The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1910-05-01
M. 2. Ladie societY.

on FRIDAY afternoon, III the cnufch par
lors
M. p. Ladie Society.
On next Thursday afternoon the
be entertained by Mesdames Johnson
and Kinnamon, at the home of the for
mer, GOT Exchange street.
Someone has sent to the society edi-
tors desk Arthur Loring Bruce's lat
EFT bridge article in the May Ains'ee
I've discourse will doubtless prove of
much interest to those who have not
yet read the present months number
of that magazine. Mr., Bruce, who is
conceded by bridgers to be the fore
most bridge authority in America, has
written very breezy article on what
- terms an abomination and which,
perhaps, is familiar to many of Keo-
kuk's card players, Royal Spades.
He says:
THE latest innovation in straight
bridge is an aLomination known as
royal spades Whoever invented
this tawdry cambria fringe upon the
garment of bridge, would, if the matter
rested in my hands, be court-martialed
and shot by battery of cannon at
.-.e break of the next rainy dawn.
Royal spades is an absurdity-but
let US explain the atrocity little more
in detail
AS everybody knows, the weak
point of the game of bridge is the
spade declaration. 1t is only refuge
at best. 1t is the last resort of the
hopeless and unhappy. So dull and
Irritating did the spade declaration
become that, in 1905, in New York,
some over-wearied people began throw
ing down their hands when the spade
call was made and simply crediting
the maker unless the make was dou-
bled in which case the hand was al
ways played-with four points above
the line and two points below.
Americans are nervous people
They are always in hurry. They
won't be bothered The custom of
throwing spade hands grew every
where in favor, in America: but In
England where no one is In hurry,
and where any pursuit that is lengthy
and time-devouring is hailed with a
ringing salyo of applause by the care
free natives, tie custom has always
been good deal frowrcd upon, and
We Americans are, as a result, chaffed
there numerically for our silly haste
and lack of real interest in the game.
AT first, in America, spades were
'chucked' unless one side or the other
were at the score of twenty Then
the restlessness of tie Americans got
seriously to work, and the figure vas
moved UP peg. this time to twenty
four. Then a final hitch and in 1908
the custom in nearly all clubs and
drawing rooms became that spades
were played only when the dealer and
his partner were twenty-four. Their
opponents might be twenty-eight and
still the hands would be thrown down,
so long as the dealers side had not
reached the point of twenty-four.
Everybody was asked to assent to
this purely arbitrary ruling, and every
body did-except few fanatics who
rebelled laid back their ears, tugged at
the traces and kicked at the dash
board. These fanatics have been
mulling for two years over their trou-
bles, and the melancholy result is that
their long period of mulling has driv-
en- them mad, and the fruit of their
madness is the royal spade
Let us suppose that | pick up my
nand and find In it long or a strong
spade suit, say seven to the ace or
the four top honors, or six with three
honors; anything, in short that gives
me reasonable assurance of the odd
trick in spades boldly declare roy
al spades, which is a separate and
distinct call from spades. and which
is the highest trump called-hieher
even than diamonds or hearts, and
only trifie lower than no trumps.
Each trick in royal spades counts.
ten, while simple honors count twenty:
four honors, forty; five, fifty; four in
one hand. eighty; ETC., etc.
1T will be seen that the tendency
of this new make is clearly to lessen
the number of chucked or simple
spade hands, and in this respect the
idea is, perhaps, a good one; but why
not have royal clubs at fourteen per
trick. royal diamonds at sixteen; roy
al hearts at eighteen, and finally, roy
al no tr1Imps at twenty or thirty or