The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-08-04
NEWEST In RECREATIONS
m JLDING CLIMBERS FORM A
CLTB TO FOLLOW THE SPORT.
OuthOor BadmiRtOn an Invention In India
Game should ne TAX Fl Up by COun-
try clubs ana for Lawn Parties-Etve
play On Each Side jim Largest Courts.

Same should ne Taken Up by COun-
try clubs and for Lawn Parties-Etyo
pay on Each stde in Largest Courts.
A club has been formed among some
New York amateur climbers OF buildings,
srceples and precipitous heights TO carry
ont in concert their hazardous sport hat
"a hitherto been followed alone or In
couples. II is mountain climbing in minia-
tire and may be followed wherever access
may he gained to a building or stack of
crimneys where the holds are practicable
FOR an ascent and descent. The coming
down il IA daring in risks as the ascent.
usually. and affords the best sport. Man.
hsttan's skyscrapers. it is thought. will
afford opportunity for many thrilling
climbs. Should young men be noted soon
climbing in fly fashion to the SUBMITS Of
the tall buildings they will be recognized
"a members Of the new club.
A club in London il the model of the club
here. In that great metropolis the extreme
Criminess Of the holds on buildings is an
inconvenience to counterbalance the at
fractions Of the sport. and whenever possible
he London club holds Its meetings in the
open country. Ropes and graphing irons.
life lines, climbing ladders and climbing
irons fastened to the feet are the chief
'ools of the sportsmen. the outfit being not
unlike the building scaling appliances Of
our fire fighters. The New York club,
should it follow the example OF the British
one and seek the country. may find some
risky climbs along the Palisades OF the
Hudson.
Yet one OF the most successful recent
excursions OF the London club was to burfow
into the earth and not to climb aloft. This
was an exploration OF the Dene Holes,
situated near Bexley on an estuary of the
Thames a little below London. Dene Holes
are believed to be the work OF the ancient
Britons and TO be 1000 years old or 30.
The holes are found in clusters Of fifty or
sixty and suggest the idea of a community.
IL has been suggested that the Britons
dug them to escape from the Romans. At
all events they are carefully constructed
and may have served as ~strongholds as
well as places of refuge during piratical
iorays along the coast in ancient times.
Each hole is a circular shaft about 4
feet Q inches in diameter and from 10 to 100
feet deep. The shafts are sunk through
Thanet sand until they reach the chalk.
where they end in two or more low rooms.
Those visited were in SANKEY'S woods,
Bexley. which is literally honeyoombed
with The shafts. and "a they were con-
cealed by bushes OF ash. elder and hazel,
tho explorers had TO proceed with caution
to avoid q too hasty descent. There are
similar holes near Gravesend.
Tho clubmen are mostly large and lusty
men and they had a day at Rexley that
axed all their powers. In each shaft.
down either side and facing each other, ia a
row Of large footholds at convenient dis
tanoes apart, like the rungs OF a ladder.
and tho theory was that the members could
easily ascend and descend by graphing
tho cavities with hands and feet. In prac-
tice tho clubmen found the sand too soft
and loose Tor the f1rst ten or fifteen feet for
this sort OF climbing and as a substitute
they had to be lowered Town on the life
lines. This was easy enough going down,
although In many Of the holes the sides of
the shafts had vanished and the feeling
was as though being dropped into a dark
pit. The pulling up could only be done
by the five or six on top forming into a tug
of-war team to haul out their brothers one
al a time.
They tied on their heaviest man first"
writes ono OF the above ground clubmen,
which was foolish. Still. with a prodigious
effort. We did get him up a few feet and
then he stuck, or our strength failed; any
how We could not bulge him and down he
had 10 go again. I above and they below
had both learned something. l, that the
suspended weight OF a man cut the rope
1eep into the soil aroun the shafts mouth,
The groove forming about the most useless
sort Of pulley l have met; they. that the
said growing dislodged cataracts Of sand
and pebbles which fell vertically. Now.
the Joy OF heing hauled out Of a chamber is
that you are right in the line OF fire. If !
YOU stoop your head the sand fills up the
back Of your neck; IL you look up you face
gets peppered. The last man, although
our team now had been recruited, we could
not get up at all. When at length he did
arrive at the pits mouth we discovered the
reason. He had caught his head against
The roof OF the hambe close to the entrance
~ the shaft and we had been doing our best
to pull his head OF or break his neck. He
was not hurt much. however. and was at 1t !
again at the next hole"
One Of the pleasures OF amateur climb
ing or burrowing il the contemplation OF
the other members in the difficulties that
Won have successfully overcome. h is
a side delight in many other pastimes-in-
Heed. in nearly all OF them-a n the one
who best overcomes the task IL the best
fellow. There are no Dene Hole descents
for the New York clubmen. but their OPP
portUnity to mount aloft IL unexceled.
As a preliminary to test the nerves II ~ sug-
gested that the members a turns in being
hosted. while riding granite blocks OF iron
Orders, TO the tops OF high buildings now
under construction.
Badminton is the modern form Of shut
tlecock and besides the tournaments OF the
New York Badminton Club IL IL an estab-
llshed winter indoor game In many OF the
large cities. In England there are bad
minton courts in nan of. the clubs and
country houses. In India ball badminton
ia played in large outdoor courts. Col
h. +. Beddome Of the Indian Army believes
that this game should become q popular
slImmer pastime In Great Britain and the
United States. In a late Field Col. Beddome
gives a description OF the game. from which
tins summary is condensed:
The correct size Of an outdoor badminton
court is eighty feet by forty feet, but for
obvious reasons IL is more generally played
IN a ful sized lawn tennis court, which Ia
only a little smaller. A line down the centre
~ the ground divides Il into right and left
courts. and a cross line Ia marked two yards
from the net on each side as a serving
crease over which the ball must be served
or The server il out. The net Is five feet nine
inches against five feet for the shuttlecock