Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1902-09-10
MERRY GAME OF SQUASH
Promises to BE Most Popular OF tho
SensOn'S Sports.


Squash, which was comparatively
little known year or so ago, prom
ises TO be one of the most popular
of this summers sports, and squash
courts are going up everywhere.
Just why the unpoetical name of
squash should have been given it is
not discoverable. 1t certainly has no
bearing upon summer squash, the
vegetable for, being all indoor game,
it can b. played as we'll in winter as
in summer, and no other points OF re-.
semblance can be traced.
Properly speaking. Squash Ball is
the title, and squash" is only the abb
breviaticn.
To have your squash-court this sum-
mer if you have any pretensions to
style, is as necessary as to have your
ping-pong table or your automobile.
Last summer the game was 50 much
of q novelty that the story is told Of
a family il fashionable seaside re-
sort who made their way into the elcct
through their squash-court, it being
the second only of its kind i'll tho
place. This year it is even more essen
tial to ones social success.
Yet there are many people clamoring
10 know what squash is.
Squash bclor gs to the lawn-tennis
family, and under different titles and
with a few minor differences, has been
known since the time of Henry VIII.
of England. AS yet there has been
little squash literature, hence the
world-at-large has had no opportunity
Of becoming acquainted with it IL
story. Even the squash joke has not
yet been sprung. The game OF fives,
which is still played extensively, is
of the squash family. In this game,
as it was originally played, the hand
was used. hitting ball against a wall
on lines laid out for tennis-court.
Going back into early history, we find
the royal princesses playing tennis in
this way, using their fair hands, or, in
some cases. gloves. When the bat
came into use it was called Bat Fives
Then another evolution, and the ten
nis-racket c2mc upon the scene. The
walls were enclosed, a floor and cell
ing added, and VOLTA! rackets. Squash
IS merely a variation of rackets, and
the courts are the same. The walls
are marked off by painted lines; the
service-line, above which the ball must
strike when served, is six feet from
the floor. Another line, called the tell
tale, is two feet from THE floor, and
after ball has been served, the Sec
ond played must return it onto the
front wall above the telltale before it
has bounded twice The players then
continue to return the ball alternate
ly until the rally is lost. A ball is
in play until it touches the roof, posts,
cushions, or is driven into the gallery
1t Is then out of court. The court is
divided by a lire into two equal
spaces. There is cross-cut through
the centre. % feet from the back wall.
The game is played with a ball, usual
ly of India rubber, and lightweight
tennis-racket. strung with gut. The
squash-bat weighs between nine and
Ten ounces. Keeping out Of the way
is one of the objects of the game. If
the ball hits the strikers adversary
above the knee, or if it hits the strik'
er's partner or himself, it counts
against the striker. One of the rules
of the game is that every player
should get out of the way IS much as
possible. If he cannot, the marker is
10 decide whether it is let or not.
The markers decision is considered
final.
Squash may be played either with
doubles or singles, and in a four or
three walled court.
Any carpenter can build the house.
which is not elaborate in any way.
The height of the front wall is 16 feet.
The total length of the court is BIG
feet, and the breadth, 1913 feet.-Col-
lier's Weekly.