The patriot. [volume] (Indiana, Pa.) 1914-1955, 1917-02-24
THE GREAT
GAME
By NJ. QUAD
Copyright, 1916, by the Mcclure
Newspaper Syndicate.

The villagers Of Chatham and Co.
burg were four miles apart, and there
had been rivalry between them ever
since they were founded If one claim
ed 400 population the other claimed
450. When the one built q church
building with a spire thirty feet high.
the other built church building with
the spire seven feet higher.
There was one point which had never
been settled between the towns. This
was the championship checker player.
Sometimes one village held the cham
pionship for a year or two and then
had TO relinquish 1t to the other. There
was talk for several years Of having
the question permanently settled, but
1t hung fire until a man named Bob
Wittiker moved over to Chatham from
village forty miles away. He had
played checkers ever since he was FIVE
years old. At ten he could beat any
man they could bring against him. At
fifteen he won the championship of the
state. But no one In either village
knew of this. 1t was given out that
he played a pretty good game, and
when the Coburg people heard of it
they sent to Chicago and hired a man
to become a resident of the town long
enough to settle the question Of cham
pionship. Each town made up purse,
and the victor in the game was to re-
ceive $25.
Ten men went over from Chatham
with their champion, and another ten
men met them. The twenty were to
see that the game was a fair one. 1t
was to be the best three games in five
and was played in the town hall.
The game began on Thursday morn
ing, and that night nobody turned out
to the regular prayer meeting. The
first game lasted all that day and all
that night and was not decided until
Friday noon. The champion of Chat
ham. won it. This fact was telephoned
over to Chatham, and it set the village
wild with delight. New wagers were
made. New boasts were made. A lee
turer was to give talk Friday night.
but he had to skip it.
The second game lasted through Fri
day night and all day Saturday. Now
and then the champions fell asleep for
five minutes, but they were aroused
by the pricks of pins. At z o'clock at
night the second game was won by the
Coburg man. This made game apiece,
and the excitement went up to fever
heat.
There were two churches in each
village, and the Sunday congregations
counted up about five women apiece.
Not all the sermons ever preached
could have induced the men to come
away from the telephones. About
o'clock Sunday afternoon both checker
players were allowed to sleep for twen-
ty minutes and then given a rub down
with hot vinegar and red pepper. They
started out playing again feeling pret-
ty lively. The four churches were
closed Sunday night.
All day Monday passed and that
third game of checkers was not yet
decided. The champions were allowed
a little sleep and given another rub
down, and they got through the night
fairly we'll At noon Tuesday old
Ephraim Watkins, eighty-fve years,
who was the greatest weather prophet
for fifty miles around, sat on the post
Office steps at Chatham and said to the
dozen men about him:
Boys, we are going to have
change Of weather within a few hours.
I'll bet my old hat agin chip that
We'll have the rippinest old thunder
storm any of you have seen in ten
years."
"Well, let 'er come" replied one Of
the men. "It won't make any differ
ence to the checker players over at
Coburg"
Don't You be too sure about that,
piped the old man. II don't say that
a friendly game of checkers is wicked,
but do say that keepin' up a game of
checkers until it interferes with prayer
meetin'S and sermons is kinder defyin'
the Lord"
In about two hours a black cloud
arose in the west, and all could see that
a thunderstorm was coming. The lat
est news from Coburg was that the
third game was about an even thing so
far and would probably not be decided
before the next morning Old Ephraim
had come back just as the announce
ment was made, and on hearing it he
exclaimed:
"That ere game of checkers will be
decided within an hour, no matter