Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1912-04-19
BY CHARLES E. CAKE.

CpO1tS!
"A word tsr mlsused, tn g. sa:c
toned BY the leading moralists II al
Times. l. zane into bei:.e no doubt
because Ct tn" instinct Of IN t., con
test. 1, combat, another. Y: there
was also certain playful4ess about
it. emit into spiri: OF pure fun
Bu: sports have. come tip.,oein&
through the centuries, attaining grea1
supremacy here and descending to low
depths there, until widening over {
circle as bis as the earth itself.
All ;eopl demanded sports. 1: mat
tered little tho form, SC there was the
Indulgence in pastime--a moment
"hen energies must have full swing
whether in rivalry or in mere play.
En-. error Augustus, in looking out
from his palace upon tho great Circus
Maximus, holding over 100000 people
s:w the pens-up forces of the Roman
empire indulging diversion. The
Coliseum, not far from the circus, wit.
messed another form of pastime-a real
comhative contcst-the gladiators strug.
cling for the upper hand. Even in time
o. war, the Romans regarded as great
lua the famous catapu]t, which only
manifested anorher way of directing
.,rtain energies. The Trojan horse,
while suprosing to aid the soldiers to
cn;er the gates Of Troy ard :has spring
coup, was purely a sport, even # his.
texans term it alego~ical.
The bull fights, while brutal and in
h,I,,,
r>"" people. still a:c acclaimed in Spain
~ -Icxico: q poc:'!ar sport, indeed, but
:'* kind the people Of those countries
nF
>,con the-o will be assembled in
s, o>';holm. in the great Stadium, rep
*cI;atives Of all countries, men who
" participate i'll nearly every conceiv.
O. = sport known to modern civilization.
They are I'll sports. Those Of carly
history were no less so than those Of
the present tin.e. They arc sports be-
rluse hui Hni'y must express itself in
so-A form, ard this expression cftenest
lows the most moral lines; when it
IT, TO, tho SPORT declines quickly; the
e r"cr representing the continuity Of
c'>::vage; the latter representing the
s-o:~ dc burst Of the moment.
There is 3 other vi:ilc element in the
,":nan max up. While this form has
.n> ai led virtue Of bringing both sexes
IL closer union, without the exercise of
"r;'.n:ng greater than osculatory pow
c.. still it must be classed as q sport.
Thus, there are the games of "post-
Office" Of "kiss;ng bees" and Of "all
hands around,'' probably typifying, in
western civilization 1T least, diver
siell more far reaching ard more effect
re than chariot races or gladiatorial
contests, if definite connections Of sexes
:. an index.
T..:s casual review tells in word how
:, X have got away from the daily care;
t::euciting responsibility and freedom,
ard thrown themselves into the whirl
o: relaxation.
But diversion is not always for the
.ut.of-doors. Truly, men love to see
"two down. one on third, and clean
tirgle to the field, giving the run nee
essa-y to win; or "with ten yards to
gam" push the. pigskin over for the
necessary touchdown; or, furthermore,
Sc, g skit jumper leap 100 feet in the
air and clear the best mark made. All
this lifts a Saturday afternoon crowd
to it's feet amid deafening din. Still,
al; cannot get out of doors or do not
wish to.
Then whatf To another diversion,
and this brings to mind the most sci.
cntiic Of sports-the game Of billiards;
and scientific for the reason that greater
brain power and mental poise are re-
CURED than in any other pastime which
yields an equal amount Of physical d.
version.
Billiards il not Of recent creation. It
has not come up along with other mod
ern sports. In truth, it began its ex-
istence about the time the characters
were driving four abreast or when Han
ribal WAS hung his way over the Alps
from Carthage in . vain attempt to
dislodge Scipio and wrest the crown
from the imperial Romans.
The authority is Shakespeare, and who
doubts this sages But the great bard
refers more. especially to the time of
Marc Antony, which, Of course, does not
remove it from Roman activity of the
same period.
But billiards then and billiards now
are, manifestly, two varying kinds of
s.,,ort. What precise form it took in
early history is not clear, save that
There was some fiat surface about which
balls were knocked, clearly indicating
the diversion proclivity; confined. no
Aoubt, to those of less muscular power.
@ There was no hurrah about the game
~ 50 early date. There was nothing
II excite the populace, or to draw the
;ISnce in retaliation of an offense. It
ms much after tho game Of present
Sey quoits, or horseshoe throwing, in its
,Qaiet and gentle manifestations.
Az Still it continued = sport. On up
through history it found claim among
- Normans, among the French, which