The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1902-01-23
THR GAME OF QU0I4S.
Can bs Played in Any Place aud is
Splendid Exercise.
TINE, AND IT'S BEGINNINGS ARE LOST
IN THE MIST OF AGEs-FINE TRAIN
ING FOR THE EYE AND Arm.
Physical Culture.

Physical Culture.
There are some games which have
never had their boom, and quoits Is one |
of them Still, as nothing happens but
the unexpected, it may be that the !
time is nearly ripe for quoits to be
taken out of it's undeserved obscurity,
to be exalted to the status of national
game, to have weekly papers named
after it and to have columns in the
sporting press devoted to the doings of
its champions. Stranger things have
happened. Who, for instance, would
have said when at the end of the six
ties few energetic sportsmen went
wobbllng about on bone shaking
bicycles which 1t would have been Tar
easier to push than to ride that at the
end Of the century considerably more
than 100000 bicycles would be manu-
factured annually In Great Britain
alone and that a great part of the pop
ulatlon would adopt this means Of
locomotion? One cannot imagine that
quoits will ever attain such popularity
as the bicycle, but the unprejudiced
person can see no reason why it should
not become as favorlte a pastime as
goi:, which very few years ago was
almost unheard OF south of the Tweed.
Ouoits is very fine game, especially
in the winter time. 1t Is splendid ex-
ercise and trains the eye and the hand
to act together in way that few other
sports can do, for the very essence OF it
is accuracy OF aim at marx placed
below the level of the hand. It has
been objected that throwing qroits
makes the player lorslded, but, after
all, that is easily remedied, for there is
nothing to prevent the player throwing
the quot with his left hand it he so
pleases, and such change would make
variation in the game and also afford
an excellent method of handicapping
the men of unequal skill. Quoits
strengthens the arms and shoulders,
but it Is not pastime which primari-
Iy demands strength.
A great advantage of the game Is
that it can be played in any smalI
space and that the ground need not be
particularly level. Any rough field or
waste bit of ground is good enough
for quoits pitch, and no rolling or cut
ting is required to satisfy the demands
of the most exlgent. For cricket you
need carefully prepared wicket, fol
lawn tennis and crcquet piece of tur1
like a billiard table and for golf the
best part OF a country all to yourself
but 1or quoits you only need a few
yards OF rough ground, and you have
as good place for throwing as any ont
can possibly rsqune.
People certainly might play quoitl
more than they do, but the taking ul
of a game Is usually matter of fancy
and perhaps two things stand in th'
, way of quoits. First, there is an ide
that it is a "rustic" sport and can onl!
be played by the rough country lads
and, second, there is the legend tina
the game is derived from the classica
+ discus, throwing q suspicion which l
g must be confessed Is enough 70 throw
! slur on any we'll regulated game.
No treatise on quoits can begin with
out the time honored pedigree OF tn
QUOT from the discus. Strut. VIII
lived at the end of the last century, G
course dealt with 1t, and equally {
g course he dragged in the discus even
q he did not invent the descent of quot
. from the sports of ancient Greece
The thing, OF course, is absurd. !
make discus, the artisan did not, ]
the words OF the immortal Irishmal
u take hole and put some iron arouE
g it. The discus was more like fla
c. tened Dutch cheese and was sol:
is missile. Moreover, 1t was not held
es the same manner as quot, but W
lc bowled underhaud, in which indeed
III alone differs from putting the weigh
Ell That quoits is now played chiefly
's the country is the fault OF those who
y, not play it and bring it into fashion.
RI 1t is no doubt very ancient Englis
IN game, and Its beginnings are lost in L
~ mist of ages. Hakluyt mentions it
at his book of "Voyages," SO it was vi
ut known in Queen Ellzabeth's time, wh
'e it probably vas one of the favor
rs. sports of Merrie England. In Sol
D. parts of the country the ruetics used
n employ horse shoes for want OF prope
: made quoits, and there are districts
Sir which the QUOT Is called "shoe" ev
=. to this day This gives US the clew
ne the most probable origin of the sp
,sy and hints that the trst game OF quo
,xt was started by throwing old horeesh
ors at the hob or mark and frcm this gr
y. A., uallv grew up the practice OF havl
ker
ISL "a 21SsSSsassSIylS E Or r.
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