Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1920-03-04

Havana, Cuba, March 2.-In this
city you can gamble, II you choose.
from the time you arise in the
morning until you 90 to bed the
next morning. You can begin BY
purchasing . ticket in tho national
lottery, which affords you stir
ring opportunity to win Z hundred
thousand dollars on an investment
Of one. In the afternoon you can
20 out to the race track and risk
any amount you. please on your
own Judgment or that of the local
newspaper men. At night you can
60 to a 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 los
ing your money, distinctly the
most interesting and to the Wis
itors the most picturesque, is the
game of jai alai. Indeed. after q
careful inventory Of the entire
city, we are inclined to say thxt
jai aiai is the best thing that
Havana has to show. And yet you
| can seldom count a dozen Amer
leans among the thousands which
attend tine game, and almost moth
ing seems to be known Of it in this
| country.
Jai alai may best be described
as a glorified handball game, with
one wall taken out of the court. In
| handball, one plays in a box like
room 80 or 40 feet long. the pro-
cedure 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 been
magnified by the southern magma
ton into sport of the highest or
der. In jai alai, the court is more
than city block in length and
probably over hundred feet high
to its ceiling, from which great
banks Of light glare down upon it.
One Of the long walls is taken out
and replaced by a foul line. back OF
which is a grandstand which holds
about three thousand spectators.
Naturally, no human hand I'M
aided could propel 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 de.
gree and perhaps three feet long
On closer inspection, it is seen tt
be half cylindrical and hollow, Sc
that the ball is caught and pro-
PEELED in curved groove. But II
try to describe the manipulation o.
this curious implement is hopeless
Suffice to say that the pelotari |!
able not only to throw the ball {
city block, but to make it rebount
a city block and hit the back wall
The game which originated
somewhere in Spain, is still played
in that country. and pretty mucl
-all over Latin-America. Nearly al
of the players are professionals
and travel from one country to an
other. They have their pictures il
the papers and are the heroes o
shall boys, exactly like our grea
baseball players. Incidentally
they are athletes of a really higi
order and of a most exceptiona
grace.
The jai alai court is in a larg'
and fine building, privately owned
and very remunerative to its own
ers. In addition to the court ant
the grandstand. it contains a larg'
bank with about twenty tellers
where bets are settled, bar,
lunch counter, and a cafe TIL
tickets are practically all sold b,
scalpers. The best Of them ar
supposed to sell for dollar and
half, but cannot be purchased TO
less than S. On the day before tn
game. Each Of these tickets seem
to pass through the hands Of sew
eral men. In this way. the jai ala
game is made to afford a living t
the greatest possible number o
persons. while a ticket is seldom
sold for less than three times it
alleged box Office price.
The game always begins with tn
playing of the national hymn O
anthem, or whatever it may be call
ed. At this, some people stand. an
all of the men remove their hats
But when the game begins, every
one stands and remains standin
until it is over. The excitement i
intense, almost incredible, in, tn
early stages of the game. In lon
: row before the grandstand are tn
book makers, distinguished by fun
ny little red caps. They shout tn
odds they have to offer, basing theI
on the score which is marked up o
a huge board in sight of all Ey
eryone in the place seems bent o
making bets, not only with the boo
makers but with everyone else with
, in sound of his voice. The babe