New-York tribune., 1901-03-10
PELOTA IN CUBA.
AN EXPENSIVE HOME FOR THE NATIONAL.
SPANISH GAME HAS BEEN BUILT
IN HAVANA.

IN HAVANA
The news that a "fronton." or court. for tn
playing Of the national ball game of Spain ha,
been built in Havana at a cost of 500 900. ami
formally blessed by the bishop. does not indi
cate that the Cubans are i'm any near danger Of
losing their racial identity with the Iberan
peninsula. To most Americans the otheI
hand. it will he something of a surprise that
such thing a Spanish national ball gam,
exists, and with the surprise there may be som,
little disappointment here and there over tn
vanished possibility Of Americanizing Gull
through the kindly influence of American base
ball
The game Of "palota" is not purely Span
ish, in fact than baseball is purely American
As the latter be traced to a remote EnglisI
ancestry someWhere in the thirteenth or four
teenth century. is the former evidently on.
a variant Of that French "jeu d. paume'' fruII
which a building in Paris. famous for game &C.
tremendous historical Importance. took its
and the 'jeu De paume." again is related I
both the English game Of fivcs. the Irish hand
ball ana the casual American boys game O.;
househall. still pelota has its own pecuarities
and with these dnrrentiating characteristics
has existed for many centuries in Spain. J.!
tn" Basque province Of Guizpuzcoa. pelota ha~
been played. tradition has it, since the day
that province. it was introduced into Malra
where it has long been popular. and where. son,
years ago at least. large crowds of MadriIen.
'rooters" used to gather to witness the game
To bet and to behave themselves with the aban-
d"Eed d"monstrativcness Of their kind II l.
noticeable. as showing the persistence of the oil
tradition, that the exhibition game last Sunda;
in the new frontou of Havana is said to hav.
been played by Basque professionals -'pelo-
taris." to give them their right name.
Tho dimensions Of the Havana court. as given
in dispatches. appear to be considerably greater
than those usual in Spain. the latter being onl,
about - by POO feet. but this may be effect
of the policy of expansion which has had $
much influence upon the recent history of Cuba
The walls against which the ball is played ars
those which form the two lesser sides IF a rec
tan-le. : longer wall closes the third side ana
the fourth is left open for spectators, in and out
Of the grand stand. Upon the shorter walls tw
horizontal iron strips, respectively and - feet
from the ground. mark the limits of play. The
balls used are small, elastic and exceedingly
hard. But what gives the Basque game its Pc
culiar character is the racquet or substitute for
that impl mcnt, which it employs. This consist
of curious spoonlike affair of wickerWori
curved at one end like birds bcak and tight,
fastened to the hand by means of glove. An
other popularity is that the game Is opened D.
n pelotlri propellins the bah with a backward
swing from the hollow of his wicker spoon.
turning his back to the wall at which he aim.
The rest of the game is much like fivts. ten
mis-; every failure of ono side the other to
catch the ball on the rebound and return it -
the Vail. making it strike between the upper
and the lower lines counts as one point to the
opposing side, and fifty points make game.
Pelota is regularly played with two a side.
The fashionable pcl3ta costume in Madrid used
to be loose white trousers and loose shirt Of
some bright color. players on the same side
wearing the same colors. In appropriate recoG-
milton of the games origin. the usual head COW
ering of players is the Basque "boyna' a white
cOlored cap shaped like Tam o. Shanter but
without the ribbon tails. srrs