The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-08-28
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS

A friend said to me: Recently you had something to say about some fancy craps
 shooting at Capi.o, park. Can you tell
 when it vas that the white folks first began to rlay the great negro game?" Now, I confess that he had me stumped, for while pose as an authority on some things. have never prided myself on be t ing a craps expert, and therefore am not in a position to speak either historically or judicial!y on the subject. I asked an acquaintance who sometimes rolls the bones, and who has way Of thinking things out for himself, to ex
 plain to me the question put by friend
 as to the time when African polo'' os- ! came favorite sport of clubmen. He dated # back to the days just afrel the civil war, for" said he, when the negroes were freed they took up some games which they had little chance to
 play during slavery, and rolling dice be- lIlS dluOIS IuC olIuplSSt lOl HIS Ol 6dik-
 bling, craps just naturally came into cx- istence, and the white lads seeing the ne- gro boys shooting dice, soon got ths
 habit" He claims It took whole gener- ation for the game to get footing ia
 white circles.
 I give his statement for what it is
 worth. All that personally know is tha. "craps shooting came into vogue in Bir 1. mingham among the society and club | men, as well as being the favorite pas time of the tin horns, and finally into ago. It may have been earlier. but that 1 is as far back as my memory runneth of the earne the whites pilfered from the negroes.
 l It was in the heyday of Blount Springs
 when we used to go up there for the week. end that I first realized what hold craps shooting was getting among the elite for the bunch could hardly wait until supper was over before they would hie them to a room and start a gama. IL was in the time when everybody got on
 the floor ''tc roll," long time before oil- Hard tables or green baize card tables
 were brought into service.
 1 It wasn't long before the words, Come
 seven, come eleven" began to creep into the conversation of the society crowd. l well remember stroling on the veranoa of the Blount Springs hotel between
 dances to hear such expressions floating out on the atmosphere, and to be asked by my. charming partner as to their meaning.
 The young women began to use the 1 '.patterr of the game through hearing the men talk about it, long before any ot ] them ever really knew that the worGs 1 were used in a gambling sense. This is why a famous wit and beauty shocked
 her religious mother. who. during Lent, called upstairs and said: Daughter. are YOU going to the early morning or noon service? to hear the sleepy words floa, down, Tt don't make any difference te me. Come seven, come eleven
 l Now, do not pin your faith too exciu sively to encyclopedias, for in spite O
 their maay ponderous tomes and air Q knowing 1t all. they are sometimes poo guides as to present day habits. For ex ample. wanted to delve little deepe into the meaning of the word dice than i set out in Webster's, and went to cn' of the latest editions of one of the great
 est AmeriSan encycyopedias, and was as
 tonished to find the following: "In O.: day games os dice have gone out of fash ion: they are now rarely used except ; 1 accessories tc backgammon and as [ 1 means of determining the first mover il
 some games"
 ! Holy Moses and suffering cats Ev'
 dentiy the learned commentator wh
 wrote the article is some divine VII l,ives in nis study and who does not kes
 up with the habits of some q his fasn