The chronicle=news., 1914-11-21
PLAYING BALL IN
ANCIENT AMERICA

'Pla-a-a-y baw-aw-aw-l!" Is not rs
new an expression OF popular i'm
patience to have some start some
thing as some people may think.
Neither is playing ball for a living
4 strictly modern invention. In fact,
thousands OF year ago, way down III
incatan. impatient crowds sat
around the ball parks, yelled them
selves hoarse. heat one another IN
the back. and threw their feather
headHear into the arena in :he en-
thusiasm of the moment. Just as We
nre doing today. Also there doubt
less were Ty Cobbs whose skill in
mating" and fielding was such
that they could afford TO hold up the
management occasionally for a few
more hundred jasuar skins a year by
threats to quit professional ball and
30 to farming.
or course. the game was not ex-
actly baseball. hu, the point is that
1t was ball game, that there were
regular ball parks or courts, cnd that
there were professionals vino n,oyed
the game for what there was "in st'
to them. Mayhap the medium of cH-
change took the form of jaguar skins.
lpounus OF cocoa, fancy feathers. or
what not.hutsit was money all the
same. an dthey could buy with 1t at
the club. or In the market place. as
the case may he. They mad their
peculiar systems Of slang, too. at
least In some parts u the Americas,
which, translated into English means
about as much to lis as ours woNld
to them: all OF which is brought ont
by Mr.. Franklin Adams IN his story.
l"lndiGenous Games IN Latin Amer
ica," in the July number Of the
Monthly Bulletin of the Pan n-Ameri-
can Union, Washington. d. c. That
the ball game is an ancient institn-
tion in the Americas may be gath
cred from the following:
"The ball game Is Indigenous to
the Americas. Perhaps the FIRST 81
mian inhabitants found true sport in
catching the cocOanuts tossed from
the tai palms. certain II is that sew
eral thousand years age the ball
game had reached n high state of
development in the 30 cities scatter
ed throughout Yucatan. On clearing
away the matted forests en"cioping
these marvellous ruins, ball courts
were disclosed near the most sacred
temples, walls. much was learned OF
the complicated character CT the
sport. Centuries after the passing or
these ancient Nlayans. came the first
Spanish Aztecs. had revived the old
pastime into national game, with
stone God of Sport" beamins on
every court.
THE, pcc,iliarity Of :hese early
games was that the bail, when In
play, was not thrown with the iland
but struck by the hip, around which
the player wore a protecting pad o.
leather. At each end of the court
was n great stone disk with a nole In
the center. and through this orifice
the ball was driven before a point
was cored. Very naturally Il lively
ball was used, since rubber trees
dominated the forests
"Old chroniclers marvel at the skill
and endurance of the players, for
game was seldom won under four
nours of constant play. uch ex-
ilaustinG contests, with a dozen par
ticipants in almost constant actloh'
were not for amateurs. but profes-
sious. Thus, from the ASztec word
clh, sisnifying ball came the
word mollonkni, 'one who plays ball
for a living.
Another form Of balf game is play
ed by the Indian tribes of the Cudul-
ary river region In the wilds OF Bra
zil. A carefully leveled field lies IN
front of the molakas, or large COM
Fmunal houses, and daily, at O'Clock,
the men returning from the days
fishing or hunting. indulge in the
sport-not complicated game like
that of the early Mexicans. but one
calling for a high degree of skill. as
two balls are used by the players,
who drive them with the hands to-
ward their opponents. Yellow tai!
feathers of the fapoo bird are al
fixed to the rubber balls for accu-
racy.
The Araucanian Indians OF South
ern Chile play an ancient game with
wooden balls driven by wooden clubs.
In a clearing 800 by 10 yards, en-
closed by cut branches of trees, these
Indians play chueca, which greatly
resembles la cross or field hockey.
The game is played from childhood
and the players acquire great sklll
and the matches draw large crowds.
The game calls for great endurance
and While generally played in two or
three hour periods, several days nave
been known to rass before decision
was reached. During the play it is
not unusual TO hear player cry,
"Am not real oak tree4' or rs