The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1900-192?, 1902-05-21
THE INDOOR GAME OF THE DAY.

1hE 1NDOOh GAME Oc The DAY.
the time on those dull, rainy days at
summer resorts when everybody wan
ders aimlessly about and wishes it
would clear up. One of its merits is
that the outfit for the game requires
only small outlay of money. Sets are
made by dealers for from S. to $40.
Second, it is very simple. 1t is lawn
tennis with such notifications as suit
the different conditions 1t may be
played on an ordinary dining room Ia
bic. In the center a net is stretched,
supported on either side by movable
uprights. which are made to clamp on
to the edges of the table. This net is
about six inches in height, and the bali
is batted back and forth across it. OF
course the height of the net may vary.
The lower 1t Is the more difficult the
strokes may be to return. The server
has greater opportunity to send low,
swift ball. The best proportions for a
pingpong table are feet long by 5
feet wide, but a table of any porpor-
tons may be made to serve ones pleas
ure.
The space on either side of the net is
not subdivided, as in lawn tennis.
There Is one large court The rackets
are of two Sorts They are considera-
bly, smaller and lighter than ordinary
tennis rackets and. like these, are
strung with gut or are formed from
single nieces of vellum stretched tight
ly over a frame. like drumhead. The
ball used is of light celluloid and is
hollow. 1t is very lively and is as
elastic as the best rubber. Moreover,
it is so light that it does not endanger
glass When struck, this tiny globe
gives out musical pingpong sound;
hence the rather fetching name that
our English cousins bestowed upon the
game.
But two persons can play at one
time. AS in tennis, one is the server
and the other the striker out After the
first game the server becomes the
striker out, and so on. alternately. Two
trials by the server are not allowed.
The player must place his service on
the first attempt Another important
exception to the tennis rules is that a
player may not volley. The ball must
strike the table and rebound before the
striker has the right to return it. For
the rest, the rules follow pretty closely
those of outdoor tennis. The first point
won counts fifteen; the second sends
the score to thirty, the third TO forty,
and the fourth point is the game, but
player cannot win without being two
points in advance of his opponent
hence, as in lawn tennis, there are
deuce games. Six games constitute a
set
The player. of course. is compelled to
stand at the end of the table. There is
little opportunity for moving about, and
the game depends largely on quickness
and reach; hence there is not much va
riety in the play, and the victory seems
to go to the steadier of the two com
batants. No overland strokes are per
mitted, Some English players have
clained that the backhand stroke is the
secret of success, but this is not borne
out by the practice.
Pingpong came to US from England
There it is craze. Whole families play
it. Young men and maidens, aged meI
and children, have, succumbed to Its
destinations, and Society itself, with 6
capital S, has gone mad over it. 1t has
become q fad of overwhelming dimen
sions.-Woman's Home Companion.