Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1922-08-09

2 Muscle and Sure Eye OF the Athlete.
when the downpOur OF bursting shell
became too distractlng.
Some historians assert that the
Greek games formed the foundation
for the lucid thinking and the lofty
art concepts that made her product
classic. Yet the Olympian and the
Pythian games az their best afforded
no such spontaneous, and az the same
time intricate. interplay of muscle and
mind as baseball.
Throwing. catching and running are
as old as nan; but Il took the Ameri-
can genius for play, no less distinc
tive than the American genius for
science. industry, and commerce, 10
weld these motifs into a game that
puts a premium on skill, yet admits
~ infinite variety; that rawest youth
or trained athlete may play; and that
Presidents and Office boys steal away
10 watch.
III the Greeks paved the way for
classic art by teaching adults 10 play
and Great Britain followed in her
footsteps with n more spontaneous
and democratic fervor. America now
appears as the most forwardlook'ng
nation in her attention 10 children's
Fairgrounds. There Is nothing arti-
fetal about the games taught 10 chill
dren on American Fairgrounds. They
are products OF a rich heritage Of
play tradition. Neither written history
nor the faint traces OF prehistoric
times carry MS back TO a period when
children did not play.
EvcavntOrs IN Central America
found tiny rattles Of bone and clay.
rs old as the pyramids Of Egypt In
graves alongside baby skeletons. In
Attica's tomhs were uncovered dolls
Of pre-classlc DAYS. made of ivory and
terra Gotta. Little HlppodamIa had a
miniature bed. with Stats for his
dolls. for boys formerly played with
dolls. Roman children's toys were
held IN such high esteem by their
elders that when the children grew
too old for them they were offered 20
patron gods.
Games With the Ball.
Running. throwing. hitting. and
kicking are the fundamental muscular
onerarions Of Americas Characteristic
sports-basebau football. tennis. and
GOLF. The peoples OF antiquity mani
tested all these instincts In cruder
form.
Luzon hIIlmen. the Polynesians, and
the Eskimo and Sumatra islanders had
games played by kicking a ball.
Greeks played II. and the Roman
game harpastum. derived Us name
from the Greek 81 seize which Is
evidence that carrying the ball was
n,acticed then. with shoes Of hide
the medieval Italians played game
which seems the direct ancestor OF the
Arglo-Saxon college sport. Gaelic
scholars point 20 n football game IN
Ireland before the time OF Christ. and
until comparatively recent times
Shrove Tuesday was distlnctively an
occasion for football as Is our Thanks
giving today.
In old England football was even
rourher than most sports OF those
bordv times James I thought II was
ameeter for lameing than making able
the users thereof" Henry VIII and
Tlizaheth ruled against II. Edward II
srowned upon II for its interference
with archery and also because OF the
commotion II aroused.
Likewise. one must go back to the
Greeks and Romans for the origin
- tennis. which descended 10 Eng
land nv way 10 France. In the Twelfth
century a game with ball and plated
rut bat was played on horseback
rhen came ia borde." in which the
borses were abandoned. Henry VIII
Of England was a youthful devotee
While Louis XIv's heavy expense &C
counts show salaries paid TO care
takers of his courts.
n tennis has a royal lineage. goii'
which was later regarded as a ricn
mans game. had most plebeian De
~,nn'nrs. Contrary 10 n widespread
hoItaf 4, seems lot 20 have originated
!, scotland. but I'm northern Europe
Annorentlv II was first played on Ice.
being one of the winter sports adapteo
- the physical geography OF the Low
Countries.
NV the Fifteenth century golf hao
o,,sined such vogue In Scotland thar
a threatened the cherished archery.
and n Is classed with "fute-ball ano
other @unproatabn SPORTS by James
~ THAT monarch. however, seems 70
have dlsregarded his own euict.