The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-04-21
BY CHARLES E. CAKE.

fsportsl
A word badly misused. though snnc.
tioned by the leading moralisfs Of ali
times. It came into being no doubt
because of the instinct OF man to CON.
Test, to combat, another. Yet there
wss also certain playfulness about
Ito enter into spirit of pure fnn,
But sports have como tip.toeinc
through the centuries, attaining preaf
supremacy here and descending to low
depths there, until widening over n
circle as big as the earth itself.
All peoples demanded sports. 1t mat.
fared little the form, SO there was the
Indulgence in n pastima-a moment
when energies must have full swing.
whether IN rivalry or in mere play. "
Emperor Augustus, in looking ont
nom his palace upon the great Circus
Mazimus, holding over 100000 people,
saw the pent.up forces OF the Roman
empire indulging a diversion. Tho
Coliseum, not far from the circus, wit
messed another form of pastime--a real
rombative contest-the gladiators strug.
Cling Tor the upper hand. Even in time
Of war, the Romans regarded as great
fun the famous catnpult, which only
manifested another way of directing
certain energies. The Trojan horse
while supposing to aid the soldiers to
enter the gates of Troy and thus spring
g coup, was purely sport, even if his.
tSorians term it allegorical,
The bull fights, while brutal and in.
human, and therefore condemned br
most people. still are acclaimed in Snain
and Mexico; peculiar sport, indeed, but
the kind the people OF those countries
enjoy.
Soon there will be assembled in
Stockholm, in the great Stadium, rem.
resentatives of all countries, men who
VIII participate in nearly every conceiv
able sport known to modern civilization.
they are all sports Those Of early
history were no less SO than those of
the present time. They are sports he.
cause humanity must express itself in
some form, ana this expression ofteuest
follows the most moral lines; when it
Ia1ls to, the sport declines quickly; the
former representing the continuity of
cle2vage; the latter representing the
sporadic burst of the moment.
y IheIe IS another vi:ile clement in the
human makeup. While this form has
the added virtue of bringing both SEXES
an closer union, without tho exercise of
anything greater than osculatory now
CTS. stall II must be classed as a snort
mus, there are the games Of "post-
on ice" Of "kissing tees'' and of Wail
hands aronnd,'' psobablY typifvinr, in
western civilzatioy- at least. a diyer.
zion more Tar reaching and more effect.
I've than chariot races or cla6iatorial
contests, II definite connections of saxaa
lere an index
This casual review tells in o wor4 how
men have got away from the dail,, care.
dtsuniting responsibility and freedom
and thrown themselves into the whirl
Of relaxation.
But diversion is not always Tor the
s,ut Of doors. Truly, men love to see
two cow" one on third, and q. clean
btngls to the field, giving the run nee.
essary TO win; or with ten yards 10
gain y push the pigskin over for The
necessary touchdown; or, Furthermore.
see q skit jumper leap 400 feet in the
air ana clear the best mark made. All
Tins lifts Saturday afternoon crowd
10 its feet amid deafening din. Still,
al cannot get out of doors nr do not
wish to.
Then what To another diversion
and this brings 10 mind the most sci.
sntltic Of sports-the game of Billiards:
and scientific Tor tho reason that create,
brain power and mental poise arc re.
CURED than II any other justine which
Tesis an equal amount OF physical di.
c7eTGion.
Billiards is not Of recent creation. II
has not cone UP along with other md.
eTn sports. In truth, il began its cy.
astence about the time The chsrioteers
were driving four abreast OF when Han.
nibal was hung his way over The AIMS
from Carthage in vain attennt IL
dlslodge scipio and wrest the crown
from the imperial Romans.
The authority is Shakespeare. ana who
doubts this sage7 But The great hard
refers more especially to the time Of
Marc Antony, which, OF course, docs MT
remove it from Roman activity of The
same period.
But billiards then and Billiards nov
are, manifestly, two VARYING kinds If
sport- WHAT precise form i, took in
early history il not clear save tbat
there was some fat surface about which
nails were knocked, clearly Indicating
the diversion proc!ivity; confined. no
1onot, to those of less muscular power.
There was no hurrah about the game
ut 80 early date. There vas nothing
70 excite the popu!ace, or to draw the
lance in retaliation of an ofTenae. II
.Eas much altar the game, of present
Day quoits, or horseshoe throwing, in its
quiet and gentle manifestations.
Still it CONTINUED a sport. On MP
Through history il found claim among
The Ncrmans, among the French, which