The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1901-05-30
CUBA'S NATIONAL GAME.

CUBA'S NATIONAL GAME.
AN EXPENSIVE HCME FOR PELoTA
BUILT IN HAVANA.
A Court For the Sport Erected at Cost
o,ooo-How the Came is Played
Very Much Like Tennis-The Peota
Costume
The news that "fronton," or court,
for the playing OF the national ball game
of Spain has been built in Havana at
cost Of 100000, and formally blessed by
the bishop. does not indicate that the
Cubans are in any near danger OF losing
their racial identity with the lbcrnlan
peninsula. To most Americans, on the
other hand. it will be something OF
surprise that such thing As a Spanish
national ball game exists. and with the
surprise there may hc some little dis
appointment here and there over the
vanishcd possibility Oi Amcricanizmg
Cuba through the kindly influence OF
American baseball!
The game OF "pelota' is not more
purely Spanish. i'll fact. than baseball is
purely American. As the latter can be
traced to a remote English ancestry
somewhere in the thirteenth or four
tcentl century. 50 is the former evident
" only variant OF that French leu dc
paumc" from which building IN PARIS.
famous for game OF tremendous his
toriCal Importance. took lis name. and
the leu de paume," again, is related to
both the English game OF tiveS. the Irish
handball and the casual American boy
game OF houScball Still, pclota has its
own pcculiaritieS, and, with these dit
ferentiating characteristics. has existed
for many centuries in Spain. In the
Basque province OF GuiZpuZcoa pclota
has been played. as tradition has it, since
the days OF Adam and Eve. From San
Sebastian, in that province. Ii was in
troduccd into Madrid. where ii mas long
been popular. and where. some years ago
at least, large crowds OF Madrilcno
'tootcrs' used to gather to witness the
games, TO bet and 10 be have themselves
with the abandoned GlmonStratlvencS'
OF their kind. 1t is noticeable. as show
ing the persistence OF the old tradition,
that the exhibition game last Sunday III
the new fronton oi Havana Is SAID TO
have been played by Basque profession
als-"pclotaris, to givc them their right
name
The dimensions OF the Havana court,
as given in dispatches. appear TO be con-
sidcrably greater than those usual IN
SPAIN the latter being only about 80
by 200 feet. but this may be an effect OF
the policy OF expansion which has had
so much influence upon the recent his
tory Of Cuba The walls against which
the ball is played are those which form
the two lesser sides OF rectanglc. A
longer wall closes the third side. and
the fourth is left open for spectators. IN
and out of the grand stand. l pon the
shorter walls two horizontal strips, res
pcctivey 4 and "a 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 sub
stitute for that implement, which Il en-
ploys. This consists OF a curious spoon
like affair OF wickcrwork. curved at one
end like a birds bcak. and tightly tas-
tened to the hand by means Of a glove
Another peculiarly is that the game is
opened by a pclotari propclling the ball
with backward swing from the hollow
of his wicker spoon, turning his back
to the wall at which he aims. The rest
of the game is much like fivcS, or ten
mis-; every failure of one side or the
other to catch the ball on the rebound
and return it to the wall, making 1t
strike between the upper and lower
lines, counts as one point to the oppoS-
ing side, and fifty points make game.
Pelota is regularly played with two on
a side. The fashionable pelota costume
in Madrid used to be loose white trous-
crs and loose shirt OF some bright
color, players on the same side wearing
the same colorS. In appropriate rccog-
nition of the games origin, the usual
head covering OF players is the Basque
"boyna." white or colorcd cap shaped
lige Tam O. Shantcr but without the
ribbon tails.-Nc7r York Tribune.
.lne old time stock Jokes ABOUT bor-