The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-01-22

 Times.
 |"HERE is one kind of play in which the Eskimo boys seem always ready 4 to indulge-a roll down hill They select a small, but steep hill, or incline, well covered with snow, and, seating themselves on the top of the ridge, thrust their heads between their legs, pass their clinched, gloved hands over their ankles, pressing their legs as closely against their bodies as possible. They thus really make themselves into big balls covered with reindeer hair, and then away they go on a. rolling race downhill, suddenly spread ing themselves out at full length and stop ping instantly at the bottom of the hill. Every now and then when a playful mood strikes a boy he will double himself up and roll downhill without waiting for the rivalry of a race, but it is violent exer- else, and it bumps the little urchin se- verely.
 the boys indulge, and which requires a great deal of strength, is a peculiar kind of short race on the hands and feet. The boys lean forward on their hands and feet, with their arms and legs held as stiffly as possible, and under no circumstances must they bend either the elbows or knees. In this stiff and rigid position, resting only on their feet and on the knuckles of their clinched fists, they jump or hitch forward a couple of inches by a quick, convulsive movement of the whole body These movements are rapidly re- peated, perhaps once or twice a sec n.ta l.,, T two or three yards along the hard snow drifts. Then they become exhausted, for, as I have said, this exercise calls for con- siderable strength, and is indeed a very fatiguing amusement; so that, by the time a boy has played quite energetcally in this way, if only for minute, he feels very tired, and Is willing to take a breath ing spell. It is not a very graceful game, and, if you were to take a carpenters wooden horse and jog it along by jerks over the floor, you would have a toler- ably fair representation of this awkward game of the Eskimo children. The best part of it all is the exercise it gives them, and often one will see a single boy jumping along in this stiff legged fashion as if he were practicing for race, a slight downhill grade being preferred.
 Another method of racing, somewhat similar to the above, is also practiced; folding the arms across the breast and holding the knees rigid with the feet close together. the contestants paddle along as fast as possible by short jumps Of an inch or two. It is severe strain on the feet and one cannot go very far in so awkward a way. The little girls, standing in a row of from three to five, often jump up and down in the same
 Another athletic amusement in which manner, keeping a sort of time with the humping of their heels to the rude songs that they are spluttering out in jerks and gasps as unmusical as the hammering of their heels. A lot of these little damsels would favor us with a short version of this stiff jumping, spluttering melody whenever they were particularly grateful for some small gift we had presented to them.
 A capital game played by the little girls and by some of the smaller boys is a rude sort os ball game. Thick sealskin leather is made into a ball about the size of our common baseball and then filled about two-thirds full with sand. If completely filled it would be as hard and unyielding as a stone, and the singular sliding way it has of yielding, because of its being only partially filled, makes it much harder to- catch and retain in the hands than our common ball. The game is a very simple one, much like our play with beanbags. and consists simply in striking at the ball with the open palm of the hand, and, when there is crowd of play CTS, in keeping the ball constantly in the air This is a favorite summer game when the snow is off the ground and the people are living in sealskin tents. No doubt it affords considerable exercise. Whenever the ball drops to the ground or the players fail to keep it flying it is a signal for rest. Simple as is the game the little Eskimo manages to gain much fun and excitement from it. and when ever you hear an unusual amount of shouting and loud, boisterous merriment out of doors you may be almost certain of finding, when you go to your tent door, that all the children of the village are engaged in game of ''sandbag ball.
 Another Eskimo out of door amusement much resembles the old Indian game of .'lacrosse. It is played on the smooth lake ice with three or four small, round balls of quartz or granite about the size of an English walnut. These are kicked and knocked about the lake with plenty of fun and shouting, but utterly without any rules to govern the game.
 It takes long time to grind one of these irregular pieces of stone into round ban,