The daily progressive-miner., 1917-01-05
ORIGIN OF
 PLAYING CARDS

Many nations claim the questionable
 honor of the invention of the Devils
 picture books" as the Puritans of New
 England delight to call them, the gen
 erally accepted view, however, being
 that they originated in China or in
 Asia. In favor of China it is asserted
 that picture cards were invented A D. 1120 for the amusement of the cour-
 tiers of the Emperor-Juen-Ho.
 Exhibits of ancient circular playing
 cards now in the British museum and
 in. the museums of Cairo, Alexandria and Calcutta would indicate that they
 existed in India some hundred years
 prior to the Christian era, and in other
 quarters their origination has been
 variously assigned to the Persians. the Egyptians, and the Arabs.
 The time and manner of the intro duction of cards into Europe is equally indefinite Many historians taking the 2Sth canon of the council of Wor cester as their authority, assert that card games were played in England during the 18th century, but in direct contradiction of this theory is the fact that Boccaccio, Chaucer and other writers of that time make no refer ences, inferential or direct, to this form of gambling.
 From the references contained in the book of accounts kept by Charles Poupart, treasurer of the household of Charles VI. of France. in which refer ence is made to the purchase of pack of painted cards for the amusement of the imbecile king, and again in the memoirs of Joanna of Brabant, it may be assumed that though playing cards were known in few of the European courts they did not come into popular favor until the middle of the 18th cen tury, when we find the clergy of Eng land and France simultaneously ut tering birthstone laden fulminations against item. The first mention of the introduction of cards into America is found in the letters of Herrera, a companion of Cortez, who tells of the feverish interest taken by the Aztecs in the card games of the Spanish sol diers.
 The manufacture of playing cards, l beginning in France as early as 1892, and in Italy in 1425, had exteneded to England before 145O, an act of par lament of 1463, during the reign of Edward ", forbidding their importa- tion because of the obstruction to the home trade. And it is noticeable that queens-which have so often enabled a broken player on his last legs to complete a full house and gather in fat jack pot" had no place in the orig inal packs, fact which would tend to establish their Arabian origin.
 The marks of the suits on the earli- est known cards are hearts, bells. | leaves and acorns, the ace being of slightly later date. Next in antiquity are swords, batons and cups used by the Italians.
 The earliest packs bearing the dis tinctive marks with which we are familiar date from the reign fChar- les VII of France, hearts, clubs dia- monds and spades in the distinctive colors or red and black being then used for the first time. Court cards of the earliest packs were the king, chevalier and knave.
 Throughout the 18th century the fever of card playing had taken pos session of the peoples of nearly verey country in Europe, the clergy leading the way and in a manuscript of the 1 date of 1450 we are told how, in the market place of Nuremburg, 364O back