Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-02-19
ri YlNG CARDS.
psoIiiarities DIT Those uaed by the
Different Nations.


psediIarities of Those uaed by the
Different Nations.
zone 81 the most interesting collec
lions of foreign loot that I've seen
recently, said a man ordinarily too
lbnsy to make the trip over the seas
hiraself, lis an assortm OF playing
cards from various parts Of the world
s.In every country the owner Of the
collection visited and he went to- "a
good many picked up cards OF local
manufacture and 50 repre- essentially We of
the nation. Il II Y
The Russian cards are perhaps the
most elaborate. The faces Of the kings
and queens are different In each suit,
indicating the racial elements that go
to compose the empire.
s.On the Greek cards classical heroes
and heroines are represented. Nestor,
for example, Is the king Of hearts and
Orestes the knaye Agamemnon IS the
king OF clubs, Hercules the Jack Of
spades and Minos and Danae the king
and queen Of diamonds. The Greek
pack Is rather a cheap one and scarce
" does honor to the celebrities por-
rayed.
''Cadiz - q center for card nanufac-
turing. The idea Of the Spanish card
maker seems to be to get as much color
on the cards as possible. The royal
robes are OF unusual magnificence-
The clubs are big bludgeons IL green
and red, and the knaYe Of clubs gayly
caparisoned on q prancing horse, Re
minds yon Instantly Of Jack the Giant
Killer. The spades are ugly little dag
gers, and for hearts and diamonds
there are disks and dice cups The
cards ID some OF the Spanish packs are
very thin and have q capital spring.
The Madeira cards come from Lis
hon. The figures are more convention
81 IN design than on the Spanish. The
ace cards are adorned with typical
Portuguese scenes. ssS
.A peculiarly OF the pack bought III
Constantinople Is that the ace cards,
In addition to the single spade, dia~
mond, club or heart ii the center OF /
each, have diminutive aces at the up
per left hand and lower right hand
corners.
The italian face cards portray de-
scidedly gloomy personages. Each one
OF the face cards, by the way, carries
In small print the name and address Of
the maker. There are tiny packs, an I
inch and quarter BY an inch and
three-Quarters in size, which can be
bought on the streets OF Naples for
soido. These resemble the Spanish
cards to- some extent, although the
royalties are more dignid led.
Cairo Is d great card mporium, and
Mouslxy street offers rich returns to-
the card hunter. Fortune telling cards
must be In demand there, to judge
frpm the samples Il saw In the collec-
ton. The Cairo playing cards come
mostly from Germany. They are bril-
liant In their coloring. The aces carry
scenes from lands both west and east.
The gem Of all the packs comes
from Switzerland The cards are.
small, one and threequarters by two.
and q half inches inssize, and the back
design Is the edeIweiss. The kings,
queens and Jacks are delight studies
in Swiss costume, ana the purchaser
certainly gets his moneys worth, for
each face card has two half figures
quite unlike. On the aces are Swiss
scenes and objects of interest also two
to q card, the subjects including the
castle OF Chillon, the Matterhorn, the
bridge at Lucerne and the Lion OF Luz
Yvas7 fes