Gainesville daily sun. (Gainesville, Fla.) 190?-1938, 1907-06-28
PLAYING CARDS.
Peeuliaritiss Of These Used by the
Different Nations.

htUefeHt lNdb0Ubs
Zone OF the most interesting collec.
lions Of foreign loot that I've seen
recently said man ordinarily too
busy to make the trip over the seas
himself, "is an assortment of playing
cards from various parts Of the world.
"In every country the owner of the
collection yislted-and he went to a
good many--plcked up cards Of local
manufacture and so representative Of
the nation.
''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 composesthe empire.
con the Greek cards classical heroes
and herolnes 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
ly does honor to the celebrities por-
trayed.
"Cadiz is a center for card manufac-
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 in green
and red aud the knave of clubs. gayly
caparlsoned on prancing horse re-
minds you 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 in some Of the Spanish packs are
very thin and have capital spring.
"The Madeira cards come from LIS
bon. The figures are more convention
al in design than on the Spanish. The
ace cards are adorned with typical
Portuguese scenes.
"a peculiarly OF the pack bought in
Constantlnople Is that the ace cards,
in addition to the single spade, dla-
mond, club or heart In the center OF
each, have .iiminutive aces at the M.
per left hand and lower right hand
corners.
"The Italian face cards portray de-
cidedly 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
inch and quarter 10y an inch and
three-quarters IN size, which can be
bought on the streets OF Naples for a
soldo. These resemble the Spanish |
cards to some extent. although the
royalties are more dignlfed.
''Calro is a great card emporium. and |
Mousky street offers rich returns TO
the card hunter Fortune telling cards
must be In demand there. 20 judge
from the samples | 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 three-quarters by two
and q half inches In size, and the back
design Is the edelweiss. The kings.
queens and Jacks are delightful studies
in Swiss costume, aud the purchaser
certainly gets bis moneys worth. for
each face card has two half figures
quite unlike. on the aces are swiFs
scenes and objects OF interest. also two
to a card. the subjects including the
castle Of Chlllon. the Matterhorn, the
bridge at Lueerne and the Lion Of Lu.
cerne. "-Indianapolis Star.