The suburban citizen., 1902-05-03
PlNG-PONG IS A CRAZE
HAS INVADED ALL SORTS OF PLACES
FROM CLUBS TO HOTELS.

One Factory is Turning Out a Tl',usand
Sets a DRy-The Passion For tle Sport
Has Grown Up suddenly--Pic uresGue
Language For Game Terms.
In the past few days persons walk
ing through the quiet uptown streets
have remarked about the number Of
houses through whose open windows
came the staccato ping! pong" Of the
xylonite table tennis" ball Accord
ing to the stories which are told by
dealers in sporting goods, thousands
of sets of this game have been sold to
families in the city, and the demand
appears to be increasing. One fac
tory at Chicopee Falls alone is turn
ing out 1000 sets daily. and is far be-
hind its orders. Ping.pong outfits are
going in numbers now to suburban
golf clubs. 1t shows what a hold the
sport has taken on its devotees that
even the golfng enthusiast must take
his ping-pong to the links with him.
"Our greatest demand for complete
sets, including the regulation tables
has, of course, come from the clubs"
said a dealer yesterday. But the
women and children have got the
fever as bad as their brothers and
fathers. If you're writing about the
ping-pong craze you can't make it too
strong. So far as l know we haven't
sold a set to any old ladies' home yet
but dare say the game will reach
them in time This craze beats any
thing l ever heard Of. Our belief is
that it's only beginning. Hot weather
may affect our sales somewhat but
We look for an increased demand next
fall.
"Our indoor putting green in the
back of the store has been occupied by
a plng-pong table for several weeks
Lots of people who never saw the
game come in here and watch a few
sets, get fascinated by the play and
end by buying racquets and balls and
a net to take home and set up on their
dining-room or billiard table. There's
a game going on here almost every
hour of the day. People can't seem to
get enough Of it,"
The clubs have been and are still
the stronghold of the craze, although
the newspapers have had more to say
about the play in brokers' offices and
on ocean steamers. So sudden has been
the passion for the sport, and so much
room does a regulation table take up
that most of the clubs have had to
give up some other sport, in whole or
In part, for a time, or else sacrifice
part of their dining-room space. No
body seems to object, however. Even
the most sedate of club loungers, al
though he may begin by scoffing at
the "childs play" ends in becoming
either an enthusiast or a disappointed
but persistent "duffer."
College clubs or other clubs fire.
quented by younger men are the worst
sufferers from the ping-pong malady.
The Harvard Club, early in the winter,
put up the little nets on its billiard
tables, and billiards have scarcely
been played there since. Members
pay the same amount per hour for
playing ping-pong that they formerly
were charged for the use Of the bill
lard tables, The club has since set up,
in addition, a real ping-pong board,
The Yale Club has four tables in one
of the class dining-rOOms on the ninth
floor. The Cornell University Club
gives up half its dining-room to the
YAo Cffrran
now talks Of letting the whole apart
ment be used for it, so many of the
members want to play; and ping-pong
tables can be used as dining tables, If
1t takes too long to make the change
In Brooklyn athletic club the ping
pongers have invaded the handball
court. Most of these resorts have had
or are having ping-pong tournaments
and clever players have been devel-
oped in the course of a few weeks.
Boarding-hOuses in all parts of town
have been hard hit by the craze. The
long table in the back parlor makes a
good ping-pong board, and the young
man in the hall bedroom two fights
up takes delight in making the star
boarder look like thirty cents. The
landladies are not enthusiastic over
the game, because when played in the
evening it has a tendency to develop
a robust appetite for late suppers.
The vernacular of the sport has not
yet reached a high degree of develop
ment For the present, as is the case
with any new game, players make free
with words and phrases proper to
other branches of sport. Expressions
like you dealt 'em the last time"
"This cue is rotten" "Oh side' are
heard around the board. Picturesque
language Of a different character is
also common. The elusive celluloid
sphere is as conducive to profanity as
the gutta percha. A well known lawn
tennis player has novelty in the way
Of ping-pong profanity When he
makes a fault he shouts "Fudgew or
Goodness graciousv' He explains that
he learned the game by playing with
his sisters, and it isn't worth cussn'
about anyway.-New York Sun.
Small Beginnings.