The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-05-23

4 ION IIOpuy ~ itk1dSApIfla Gun
also has bee made a permanent tra.
ply. and the clubs OF Omaha last yasr
united in supplying a u 10 take r.
| place
The game of Whist originated 7,
England, and was popular as early
"Cotton's Compleat Gamester. pub.
lished in 1874 says that the game -
ceived its name from the silence ob.
served in its play. Edmund Hoyle =
commonly supposed 10 be the first au-
thor of any ability to write upon whist
and he is sometimes spoken OF as tn,
father of the game. He published hIs
Short Treatise" in 1742, and upo,
this are based most of the whist laws
and rules now in practice Hoyle CAV.
lessons in whist to the fa~shionahl,
Londoners at a guinea a lesson. AMI
1t is said acquired quite a competence
from this source.
While the game Of whist is tho
scientific and exacting TO be popular
with the frivolous, there is no douAr
thai among those who have Ieisur.
and the desire to play cards in a care
full and studious manner. it will ALWAYS
have a place of honor. The rules ara
simple enough for a child to under
stand. One of the present board Of
governors of the Woman's Whist
League was taught the game By her
father when she was only seven years
old. Now, at the age of SiXty-Sevea.
she finds keenest pleasure in whist at
a time when many other diversions are
denied to her.
There is no other card game PLAYED
by women so richly endowed with
quaint old remembranceS and histori-
cal association. The bellies and beaux
of the British and French courts made
it the fashion. Their Descendants
brought it to America in colonial
times. Whist was in great favor in
Philadelphia at the time of the Amer
lean Revolution. The vivacious Peggy
Chew is said to have detained 4
British officer at her home by the
beguilement Of whist so that he was
late in appointing sentries, and thus
failed to capture some important let
ters which Washington was sending
to his officers in Philadelphia. Sarah,
the daughter of Benjamin Franklin.
whist player, and Franklin himself
was sometimes not loath to beguile
his leisure with a court game.
Since whist is a game Of Skill rather
than a game Of chance. it has not
appealed to the gambling player
made over the results of contests. they
have never really become a part Of
the game. h true whist player en-
joys Che intellectual exercises the in
tricacies Of the game call forth. As
a social game. whist is not SO en-
Enthusiastically played as some OF tn"
others, because it requires closer at
tention. Therefore. its devotees are
less numerous, but it enjoys q per
manence in favor not given to any
other game played by women. Suen
games as progressive euchre, high
five, five hundred and others similar
in scope will have a run of a season
or two and then be superseded by 4
new diversion. Progressive card par
ties in these games, with tempting
nriZaS arc cnnfinnolC nhtaininD in
favor for all sorts of charitable, philan
thropic and social Nom
of these, however, has any influene"
upon whist. The skilled Whist playe'
regards them all with the superior
tolerance as a fine musician gives /"
the popular -rag-time music. The.
are not to be taken seriously.
Bridge whist occupies a little hithfr
place in the mind of the skilled ply.
INC for several years has be- -
popular that even whist players rave
been forced to consider it. 1t reqLiFr'
less concentration than true wis
Even small country villages he
bridge clubs and classes. In several
OF the large cities, during the VIII
ter, bridge tournaments have been
WOMEN AND WHIST-TWO
held in which nearly a thousand pIdt-
ers have been included. The fact that
the American Whist League has ais
issued a guide for the game OF bridge
with straight whist.
Although the time probably never
will come again when a rubber o.
whist will be as much a part Of tn"
day as the dinner. yet there is reason
to believe that the great vogue gain
ed by the game in the mid-NictOriah
era, its prominence in the Engiish
novel and it's intrinsic value as tn
solace of advancing years will keep
it always alive. Other card gam
| come and go they are the ldlE tI
today and the bores of tomorrow. but
good old whist goes on forever. Tho
ladies playing in Baltimore TO-DAY ar"
nightly in earnest, and as games s''
they are worthily employed.
IueSia a-EiShing.