The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-02-20
ROLLED ON FLOOR
Things Not on Programme at
Y. w. C. A. Exhibition.
LaughabIe Incidents in tie
SThree Legged Race"
A BATTLE BALL GAME.
Topeka Has It's First Glimpse
Of This Sport.
An ExcelIezt Contest Under Di-
rection Of Miss Douglass.
| BATTLE BALL GAME.

clad in boomers and blouses the
members of the various physical training
| classes OF the Young Women's Christian
association gave an exhibition of calls
thenic and gymnastic exercises and
drills, and also INDUCED in a battle ball
contest at the Auditorium last night
It was most successful affair. and
unique in many of its details, from the
beginning to the end, and was enjoyed
thoroughly by the seven or eight hum
dred persons who were present. More
than one hundred girls and young wo-
men participated in the several events
and every one Of them, from some of the
! juniors, who were mere tots of I'VE or
SIX years 10 young ladies approaching
the period just this side of old maiden
mood, strained every muscle and nerve
to do their parts to perfection. The re-
suit was that each number on the pro-
gramme was accomplished with dash
and precision which merited the fire.
quent and hearty applause that was
given by the audience
Any number Of laughable and anus
ing incidents cropped up during the
evening, none more so perhaps than
those which developed in the three leg
ged race. There were four couples from
/ the senior classes in this race. With
| their contiguous legs strapped together
/ each couple was supposed to run across
! the floor of the Auditorium and back
i again. Three teams got over to one
/ side but only two finished and they fell
/ in a heap on the finish line. On the way
over one couple fell with a heavy thud
and their legs got entwined in such a
way that 1t was necessary for them to
undo the straps holding them together
! before they could regain their feet. This
/ was not accomplished until long after
/ the race had been run and won. The
/ other team which did not finish fell on
I the return trip but got on their feet just
1 about Is rapidly as they went down.
During portion Of the jumping ex-
] h1blt1On, when humber Of the girls
/ from the junior and intermediate classes
! hoped on a horse Gone of the gynnas-
ium sort) and. then essayed to jump over
I a stick held from two to three feet above
/ the horse, one young girl persisted in
| trying to initiate a bird on the wing
! Instead of trying to jump over the stick
I she sprang from the horse and with
arms outstretChed and body poised in
most graceful fashion, literally sailed
over it head first. Had she been blessed
\ with wings she certa4aly would have
tsoared all over the AUDI toFiufH ,fEon1 The
start she made And had there not been
a sturdy girl to catch her. the chances
are that her first jump Into space would
have been the lost one for great and
| hard would have been her fall. How
ever. she negotiated this bird-lilSe per-
( Torrance a half dozen times and re-
cefved more applause than any one else
who took part in any Of the events.
There was one number on the pro-
| gramme which shone far away ahead
/ of any other, if the applause with
4 which it was received could be taken a s
| a criterion. This was styled Free EX-
/ ercises." and the first OF these was
/ sort of a drill by nine little girls. They
did a lot of exercises in graceful way
and then got down on the floor and
/ went through a series of antics. which
! lots of high salaried' ContOrtionists
| would like to be able to do. One OF
hteir acts was to double up in such
way that they looked like as many
frogs waiting to take jump and in a
/ few instances some of the youngsters
got in such wonderful positions that
| they needed a little help to extricate
/ themselves. About every move they
! made was aDplauded to the echo.
! Another clever feature was the dis
lance jumping contest of representa-
tives from the junior and intermediate
/ classes. There were a dozen or fifteen
| misses in this, ranging from ten to fif-
teen years old. They started in with
/ Jump of eight feet six inches and all Of
! them did this easily. The distance
/ was gradually increased until it meas
ured ten feet, but only three or four of
/ them could make this jump, although
| all tried it. One girl did these ten feet
in such a handy fashion that it is prob
! able she could have jumped three or
+ four feet more If she had had the op-
| portunity.
The programme opened with some
! figure marching by all of the mem bers
/ of each class and there were more than
| a hundred in it. It was really in two
/ divisions which were led by Hester
( Barber and Margaret Fuller. They ex-
ecuted nun be- OF intricate figures
| and marched through some reverse
/ spirals without a false step Sixteen of
I int al
/ through an artistic indian club drill.
Then there was a fancy drill by the
! interme diate class and some apparatus
| work on a horse. which was clever.
! created all sorts of diversion and ex-
/ element in a relay race, and thirty-six
| of the seniors gave fancy wand drill
which was the most picturesque num-
/ Der on the programme. A mum Der of
! the intern ediates and seniors did some
/ fine apparatus work on the parallel
4 bar and the programme was closed
with battle ball contest played be-
| tween the White team consisting of
Anna Burr Rice. Cecilia Israel. celia
( futile MurieI Packard and Ada
Robertson. and the Geld team. COM
{ Drfsine Mrs L. G. Thorpe, Ida Barnes,
Hazel Shelton. Coda Barr and Ellen
Hulse. This surely is an ideal game
for girls to indulge in Tt has none OF
the rough features of basket ball, and
at the same time affords plenty of op-
4 Dortunftv for good stiff exercise and
/ the display of skill It has not been
played in public before in Topeka. The
teams line up on either side of a court
and behind each member on both
teams is placed a pair Of Indian clubs
in an upright position. A rugby foot
ball is used and the idea of the game
is for one side to try and throw the
ball through their opponents line and
1 also knock down the duTnbeIls If pos
sible There is no chance for the play
ers to meet in a scrimmage, for when
the ball rolls on one side or the other
Of the line down through the center
nearest has the chance to throw It at
the opposing line. For passing an op-
ponent's line a score of three points is
given and for knocking down a club ten