The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-12-06

/ A
in his opinion the game originated in
Turkey, although Russia and Greece
have both claimed it. In Russia it is
called "biritchD or "Russian whist. -
persia was the first home of POKER
SAYS this writer in Ainslee IS Magazine,
"and l am disposed to think that Con-
stantinople was the birthplace of
| bridge-a conclusion which any one who
has ever played the game with Turk
will be inclined to share.
''The Turks have a really marvellous
genius for the game. feel sure that the
average Turk has about 20 per cent.
more insight into cards and card games
than the average American or English
! man. Throughout the East cards are
played with a brilliancy rarely met with
! elsewhere.
at was, l believe, during the year
/ 1894 that bridge was introduced into
London by Lord Brougham, who brought
} it back with him from an extended tour
of Southern and Western Europe. Lord
/ Brougham S account of the event Is
/ curious and interesting.
/ ''SOOn after his return to London he
went into the Portland club, which is
probably the best known card club in
the world. The Portland at that time
was given over exclusively to old fash
toned whist.
''His lOrdship sat down to play a
friendly rubber and, when it came his
turn to deal, forgot to expose the trump.
After three deals he again forgot to
turn his last card. His friends, who
had. known him for years, made a mem
tai memorandum that his lordship was
beginning to lose his memory.
: "He explained his carelessness by
saying that he had been playing so
much bridge that he could never re-
member the exaspeTating convention of
turning the trump. This remark led to
his explaining the game of bridge in
detail to his friends.
''From this insignificant beginning the
game has spread and spread until it is
now the most popular card game in the
world There is today hardly any
straight whist played at the Portland;
bridge has entirely replaced it. The
Turf was the next English club to ex-
pertinent with the game, and from that
time on the fever spread through the
English clubs very rapidly.
In 1895 the Portland issued its fam
Gus Laws of Bridge This was trans
lated and adopted as the standard guide
TO the game in most of the cities of
Europe and even in Constantinople, the
city of its birth.
a great friend of Lord Brougham s
at that time and one against whom he
played many rubbers, was Lord Var
borough, whose i'll luck was prcverbial
throughout England He frequently de-
| clared that his cards were the most
| exeerable in the world and that his
usual luck was to find a nine the highest
card in his hand
- As consequence of this a hand
with nothing over a nine gradually be-
came known in England as "Yar-
borough The expression became gem
eral and is today applied to a hand
without honOrs Lord Marlborough was
always willing to bet thousand pounds
to one against a hand having no honors
in 1t. As matter of fact the odds are
nearly two thousand to one
81 heard of one rubber at least in
which Lord Yarborough's i'll luck for
sock him. The unlucky lord was play
ing with his wife and two other ladies.
During the course of the rubber Lord
Marlborough held the most enormous
cards.
Lady Marlborough, who was PLAYING
against her husband, took out her purse
at the end of the rubber and with a sad
and wistful smile declared to the ladies
| that in her opinion a void hand at
| bridge could with much more point be
/ called Lady Marlborough. In the
/ course of this rubber Lord Marlborough
held thirty aces twice and four honors in
/ diamonds once.
1.-The late Henry Jones. peculiarly
known as 'Cavendish,' who was prob
ably the master mind of whist in Eng
| land and who has done more than anv
one man for the game, was at first bit
terly opposed to bridge. He poked all
manner of fun at the game. He said ii
was ridieulously simple and a bore. But
before his death in 1899 he was con
verted to it and ended by saying that
there was mo game of cards in the
world wherein skill, sound judgment and
insight into the adversary's methods
viii meet with more certain reward
than they win in bri lge.
II believe there is good ground for
the assertion that America was intro
| dueed to bridge before England, for it
Is certain that the late Henry |. Barbev
explained the game to his friends at the
Whist club in New York as early as the
beginning of 1894. A trifie later he
wrote little pamphlet about it for pri.
Vate circulation, and in 1897 the gam,