The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-03-06
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC j. HAsKIN, Director.
Washington, D. c.
A GAMBLERS PARADISE.
Washington, d. c.

A GAMBLERS PARADISE.
! Habana. Cuba. Feb. 23-In- this
! city you may gamble. If you choose.
/ from the time you arise in the morn
| ing until you go to bed the next morn
! ing. You can begin by purchasing a
ticket in the national lottery. which
affords you a stirring opportunity to
win a hundred thousand dollars on an
/ investment of one. In the afternoon
you can go -out ITO the race track and
risk any amount you please on your
own judgment or that of the local
newspaper men. At night you can go
to a game of Jai Alai. where you can
| get covering for almost any amount
of money you care to show. In be-
tween times you can sit in any kind of
game you choose.
OF all these varied ways of losing
your money, distinctly the most inter-
esting and to the visitors the most
| picturesque, is the game OF Jai Alai.
Indeed, after careful inventory of
| the entire city, we are inclined to say
that Jai Alai is the best thing that
Habana has to show. And yet you
| seldom count dozen Americans
among the thousands which attend the
game. and almost nothing seems to be
known of it in this country.
Jai Alai may best be described as
a glorified handba1l game, with one
wall taken out of the court. In hand
ball. one plays in a box-like room
thirty or forty~feet long, the procedure
! being simply to knock the ball against
one of the end walls until one of the
contestants misses it. This simple
game, which is played in almost every
Y. Nj. c. A. in the United States. has
J been magnified by the southern
! est order. In Jai Alai, the Court is
more than a city block in length and
probably over a hundred feet to its
ceiling. from which great banks of
| lights glare down upon it. One of the
I long walls is taken out and replaced
/ by a foul line. back of which is
grandstand which holds about three
thousand spectators.
! Naturally no human hand unaided
could propel a ball the length of this
titan court. so the pelotari, as the
player is called, is equipped with an
! Instrument which is probably the most
| effective one for the application of
man-power to ball ever invented. 1t
| is strapped to the right hand, and
looks like a huge eagles claw, being
curved in about the same degree and
perhaps three feet long. On closer
| inspection, it is seen to be half-cylin-
drical and hollow, so that the ball is
caught and propelled in a curved
groove. But to try to describe the
manipulation of this curious imple-
ment is hopeless. Suffice it to say
that the pelotari is able not only to
throw the ball a city block, but to
make it rebound a city block and hit
| the back wall!
The game which originated some
where in Spain, is still played in that
country, and pretty much all over
Latin-America. Nearly all of the play
ers are professionals, and travel from
one country to another. They have
their pictures in the papers and are
the heroes of small boys. exactly like
our great baseball players. Incident
ally, they are athletes of a really high
order and of a most exceptional grace
The Jai Alai court is in a large and
fine building. privately owned and
! very remunerative to Its owners. In
addition to the court and the grand
stand, it contains a large bank with
about twenty tellers, where bets are
settled. a bar. lunch counter and a
cafe. The tickets are practically all
sold by scalpers. The best of them
are supposed to sell for a dollar and
a half, but cannot be purchased for
less than five dollars on the day be-
| fore the game. Eacn of these tickets
seems to pas: thru the hands of sew
eral men. Ii this way, the Jai Alai
game is made to afford living to the
greatest possible number of persons.
while ticket is seldom sold for less
than three times its alleged box-office
price. y
The game always begins with the
playing of the national hymn or
anthem, or whatever it may be called.
At this, some people stand, and all OF
the men remove their hats. But when
the game begins, everyone stands and
remains standing until it is over. The
excitement is intense, almost incredi-
Bile, in the early stages of the game.
In long row before the erandstand
are the book-makers, distinguished by
funny little red caps. They shout the
+ odds they have to offer basing them
on the score which is marked up on
q huge board in sight of all. Every
one in the place seems bent on max
ing bets, not only with the book-mak-
erS but with everyone else within
sound of his voice. The babel reaches
a veritably frenzied pitch. The book
makers. unable to make themselves
| heard, throw messages into the grand
stand in little rubber balls. Excited
men wave bundles of bills under each
others noses. The players are cursed
| and cheered. Hats and walking sticks
sometimes fly into~the air. despite a
large sign which specifically forbids
| this method of displaying emotion. AS
the game progresses, one side gains a
decisive lead. The odds are now heav-
lily in favor of the winning side and
the betting falls off, until finally the
outcome is clear and betting ceases
! altogether. The game is now watched
| for its own sake with a sad and dis
gruntled air by the losers, while those
i who have put their money on the win
ming side are eXuberant and NOISY.
The pelotari is a hard fighter and
a man who knows his business thoro-
/ ly. Seldom indeed does he miss a
| ball which it is at all possible for him
to get: He also disabuses one of the
notions that the Latin American is a
man of inferior physique. The play
ers are without exception men of
great muscle and wind. and of aston
] ishing endurance. The games seem
longer than anything played in this
country, and as hard as anything ex-
cept football, while the heat is con-
siderable. The players wear ordinary
shirts and trousers, the sides being
distinguished by the colors of the
shirts. Long before the game is over
the players are drenched with sweat.
but apparently unfagged. At each
end of the court is a table where cold
tea and rum are served. Now and
then one OF them takes mouthful of
rum and spits it out again.