For several evenings in succession the