Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-03-08
A Gamblers Paradise
BY Frederic ]. Haskin

begin by purchasing ticket IN the nation
al lottery, which affords you 4 stirring op-
| port,inity to win n hundred thousand dol
lars on an investment Of one. In the after
noon you can go out to the race track and
risk any amount you please on your own
judgment or that Of the local newspaper
men. Az night you can 20 To n game Of
jai alai, where you can get covering for
almost any amount Of money you care To
show. In between times you can sit in any
kind of game you choose.
OF all these varied ways Of losing your
money, distinctly the most interesting
and To the visitors the most picturesque
is the game Of jai alai Indeed, after a
careful inventory Of the entire city, we
are inclined to say tina. jai alai is The best
thing that Habana has to show. And yet
you can seldom count dozen Americans
among the thousands which attend tho
game, and almost nothing seerns TO be
known of it in this country.
.Jai alai may best be described AZ
glorified handball game, with one wall
taken out Of the court. In handbali, one
plays in q box-like room 30 or 40 feet long,
the procedure being simply 70 knock the
ball against one OF the end walls until one
OF the contestants misses il. This simple
game, which is played in almost every
Y. NJ &. A. in the United States, has been
magnificd by the southern inauguration
into sport Of the highest order. In Jai
alai, the court IL more than city block
in length and probably over hundred feet
high 10 it's ceiling from which great
banks Of lights glare down upon IL. One
Of the long walls is taken out and replaced
by foul line, back of which Is 4 grand
stand which holds about 3, 1000 spectators.
yM ALAI NATIONAL GAME.
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 a ball
ever invented. II is strapped 10 the right
hand, and looks like huge eagles claw,
being curved in about the SANE degree
and perhaps three feet long On closer
inspection, IL in seen TO he half-cylindrIcai
and hollow, so that the ball is caught and
propelled in a curved groove. But TO try
TO describe the manipulation Of this curl
ous implement Is hopeless. Suffice II To
say that the pelotari is able not only to
throw the ball city block, but to make IL
rebound a city block and hit the back
wall
The game which originated somewhere
in Spain, il still played in that country,
and pretty much all over Latin-America.
Nearly all of the players 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. Incidentally,
they are athletes of a really high order and
OF most exceptional grace.
The laI alsi court ls IN large and hne
building, privately owned and very re-
munerative TO it's owners. In addition 10
the court and the grandstand IL contains
large bank with about 20 tellere, where
bets are settled, bar, lunch counter,
and q cafe. The tickets are practically all
sold by scaIpers. The best of them are
supposed TO sell for a dollar and half, but
cannot be purchased for less than five
dollars on the day before the game. Each
of these tickets seems 10 pass through the
hands Of several men. tn this way, the
iai 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-ofhce price.
The game always begins with the play
ing 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 ur-
til it is over. The excitement IS intense,
almost incredible, in the early stages of
the game. In long row before the grand
stand are the book-Inakers, distinguished
by funny little red caps. They shout the
odds they have to offer, baslng them on
the score which Il marked up on huge
board In sight of all. Everyone IN the
place seems bent on making bets, not only
with the book-makers but with everyone
else within sound of his voice. The babel
reaches a yeritahly frenzied pitch. The
tookmakers, 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 fy
into the air, despite large sign which
specifically forbids this method of dis
playing emotion. As the game progresses,
one side gains q decisive lead. The odds
are now heavily 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 sad and disgruntled air
by the losers, while these who have put
their money on the winning side are ex-
uberant and NOISY.
The pelotari is hard fighter and man
who knows his business thoroughly.
Seldom indeed does he miss ball which il
is at all possible for him to get. He also
disabuses one of the notion that the Latin
American is man Of inferior physique.
The players are without exception men Of
great muscle and wind, and of astonish-
ing endurance. The games seem longer
than anything played in this country, and
as hard as anything except football, while
the heat is considerable. 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 APP
parently unfagged. At each end Oi the
court is table where cold tea and rum are
served. Now and then one of them takes
mouthful of rum and spits it out again.
CUBAN NOT GOOD LOSER.
The most noticeable difference be-
tween the Cuban athlete and American
is that the Cuban finds no obligation 10
hide his feelings. With us it is more or
less tradition in all sport that one should
be good loser. This means smiling when
you feel like cursing at least keeping your
mouth shut when you lose. The pelotari
never heard of this tradition. When he
misses a ball, be fairly jumps with rage,
he throws himself against the wall, he
ynashes his teeth and curses. He makes II
~ A