The herald., 1922-08-17

'S~'~ e'e SeiS Eye OI tnc Atnict
when the downpour Of bursting she
became too distracting.
Some historians assert that m
Greek gaines formed the foundation
for the lucid thinking and the loft,
art concepts that made her produc
classic. Yet the Olympian and tn
Pythian games AT their best afforde,
no such spontaneous. and at the sam,
time intricate, interplay of muscle anC
mind as baseball.
Throwing. catching. and running are
as old as man; but II took the Ameri
can genius for play. no less diStinc
! tive than the American genius for
science, industry. and commerce. IA
weld these motifs into game that
puts a premium on skill, yet admits
or Infinite variety; that rawest youth
or trained athlete may play; and that
Presidents and Office boys steal away
to watch.
II the Greeks paved the way for
classic art by teaching adults to play
and Great Britain followed in her
footsteps with a more spontaneous
and democratic fervor, America now
appears as the most forward-looking
nation in her attention TO children's
Fairgrounds. There Is nothing arti.
fetal about the games taught TO chill.
dren on American Fairgrounds. They
are products Of rich heritage Of
play tradition. Neither written history
nor the faint traces Of prehistoric
times carry US back to a period when
children did not play.
E1cavators in Central America
found tiny rattles of bone and clay.
as old as the pyramids OF Egypt, In
graves alongside baby skeletons. In
Attica's tombs were uncovered dolls
Of preclassic days. made Of ivory and
terra Gotta. Little Hippodamla 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
200 old for them they were offered TO
patron gods.
Games With the Ball.
Running, throwing. hitting. and
ticking are the fundamental muscular
operations Of Americas characteristic
ports-baseball, football, tennis, and
off. TIE peoples Of antiquity mani.
ested all these instincts In cruder
orm.
Luzon hillmen. the Polynesians, and
he Eskimo and Sumatra islanders had
ames played by kicking a ball.
ireeks played 1t. and the Roman
anne, harpastum, derived fits name
rom the Greek IT seize" which IL
whence that carrying the ball was
racticed then. With shoes of hide.
ne medieval Italians played a game
hitch seems the direct ancestor Of the
hglo-Saxon college sport. Gaelic
rhoiars point to a football game in
-elend before the time of Christ. and
ntil comparatively recent times g
hrove Tuesday was distinctively an s
'casion for football as is our Thanks.
wing today. I
In old England football was even b
'ugher than most sports Of those S
ardy times. James I thought II was Il
neeter for lameing than making able t
e users thereof" Henry VIII and d
izabeth ruled against II. Edward II
owned upon II for it's Interference e
It'll archery and also because Of the p
mmotion 1t aroused. II
Likewise. one must go back TO tho
'eeks and Romans for the origin h
tennis, which descended TO Enc. r,
nd by way to France In the Twelfth
injury a game with ball and plated tc
I bat was played on horseback W
len came La boude," in which the Il
rises were abandoned. Henry VIII OF
England was a youthful devo,ea re
Tile Louis XIv's heavy expense ac. Of
units show salaries paid to care to
sers Of his courts. M
II tennis has a royal lineage. golf CO
ich was later regarded as a rich tn
ms game. had most plebeian be So
nings, Contrary to a widespread
lei II seems lot to have originated ds
scotland. but In northern Europe es
parentiy 1t was first played on ice us
ng one OF the winter sports adanted
the physical geography of the Low sn
Intries. 81
~ the Fifteenth century golf had pr
aimed such vogue In Scotland that az,
threatened the cherished archery -,
II is classed with "fute-balI" and no
er "unprofitabll SPORTS" by James ia
That monarch. however, seems TO
disregarded his own edict, as -
enough other Scotchmen TO keen
game alive.